Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Edward Augustus Russell Papers, 1820-1824, Accession # 10864, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This material was purchased by the Library on August 2, 1989.

Scope and Content Information

These business papers, 1820-1824, consisting of 52 items, pertain to Edward Augustus Russell, a grocer and commission merchant of Petersburg, Virginia. Included are two letters, twenty-seven cotton receipts, and twenty-three miscellaneous receipts and accounts. One letter, July 24, 1820, from Moses Evans, Reading, Pennsylvania, seeks to engage him in a business transaction for commission, to sell "Lately Invented Scale beams or Patent ballance Scales." The other letter, August 13, 1824, from A. B. Hammatt, Petersburg, Virginia, implores assistance for his family and himself in their "very destituted circumstances" from an old friend who has "been so fortunate as to have got ahead again in the world." The cotton receipts, 1820-1822, are chiefly from growers in Petersburg, but also in a few counties in North Carolina, and include ones from John Prichard, Thomas & Rogers, William P. Ingram, John Myrick & Co., Heath & Mason, Thomas Arnold & Co., Starks & Mabry, and Hamilton, Lemoine, & Pannell (48 bales). The receipts indicate number of bales, weight, and price, with a few showing deductions for hoops, dampness, and inferior grade, and one showing a credit by whiskey. The miscellaneous receipts and accounts, 1820-1822, cover a wide variety of goods, such as currants and raisins; cakes; cigars, tobacco, and Scotch snuff; cordial, brandy, whiskey, gin, and rum; clothes and sewing materials; and, a set of blue china. There are also an account, March 26, 1821, "Sales of Flour and Hogshead on account of the Owners of Sloop Yankee ;" two receipts, May 4 and October 23, 1821, from the Owners of Sloop Yankee to "Lighter Whale;" a receipt, September 1, 1821, from the Collector of Customs to the brig Dryade for entry and clearance fees, duty, and health certificates; two statements, April 13 and 26, 1822, from Enoch Jones for a variety of goods; and, a statement, April 13, n.y., "Fayetteville Expenses" from George B. Smith, listing costs for horse hire, stage fare, and meals.