Was John Test a Storekeeper?

Three of our five authors of John Test bio-sketches say that he operated a store or a couple of different stores at different times and perhaps different places. Glenn Test and L.G. Fryburg constitute the two exceptions: they do not mention any stores. In the early records John Test is described as a merchant, but not as a storekeeper. Nor is there any mention of a store in any of the early records.

I suspect that the term merchant is being confused with the term store–keeper. Modern usage treats the terms as synonymous. Earlier usage did not. According to early British and American usage, a merchant is an importer/exporter and sells wholesale. The shopkeeper or storekeeper sells retail goods. So, if John Test was called a merchant, it suggests that he was not a storekeeper. I suspect those who created the early records where John Test is called a merchant rather than a shopkeeper or storekeeper were fully aware of the difference in the meaning of the terms. Since this is a difference that has been lost in modern usage, I am not so certain that our modern authors of these bio-sketches were aware of the distinct meanings of the terms.

None of these authors remarked about the possible distinction between a merchant and a store–keeper. On the other hand, the claim that John Test kept a store is not entirely without foundation. As noted in the link referenced in the previous paragraph, the term merchant is subject to misuse.

More importantly, the colony along the 40 or 50 mile stretch on the western shore of the lower Delaware River consisted of about 3,000 settlers [This number of 3000 requires documentation.]. John Jordan, ed. in A History of Delaware County Pennsylvania estimated the entire population in 1675 of the county surrounding Upland at 600 inhabitants – men, women and children(New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1914, p. 77). This suggests that the distinction between selling wholesale and retail might not hold up. How many storekeepers could such a small population support? How many storekeepers could a person engaged in importing and selling goods wholesale supply merchandise to? Thus, I doubt that John Test was selling wholesale to any store–keepers in the area. Actually I doubt there were any stores or store–keepers on the banks of the Delaware.

But we need to take seriously the title of merchant. John Test was said to be a merchant and it is abundantly clear from the court records that he was involved in the exportation of pelts and he was involved in the importation of manufactured goods.

John Test, in all probability, used various log cabins and other small structures to store his imported goods. We have something like an account list of items John Test sold, it appears through two intermediaries, to Governor Edmund Andros of New York– governor of New York, New Jersey and the colony along the Delaware River.

Was this sale wholesale or retail? I suspect John Test came to America with sufficient funds to buy small tracks of land and to buy locally produced goods: tobacco, beaver pelts, wheat, and corn to trade in London for manufactured goods in demand in the colony.

Source of this page: The Andros papers : files of the provincial secretary of New York during the administration of Governor Sir Edmund Andros, 1674-1680
Vol 2, p. 67.
Author: Edmund Andros, Sir; Peter R Christoph; Florence A Christoph
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 1989-1991.
Series: New York historical manuscripts series.