About

Eighteenth-century store ledgers detail tabular data: recording purchases, account holders, and payments. These transactions are very different from the typical prose of a letter or diary entry, however, they include as much, if not more, significant information to assist in the understanding of the past given they describe numerous people, places, objects, economies, politics, religion, etc., all from a single community. Ledgers especially reveal insights into the lives of less recognized members of a community, like women and the enslaved, through their accounts and purchases by and on behalf of them by others.
To date, most research using ledgers (whether it be for a store, tradesperson, or individual) selects the most significant people or specific elements without attempting to understand the community in its entirety. Using store ledgers, History Revealed through its Shopping Stories project hopes to develop a prosopography to uncover consumer interests, lives, and the larger community of people in the 18th century with its present focus on Virginia stores, specifically in Colchester and Alexandria. This phase of the project expands the time period under consideration to better understand the Alexandria community and its consumer habits right before the Revolution and beyond by focusing on store ledgers from 1770-1802.
Works
Account Book of Jenifer & Hooe, 1775-1777 (folios 1-100)
This document has been previously transcribed and is shared here for illustration purposes only.
Collaboration is restricted.
Account Book of Jenifer & Hooe, 1775-1777 (folios 101-200)
This document has been previously transcribed and is shared here for illustration purposes only.
Collaboration is restricted.
Account Book of Jenifer & Hooe, 1775-1777 (folios 201-278)
This document has been previously transcribed and is shared here for illustration purposes only.
Collaboration is restricted.
Day Book of Harrison & Hooe, 1779-1783 (1779)
Robert Townsend Hooe partnered with Richard Harrison (of Alexandria, Virginia and later, Cadiz, Spain) to run a store in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1778 through at least 1790. Accounts in this waste book (the precursor to the day book) include house (overhead) accounts, fellow merchants and...
Some pages still need work. Help out!
Day Book of Harrison & Hooe, 1779-1783 (1780-1781)
Robert Townsend Hooe partnered with Richard Harrison (of Alexandria, Virginia and later, Cadiz, Spain) to run a store in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1778 through at least 1790. Accounts in this waste book (the precursor to the day book) include house (overhead) accounts, fellow merchants and...
Some pages still need work. Help out!
Journal of Harrison & Hooe, 1778-1787 (5 January 1785 - 31 December 1785)
Robert Townsend Hooe partnered with Richard Harrison (of Alexandria, Virginia and later, Cadiz, Spain) to run a store in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1778 through at least 1790. Accounts in this journal (or day book) include house (overhead) accounts, fellow merchants and tradesmen, ships, and...
Some pages still need work. Help out!
Journal of Jenifer & Hooe, 1775-1778 (1 January 1776-3 April 1778)
Robert Townsend Hooe and Daniel Jenifer ran a store in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1773-1778. As a journal (or day book), this volume represents the summary of each day's transactions at the store, both purchases and payments, often with more detail than would be found in the official ledger. ...
Some pages still need work. Help out!
Journal of Harrison & Hooe, 1778-1787 (17 April 1778 - 31 December 1779)
Robert Townsend Hooe partnered with Richard Harrison (of Alexandria, Virginia and later, Cadiz, Spain) to run a store in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1778 through at least 1790. Accounts in this journal (or day book) include house (overhead) accounts, fellow merchants and tradesmen, ships, and...
Some pages still need work. Help out!
Journal of Jenifer & Hooe, 1775-1778 (1775)
Robert Townsend Hooe and Daniel Jenifer ran a store in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1773-1778. As a journal (or day book), this volume represents the summary of each day's transactions at the store, both purchases and payments, often with more detail than would be found in the official ledger. ...
Some pages still need work. Help out!
Journal of Jenifer & Hooe, 1773-1774 (folios 231-460)
Robert Townsend Hooe and Daniel Jenifer ran a store in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1773-1778. As a journal (or day book), this volume represents the summary of each day's transactions at the store, both purchases and payments, often with more detail than would be found in the official ledger....