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Soldier's Joy Plantation Journals and Ledgers, 1826-1846. Local Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Amherst County.
Soldier's Joy was a plantation located on the James River in Nelson County. Colonel Samuel Jordon Cabell established Soldier's Joy in 1785. The Higginbotham family acquired part of the plantation in 1815 through the marriage of John Higginbotham to Colonel Cabell's daughter, Margaret Washington Cabell. Daniel Higginbotham, along with other members of the Higginbotham family, are buried at Soldier's Joy.
Soldier's Joy Plantation Journals and Ledgers, 1826-1846, consist of two journals and two ledgers that record the business activities of Soldier's Joy, a plantation owned by the Higginbotham family located in Nelson County.
Journals, 1832-1839 and 1846-1851, record business activities in chronological order on an almost daily basis similar to a daybook. Transactions include legal matters, interest owed and paid on debts by individuals, property taxes, postage, and transportation costs. Each entry includes the page number found in Ledger B.
Ledger B, 1826-1839, and Ledger C, 1840-1846, records individual accounts of customers. Beside each entry is the page number found in a corresponding journal. Entry numbers in Ledger B are found in the supplement to Journal B. Each account lists transactions in chronological order and the amount owed and paid. Both ledgers also records controlling accounts (interest account, cash account, property account, stock accounts, etc.), and expense accounts (toll and drag, legal expenses, etc.) Both ledgers include a controlling account titled "Liberated Negroes." Both ledgers include indexes that list accounts in alphabetical order and the page number where the account can be found.
Related materials may be found in Accession 21597 and 21717 which include the following: Thomas and Daniel Higginbotham and Company Business Records, Daniel and David Higginbotham and Company Business Records, John and Richard Shelton Ellis Business Records, Richard Shelton Ellis Business Records, Archibald Robertson and Company Business Records, Samuel Read and Company Business Records, John James London Records, and Thomas Higginbotham Records.