Pioneering Merchants

Before the arrival of the railroad, McLean County residents used credit and a bartering system, and trade depended on the Illinois River port in Pekin for both selling and acquiring goods and supplies. Area merchants (mostly grocery, dry goods, lumber, and implement dealers) needed cash for purchasing their goods, but often had to barter and trade goods or services with their customers who typically had little to no money.

Featuring:

Amasa J. "AJ" Merriman, (1818 – 1894), dry goods store owner

In 1838 Bloomington merchant Amasa J. "AJ" Merriman (1818-1894) had a dry goods and grocery store. From this store he supplied needed items to the residents of Blooming Grove. But few of his customers had cash. Instead he traded with them for goods and services.

In 1838 AJ exchanged with Mrs. John Ward six pounds of sugar and a spool of thread for five dozen eggs she brought from her farm.

He recorded all transactions he made with customers in the ledger below, including the trade he made with Mrs. Ward.

AJ later became a Bloomington lawyer and well-respected judge.

Examine AJ’s business ledger. Can you find customers who gave him pork in exchange for goods? What did they get in return?

Photo of the ledger from Merriman's store.

Merriman’s dry goods store ledger, 1838

Photo of the ledger from Merriman's store.
Illustration of a man riding a carriage that is being pulled by two horses.

James transported Merriman’s goods in a horse-drawn wagon via dirt trails. Pekin was the nearest river port where agricultural and manufactured products, as well as raw goods, could be sent and received. When the weather was bad, the deep mud made James’ journey difficult. It was a no-win situation — when it was dry, deep ruts and dust also made travel difficult.

Illustration of a man riding a carriage that is being pulled by two horses.

AJ and other Bloomington merchants depended on the Illinois River port at Pekin to acquire goods, as well as sell items they had received for trade.

In 1838 AJ sent James Bay to Pekin with 1,999 pounds of butchered pork, soaked in salt and packed in barrels, that he had received from a number of customers in exchange for other goods.

Before returning to Blooming Grove, James purchased goods with the funds he had secured for Merriman’s pork. If he was lucky, James returned with all the items AJ requested. But sometimes items were sold out and he had to purchase optional items, or wait until his next trip.

Having spent all his cash on supplies, AJ had no cash to pay James. What do you think he did instead?

U.S. Liberty coin, circa 1825

Photo of a worn US Liberty large cent from 1825

This U.S. Liberty coin, worth one cent, was a common type of currency in the early 1800s, but was rarely seen on the frontier.

Donated by: Homer Yap
828.267

Photo of a worn US Liberty large cent from 1825

AJ asked James to purchase cloth, sewing supplies, kitchenware, books, stationery, crockery, agricultural tools, knives, gun parts, imported foods like spices, sugar, coffee, and tea, plus gunpowder, brimstone, and medicinal oils — all items that could not be found or made locally.

Coin silver teaspoon, circa 1830

723.323

Iron fork with bone handle, circa 1830

crude looking fork with yellow bone handle

Donated by: Homer Yap
723.309

crude looking fork with yellow bone handle

Oil lamp, circa 1830

clear glass lamp with round rope cloth wicks

Donated by: Jennie Packard
723.302

clear glass lamp with round rope cloth wicks

Staffordshire stoneware plate, circa 1830

white platter with intricate cobalt blue illustration

Donated by: Harriet Wakefield Brady
723.201

white platter with intricate cobalt blue illustration
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