Charles B. Gardner, likely owner of this ledger, was born in Virginia on August 10, 1813. He married Mary J. L. Miller (1817-1873), and the couple had six children. The 1840 census shows Gardner living in Montgomery County, Virginia, and owning two slaves. In the 1850 census, Gardner is described as a 36-year-old merchant, living in Christiansburg with his wife and family. The Gardners reported owning three slaves that year.

Gardner was active in the business community of Christiansburg and eastern Montgomery County. In 1842, he was named one of the directors of the Lafayette and Ingles Ferry Turnpike Company, and in 1853, he was among a group of businessmen who purchased the nearby Yellow Sulphur Springs resort. He also served as cashier of Christiansburg's Bank of the Valley of Virginia and is identified as a bank cashier in the 1860 census. (In that year, Gardner was the owner of six slaves.) He is likely the same C. B. Gardner who maintained the "Depository of the Treasury in a/c with the Treasury of the Confederate States Ledger" (Ms1984-001). Charles B. Gardner died November 24, 1875.

Eugenia Victoria Sullivan, daughter of Thomas E. and Emily Shuptrine Sullivan, was born on August 6, 1862. The 1880 census describes her as a 17-year-old Georgia native, living in the Christiansburg, Virginia home of her grandmother, Mary A. Sullivan. Eugenia Sullivan graduated from Montgomery Female Academy (Christiansburg) in 1886. An article in the Roanoke Times of August 21, 1891 noted that Sullivan was departing for New York, to finish her art studies, and added that she was already known for her artistic works. The 1940 census lists a Eugenia V. Sullivan living in Christtiansburg with younger sister Maude, but she is described as 67 (rather than the expected 77) years old and born in Virginia. Sullivan died August 22, 1941 and was buried in Christiansburg's Sunset Cemetery.