Secrets of the Ledger Exhibit
ON DISPLAY
November 21, 2024 -May 19, 2025
RECEPTION
Thursday, November 21, 5:00 - 7:00 PM.
Delve into the secrets of a 1820s general store, run by William Kyle in downtown Christiansburg. Recreated and researched using the ledger book carefully penned in Kyle’s complex script, the ledger opens a portal into how those in Christiansburg lived in the 1820s. This exhibition uses information from the ledger to analyze and interpret business in the store, the products sold, frequent customers, and occurrences where women and enslaved individuals interacted with the store. Explore the ledger for yourself in this interactive exhibition - featuring a digital kiosk to explore the ledger, video experiences, and an immersive interactive that replicates the scents of product that were sold in the store.
Kyle Ledger Book
This ledger records customer purchases and payments as well as goods traded or bartered. Kyle’s neat cursive offers a portal into the daily life of those living in Montgomery County during the 1820s.
In the ledger, each item is recorded alongside a unit measurement and the price of the item. The right side of the page continuously tallies the prices, which eventually add up to the total of the sale. This ledger was probably used along with an account book in which Kyle kept track of the total purchases (debits) and payments (credits) for each customer. To do so, the careful organization seen throughout the ledger was necessary.
The customer would tell the shopkeeper (William Kyle or his staff) their order or hand over a written list of desired purchases. At the front counter, the shopkeeper would use a scale to measure out the correct units of items. Many items were sold by weight including sugar, coffee, buckshot, indigo, feathers, and saltpeter. Smaller items would be placed in paper or cloth bags and tied with string. Larger purchases may have been wrapped in brown paper or simply handed over in sacks or barrels.
One page of the Kyle ledger, plus transcript
Introduction to William Kyle
William Kyle was born in Tyrone County, Ireland, in about 1776. He first immigrated to New York with other family members, but later moved to Virginia. He worked as a peddler between 1802-1811 in several Virginia counties including Montgomery, Rockingham, Monroe, and Halifax. He finally settled in Christiansburg, Montgomery County, around 1811. On March 7, 1812 William declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States.
William opened his general store sometime between 1811 and 1814. This store was located at 100 E. Main Street, where the Christiansburg Town Hall now stands. In 1814, the original store was destroyed by arson, but Kyle rebuilt in the same location.
William's first wife is unknown. They had at least one child, Elizabeth. William married his second wife, Celinda Craig, in 1817. They had four children (James, William, Ann, and Margaret). After Celinda's death, William married his third wife, Sarah Chapman, in 1825. They had three children (David, Ellen, and John). The Kyle family home was located at 110 E. Main Street, next door to the store.
Kyle was a slave holder. The 1820 Montgomery County Census records three enslaved individuals in his household. These individuals likely worked in Kyle’s home and store. Notably, in the 1830 census the number of enslaved individuals had increased to twenty-six. This increase likely reflects the growth experienced by Kyle’s family and the success of the store.
William Kyle died in 1832. After his death, his younger brother, Jeremiah, purchased the property and operated the store as “Jeremiah Kyle and Co.” until his death in 1867. The store carried ready-made clothing, boots, shoes and dry-goods that he bought from New York and Philadelphia wholesalers. Jeremiah had multiple business interests including the Price’s Mountain Coal Company formed in 1853 with his son (William David Kyle) and his son-in-law (William Montague).
