Richard Shelton Ellis Journals and Ledgers, 1817-1846

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

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Richard Shelton Ellis Journals and Ledgers, 1817-1846, consist of three ledgers and five journals of a mercantile business owned by Ellis. It records the company's activities in Pedlar Mills, Amherst County, Virginia.

Journals, 1818-1832, two identified as Journals C and D, that were used as daybooks. They record transactions on a daily basis as they occurred. Information found in each entry includes name of customer and the amount owed and paid. The daybooks also record the store's payments of regular expenses such as purchases of merchandise, legal expenses, payment of debts, and hiring of slaves. Merchandise sold included dry- goods (cloth, yarn, thread, buttons), shoes, dishes, spices, knives, and tools.

Ledgers A, B, and G, 1816-1846, records the accounts of individual customers. Each account lists transactions in chronological order and the amount owed and paid. Also records store's controlling accounts including cash account, property account, interest account, merchandise account, batteau account, etc. Ledger A includes an index that records accounts in alphabetical order and the page number where the accounts can be found. The ledgers also include a list of debts due to and owed by Richard Shelton Ellis.

Biographical / historical:

Richard Shelton Ellis, 1775-1846, was a large property owner and businessman who lived in the Pedlar Mills, Amherst County, Virginia. Ellis, as a sole proprietor and in partnership with his brother John, owned mercantile businesses in Pedlar Mills, Richmond, and Wheeling during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He also owned a plantation in Amherst County named Red Hill.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Amherst County.
Physical description:
8 vol. (3429 p.)