There was some discussion about the relative value of different currencies and how those currencies compare to present day values. I would prefer to approach this in a slightly different way using some recorded values in connection with the German Lutheran Church in the Robinson River Valley. When Johann Casper Stöver became minister in 1733, there was a fund-raising effort. Monies were collected and spent. Andrew Kerker was treasurer and kept the books. The account was largely dormant while the fund-raising trip in Germany was underway by Stöver, Holt, and Smith. During this time, Kerker died and John Carpenter, his son-in-law, was executor. Carpenter, to show that the account of the church had been properly kept, filed the church account with the estate records of Kerker. And so we have a little bit of insight into the community.
First, let’s establish how much a skilled artisan made for a day’s work. It is recorded that John Huffman was paid one pound, two shillings, and six pence for nine days of carpentry work in building a house for the minister. One pound is equal to twenty shillings so the total of twenty-two shillings and six pence (one half of a shilling) shows that Huffman was paid at the rate of two shillings and six pence per day. If a man worked at this rate for 300 days per year, the standard for the times, he would earn thirty-seven and a half pounds. It would be very difficult to find work for this many days per year.
Compare what some things cost then compared to these wages. “Blankenbuchler” was repaid three shillings and four pence for the cost of mailing a letter. Thus, a letter cost one and a half days of wages. Part of this expense might have been the cost of paper itself, which was expensive. The church purchased ten quires of paper for use in the church, and they paid twelve and a half shillings for this. According to my unabridged dictionary, quire has two meanings, either four sheets of paper, obtained by folding one large sheet twice, or twenty-five pieces of paper. I suspect that it was the smaller amount, so that the church obtained 40 pieces of paper each of which might approximate an 8.5 by 11 inch piece that we know today; however, since they paid 250 pence for this paper, perhaps they did buy 250 pieces. Let’s allow the larger quantity. So one day’s wages would buy 250 pieces of paper.
One other thing for which there is good cost data is the wine and brandy they used. For the communion at Easter, they bought one quart of wine for one shilling and 10 pence. John Huffman would have worked a little more than half a day to purchase a quart of wine. One the occasion of “raising the Minister’s house”, two quarts of brandy cost two shillings and six pence, a lower price than the wine.
(to be continued)
(10 Dec 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.