Soldier's Joy Plantation Journals and Ledgers, 1826-1851

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Soldier's Joy Plantation Journals and Ledgers, 1826-1846. Local Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Soldier's Joy Plantation Journals and Ledgers, 1826-1846. Local Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Soldier's Joy Plantation Journals and Ledgers, 1826-1846, consist of two journals and two ledgers that record the business activities of Soldier's Joy, a plantation owned by the Higginbotham family located in Nelson County.

Journals, 1832-1839 and 1846-1851, record business activities in chronological order on an almost daily basis similar to a daybook. Transactions include legal matters, interest owed and paid on debts by individuals, property taxes, postage, and transportation costs. Each entry includes the page number found in Ledger B.

Ledger B, 1826-1839, and Ledger C, 1840-1846, records individual accounts of customers. Beside each entry is the page number found in a corresponding journal. Entry numbers in Ledger B are found in the supplement to Journal B. Each account lists transactions in chronological order and the amount owed and paid. Both ledgers also records controlling accounts (interest account, cash account, property account, stock accounts, etc.), and expense accounts (toll and drag, legal expenses, etc.) Both ledgers include a controlling account titled "Liberated Negroes." Both ledgers include indexes that list accounts in alphabetical order and the page number where the account can be found.

Biographical / historical:

Soldier's Joy was a plantation located on the James River in Nelson County. Colonel Samuel Jordon Cabell established Soldier's Joy in 1785. The Higginbotham family acquired part of the plantation in 1815 through the marriage of John Higginbotham to Colonel Cabell's daughter, Margaret Washington Cabell. Daniel Higginbotham, along with other members of the Higginbotham family, are buried at Soldier's Joy.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Amherst County.
Physical description:
4 v.