Volume 1: B. Thistle and Friend Cox, General Store, Tyler County, WV. Ledger., 1835-1837

Thistle and Cox formed a partnership in Tyler County, [West] Virginia in March of 1835. This is the partnership's first ledger, which spans the years 1835-1837, but reference is made to the transfer of accounts to at least one subsequent ledger. The business appears to have been located near the Ohio River (probably in Sistersville), since customers included Ohio as well as Tyler County citizens. Although the debit side for each customer only lists the term "merchandise" for purchases, the ledger reveals the barter nature of much of the rural economy of Tyler County on the credit side. Among items received in trade by Thistle and Cox were chestnuts, hides, bees wax, rags, sand, tobacco, clothes, meats, produce, and various forms of labor. The ledger also frequently lists the occupations or residences of many of the customers. Included were coopers, tanners, blacksmiths, preachers, schoolteachers, and carpenters, scattered from Point Pleasant to Wheeling.