The collection is open for research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], William J. Tarter Account Books, Ms1940-027, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The William J. Tarter Account Books were donated to the university in 1939 and transferred to Special Collections and University Archives in 1955.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the William J. Tarter Account Books commenced and was completed in September 2011. Initial description was completed in or prior to May 1970.
The 1910 census describes William J. Tarter as a 39-year-old department store merchant, living in Wythe County, Virginia, with his wife of 16 years, 38-year-old saleslady Pauline B. Tarter. Both were born in Virginia. Tarter is listed as a farmer in the 1920 and 1930 censuses, living in Wythe County's Black Lick District. William J. Tarter (1870-1936) is buried in the Mount Mitchell Methodist Church Cemetery in Wytheville (Wythe County), Virginia.
This collection contains four account books maintained by William J. Tarter, a Favonia (Wythe County), Virginia merchant and postmaster. Included is a postmaster's account book containing quarterly property inventories and transaction tallies. The collection also contains three ledgers for Tarter's business enterprises. The first of these, a cash book, spans the years 1907 to 1917, and provides a daily log of cash received as well as a list of store expenditures to individuals and other businesses. (Loosely inserted in the front of the ledger are additional records of the Favonia post office.) Two additional ledgers seem to record a variety of accounts, including grocery purchases, wages of millworkers and other laborers, farm accounts, and the income derived from--and expenses associated with--a truck used for hauling coal, wood, and hay.
The collection is arranged chronologically.
The guide to the William J. Tarter Account Books by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/).