William D. Stone General Store Ledger Book and Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Stone, William Dickinson, 1836-1908
label: Donor
content: Perdue, Crispin
place: label: Place
content: Novelty (Va.)
label: Place
content: Virginia -- 19th century
topic: label: Topic
content: Merchants -- 1860-1870
label: Topic
content: General stores -- 1860-1870
label: Topic
content: Civil War, 1861-1865
label: Topic
content: Commerce -- 1860-1870
label: Topic
content: Storekeepers -- 1860-1870
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, by Crispin Perdue in 2015.
creator: label: Creator
content: Stone, William Dickinson, 1836-1908
label: Donor
content: Perdue, Crispin
setName: label: See more items in
content: William D. Stone General Store Ledger Book and Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: A general store ledger and business papers from the William D. Stone General Store located in Franklin County, Virginia and a Stone and Parker family history.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: William Dickinson Stone (1836-1908) was the son of Edmond and Nancy Stone.  He was born in Pittsylvania County, Viriginia.  He joined the Confederate Army at Chatham, Pittsylvania County in May 1861.  He served in Company F, 6th Virginia Cavalry for the duration of the war.  He reportedly returned home from the war to find his land confiscated. He and his brother opened a country store at Novelty, Franklin County, Virginia, which he operated from 1865 until he married Mary Rosabelle Parker in 1867. He purchased a farm in Franklin County.  They raised a family and left many descendants.  Stone died in October 1908 and was buried in the Stone family cemetery, at Rocky Mount, Franklin County, Virginia.

What is commonly known as the general store grew out of farm store, or plantation store, culture. This was a store where landowners could sell goods and food stuffs produced on their own land while also speculating and selling goods imported from elsewhere.  This later grew into the general store being independent of a particular farm and standing on its own as a mercantile establishment solely dependent on its own success as a store for survival.  During the 19th century general stores were a common feature of many towns and rural by-ways. The stores carred general merchandise, a variety of goods and staples needed by the surrounding community.  These general stores may also have functioned as post offices, trading centers, and local banks. Items often were bartered when ready cash was not available. General stores were not unique to any one region of the United States and while they may have been called by a different name in different parts of the country, they were a staple of the rural agarian lifestyle of the United States well into the early 20th century.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.3 Cubic feet (1 box)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1865-2003
label: Date
content: bulk 1865-1885
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1358
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Financial records
label: Type
content: Ledgers (account books)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is organized in one series.

Series 1: General Store Ledger and Papers, 1865-2003, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist, 2015; supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist.
label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Franklin Robinson, 2015.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Financial records -- 1860-1870
label: Genre/Form
content: Ledgers (account books) -- 1860-1870
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The William D. Stone General Store Ledger and Papers consists of a ledger book from a general store in Franklin County, Virginia, containing account information about products purchased, by whom, and the prices paid for a two year period, 1865-1867.  The ledger is comparable to other general store ledgers of the time in what it documents and records.  There is one folder of assorted business papers containing legal papers, correspondence, promissory notes, and lists. There is also a folder containing a Stone and Parker family history written in 2003. The bulk of the materials covers the time period, 1865-1885.