Digitized Content from the American Fur Company Ledger and Record Book | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

The digitized content of the American Fur Company Letterbooks, Ledger, and Calendar, 1803-1851 consists of a copy of a ledger (1803-1851) from Mackinaw Island and the New Indian Credit Book, Sept. 29, 1829- and records accounts held from 1824-1845.

The American Fur Company was incorporated into New York State in 1808 by John Jacob Astor and dominated the fur trade in the United States by the 1820s. The Mackinaw Island ledger of the John Jacob Astor Fur Company records accounts held by the Fur Company with individuals from 1803-1851. A portion of the ledger is titled “New Indian Credit Book, Sept. 29, 1829-” and records accounts from 1824-1845. The microfilm was acquired in 1970 from Northwestern Michigan College.

The digitized content contains business records relating to the American Fur Company, Mackinaw Island in Michigan, and the fur trade broadly in the early nineteenth century. People mentioned include Ramsay Crooks (1787-1859) and Robert Stuart (1785-1848).

The American Fur Company collection was partially digitized in 2022. Items are available online at the University of Illinois Digital Library. A preservation copy of the items is available to IHLC and digital preservation staff at the Library Digital Repository: https://medusa.library.illinois.edu/collections/2258.