James & Harris Hooe - Index of Account Holders & Shoppers

The James & Harris Hooe Store ledger (1793-1796) does not contain an extant internal index.  Without the index and similar to the Glassford Index of Account Holders, the index presented here contains a page by page review confirming all account holders found in the ledger, as well as shoppers found within the transactions.  

 

At present, the index of account holders includes 292 accounts.  Four accounts belong to women; unsurprisingly given the years between it and the Glassford ledgers, none of the women appear in both.  Three accounts belong to enslaved individuals: Phill (likely a blacksmith), Lewis, and Milly.  Fifteen accounts described specific goods and services as part of the store's operations, e.g. corn, tobacco, wheat, horses/stables, etc.  Unlike earlier ledgers, no accounts were designated for ships.  Two accounts were notated for someone deceased. 

 

​The ledger's transcription phase continues as part of the Shopping Stories Transcribing Project on From the Page.  It is available for transcription at Account Book of James & Harris Hooe, 1793-1796.   

 

In the hopes of helping researchers quickly find the people and places of interest to them, included in the index is the folio (page) connected to each account as identified with the original entries.  As of October 2025, we are excited to include a list of both account holders and all individuals found with purchases made by and on behalf of them as described in the entries (note that information about the shoppers will be updated at the completion of the transcribing phase).  The "Account" column tells you whether there is an account holder (yes) or just a shopper (no).

 

With the inclusion of the identified shoppers from the ledger, an additional 96 names have been added to the list.  The number of women jumps to 22.  In addition, around 12 more enslaved, or with an unknown status of enslavement, individuals have been identified with their enslavers' names when known, making this journal an invaluable resource to historians and genealogists. 

 

Should you be interested, you can also find the original images through the New York Public Library's Digital Collections.  Stay tuned as we continue to learn more about the Hooe & Harrison store and partnership in Alexandria, Virginia.

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This Index provided in part through a Golden Grant courtesy of the Alexandria Historical Society.