Samuel Shacklett Store Daybooks

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collection Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Samuel Shacklett Store Daybooks, 1845-1866, SC 0168, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
1.36 cubic feet 2 boxes
Creator:
Shacklett, Samuel, 1804-1886, Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, and Green Valley Auctions, Inc.
Abstract:
Four daybooks, which cover 1845, September 1851-August 1852, January 1856-March 1858, and September 1865-December 1866, list by date and customer the purchase of a wide variety of items including foodstuffs, fabric, books, clothing and shoes, and sundry home goods.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Samuel Shacklett Store Daybooks, 1845-1866, SC 0168, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

Purchases of food, clothes, shoes, tools, household items, brandy, pills, turpentine, paper, tobacco, candy, books, and other items are documented with price, name of customer, and name of person who came for the articles. The name "Shacklett" is penciled in the front of the 1851-1852 and 1856-1858 daybooks; two slips of paper in the 1845 book carry the names John Dougherty and Geo. Bruffy, who may have been business partners. Many prominent Harrisonburg residents are listed as customers including Hardesty, Pennybacker, Harrison, Kratzer, Sprinkel, and Koontz.

Biographical / historical:

Samuel Shacklett was born in 1804, probably in Fauquier County, Virginia. By 1838 he had become a very successful businessman in Harrisonburg and in that year was elected a trustee of the city. He lived upstairs in a large brick house on the northeast corner of Court Square, with his store below in a space that would later be occupied by Fletcher drugstore. He also owned a frame building on Main Street, the lower floor of which he used as a wareroom; the upper story was called Shacklett's Hall and was used for church services by Old School Baptist and Episcopalian congregations. In 1860 Shacklett was named a commissioner of the Harrisonburg Savings Bank by an Act of Assembly. He died in 1886 and his son Henry continued the business for many more years.

Acquisition information:

The daybooks dated 1845, September 1851-August 1852, and September 1865-December 1866 were purchased November 16, 2002, from Green Valley Auctions, Inc. by Friends of Carrier Library.

The daybook dated January 1856-March 1858 was purchased at Jeffrey S. Evans Associates' Americana Variety Auction in August 2018.

Custodial history:

The Janury 1856-March 1858 daybook was part of the private collection of Maxine and E.R. Grymes Heneberger of Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Processing information:

In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in 2017-2018. This collection was previously cataloged as SC 4040.

Arrangement:

Each daybook is bound and housed in two oversize boxes.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard