Blackford record and account books

Eugene Blackford lived both at his farm Cleve and in the garden suburb Sudbrook Park in northwest Baltimore County during the years covered in this collection. From 1893 to 1896, he spent summers at a rental home in Sudbrook Park and rented Cleve out for the summer. From October 1896 to 1901, he lived year-round at a home he built at Sudbrook Park. And, beginning in 1902, he spent his summers at Cleve. His personal financial records consist of both ledgers and day books. He lists his accounts with firms like Pikesville Dairy, Kuntz's Ale, and the Sudbrook Company, as well as many daily expenses for hired help and purchases. Also in the collection is a farm journal in which he recorded events and work at Cleve. Cow accounts, which list the production of offspring and milk from the cows he owned, are included.

Beginning in 1889, he was manager of the Sudbrook Company's real estate venture, Sudbrook Park, a northwest Baltimore garden suburb designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., that same year. In Blackford's ledgers and day books (marked Eugene Blackford volumes in container list) are details of financial transactions he, in partnership with Hugh L. Bond, Jr., had with the Sudbrook Company. The first listing of his salary with the Sudbrook Company is in May 1889. Many of the volumes in this collection provide information related to the houses built and rented as an investment in Sudbrook Park. In addition, ten volumes in this collection consist entirely of the records of the Sudbrook Company (marked Sudbrook Company volumes in container list). These records include day books, ledgers, and letterbooks that hold details on the community's early history.