A key primary source collection for understanding daily life in Pittsylvania County, Virginia in the 1790s to early 1800s comes from the Robert Wilson Account Books. Three generations of Wilsons, starting with Col. John Wilson (1740-1820), kept business records from their general store at Dan's Hill (later Danville, Virginia). The general store was the primary commercial hub for the area in this time, acting as store, bank, craft workshop and community crossroads.
The collection is located at the University of North Carolina and searchable on FamilySearch, containing 80 volumes of daybooks, ledgers and shop accounts. Nicholas Free appears throughout the ledgers, and some examples are below, such as a November 1811 purchase of spectacles and a case.
 |
| FamilySearch. 4 Nov 1811. |
In 1805, it looks like Nicholas sold John Wilson tobacco for the Danville store.
 |
| FamilySearch. 7 Dec 1805. |
In June 1816, Wilson made three payments to Nicholas from cash for rent, again a payment in December 1816, and one in June 1817. It is unclear to me if this was cash to Nicholas so he could pay rent, or the other way around. Nicholas bought ginger in August 1816.
In May 1817, it looks like Nicholas sold Wilson a barrel of corn and two bushels of wheat.
 |
| FamilySearch. 24 May 1817. |
 |
| FamilySearch. 3 Nov 1817. |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.