The collection is open for research.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Thomas S. Miller Account Books, Ms1940-020, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Thomas S. Miller Account Books were donated to the university in 1940 and transferred to Special Collections and University Archives in 1955.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Thomas Shannon Miller Account Books commenced and was completed in October 2012. Initial description was completed in or prior to May 1970.
Thomas Shannon Miller, the son of James B. and Eliza Jane Miller, was born in Giles County, Virginia, on June 26, 1860. More familiarly known as Shannon Miller, he was employed as a store clerk by 1880, while continuing to live in the Walkers Creek District home of his parents. On April 7, 1886, Miller married Alice Bane (1863-1958), the daughter of Samuel and Lucy Baker Bane. The Millers had six children. By 1886, Miller was a partner in Miller and Bane, a general mercantile store at White Gate, where Miller also served as postmaster. Records indicate that Miller later changed business partners: a 1912 ledger bears the name "T. S. Miller and Bro." While operating the store, Miller also engaged in farming. The 1920 census lists him as a farmer; the 1930 census as a farm manager. Thomas Shannon Miller died in 1949 and is buried in the Walkers Creek Cemetery in Pearisburg (Giles County).
This collection contains account books maintained by Thomas Shannon Miller, proprietor of a general store at White Gate (Giles County), Virginia, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Included is a series of 10 day books spanning the years 1885 to 1912. Accompanying the day books are seven account ledgers, to which credit transactions were copied from the day books. Each ledger entry contains customer name, date of transaction, goods purchased, prices, credits, and account balances.
The collection is arranged by material type, then chronologically.
The guide to the Thomas S. Miller Account Books by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/).