Accounting Records

Income and expense analyses for the year ended March 31, 1841 shows that the Pleasant Hill Shakers made:

$124.26 on leather transactions

$1,074.07 from the sale of linseed oil

$2,177.18 from the sale of hogs

$1,570.50 from the sale of cattle

$379.00 on horse transactions

$2,468.55 from the sale of garden seeds

Revenues from the sale of leather, cattle, horses, and garden seeds were consistently good throughout the period 1830-1850. Revenues from the manufacture and sale of linseed oil were extremely good during the late 1830′s when linseed oil sold for $1.00 to $1.25 a gallon.

Income from the sale of hogs was consistently good during the period until 1848 when a prohibition against the use of hog meat was made mandatory in all Shaker communities. This prohibition eliminated one of the best sources of revenues for the Pleasant Hill Shakers [Ham, p. 189].

In 1842, the community paid out $2,162.50 for 7205/6 roods of stone fencing at $3.00 per rood. A rood is a unit of length varying locally from five and one-half to eight yards. Over twenty miles of stone fencing was constructed around Pleasant Hill over a twenty-five year period from 1826 to 1852 [Ham, p. 136].

More on Shaker Accounting Records at Pleasant Hill: 1830-1850 can be found here.