SOUTH HERO, VERMONT MANUSCRIPT POST OFFICE MONEY ORDER REGISTER 1880 TO 1892
South Hero, Vermont: Manuscript Ledger, 1880. Hardcover. Tall folio (15 in. 10 1/2 in.). Brown Half-leather over thick marbled boards -- a tall register entitled: "Register / Money Orders Issued)August 2, 1880 through May 30, 1892. Very scuffed boards, wear to edges and corners, a 1 1/2 in. peeling of leather to bottom of spine, but internally, VERY solidly bound.
While on first leaf-through, this document appears to be merely a record of money orders purchased at the local South Hero, Vermont Post Office, A second read-through, upon closer examination reveals the tale of HOW people were spending their money -- specifically WHO was sending money to WHOM and WHERE? A Third readthrough might just begin to give up the subtler aspects of this lovely little town in Northern Vermont. Who were the frequent payers and payees. What might be gleaned about
how people lived -- how much of the economy was centered upon local interchange of goods and services, and who had financial ties or interests outside of the village? A seemingly pro forma financial transaction record is now a valuable archival resource.
Should one spend much time in the South Hero Cemetery at 46-54 South Street in South Hero, as has this cataloguer, one would
find the final resting places of the Sons and Daughters of Vermont, the mothers and fathers and grandparents, the lovers and butchers and bakers and voters and dreamers of this little town of now less than 2000 souls, who peopled the town a century and a quarter ago, whose daily transaction fill the twelve-years this book covers. To me, and any student of history, local or otherwise, documents like this, are the way in to that now most rarest
of qualities -- a sense of history!
In 1880, D.B. Conro sent $1.00 to the New York Sun; and later that month $6.00 to the Editor of the Boston Cultivator.
That same year Grant Robinson sent $1.75 to Orange Judd, the publisher of hundreds of books on farming and building methods. On February 10th, 1881, Edward Phelps of South Hero, Vermont purchased a $50.00 money order to Frederick Phelps living in Goldendale, Washington -- twelve separate money orders! Was $50.00 the largest denomination money order available? Around 1891, Charley Dubuque sent $3.50 to the Chicago Horseman Newspaper Company. Very Good. Item #88536
South Hero is a town on Grand Isle in Grand Isle County, in the Islands & Farms region of northern Vermont, United States. South Hero's population was 1,674 at the 2020 census. Originally, North Hero, South Hero and Grand Isle were granted to Ethan Allen, Samuel Herrick and 363 other Revolutionary War veterans as a single town known as Two Heroes. It's possible the name referred to Ethan and Ira Allen, however while Ethan and Herrick were first in the grant ,Ira's name was considerably lower in the list. In 1798, Two Heroes was divided into three parts: North Hero (the entire north island), Middle Hero, and South Hero (the two sharing the southern island). Residents of the southern island were not happy sharing a single representative in the legislature, so in 1810, Middle Hero was given complete autonomy and renamed Grand Isle.
Price: $200.00