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SCOPE & CONTENT.

This collection of 18 ledgers and daybooks from the John Zigler tannery and other businesses occupies 5 1/2 Hollinger boxes, 1 Flat Box, and 3 folders of documents, and dates from 1816 to 1903.

Daybooks record transactions chronologically; ledgers group transactions under individual account names. Ledgers and daybooks correspond for 1824 to 1855. John Zigler moved to Timberville, Rockingham County, Virginia in 1814 and opened a tannery. Entries made throughout ledgers and daybooks refer to the purchasing of hides and bark. Entries relating to purchasing of hemp begin around 1826; entries mentioning pottery and a saw mill begin around 1830. Entries relating to the "sharping" of shovels and removing of shoes suggest the presence of a blacksmithery. Many entries also suggest the presence of a shoemaker. The later years of the ledgers seem to document a change to a farm supply or general store. Many entries relate to dry goods or to agricultural products and methods such as hay and threshing. John Zigler died in 1856, but the businesses were continued by members of his family.

The Zigler family was affiliated with the Church of the Brethren (Dunkers). Some of the first meetings in the Timberville area (1820s) were held in John Zigler's barn. Of particular interest is the simultaneous use of both pounds and dollars until around 1845. Also, two types of entries can be found throughout the ledgers and daybooks relating to African-Americans. The name of a person is sometimes followed by "black" or "blackman;" or a name may be followed by "by his blackman" or "blackboy." Many inserts were found in apparently random order in the daybooks and ledgers. Some were merely scraps for calculating numbers, while others contained account information. Unless there was a connection between an insert and the pages where it was found, it was filed in a folder. There is also one undated photograph thought to be of the kiln.

PROVENANCE.

The collection was donated to Carrier Library in 1990 by Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Strickler of Harrisonburg.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Jonassen, Diane. German Influences on the Early Arts in the Shenandoah Valley. Harrisonburg: James Madison University, 1981.
Miller, Gordon. Rockingham: An Annotated Bibliography of a Virginia County. Harrisonburg: Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, 1989.
Wayland, John, W. A History of Rockingham County. Dayton: Ruebush-Elkins 1912.

ORGANIZATION.
Series:

• 1. Daybooks and Ledgers, numbered consecutively according to date. (Daybooks/ledgers 1-9, 11, 13-14, 16-18).
• 2. Unbound Material: Folders 1, 2, 3.
• 3. Oversize Material: Daybooks/ledgers 10, 12, 15; Folder 1.

Box 1, Series 1
Daybook/ledger 1: 1823-1825
Daybook/ledger 2 : 1826-1829
Daybook/ledger 3 : 1829-1831

• 3 November 1830 - Reference to Henry Jordan as tanner
• 22 January 1831 - Reference to Andrew Coffman as potter

Box 2, Series 1
Daybook/ledger 4: 1831-1834

• Page 13 - Reference to hauling stoneware and binding books Page 28 - "4 1/2 day of work-dicking clay"
• Page 153 - Use of dollars and pounds

Daybook/ledger 5: 1834-38

• 11 October 1837- Reference to pottery to Pendleton County
  
• Page 193 - "William G. Thompson by his black woman"

Daybook/ledger 6: 1838-1841

Box 3, Series 1
Daybook/ledger 7: 1841-1844

• Page 70 - Reference to Strasburg
  

Daybook/ledger 8: 1845-1847

• Page 105 - Reference to shillings and cents
  

Daybook/ledger 9: 1847-1852 (Daybook/ledger 10 see Oversize Series)

• Page 9 - Reference to hauling hides from Winchester
  
• Page 41 - Reference to milling hemp

Box 4 Series 1
Daybook/ledger 11: 1816-1823 (for Daybook/ledger 12 see Oversize Series)
Daybook/ledger 13: 1827-1834
Daybook/ledger 14: 1832-1838 (for Daybook/ledger 15 see Oversize Series)

Box 5 Series 1
Daybook/ledger 16: 1843-1850
Daybook/ledger 17: 1851-1860

• Last page - Reference to death of John Zigler, Sr.

Box 6, Series 1
Daybook/ledger 18: 1855-1903

• Page 19 - Reference to pottery kiln
  Page 101 - Reference to saw mill
  
• Page 141 - References to tons of hay

Box 6, Series 2
Folder 1: Dated and undated accounts with the Zigler family
Folder 2: Miscellaneous-includes note commenting on death of a mother, information about the building of a church and various addresses.
Folder 3: Photograph of kiln

Flat Box 1, Series 3
Daybook/ledger 10: 1852-1856

• Page 156 - Reference to buying calfskins in Baltimore

Daybook/ledger 12: 1822-1834

• Page 252 - Reference to "black woman"

Daybook/ledger 15: 1836-1842
Folder 1 Accounts from 1881-1890 with Daniel Zigler

  

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