Tye River (Va.) Warehouse, Account Books, 1820-1908 | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

Scope and Contents:

This collection contains records related to the business transactions of the Tye River Warehouse and other business firms in Virginia from 1820 through 1908, mainly relating to the purchase of tobacco.

The Tye River Warehouse was likely located in New Market, Virginia, now known as Norwood, a town located at the confluence of the Tye and James River. The Tye River is in central Virginia and originates at Blue Ridge Mountains in Nelson County. The river flows southeast, entering the James River at Norwood, along the border of the Nelson and Buckingham counties, about twenty miles northeast of Lynchburg, Va. The river is now part of the Blue Ridge Railway Trail. According to “The Statistical Gazetteer of the State of Virginia,” published in 1855, Tye River Warehouse was also the name of a post office of Nelson County, Virginia.

This collection contains 93 volumes of account books and other business documents of the Tye River Warehouse and other Virginian business firms. Of the volumes, 41 were created during the 1830s. These documents primarily discuss the purchase of tobacco and cotton in exchange for retail and wholesale goods.

The volumes in this collection were purchased by the Illinois Historical Survey (predecessor of the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections) from Herbert A. Keller, manager of the McCormick Historical Association Collection, in 1929. Another collection of Tye River Warehouse records (17 vols., 1826-66) is in the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, recipient of the principal McCormick Collection.