Noted... but considering the population especially in that area at the
time and him owning several building dealing with the grocery business -
including one or two along Main Street with one being at the present
location of the Farmer's Market... and his being able to own 9-slaves
and built what was considered a mansion at the time, lends to his
"prosperous" status so figured he had a corner on the market ;-)  Keep
in mind he arrived about 1803 in Richmond and died 1820.

Eric
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of W. Scott Smith
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 4:20 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Missing Deeds?

Eric,

I want to caution you about the assertion that Charles Wills was
"probably the biggest if not the only in Richmond prior to 1820."

There were numerous merchants in Richmond prior to 1820, including
William Galt, James Brown, William Brown, John McCredie, Charles Ellis,
John Allan, and numerous others (these are just ones that I am
researching or have researched).

This is not to diminish Capt. Wills' significance, but he needs to be
put into context with what was happening in Richmond at the time.

By the way, you can see a listing of mercantile firms who registered to
do business in a locality in any given year during that period by
looking in the microfilmed personal property tax records...merchants
were usually listed in the back of each tax district book.


--
W. Scott Smith, Principal
HistoryTech, LLC
Historic Preservation Consulting

Office: The Piedmont Center, 311 Rivermont Avenue
Mailing: P.O. Box 75, Lynchburg, VA 24505 Mobile 434-401-3995
www.historytech.com

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