Jacob Kent Account Books

Merchant and innkeeper on the Great Road (now Virginia Route 11) in the Shawsville (Montgomery County), Virginia, area. Collection consists of two account books. One ledger (spanning the years 1765-1771) is of unknown origin but records transactions of a merchant in the Cumberland County, Pennsylvania area. The second ledger is divided into two sections: The first section covers the years 1774-1776 and seems to detail the transactions of Kent's store in Montgomery County, recording customers' names, merchandise purchased, and credits to accounts. A section at the rear, written in a different hand and covering the years 1784-1793, may be from a store operated by Kent's son, Joseph Kent.