This collection consists of an account book maintained by James E. Yates, a livestock trader in Rappahannock County, Virginia, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Included are names of customers, as well as dates, descriptions, and amounts of transactions, largely relating to sales of cattle and other livestock. The collection also includes loose documents that had been inserted in the front of the ledger. Among these are account statements, receipts, checks, promissory notes, and business correspondence.