(TEXAS) Store ledger from the brief life of a Texas ghost to

Sale 2486 - Lot 384

Price Realized: $ 1,500

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

(TEXAS.) Store ledger from the brief life of a Texas ghost town. [11], 91 manuscript pages including full index. 12mo, original gilt calf wrappers, worn; toning and minor wear to contents. [Ben Ficklin, TX], September 1876 to May 1877

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The town of Ben Ficklin or Benficklin was first settled in 1868 by Major Benjamin Ficklin near San Angelo in west-central Texas, as a stop on the San Antonio-El Paso mail line. It became the county seat of Tom Green County in 1875 and soon had a population of 600, but was completely wiped out by a flood in August 1882. This small ledger was kept at a general store which was apparently co-owned by Francis Corbett Taylor (1822-1879), a Confederate veteran who was Tom Green County's first judge, a former business partner of Major Ficklin, and one of the town's co-founders. He signed the ledger "F.C. Taylor" on the first page, and his personal account on pages 46-47 seems to allocate his share of the profits and expenses. One of his partners was his nephew Charles B. Metcalfe (1856-1941), who signed pages 59 and 62; at age 20 he had already been elected county commissioner, and later became an important rancher. Goods sold here included tobacco, beer, shoes, patent medicine, pickles, Mexican blankets, and much more. Many of his customers had Spanish names, and one Jack Smith was noted as an Indian: "Stocktender, Kickapoo." On page 22 is the account for office supplies sold to Tom Green County. Two years after the end of this ledger, F.C. Taylor died and was buried in the Ben Ficklin Cemetery. Three years after that, he was disinterred by the flood which washed Ben Ficklin off the map. This ledger is likely one of the few surviving documents from this short-lived settlement.