Albemarle County (Va.) Business Records, 1831-1904, undated

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:

Many of the business volumes are fragile and should not be handled, please check alternative formats for volumes that have been microfilmed. Please use microfilm if available.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Albemarle County (Va.) Business Records, 1831-1904, undated. Local government records collection, Albemarle County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

Extent:
20 volumes; 6 microfilm reels
Creator:
Albemarle County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Albemarle County (Va.) Business Records, 1831-1904, undated. Local government records collection, Albemarle County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Albemarle County (Va.) Business Records, 1831-1904, undated are comprised of various records created by individuals and companies in pursuit of documenting business activities in and around Albemarle County (Va.) Represented records consist of bound volumes such as a subscriber list, account books, ledgers, daybooks, real estate listings and an order book.

Scope and Content:Charlottesville Chronicle Subscriber List and Account Book, 1860-1868, lists subscribers by town and lists various accounts with other businesses.

Historical Information:John S. Crawford was an enslaver and owned extensive real estate in Bath County, Virginia in the 19th century.

Scope and Content:John S. Crawford Plantation Account Book, 1859-1869, records the accounts of individuals, including enslaved Black and Multiracial people, who purchased goods from Crawford. Information found in the accounts include name of individual, date of transaction, goods purchased, service rendered, form of payment, amount owed, and amount paid. Goods sold include tobacco, corn, whiskey, coffee, meal, and bacon. Services rendered include pasturing livestock, renting out wagons, Forms of payment include cash, credit, labor, and barter of goods including chickens, iron kettles, and flour. Includes index.

Scope and Content:William J. Ficklin Account Book, 1902-1904, records produce bought by various individuals.

Historical Information:C. Ross Mann owned a mercantile business called C.R. Mann located in the town of Batesville in Albemarle County, Virginia. The ledger was used as an exhibit in the chancery suit Wingo, Ellett, and Crump, etc., versus Mann and Wood heard in the Albemarle County Circuit Court. The dispute centered over money owed Wingo, Ellett, and Crump by C. Ross Mann and his business partner William L. Wood. According to Mann, all the business' financial records were held by Wood which Wood denied.

Scope and Content:C. R. Mann Book C, 1879-1880, is a ledger that records the accounts of individual customers. Each account lists transactions in chronological order. Information found in each entry includes date of transaction, type of transaction, item purchased, and amount owed or paid, and form of payment. Items sold include tobacco, food (bacon, beef, eggs, sugar), tools, farm implements, nails, tools, and cloth. forms of payment include cash, credit, and barter of items such as wheat, cherries, and chickens.

Also see: Albemarle County (Va.) Chancery Cause, Wingo, Ellett, and Crump], etc. versus Mann and Wood, 1890-022.

Scope and Content:Mason, Walker and Richardson Daybooks, July 1860-July 1861 and 1873-1875, record the transactions as they occurred daily. Information found in each entry includes name of customer, items purchased, payment debts or expenses, and the amount owed and paid. Merchandise sold include beef, soap, whiskey, bed steads, cabbage, potatoes, sugar, and coffee. Entries in one of the daybooks include page numbers that correspond with page numbers found in the ledger. Both daybooks include additional miscellaneous information.

Mason, Walker and Richardson Ledger A, 1860-1861, records the accounts of individual customers. Each account lists transactions in chronological order. Information found in the accounts includes items purchased, payment debts or expenses, and the amount owed and paid. Payments made by cash, barter including eggs and vegetables, or labor. Ledger also includes a list of horses and mules worked at Shadwell. The list includes name of horse or mule, age, and value.

Scope and Content:William T. McAllister Daybook, 1876-1877, records accounts of individuals for purchases made within the tavern. Information includes name of account holder, quantity of purchases, and total of accounts.

Scope and Content:Price, Phares, and Randolph real estate listings, undated, records physical descriptions of 115 properties that have been offered for sale. The properties are primarily large farms with dwelling houses. Other properties have smokehouses, icehouses, or quarters for enslaved individuals available.

Historical Information::John B. Spiece was a lawyer and an enslaver in Albemarle County.

Scope and Content:John B. Spiece Plantation Ledger, 1831-1890 (bulk 1857-1890), records debits and credits incurred in the administration of his plantation. Accounts include wages for laborers employed in picking fruit, milling, and planting; board for laborers; and supplies such as clothing bought for his enslaved individuals or tools and farm implements. Page 477 records the names of ten enslaved individuals owned by Spiece and their date of death from 1847-1864.

Scope and Content:Unidentified Newspaper Account Book, 1831-1836, records individual accounts of customers. Information found in accounts accounts include name of customer, date of transaction, service rendered, amount owed and paid, and form of payment. Services rendered primarily relate to publishing advertisements for customers such as property sales including enslaved individuals. The account book also includes a list of names of subscribers who lived locally, in-state, and out-of-state. Includes index.

Scope and Content:Woods and Company Account Book, 1897-1898, contains accounts of goods bought and sold. Items include produce, eggs, flour, sugar, and coffee.

Woods and Company Order Book No. 4, 1897-1898, records name of customer, date of purchase, grocery items (such as coffee, butter, tobacco, and bacon) purchased, and price of purchase.

Scope and Content:A. P. and Bibb Company Ledger A, 1871-1872, records individual and company accounts by date. The volume notes purchases of merchandise and sundries by cash and includes balance due. Am index is found in the front of the volume.

A. P. and Bibb Company Ledger B, 1874, records individual and company accounts by date. However, the purchases notes are more specific--noting specific items such as needles, cotton, socks and fabrics such as linen, muslim and calico. The volumes contains a loose account and numbers 122 pages.

Scope and Content:Mrs. Jones Account Book, 1857-1871, contains individual and company accounts by date. The volume notes profit and loss, interest on accounts, balance due, a tally of merchandise and whether cash or check is received for payment. The hiring of enslaved individuals is also included. Volume is in very poor condition due to water damage. Within the same box folder is found an Unidentified Ledger, 1861.

Scope and Content:Samuel Lewis Ledger, 1839-1855, records wages paid to and groceries bought by individuals. Day laborers were employed in farm labor like harvesting, butchering, thrashing, and mowing. Among the items purchased from Samuel Lewis were bacon, butter, flour, corn, and potatoes. This volume also includes an Unidentified Ledger, 1858-1860.

Scope and Content:Unidentified Business Ledger, 1857-1859, records accounts of an unknown nature. Lists payments to and payments received by individuals. Volume is in very poor condition due to water damage.

Scope and Content:Unidentified Business Ledger, 1858-1860, records the sale of clothing, fabric, thread, ribbon, and cloth fringe. This volume also includes the Samuel Lewis Ledger, 1839-1855.

Scope and Content:Unidentified Business Ledger, 1861 July 1-5, records individual accounts with a very detailed list of items purchased. Materials bought include lace, cotten, silk, flannel, wool and indigo. Other items procured include staples (sugar and molasses), coats, shoes, buttons, matches, candle sticks, tobacco, wagons, harnesses and hay. Within the same box folder is found Mrs. Jones Account Book, 1857-1871.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Record Type: Business Records, both volumes and loose records, are in some cases transferred to the Library of Virginia as components of court record transfers. These business records in some cases were simply stored in the local court building for safe keeping by business owners. In other cases, business records (particularly ledgers, account books, etc.) may have been filed in a court case as an exhibit. These business record exhibits appeared both in chancery causes and in judgments, these records serving as exhibits for business dissolution cases, debt suits, and contract disputes.

Locality History: Albemarle County was named for William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle, and governor of Virginia from 1737 to 1754. It was created by a statute of 1744 and formed from Goochland County; part of Louisa County was added in 1761 and islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River in 1770. The court met for the first time on 8 February 1745. The county seat is the city of Charlottesville. Area: 722.6 square miles. Population: 94,186 (2000), 90,400 (2005 estimate)

Lost Records Locality: Albemarle County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Created in 1744. All order books except the first and many loose papers between 1748 and 1781 were destroyed by British general Banastre Tarleton's raid on Charlottesville in 1781 during the Revolutionary War.

Acquisition information:

These records came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Albemarle County in an undated accession.

Mason, Walker and Richardson Records, 1860-1875, came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Fluvanna County in an undated accession.

Processing information:

Prior to 2024, the various business records in this collection were originally described as individual records, but they have been consolidated into one large business record for the locality. Additional records for this locality were also found in Fluvanna County.

In 2024 Local Records staff made the decision to include the Mason, Walker and Richardson Records, 1860-1875 in the Albemarle Business Records descriptive guide as the sphere of activity is more central to Albemarle than to Fluvanna County despite being transfered by the Circuit of Fluvanna County.

Encoded by C. Freed, July 2024

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged

  • Series I: Charlottesville Chronicle Subscriber List and Account Book, 1860-1868
  • Series II: John S. Crawford Plantation Account Book, 1859-1869
  • Series III: William J. Ficklin Account Book, 1902-1904
  • Series IV: C. R. Mann Book C, 1879-1880
  • Series V: Mason, Walker and Richardson Records, 1860-1875
  • Series VI: William T. McAllister Daybook, 1876-1877
  • Series VII: Price, Phares, and Randolph Real Estate Listings, undated
  • Series VIII: John B. Spiece Plantation Ledger, 1831-1890 (bulk 1857-1890)
  • Series IX: Unidentified Newspaper Account Book, 1831-1836
  • Series X: Woods and Company Records, 1897-1898
  • Series XI: A. P. Bibb and Company Ledgers, 1871-1872, 1874
  • Series XII: Mrs. Jones Account Book, 1857-1871
  • Series XIII: Samuel Lewis Ledger, 1839-1855
  • Series XIV: Unidentified Business Ledger, 1857-1859
  • Series XV: Unidentified Business Ledger, 1858-1860
  • Series XVI: Unidentified Business Ledger, 1861

Physical location:
State Records Center; Library of Virginia