The house site itself is first mentioned as a land grant to Dan Parker (see my Post The Original Land Grantee). The original land grants in Vermont were given out for patronage and favors; many parcels were granted from the governor of New Hampshire who argued over the holdings with New York state. Vermont didn't exist as early as NH and NY and was looked at as available land by all surrounding states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut.[1]
In 1798 Dan Parker sold it to James Tarbox from Windsor for 1600 Spanish milled dollars. Spanish coins were common during this time and a written promissory note would state how many Spanish milled dollars it would be worth.
"The "milled" part of "Spanish milled" currency refer[r]ed to the ridged edges that made it difficult for less honest folks to cheat other[s] by actually shaving the valuable silver off of the coins. If the ridges were flattened or missing, it meant your currency was not complete. This clever design made Spanish coinage the preferred currency in trade world-wide." The U.S. Dollar wasn't the official currency of Vermont until 1785. [2]
You didn't carry much cash around with you in the 1830s. First of all there weren't many paper notes available (and only as good as the bank that backed them) and coins were also scarce. England had initially banned any minting of coins here.
Most buying and selling was recorded in a ledger, if it had a signature attached that was even better. The buyer and seller just agreed on the value of what they were trading.[3]
It was a little bit like using a credit card. The purchase was recorded, you signed, and were expected to pay up at a later date. No monthly bill in the mail though. Often these back and forth debts could go on for years and some were never paid. But people got what they needed if it was something they didn't already grow or produce themselves at home. Diversified farms were the norm with products such as wool, butter, cheese, maple sugar, apples and Morgan horses. The recognition of this farm-worthy adaptable breed of horse made it a good sales item to help with "pay[ing] off a mortgage or providing school tuition for their children."[4]
[1] "The New Hampshire Grants," Vermont History Explorer, 2023, https://vermonthistoryexplorer.org/the-new-hampshire-grants (19, November, 2023)
[2] "Spanish Coin," Fort Stanwix National Monument, National Park Service, 10/20/2022,
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/spanish-coins.htm#:~:text=On%20each%20was%20written%20the,the%20piece%2Dof%2Deight. (19, November, 2023)
[3] Kelleher, Tom,“The Debit Economy of 1830’s New England,” Teach US History, https://www.teachushistory.org/detocqueville-visit-united-states/articles/debit-economy-1830s-new-england (15, November, 2023) [4] Fuller, Edmund, VERMONT, A History of the Green Mountain State, 1952, State of Vermont, Vermont Printing Company, Brattleboro, VT
The photo below is taken from [2] above, Spanish reale (royal) coin
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