A Guide to the Papers of James S. Easley, 1837-1904
A Collection in
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Accession Number 38-52
Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibraryUniversity of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
USA
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Reference Request Form: https://small.lib.virginia.edu/reference-request/
URL: http://small.library.virginia.edu/
© 2003 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.
Processed by: Special Collections Staff
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.
Preferred Citation
Papers of James S. Easley, Accession #38-52, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
The collection was given to the Library by James S. Easley, a grandson of James S. Easley (1802-1879), of Halifax, Virginia, in 1934.
Scope and Content Information
The James S. Easley collection consists of ca. 2600 items (4 Hollinger Boxes, 1.6 linear shelf feet) and 115 bound ledgers (18 linear shelf feet), 1837-1904, containing business records of James S. Easley and his successors of Halifax Court House [now Halifax], Virginia.
James S. Easley was born in 1802 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. With various associates, he sold general merchandise in Halifax Court House , Virginia, and speculated in mid-western lands. Mr. Easley died in 1879. Over the years James Easley's businesses were conducted by a variety of the following associates, executors and successors: Easley and Willingham; W.W. Willingham; Easley, Holt and Co.; Easley, Carrington and Co.; Samuel W. Holt; Easley and Hurt; R. Holt Easley, Wood Boudin, Jr. and Banister Mills.
The collection includes the records of merchandising business, land speculation, a milling enterprise and the settling of Easley's estate. Also included are the records of the continuation of these activities in a business operated by R. Holt Easley, son of James. Easley. The records of the general merchandising business are contained chiefly in day books/ journals, journals and ledgers. They include the names of wholesale suppliers and customers, and detail the variety of goods handled. The records of Easley's land speculations dominate the collection and include correspondence, maps, registers of various land records, receipts, bonds, deeds, tax lists and accounts. They are to be found throughout the manuscript material and the bound ledgers. The land records begin in 1853 and continue through 1904. Business was conducted with Iowa land agents such as Weare and Allison, W.J. Barney and Co., E.S. Hedges, J.P. and J.N. Casady, and Casady and Test as well as agents in Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, and Nebraska. Brief references to a milling enterprise are included in a receipt (Banister Mills, 1881) and in several business letters (1903--1904).
Beginning in 1879 all records, including those of the land speculation, reflect the adjustments necessitated by Easley's death. Records of R. Holt Easley's management of the business can be found in both the manuscript material and the bound ledgers, beginning ca. 1882. The collection contains references to the existence of lead in Iowa, the influence of new railroads, and problems resulting from the Civil War in relation to the ownership of property in the north by a Virginia businessman.
Organization
The manuscript material is filed in chronological order. The material within each folder is in forward chronological order, except for some letters which had been serialized. These letters have been filed by number, and vary between being in reverse chronological order and an inconsistent forward chronological order. Some of these folders also contain an index of fair accuracy.
The ledgers are arranged in six groups: Letter books, Daybooks/ Journals, Journals, Ledgers, Land Records, and Miscellaneous. Each group is lettered (A to F, respectively), and ledgers in each group are arranged in chronological order and numbered. (See listing at the end of this guide.) Several of the journals contain two sets of records, each set separated by a number of years. The letters in some of the ledgers are letter press copies and, therefore, many are difficult to read.
Contents List
-
1853 Jun 11- 1855 Sep 11
with index 1
-
1855 Sep 17- 1856 Nov 1
with index 2
-
1856 Nov 2- 1858 Oct 5
with index 3
-
1858 Oct 5- 1860 Jun 18
with index 4
-
1859 Nov 14- 1860 Jul 11
with index 5
-
1860 Jun 18 1865 Oct 16
with index 6
-
1861 Feb 13- 1866 Jul 24
with index 7
-
1865 Oct 16- 1867 Feb 20
with index 8
-
1867 Feb. 20- 1868 Apr 11
with index 9
-
1867 Oct 3- 1868 Jul 25
with index 10
-
1868 Apr 14- 1869 Apr 9
with index 11
-
1868 Jul 28- Dec 21
with index 12
-
1869 Apr 19- 1870 Mar 31
with index 13
-
1870 Jun 1- 1871 Aug 14
with index 14
-
1871 Aug 16- 1872 Sep 4
with index 15
-
1872 Sep 11- 1873 Dec 31
with index 16
-
1874 Jan 1- 1875 Feb 25
with index 17
-
1874 Oct 20- 1874 Feb 10
with index 18
-
1875 Feb 25- 1876 Feb 18
with index 19
-
1875 May 26- 1876 Jan 1
with index 20
-
1876 Feb 19- 1877 May 15
with index 21
-
1877 May 17- 1878 Sep 17
with index 22
-
1878 Arp 8- Dec 10
with index 23
-
1878 Sep 17- 1881 Jan 21
with index 24
-
1879 Aug 2- 1880 Feb 2
with index 25
-
1879 Dec 29- 1880 Dec 10
with index 26
-
1880 Dec 8- 1882 Apr 21
with index 27
-
1880 Dec 9- 1881 Dec 26
28
-
1881 Jan 7- 1882 Aug 25
29
-
1881 Oct 26- 1883 Jun 3
30
-
1882 Apr 27- 1883 Nov 3
with index 31
-
1883 Jun 1- 1884 Mar 17
with index 32
-
1883 Nov 5- 1885 Jul 10
with index 33
-
1884 Apr 1- 1885 Apr 8
with index 34
-
1885 May 23 -1888 Jun 20
with index 35
-
1885 Jul 11- 1889 Mar 12
with index 36
-
1887 Oct 11- 1890 Apr 9
with index 37
-
1889 Mar 15- 1891 Aug 11
with index 38
-
1889 Apr 24- 1891 Jan 20
with index 39
-
1889 Apr 27- 1890 Jul 24
with index 40
-
1890 Jul 1- Dec 11
with index 41
-
1891 Apr 6- 1892 Mar 1
with index 42
-
1892 Jan 12- Aug 19
with index 43
-
1892 Mar 2- Oct 27
with index 44
-
1894 May 24- 1896 Feb 22
with index 45
-
1901 Nov 5- 1902 May 15
with index 46
-
1902 Jul 17- 1903 Jun 12
with index 47
-
1903 Jun 16- 1904 Sep 16
with index 48
-
1837 Jul 23- 1838 Sep 29 1
Daybook
-
1838 Jun 15- Sep 19
Journal
-
1837 Jul 19- 1838 Jul 28
-
1873 Sep 16- 1877 Jul 14 2
Daybook
-
1873 Sep 15- 1878 Mar 3
Journal
-
1837 Jul 1- Nov 20
1
-
1838 Jan 1 -Sep 29
2
-
1838 Nov 1- 1839 Aug 31
3
-
1838 Oct 16- 1839 Aug 4
4
-
1839 Sep 2- 1840 May 30
5
-
1869 Oct 1- 1840 Jun 23
6
-
1840 Jun 22- 1841 Feb 20
7
-
1840 Jul 1- 1841 Jan 30
8
-
1841 Feb 22- Oct 23
9
-
1841 Mar 1- Sep 30
10
-
1841 Oct 25- 1880 Jul 17
11
-
1842 Mar 21- Nov 8
12
-
1842 Apr 1- Oct 31
13
-
1842 Nov 9- 1843 Jul 29
14
-
1842 Dec 1- 1843 Aug 31
15
-
1843 Sep 1- 1884 May 31
16
-
1843 Oct 2- 1884 Oct 30
17
-
1844 May 13- 1845 Jan 31
18
-
1845 Apr 1- Dec 31
19
-
1845 Dec 1- 1847 Oct 15
20
-
1846 Jan 1- Nov 17
21
-
1846 Feb 2- Oct 31
22
-
1846 Nov 18- 1847 Sep 30
23
-
1847 Oct 15- 1877 Apr 6
24
-
1863 Oct 15- 1864 Jan 25
-
1847 Nov 1- 1848 Jan 31
25
-
1862 Nov 24- 1863 Oct 14
-
1854 Mar 1- Nov 30
26
-
1854 Apr 1- Nov 30
27
-
1855 Jan 1- Jul 30
28
-
1855 Jul 31- 1856 Jan 31
29
-
1856 Mar 1- 1857 Mar 31
30
-
1856 Apr 1- 1857 Apr 30
31
-
1857 Jun 1- 1858 Feb 26
32
-
1858 Mar 1- 1859 Fan 31
33
-
1858 Apr 1- 1861 Feb 28
34
-
1859 Mar 1- 1860 Jan 16
35
-
1859 Apr 1- Dec 31
36
-
1860 Jan 16- 1860 Jan 30
37
-
1860 Feb 1- 1861 Feb 12
38
-
1861 Mar 1- 1862 Sep 23
39
-
1861 Apr 1- 1862 Nov 23
40
-
1873 Fan 20- Feb 8
41
-
1883 Nov 1- 1895 Mar
42
-
1837- 1839
1
-
1842-1846
with index 2
-
1844-1833
with index 3
-
1851-1852
4
-
1853-1860
5
-
1855-1874
with index 6
-
1855-1856
7
-
1858-1859
8
-
1861-1864
9
-
1864-1881
with index 10
-
1870-1873
with index 11
-
Register of Land Warrants 1852-1855
with index 1
-
Ledger/ Register of Land Records 1853-1858
with index 2
-
Ledger/ Register of land records 1853-1881
3
-
Ledger/ Register of land records 1854-1879
with index 4
-
Register of land 1857-1878
with index 5
-
Land tracts maps ca. 1857
6
-
Register of land records 1869-1882
with index 7
-
Register of debt, court judgments and land records 1837-1886
-
Register of balances 1874-1879
with index
-
Miscellaneous Financial records 1866-1876
-
Invoice book 1869-1871