In 1796, William Doherty began using this ledger to keep track of the sales he made in his general store. The items he carried included corn, whiskey, venison, beef, horse feed, fabric (including silk), casket ornaments, and sundries. James Doherty took over his business in 1800 and continued the ledger until February of 1803. The ledger then remained unused until 1870, when an otherwise unknown S. Johnson of Bellefonte (Jackson County) Alabama began using it to keep track of the business conducted in his own general store. Unlike the Dohertys, he also recorded his employees' hours and inventoried his taxable properties in Jefferson and Hamblen Counties in Tennessee.