This collection contains the ledger dated 1853-1881 of Thomas Hill Bernard, an enslaver and plantation owner from Franklin County, Virginia. It is also signed by his daughter Mary E. Bernard. The ledger was published in 1852 as a "Plantation and Farm Instruction, Regulation, Record, Inventory, and Account Book" in Richmond, Virginia, by J.W. Randolph, a publisher, bookseller, and stationer. There are two advertisements at the beginning of the ledger. After that is a 17-page "explanation" that discusses how to run a plantation and how to keep the ledger properly. This also contains a portion about how to treat enslaved people.

The majority of the book is lined pages with manual entries about farming and other activities starting in 1853 and ending in 1881 for the Big Meadows Plantation with Thomas H. Bernard as manager. Some of the entries were written by his children, including a draft letter to a cousin and information about preaching or attending church. Within the ledger is a receipt of taxes owed to the Sheriff of Franklin County in 1853 by Judith Bernard.

On the first page of the manual entries, page 20, an inventory lists the names, occupations, ages, and "value" of of five enslaved people: Terry, [Tom?], [Amistead?], James, and [Banks?] The first three were listed as farm laborers and [Banks?] as a blacksmith. Their ages ranged from 28 to 40 and their "values" from $200-$400.

In another entry from 1861 on page 32, Bernard mentions the American Civil War. He wrote, "The war has started and everyone thinks it won't last a month." On the same page is another entry about the war dated 1862, "I have enlisted in the army of the Confederate States with the VA Volunteers." The next page skips to 1871.

The ledger underwent conservation in 2019 and was rebound. The paper label on the front of the new cover misspells Bernard's last name as "Brevard." The original cover is included in this collection.