Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation

MSS 16830, I. T. Walton dental account book, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Biographical / Historical

Dr. I. T. Walton dental account book recording dental treatments of whites and African Americans both free and enslaved in 1857-1861 in Central and Southern Virginia. Most of the records pertain to his dental transactions during 1860 and 1861. They are particularly important for their inclusion of some 40 African American patients. Most of these people were evidently enslaved, and Walton's records are more attentive to the names of their owners -- or those financially responsible for them, though he usually records the first names of enslaved people.

Two patients, however, are recorded as "free": "Jim White free negro at Toneys," possibly P.F. Toney, who is known to have employed African American laborers in Buckingham County in the 1860s -- paid one dollar for "Extracting tooth for self" on March 16th, 1861.

More notable is Walton's record for "Candy Bartlett, free negress," who paid two dollars for "1 gold plug" on March 13th, 1861. She was the only African American in his accounts to receive anything other than an extraction, suggesting a reluctance on the part of the owners of enslaved people to pay for anything other than the most basic care.

Treatments and prices are listed for cleanings, tooth ache drops, "gold plugs," and various "temporary" and "amalgam" fillings, as well as for "extracting" teeth and "fangs", resetting teeth, and occasionally "killing nerve[s]."

Each entry records the name of the patient, and if different, the name of the person paying the bill. For example, "Thos. Price" paid two dollars for "1 God Plug for self," while "Jack Watson" paid $2.50 for "1 gold plug for wife."

Numerous entries record the patient's profession: "John H. Harvey (Teacher at Richardsons)" paid a total of five dollars for "Extracting 3 teeth for self" and "killing nerve & feeling with cement," and "Rev. Charles Chaplin" received his filling at no charge, in exchange "for preaching."

The majority of the account book proceeds chronologically, though Walton regularly returns to entries to record later work done on the same patient. A few entries note Walton's having rented rooms -- evidence of an itinerant practice -- while others, apparently from Key West, Florida, indicate that he spent some time there in the late 1850s. A few early pages contain dental account entries from 1857 through 1859, and some twenty pages at the end contain brief entries on Walton's personal and dental accounts from 1857-1861. A number of poems, some apparently authored by Walton, are interspersed between dental entries.

Content Description

This collection contains an account book of a Virginia dentist, Dr. I.T. Walton, who worked in Appomattox, Prince Edward, Charlotte, Mecklenburg, and Albemarle Counties. The book recorded services for white, enslaved, and free Black patients between 1857 and 1861. The account book documents procedures, tooth conditions, and overall health assessment of patients and includes prices for cleanings, toothache drops, "gold plugs," and various "temporary" and "amalgam" fillings, as well as for "extracting" teeth and "fangs," resetting teeth, and occasionally "killing nerve[s]." Each entry records the name of the patient and, if different, the name of the person paying the bill. Most of the volume proceeds chronologically, though Walton regularly returns to entries to record later work on the same patient. Walton delineates race within his account book, with forty individuals referred to as either "negro" or "negress". Walton notes two Black patients as free, and the rest were evidently enslaved. No mention of the Civil War appears. A few entries note Walton's renting rooms- evidence of an itinerant practice- while others, apparently from Key West, Florida, indicate that he spent some time there in the late 1850s. A few early pages contain dental account entries from 1857 through 1859, and some twenty pages at the end contain brief entries on Walton's personal and dental accounts from 1857 to 1861. A number of poems, some apparently authored by Walton, are interspersed between dental entries.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Dentistry
• James Arsenault and Co.
• enslaved persons