[Ledger]: Ledger Book of Warren County, New Jersey Blacksmith Jesse T. Baylor Spanning The Years 1859 to 1864 BAYLOR, Jessie T. Americana

A holograph ledger book written in ink. Quarto. 128pp, plus writing on the flyleaves and pastedowns. Quarter black leather marbled paper covered boards, and marbled edges. Edgewear, wear along the spine with some loss of the leather, and some soiling of the flyleaves, still very good with the contents clean and intact. A ledger book belonging to blacksmith Jesse T. Smith. The book begins March 10, 1859 and ends in late March of 1864, with a curious year-long absence beginning in late March of 1860, with the last recorded date being March 27 on page 41, which is the only page that is not completely filled in, it stops a little over three-quarters of the way down, and underneath the last entry is an illegible note written in pencil and appearing to be in a different hand. The next page documents work from mid-April 1861 and the ledger continues from there uninterrupted. This absence raises more questions when taken in context with a note made on the second free flyleaf, "Hard times in 1961. N****r Revolution. Black Republican War." It's clear that Baylor did not fight in the war, the ledger shows he was working and by the time of the war he may have been too old for the draft (see below). Though the language used suggests that he did not support the Union war effort, "Black Republican" was a phrase for Republican politicians who supported emancipation or any legislation that favored African-Americans. Most of what occupies the ledger is the standard documentation of day-to-day blacksmithing; horseshoes seemed to be the most popular item. But there is interesting geographical information on the flyleaves and pastedowns, multiple inscriptions (Baylor appears to have used the free space to practice his penmanship), state his location as both Little York, Warren County, New Jersey and Belvedere, Warren County, New Jersey. Little York is actually considered to be part of Hunterdon County (at least today), and is about 20 miles away from Belvedere. We've found two records of individuals who may have been the owner of this ledger: The most likely candidate is a Jesse S. Baylor (ca 1829 to 1880), whose death record indicates that he was a blacksmith from Oxford, Warren County, New Jersey. Though the middle initial raises questions, there are two signatures on the rear pastedown in which the cursive Ts lack their tops (which are present in the other signatures) making each appear as an S. But, it should be noted, his estimated birth date means he would have been eligible for the draft in 1863. Another candidate is a John T. Baylor (1813-1896, perhaps Jesse was his nickname) he and his wife Mary Catherine Heitzman Baylor were both buried about five miles south of Little York; while their daughter, Isabella, who passed away at five years old in 1844, was buried in a cemetery just outside of Belvedere. Laid in is a slip of paper with "Oxford, Mrs. P.D. Briscoe" written on it in what appears to be a different hand; Oxford, New Jersey is about five miles east of Belvedere. Also written is where the ledger was bought, the front flyleaves say, "J.C.R. Castmer," and the rear flyleaf says "at Belvedere." Lastly, John T. Baylor's birth date means he would have been too old for the draft. An interesting snapshot of a New Jersey blacksmith's dealings during the Civil War deserving of further study.