8/14/2023 0 Comments Manuscript letters ledgers![]() Daily transactions are recorded chronologically, rather than directly in the patron's account. Unlike the two ledgers, which contain both debits and credits recorded under individual accounts of the patrons, these volumes were a part of a more sophisticated system. The two daybooks (1845 April-1848 December, and 1855 February-1859 December) in this collection reveal that the location of the store was at Fredericks Hall. The inclusion of entries for the counties of Caroline, Orange, Halifax, Albemarle (or "Rockfish") and Spotsylvania, is an indication that a number of the patrons were not "local" residents, but merely passed through Louisa County on their way to Richmond, Williamsburg, etc Unlike the first volume, this ledger occasionally notes the family relationships or occupations of the patrons, and the locality or the county in which the patrons resided (see index which follows). Ledger B folio_," and are closed with the statement, "To ballance carried to his credit Ledger D." As in the case of the first volume, the pages are foliated in the upper left corners of the Debit (Dr) pages, and a number of pages are missing, as noted below. Many of the accounts begin with the entry, "To ballance his acct. The second of the two ledgers contains entries for the year 1756, and apparently was the third ledger in a series of subsequent to the series in which the volume for 1735-1738 was a part. It is also interesting to note that credit was given to a few women and blacks, as well as men, and in the 1756 ledger, the occasional notes giving the kinship of some patrons, or their occupations Cash was scarce, and often patrons settled their accounts in produce, or with returned merchandise. Out of necessity, the general store fulfilled many of the functions of a banking institution, extending credit to patrons to make purchases and arranging for excahnges of credit among the patrons to settle debts. Not only do the accounts give the names of many of the residents, and furnish information about what supplies the patrons purchased, but they show how - and when - the accounts were settles. As many of these ledgers may not appear in extant court records or other documents, much of the information in these volumes is unique. The first census of the county would not be taken until 1790, and that census, as well as the 1800 census, would later by destroyed in the War of 1812. Thus, the general store, being one of the centers of trade, created records of significant historical value. Thus, in comparison to the "older" counties to the east, this region was not far removed in time from being the "frontier." Besides the few families that may have kept various written records, there were few institutions besides the court house to keep written records that would document daily life of the people in the area. Louis County was not officially established until 1742, a year falling between the dates of these ledgers. The two ledgers (1735-17) in this collection are from a general store located in Louisa County, Virginia, and record the transactions of a store's patrons.
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