[The following note describes a series of volumes and folders and has no documents attached to it. For that reason, a "no Documents found" message will appear if the "List Documents" button at the bottom of the note is used. To see the documents in the volumes and folders described here, use the "Which Series Notes?" button to enter the Series Notes or use the "Next Text" button to move to the first item in the series.]
The account series for 1879-1886 contains forty-eight bound account books and an extensive collection of unbound financial records. The documents are arranged in six categories: (1) Edison Personal and Laboratory Accounts; (2) Edison Family Accounts; (3) Fort Myers Accounts; (4) Company Accounts; (5) Miscellaneous Bound Accounts; and (6) Miscellaneous Unbound Accounts.
Edison Personal and Laboratory Accounts. The twenty-four books in this set contain records of laboratory expenditures and of monies received from Edison 5 inventive work. Miscellaneous house accounts are also found in these volumes. Only the six general ledgers have been selected. The journals, cash books, invoice books, and other books have not been selected since the information contained within them is summarized in the general ledgers.
Edison Family Accounts. This set consists of one pocket-size book kept by Mina Miller Edison to record personal expenses, including those relating to her marriage to Edison, and two other pocket-size books kept by Edison's first wife, Mary Stilwell Edison, to record grocery accounts. The grocery accounts have not been selected.
Fort Myers Accounts. The five books in this set record expenses relating to the purchase and furnishing of Edison's winter home in Fort Myers, Florida. The general ledger, journal, and cashbook have been selected. The invoice book and labor account book have not been selected.
Company Accounts. The ten books in this set relate primarily to the various electric light companies. Included are two books containing weekly statements of laboratory expenses submitted to the Edison Electric Light Co.; a ledger and various daybooks of the Thomas A. Edison Construction Department; and an invoice book of the Edison Machine Works and Edison Shafting Manufacturing Co. There is also a cashbook of Dyer and Wilber, a firm that handled Edison's patents during the early 1880s. Only the weekly statements and the ledger have been selected.
Miscellaneous Bound Accounts [not selected]. This set contains six books: a cashbook recording miscellaneous expenditures; a bankbook kept by Samuel Insull; a book recording the number of postage stamps used; a book of invoices from foreign orders; a book recording purchases of oil; and a checkbook.
Miscellaneous Unbound Accounts [not selected]. There are two extensive collections of unbound financial records in the archives of the Edison National Historical Park. One is a set of employee time sheets for the period 1878-1931. The time sheets for 1878 were published as a representative sample in Thomas A. Edison Papers, Part I (1850-1878) (D-78-026, Document File Series). In addition, there is a large collection of receipted bills and vouchers for laboratory, manufacturing, and personal expenses. The first sixty-six vouchers in this set can be found in Invoice Book, Cat. 1164 [not selected].
An additional bound account book (Cat. 1318) can be found in the Charles Batchelor Collection (Special Collections Series). Unbound financial documents can be found in the Legal Series, in the Charles Batchelor and Francis R.Upton collections (Special Collections Series), and in the various "Accounts" folders in the Document File Series.