This collection contains a ledger maintained (at least in part) by David M. Davis of Fauquier County, Virginia. The ledger contains a number of different types of entries. The first section consists of a daybook, apparently for a clothing, shoe and accessories business opened by Davis at the corner of Washington D. C.'s F and 12th streets in January, 1875. Over the course of several weeks, the entries detail sales of footwear, lace and other clothing goods. Beginning on March 3, 1875, the entries describe only general transactions, with no lists of goods purchased. These entries continue through November, 1875, perhaps indicating a settlement of the business's accounts. The account entries are followed by entries, apparently written in a different hand, detailing work performed by various farm laborers, together with wages paid in both cash and goods. Among the other items in the ledger's pages are a sharecropping agreement with William Brown, receipts, livestock records, and copies of letters.

Also in the ledger is the daily journal of an unidentified individual, presumably a woman, perhaps Sarah E. Davis. The entries span July-October 1890, May-October 1891, and May-October 1892, indicating that these were the months that the family was present on the Fauquier County farm. In brief entries, the journal describes daily work on the house and farm, activities of family members, visitors, and weather.

The collection also contains several loose documents that had been kept within the ledger. Among these are a sharecropping contract with J. W. Cubbage and an employment/poultry business contract with G. W. Bailey. Also included is a contract in which Davis agrees not to press trespassing charges against John Mann with the proviso that Mann will relinquish one of his horses to Davis should he be "detected in tresspassing [sic] and committing any unlawful act upon the property of said Davis..."