The New York Historical Society has digitized their Evert Wendell collection, including five account books in Dutch and English covering the period from 1695 to 1758 and one docket book (in English).
Evert Wendell (1681-1750) was a Dutch-descended Albany merchant, fur trader, and attorney, who conducted business with Native Americans in upstate New York and with colonists in Albany, Schenectady, New York City, and Boston.
One account book, 1695-1726, records Wendell’s transactions with Native Americans in New York and Canada including Muhhekunneuw (Mahican, Mohican), Nishnaabeg (Odawa, Ottawa), and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) with whom he traded goods including rum, clothing, and ammunition for furs and corn; in addition to recording their names, Wendell includes their nations and clans and identifying physical features.
Evert Wendell’s Account Book of the Fur Trade with Indians in Albany, New York, 1695-1726 was previously published by Lightning Rod Press. Interested readers should also check out the full, annotated translation an account book.
The other account books now available online record Wendell’s merchant activity with European settlers chiefly in the Albany area but also New York City, Schenectady, and Boston, and transactions related to his legal practice and his grist- and sawmills; they include accounts for the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and a few transactions related to enslaved persons.
Later accounts were kept by Wendell’s son Abraham (1715 – to about 1789). The docket book documents cases in which Evert Wendell was involved as an attorney including notes on the cases and fees and damages related to the cases.
You can find the online collection here.
Read more about early New York History.
Illustration: A detail from one of the Evert Wendell Account Books (New York Historical Society).
