A Guide to the Richard Shelton Ellis Journals and Ledgers, 1817-1846
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Barcode Numbers 1105953, 1105972, 1105973, 1105974, 1165410, 1165411, 1165414, and 1165418
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
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Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
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© 2005 By the Library of Virginia. All rights reserved.
Processed by: Greg Crawford
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Richard Shelton Ellis Journals and Ledgers, 1817-1846. Local Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Acquisition Information
These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Amherst County.
Historical Information
Richard Shelton Ellis, 1775-1846, was a large property owner and businessman who lived in the Pedlar Mills, Amherst County, Virginia. Ellis, as a sole proprietor and in partnership with his brother John, owned mercantile businesses in Pedlar Mills, Richmond, and Wheeling during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He also owned a plantation in Amherst County named Red Hill.
Scope and Content
Richard Shelton Ellis Journals and Ledgers, 1817-1846, consist of three ledgers and five journals of a mercantile business owned by Ellis. It records the company's activities in Pedlar Mills, Amherst County, Virginia.
Journals, 1818-1832, two identified as Journals C and D, that were used as daybooks. They record transactions on a daily basis as they occurred. Information found in each entry includes name of customer and the amount owed and paid. The daybooks also record the store's payments of regular expenses such as purchases of merchandise, legal expenses, payment of debts, and hiring of slaves. Merchandise sold included dry- goods (cloth, yarn, thread, buttons), shoes, dishes, spices, knives, and tools.
Ledgers A, B, and G, 1816-1846, records the accounts of individual customers. Each account lists transactions in chronological order and the amount owed and paid. Also records store's controlling accounts including cash account, property account, interest account, merchandise account, batteau account, etc. Ledger A includes an index that records accounts in alphabetical order and the page number where the accounts can be found. The ledgers also include a list of debts due to and owed by Richard Shelton Ellis.
Related Material
Related materials may be found in Accession 21597 and 21717 which include the following: Thomas and Daniel Higginbotham and Company Journals and Ledgers, Daniel and David Higginbotham and Company Journals and Ledgers, John and Richard Shelton Ellis Journals and Ledgers, Archibald Robertson and Company Journals and Ledgers, Samuel Read and Company Journals and Ledgers, John James London Records, Thomas Higginbotham Records, and Soldier's Joy Plantation Records.
Access Terms
- Ellis, Richard Shelton. 1775-1846.
- Consumer goods--Virginia--Amherst County.
- Dry-goods--Virginia--Amherst County.
- Slave labor--Virginia--Amherst County.
- Amherst County (Va.)--History--19th century.
- Daybooks--Virginia--Amherst County.
- Journals (accounts)--Virginia--Amherst County.
- Journals and Ledgers--Virginia--Amherst County.
- Ledgers (account books)--Virginia--Amherst County.
- Local government records--Virginia--Amherst County.
- Merchants--Virginia--Amherst County.
Personal Name
Subject Terms
Geographic Terms
Record Type
Occupation Terms
Significant Places Associated With the Collection
- Amherst County (Va.)--History--19th century.