My 6x great grandfather Thomas Atkinson (c. 1731-c.1803) operated a store for many years in Amelia County and Nottoway County (formed out of Amelia in 1789).  A photocopy of his “daybook” survives among the holdings of the Library of Virginia.[1] A daybook was portable and used to record transactions to later record in an account book, which was typically larger and kept at the store containing an account register for each customer.

Check out my earlier post on Thomas Atkinson of Essex and Amelia County, Virginia:

Thomas Atkinson of Essex County and Amelia County, Virginia – my 6x great grandfather

The daybook itself is very interesting offering a glimpse into the economic life of a community. Thomas Atkinson bought and sold a wide range of goods and services. Crops such as tobacco, corn, oats, wheat are mentioned many times – even cotton once or twice. Alcohol related items mentioned include rum, cider, distilling equipment and watertight casks. He bought and sold livestock as well as processed beef, pork and bacon. Different types of linen and cloth were sold to make clothes. A variety of other items such as thread, hair combs, shoes, deer skins, horsewhips, cart wheels, sugar, playing cards and furniture are all mentioned. Aside from products, Atkinson regularly recorded the hiring of laborers – both free and enslaved. He also acted as a bank of sorts, recording customers’ debits and credits paid on other customers’ accounts.  

If this sort of history interests you, I recommend two well researched books that each provide great insight into how communities developed, and the significant role country stores played in our Southside Virginia ancestors’ lives:

In the Absence of Towns: Settlement and Country Trade in Southside Virginia 1730-1800 by Charles J. Farmer, 1993 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

The Evolution of the Southern Backcountry: A Case Study of Lunenburg County, Virginia 1746-1832 by Richard R. Beeman, 1984 by University of Pennsylvania Press  

Genealogical Information

From a genealogical standpoint dozens of members of the surrounding community are mentioned including some of Thomas Atkinson’s relatives. Aside from the specific genealogical information included on sheets 35-37, several of his relatives are also included as customers. These include his brothers John Atkinson (Sr) and Henry Atkinson (only once), sons Musco Atkinson, Joshua Atkinson and John Atkinson (Jr – my ancestor), his brother-in-law John Compton and nephews Archibald, Caleb and Zachary Compton as well as sons-in-law Henry Eastis, John Mottley and Benjamin Overton.

Why Atkinson recorded the birth dates of the children of John and Tabitha Raines [sheet 38, page 72] is a mystery. Some researchers have suggested that Tabitha was a daughter of Thomas Atkinson. John Raines died by 27 April 1786 when his daughter Elizabeth was ordered by the Amelia Court to be bound out to learn a trade.[2] The following year, his son William was ordered bound out and became a “leather britches taylor” apprentice to Atkinson’s son-in-law Benjamin Overton.[3] I have not researched this extensively, but I don’t think Tabitha was an Atkinson. While he did so for his other children, he did not list a marriage date for John and Tabitha Raines in his daybook. Also, when Thomas Atkinson wrote his will in 1803, he did not mention her when he mentioned all of his other children – those alive and those that predeceased him. Neither did Thomas Atkinson mention or make provision for the four Raines children when he made bequests to his other grandchildren that were orphans – those of his son Musco and those of his daughter Millie.       

Thomas Atkinson also recorded the names of “Hanners son Tom Boron [born] September the 26 1800” and also noted “Edmon was born February 24th, 1803.” Hannah and her sons Tom and Edward (Edmon above?) were willed by Thomas Atkinson to his daughter Martha “Patsey” (Atkinson) McGehee in 1803. My earlier post on Thomas Atkinson of Essex and Amelia County, Virginia (link above) provides both details and sources.          

The original daybook

Paul Faison Smith[4] (1920-1994), a descendant of Thomas Atkinson through his daughter Nancy who married John Mottley, made copy of the original day book in April 1985.  At that time, he reported that the original was in the possession of “the children of Elvira Mottley Smith” [his mother] and that he was planning to donate it to the Mississippi State Department of Archives and History. Smith also added a postscript notation that the day book was “now in the State Archive.” I searched the catalog of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History on 18 January 2022 but found nothing. I wrote to them on the same day and received a reply on 20 January 2022, which stated that they have “no record of a donation of the daybook to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.”  More recently, I constructed an Ancestry family tree for Paul Faison Smith and have found two of his surviving children. I have contacted them through Facebook Messenger, but as of yet no reply. What I would give to see and photograph the original. Should that ever occur I will provide an update.    

The Transcription Process

I have transcribed the daybook leaving the spelling and punctuation as found. Please forgive any errors. Thomas Atkinson used an entry method wherein if a sentence, name, etc. was longer than the line he was writing on he wrote the rest above that line. I have taken the liberty of placing the whole entry on a single line for reading ease. Where I have added information, it is in brackets. Mr. Smith laid the book down open on the copier so that two pages appear on each sheet. I have numbered each sheet 1-42 and beginning with the actual entries on page three, I have numbered each page 1-80 and indicated the left or right side of the sheet. From the photocopy of the cover [laid open front and back on one sheet], it appears to be made of hard stock paper with thread or string binding. The daybook measures 4” x 6” and is eroded on the edges and corners as one would expect from a quarter century of use of a paper product that was more than 200 years old when it was photocopied.

Both the images and transcription are available below and are downloadable. Enjoy!  

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[1] Atkinson, Thomas. Account Book, 1755-1829. N.p., 1755. Print, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 

[2] Amelia County, Virginia Order Book No. 17 1785-1786, p. 131; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKH-Q99N-G?i=163&cat=275453

[3] Amelia County, Virginia Deed Book No. 18 1786-1789, p. 208;       https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL6-SHPQ?i=114&cat=282005

[4] Paul Faison Smith gravestone, Parkway Memorial Cemetery, Madison County, Mississippi;  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21630897/paul-faison-smith  

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