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Preferred Citation

Asa Moore Janney Forest Mills ledgers, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.

Biographical / Historical

Asa Moore Janney (1802-1877) was a Quaker, mill owner, abolitionist and Native American agent for the Santee Sioux Reseravation located in Nebraska. Janney operated Forest Mills in Loudon County, Virginia and was a unionist who provided goods to the then confederate occupied communities in Virginia during the Civil War (1861-1865). Forest Mills was raided and burned by Union and Confederate soldiers multiple times throughout the war, including once in 1864 by General Philip Sheridan's cavalry. After the end of the Civil War, Janney received finanicial compensation for the burned mill. Janney married Lydia Janney and had two daughters, Cosmelia and Thamsin. Cosmelia worked on the Santee Sioux Reservation as a teacher during Janney's work as an agent. Janney died in 1877 and the mill came under new ownership before burning again in 1899.

Content Description

The Asa Moore Janney Forest Mills ledgers contains three ledgers belonging to Asa Moore Janney, a Quaker who owned Forest Mills located in Loudoun Country, Virginia. The ledgers contain accounts of flour and other commodities Janney provided to families including African Americans as well as volunteers in the Confederate army. The ledgers tracked daily business sales and transactions along with labor expenses for the mill operation.

Arrangement

The Asa Moore Janney Forest Mills ledgers are arranged into one series: I: Ledgers.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• American Civil War, 1861-1865
• Confederate States
• Flour mills--Virginia--History
• Loudoun County (Va.)
• Loudoun County (Va.)--History--19th century
• Millers--Virginia
• Mills and mill-work
• Mills and mill-work--Virginia--19th century
• Millwork--1880-1900
• Native American tribes
• Quaker abolitionists
• Quakers--United States--History--19th century
• Quakers--Virginia--History
• Santee Sioux Tribe
• Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska