The Thomas H. Thompson records are separated into two parts: those originally donated in 1958 and additions presented in 1984. The material originally received make up the first fifty volumes. The additions consist of volumes 51 through 95.
Of the fifty original volumes in this collection, forty-one are daybooks listing day by day sales and charges to retail customers of a general store. Dates in the books often overlap, for example, Wednesday, May 3, 1879 might appear in more than one daybook, with charges under the names of different individuals. This leads one to speculate that either (1) Thompson had more than one store, or (2) he kept more than one book in his store and recorded in the one nearest at hand. Also, he seems to have had a book for different clerks. For instance, one volume is listed as “George Thompson's Book,” and another as “J. Weymouth's Book,” although all entries seem to be in Thomas H. Thompson's writing.
The additions contain a chronological continuation of the daybooks and additional material such as a shipping book, stock inventory, cashbook, accounts receivable ledger and an invoices and check register. Most of the items in the additions are from a later date than the material donated originally.
