About This Collection
The digitized account book of Ennion Cook consists of 256 scanned pages and dates from 1798 to 1836. Found within this volume are Cook’s financial records as a school teacher, including student boarding fees, firewood purchases, and guardianship accounts. The back of the book also includes account records for the Birmingham Society of Friends’ burying grounds. Ennion Cook (1773-1841) was born to Stephen and Margaret Williams Cook in London Grove Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. A teacher by profession, Cook moved to Birmingham Township, Chester County in 1798 and was a prominent member of the Quaker community. Cook married Agnes Garrett in 1800, and, in 1802, began teaching in the four-sided school house located next to the Birmingham Meeting House. He later taught in the Octagonal Schoolhouse (known as Harmony Hall), a building recognized on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In 1808, Cook was appointed Librarian of the Birmingham Library, which operated out of his residence, and within the year, also began serving as the sexton of the Birmingham graveyard. Cook’s account book includes an index of 89 names followed by detailed account records that list individual items purchased and amounts paid. Typical charges to account holders include school supplies, boarding fees, clothing, shoes, firewood, tuition, and tutoring fees. A listing of Agnes Cook’s boarders from 1798-1822 is provided on pages 111-112, and a record of eight personal bond purchases is listed on page 123. In the back of the book, Cook kept separate entries relating to his role as sexton of the Birmingham graveyard from 1809 to 1834, and these entries include account records for individual plot purchases and the amounts paid. The entirety of the Ennion Cook Account Book Collection is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center.
