Colonial Store Entries

A fascinating source of information on the lifestyle of colonial Virginia residents comes from merchant records. Scottish merchant William Allason (1731-1800) operated a store in Falmouth, King George County, Virginia from the late 1750s. He moved to Fauquier County in 1773, operating his mercantile business catering to the needs of land owners in the region. He kept detailed records of his transactions, and these ledgers survive today in the holdings of the Library of Virginia. For further information on Allason, see this 1976 newspaper article via Google's Newspaper Archive.

Source: Free Lance-Star 29 Jul 1976, Google Newspaper Search

My Wheatley and Thornhill ancestors appear in these records. For example, Joseph Wheatley, brother of my 7th-great-grandfather John Wheatley, appears as a debtor to Allason on 17 March 1769.

Source: Allason Papers, Ledger G

My 6th-great-grandfather Joseph Thornhill owed Allason or had an account with his store as well, from the ledger in 1767-1768:

I have wanted to visit the Library of Virginia in Richmond to see their collections, so now I have another reason to go in order to see the Allason records. This is a vast collection, so if you had ancestors who were land owners in Fauquier, Culpeper, Stafford, Spotsylvania or surrounding counties between 1750s-1800, it is possible their names may be in the Allason records.