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Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78018580
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Edward Dixon, merchant, were purchased by the Library of Congress in 1911.
The papers of Edward Dixon were processed by Audrey Walker and microfilmed in 1978. The finding aid was revised in 2003 by Patrick Kerwin.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Edward Dixon is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Edward Dixon are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
A microfilm edition of these papers is available on eleven reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Edward Dixon Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Edward Dixon span the period 1743-1808, with the heaviest concentration during the years 1750-1775. The collection consists of ledgers, daybooks, rough account books also known as waste books, a journal, blacksmith accounts, a miscellaneous volume containing receipts and two letters, and a mathematics exercise book.
The papers represent the financial transactions of Edward Dixon, prominent citizen and merchant, who operated a store at Port Royal, Virginia. The ledgers include descriptions of goods traded locally and those imported into and exported from the colony and note the prevailing prices of the period. Many of the accounts are maintained in both sterling and Virginia currency and reflect the role of tobacco in the economy. The ledgers also indicate that Dixon acted as agent for a number of foreign trading companies in London, Bristol, and Whitehaven, England, and Glasgow, Scotland. The most extensive account is with John Younger. Factors of other tobacco trading firms, such as Alexander Henderson and Arthur Morson of Glassford and Company, are also cited in the accounts.
The ledgers identify many of Dixon's customers by county of residence and occupation.
Some accounts are in the names of single and married women, and a few carry the names of
overseers. Among the Virginians listed are Jonathan Boucher, John Boutwell, John
Catlett, William Fitzhugh, Robert Gilchrist, James Jameson, Richard Henry Lee, John
Micou, Edmund Pendleton, Thomas M. Randolph, William Taliaferro, James Taylor, and John
Tennant. Although the volumes contain references to various ships, only the
Some of the ledgers contain accounts which relate to Dixon's personal financial affairs and list entries for his household expenses and accounts with his tenants in Fauquier and Loudoun counties. The ledger for 1747-1756 includes an account with the colonial treasury indicating that Dixon served in the Virginia Assembly during 1752 and 1753. A ledger for 1743-1747 contains a list of his "Negro children at home" and at Elks Run with their birth dates and the names of their mothers. A later list of slaves belonging to the estates of Dixon's sons, Harry and Turner, is found in the volume for 1784-1799.
This collection is arranged by type of material and therein chronologically.
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78018580
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 17,618