Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

For Ledger No. 4 and Ledger No. 5, use microfilm copies, Augusta County (Va.) Reels 247 and 253.

Preferred Citation

Timothy M. Patterson General Store Ledgers, 1792-1805. Local government records collection, Augusta County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Augusta County under the accession number 43658.

Historical Information

A dealer in dry-goods, groceries, and hardware, this general store operated in the Augusta County, Virginia, area during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Timothy M. Patterson operated the general store for the years 1798 to 1801; however, it is uncertain if Patterson controlled the general store for the entirety of its existence.

Scope and Content

Timothy M. Patterson General Store Ledgers, 1792-1805, consists of the following six volumes: Ledger No. 4, 1792-1795; Ledger No. 5, 1795-1797; Ledger No. 6, 1798-1801; Ledger No. 7, 1802-1805; Index to Ledger No. 5, 1795-1797; and Index to Ledger No. 7, 1802-1805. The ledgers record the accounts of individual customers, with accounts carried over to the next ledger once a volume was completed. Information found in each entry includes the customer names, date of transactions, name and quantity of items purchased, amounts owed, and amounts paid. Examples of items purchased include butter, coffee, window glass, stoneware, whiskey, clothing, shoes, cloth, beef, sugar, and saddlery. The general store accepted cash, labor (making clothes, hauling, cording wood, etc), and barter (cattle, produce, etc.) as payments. Ledger No. 4 indicates that customer accounts were carried over from an unidentified Ledger No. 3. Separate indexes are included for both Ledger No. 5 and Ledger No. 7.

Index Terms

Persons:

• Patterson, Timothy M.

Subjects:

• Consumer goods--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Dry-goods--Virginia--Augusta County.
• General stores--Virginia--Augusta County.

Geographical Names:

• Augusta County (Va.)--History--18th century.
• Augusta County (Va.)--History--19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Business records--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Ledgers (account books)--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Augusta County.