The Long Homecoming

​​The book shown above is a ledger/account book covering the period from 1871-1886. We discovered it in our collection in the spring of 2018. We were surprised to realize that the ledger has come quite a long way! It contains the business (and sometimes personal) accounts of Thomas and John Long of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Though this is certainly a valuable piece of history, we investigated further and found no evidence of a connection to Lexington. Our mission at the Historical Society is to be a premier interpreter of the events of April 1775, and the faithful steward of all of the town's history through time. Given that this ledger did not help fulfill that mission, we decided to remove it from our collection and try to find a place for it that would be more suitable.

Therefore, the ledger was deaccessioned (more on what that means) this spring per a recommendation by staff and a vote by the Society's collections committee. We then contacted the Prince Edward Island Provincial Archives in Charlottetown to attempt to find a better home for the Long’s records.

Success! They were interested in the ledger. They agreed to take a look at it, though were clear that reviewing it did not mean it would definitely be accepted into their collections. This is a common practice with us and many other museums as well. Sometimes, objects or books or photos or documents offered to an organization may not be in as good condition as we might like, or may have a copyright issue, or there may be another reason to reconsider accepting the donation.

Once we got the go-ahead to bring the ledger to the Provincial Archives for review, the next step was to get it there. Luckily, we were well prepared for that! I have family and a summer cottage on Prince Edward Island and visit every year. The path being clear, I made preparations to bring the ledger with me in July 2019. It traveled in the trunk of my car, housed in an archival folder and a wooden case to protect it from damage. The case may not have been strictly necessary, but with my two children and two dogs in the car as well, it gave me much-appreciated peace of mind.

I delivered the ledger to the Provincial Archives in late July. Historically housed in Province House, a renovation of that historic site moved both the archives and the Offices of the Government next door in 2015. I signed in, got my security badge, and headed up to the fourth floor with the ledger in its case. Once in the reading room of the archives, I had a nice conversation with one of the archivists about the ledger and also generic museums & archives chit chat. The Provincial Archives staff will consider the ledger at some point soon and let us know if and when they accept it. Payload delivered, I headed back outside to the summer heat, pleased that the plan came together and the Longs were back in Charlottetown!

-Stacey Fraser, Collections and Outreach Manager

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