Templeton and Company Daybook and Ledger, 1856-1860

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:

Closed for reformatting.

Terms of access:

For Daybook, 1856-1860, use microfilm copy, Augusta County (Va.) Reel 257.

Preferred citation:

Templeton and Company Daybook and Ledger, 1856-1860. Local government records collection, Augusta County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

Creator:
Augusta County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Templeton and Company Daybook and Ledger, 1856-1860. Local government records collection, Augusta County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Templeton and Company Daybook, 1856-1860, records the business transactions of the general store on a daily basis as they occurred. Information found in each entry includes the date, the name of the customer, the form of transaction, and the amount of monies debited and credited to the account. Each transaction was also recorded under the customer's name in the corresponding ledger. Templeton and Company sold a variety of items including tobacco, nails, sugar, cloth, coffee, tea, bacon, tea kettles, eggs, candles, clothing, stoneware, shoes, and produce. Records of sales begin in August of 1856 and continue through March of 1858. Beginning in late March of 1858, the daybook was used to document money received for the sale of the company's stock at auction. Each entry lists the name and amounts of the items sold and the money received for the sale. The back of the daybook contains a record for the grain (wheat, corn, rye, and oats) stored in Summerdean Mills for 1857 and 1858. The daybook also contains a record of unidentified payments made by Samuel M. Templeton in 1860 to various individuals.

Ledger, 1856-1860, records the accounts of individual customers. Each customer account, recorded from 1856-1858, includes separate entries for purchases and payments made. Purchases were not detailed but rather include the notation "to merchandise," amounts purchased, price per unit, and the total purchase made for that day. However, details were provided for the payments made toward account balances. Templeton and Company accepted cash, bartered items (hides, soap, butter, bacon, apples, horses, buggies), and labor (hauling, chopping, work at store) as payments. The back of the volume includes entries pertaining to the dissolution of the business from 1858 to 1860. Information provided includes a listing of customers with outstanding balances and a listing of money collected by A. B. Lightner on behalf of Templeton and Company.

Biographical / historical:

Templeton and Company was a general store that operated in Summerdean, Virginia, from 1856 to 1858. John Wilson, Samuel M. Templeton, and John W. McCormack formed the partnership for the mercantile business in 1856, but by April 1858 the company had dissolved and disposed of its stock of goods at auction.

The volumes were exhibits in the chancery case, John Wilson versus Samuel M. Templeton, heard in the Circuit Court of Augusta County.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Augusta County under the accession numbers 43658 and 43836.
Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
2 v. and 1 microfilm reel