Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Lancelot Burrus. Record book, 1821-1867. Accession 31941, Business records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Lent for copying by Mrs. Alfred T. Burruss, through Jesse Richardson, 14 September 1983.

Biographical/Historical Information

Lancelot Burrus (ca. 1796-1878) of Orange County, Virginia, was a plantation owner, who served at one time as sheriff of Orange County. According to the 1850 census, the value of his real estate amounted to $ 6,500. On 27 June 1862, three of his six sons were killed at the Battle of Gaines' Mill and two other sons were wounded. The account of their deaths is given in an unsigned letter attributed to one of the wounded sons and in the Slaughter-Burrus Bible record (acc. 31922).

Scope and Content Information

Included are a journal headed "Orange County," 1821-1823, a journal headed "Orange Springs," 1825-1826; a ledger, 1830-1867; and a diary of plantation business, 1841-1850, 1855, 1857, with weekly entries. Includes a list of slaves with birth years.

Items noted in the Orange County Section are for agricultural goods, dry goods, whiskey, and tools, and for services rendere such as hauling and sawing. The Orange Springs entries consist almost entirely of meals, lodgings, and alcoholic beverages and are associated with a resort or inn operated by the family.