Sign In

New York City Manuscript Ledger Book of Jacob Kip

Manhattan Ferry Operator and Liquor Dealer of the Prominent Dutch Family of Kip's Bay

This fascinating early manuscript account book from New York City contains entries spanning several decades, from 1745 to the 1780s, including fragmentary entries from July 1776. It was kept by Jacob (Jacobus) Kip, of the notable family of early Dutch settlers of New York that gave Kips Bay its name. Jacob A. Kip's name is recorded in English on the verso of the front leaf and the Kip family name is recorded in multiple places inside the ledger:

Don't Steel ... for fear of shame onder neath is the [own]er's name, Jacob A. Kip

Far more than a simple ledger book of transactions, this volume is a rare artifact of colonial New York and a valuable primary historical source for the business dealings of Jacob A. Kip, a member of a prominent early family in New York City. The operation of Kip's business, which combined the running of a ferry in Manhattan with liquor sales of beer, cider, wine, and rum, spans many years.  Some of the entries provide evidence of the relationships between Kip and his customers, shedding light on aspects of Kip's social milieu beyond straight business: 

1775: Old high dotcher witch is Got close in my chist & ows me for licker 21:9

July 5 1776 My man William ows me for licker

July 11th:1776 Thom William is come to work by me for one mont the 11 day

to cash paid to my sister Amalia Kip October 1: 1776

Peter Proce - owes me for furry and licker

The earliest entries are written in Dutch during the years 1747-1750s. Later entries date from the 1770s-1780s and are written in English. The contents are set down in a disorganized yet thrifty manner, with entries from the 1740s or 1750s, noted in pounds, often sharing a page with later entries made in the 1770s or 1780s, the latter transactions often in "dollers cash." Many entries record charges for ferrying passengers and horses across the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn - the Kips owned a ferry crossing business from their lands on the East River - as well as an accounting of ongoing liquor sales to a large number of individuals named in the ledger.

Dozens of entries recording liquor sales of foodstuffs:

mogs and drams of beer

boles of cider, grog, brandy and punch

pints and "gils" of wine, rum, and gin

firkins and barrels of butter

Ferry passage entries:

To ferry one hogshead; 2 horses ferry; to ferry horse an men; to ferry beef and tings; to ferry 3 horses an 2 man

Some of the names recorded in the present account ledger book:

Anthony Hoffman, John Wite (November 1774), Barrant Van Waggonner, Hendrick Pelee, Benjamin van Stienbough, David Daveson, Catlyntie Van Fradenburgh [?], Chevels Crook, Abraham Leunes, John Horries, William Framer, Henry Beckman, Hendrick Elles, Elbert van Lyle, John Haddenburgh, Gunner Stinburgh, Christian Shriver, Johanne S. Kip, Jacob Lickner, Isaac Kip, Roelet Kip, Matais Smith, Abraham Fradenburgh, Benjamin Fravenburgh (May, 1774), Michel Shetshel, Jacob Kip Dept to me (May 1774), Old Benjeman Fravenburgh [Fradenburgh?], William Prowel, Abraham Kip, Petrus Kip, Simon Schot, Jacob Shriver, Simon Schot, John Blair, Mr. John May, Cornelius Demon, Samuel Kip, Peter Gay, W or M. Packwell Schoolmaster, Cornelius Schernehorn, Doctor Silliman, and other Dutch names that are difficult to transcribe.

The Kips were a distinguished family of early settlers in New Netherlands who arrived before the settlement changed its name to New York. Jacob A. Kip, the creator of the present ledger book, was a direct ancestor of Henrick Hendricksen Kip of Holland, who emigrated to America in the 1630s, settling in Fort Amsterdam, New Netherlands. The Kip family owned property in Kip's Bay, now a neighborhood on the east side of Manhattan, comprising the area east of Third Avenue between East 34th and 27th Streets. Before being reclaimed land, the area was an inlet of the East River. The place was named for the New Netherland Dutch settler Jacobus Hendrickson Kip (1631-1690), son of Hendrick Henricksen Kip, who owned a farm along the East River approximately where 30th Street is today. The Kip house, a large brick and stone structure located near the present-day intersection of Second Avenue and East 35th Street, stood from 1655 to 1851, and was purportedly the last of the original New Amsterdam farmhouses in Manhattan to be demolished. Kips Bay was also the location of action during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the  American Revolution. About 4000 British troops under General William Howe landed at Kips Bay on September 15, 1776. The British forces defeated about 500 American militiamen stationed there by George Washington and who were under the command of Colonel William Douglas. The British occupation of the town of New York forced Washington to retreat north to the Harlem River.

According to a history of the Kip family:

Of the twelve children of Jacobus I., Samuel I. (1682) became the owner of the estate and was succeeded by Jacobus (Jacob) Kip II, born in Kip's Bay, 1706. Kip was an old man when the American Revolution broke out and was too feeble to take up arms for the cause of freedom. Too ill to be moved, he remained in his house, which stood overlooking the East River, near where is now the Thirty-fourth Street Ferry. In spite of the danger, he stayed manfully at his post, and was in the house the day the British fleet opened fire upon the American earthworks, situated upon the bluff near his home. During the bombardment, he and his family took refuge in the cellar, and so escaped injury. Promptly after landing, the British troops occupied the mansion, but their commander set aside a portion, including three large rooms, for the head of the house and his two beautiful daughters. The shock, however, was too much for Jacobus, who died before the close of the war.

An entry from Holgate's American Genealogies suggests that not all the Kips were supporters of the American cause:

It seems that, while a part of the family adhered to the British cause during the Revolution, Jacobus Kip, of Kip's Bay, was a staunch Whig, his son having joined the American army. His residence for a short time was Washington's head-quarters. It will be recollected that on Sunday, September 15th, 1776, the British, under Sir William Howe, landed at Kip's Bay, and, after a skirmish with the Americans in the rear of Mr. Kip's house, they took possession of it, and, for several years, it was occupied by British officers as their head-quarters.

While there are a few fragmentary entries from 1776 in the ledger, none mention the British bombardment or subsequent occupation of New York by British troops.

A fascinating survival and record of colonial New York City trade, with entries in Dutch and English, and a valuable source for the business dealings of the wealthy, rural Dutch in Manhattan.