Scope and arrangement
The Fort Ontario ledger, 1759-1761, 1763, with a name index, contains entries of purchases and payments by British and colonial officers and others at the Fort, 1759 November-1761 May. The bulk of the entries are dated 1760 May-August, reflecting the buildup and departure of forces supporting Major General Jeffery Amherst's successful campaign to capture Montreal during the French and Indian War.
Accounts usually appear under individual names, citing military unit or occupation, and are in no particular order. Notable persons include Colonel Frederick Haldimand; General Thomas Gage; Captain Joshua Loring of the Royal Navy; John Lottridge, Captain of Indians, and his brother, trader Thomas Lottridge; Colonel John Bradstreet; Captain Thomas Sowers, engineer; draftsman William Brasier; and Reverend John Ogilvie. Haldimand and his regiment are predominant among the entries for British and colonial units. Although the location of the garrison is not specified, the placement of regiments and officers at that time associate the manuscript with Fort Ontario. Accounts also include the Fort hospital, doctors and a nurse, an interpreter, the commissary, and sutlers, traders, and merchants. There is an extensive account for Isaac Mendes. Typical purchases include alcohol, meat and livestock, blankets, cloth and other haberdashery items, and candles. A few transactions show connections to Fort Niagara, Fort Stanwix and Fort William Augustus. The ledger also contains a loose account of pelts purchased and sold at Albany, 1763. The volume, identified as "Ledger A, 1760," is bound in vellum; the name Smith is just visible on the front cover.