Taking Possession: Inventories

An inventory is a listing of all possessions (things) a person owns and the estimated value of each item. In the eighteenth century, all people who owned property had their possessions inventories at the time of their death. This helped pay any outstanding debts the dead person may have had when he or she was alive. It also helped by seeing that the dead person's wishes were granted through his or her will. A will is a list of people that you want certain things of your given to after your death.

Below is a partial listing of the 1761 inventory of John Chads. See the entire inventory here. Read it carefully and answer the questions following.

John Chads' Inventory (Partial Listing)
Note: the symbols and letters to the right stand for pounds, shillings, and pence, the names of English currency.	£.	S.	P.
To his household goods and kitchen furniture	94	0	0
To his clock and case	6	0	0
To four of the first choice of his milch cows	16	10	0
To his wheat in the ground	8	0	0
To wheat in the barn and hay where he dwelt	18	0	0
To one red cow	3	15	0
To one yearling bull	3	0	0
To one brown steer	2	15	0
To 4 spring calves	3	15	0
To his buck horse	5	0	0
To one Dunn horse	14	0	0
To one gray horse	9	0	0
To one two year old colt	8	0	0
To his cart and wheels	4	10	0
To one cart, saddle and 4 halters	0	10	0
To 15 sheep	10	0	0

Questions

3. Inventory your bedroom. Take a sheet of paper, set a timer for five minutes and make a list of all the items that you can remember.

4. Now estimate how much each item is worth. Would you like to inventory your house? How do the items in your house differ from the ones on John Chads' inventory?

5. What is the most valuable item John Chads owned? What is the most valuable item your family owns?

TAKING POSSESSION (Inventories)

John Chads' Inventory (Partial Listing)

Questions