Scanned Ledgers from the Yarbrough Dry Goods Store

Thomas B. Yarbrough was born in Washington Parish, Louisiana in 1841. He went to Texas in 1859, settling first in Marion County; he moved to Honey Grove in 1865 and had a business there, Yarbrough Dry Goods store, by 1866. Thomas had two brothers who also settled there: Benjamin F. and David W. T. B. Yarbrough enlisted in the Civil War in 1861 and rose to the rank of second lieutenant, serving in the trans-Mississippi department.

When he first went to Honey Grove, T. B. served as a clerk in the store of C. D. Cosner. After about five months, he bought out his employer and had his own business. In 1869, he married Sallie Waggoner; they had four children. Sallie Yarbrough died in 1880. T.B. married Mrs. Sue S. Moody Smith; they had three children (only one daughter survived — Sue S) Mr. Yarbrough was a mason and he and his family were active in the Methodist Church.

In 1874, he founded the Independent, an early Honey Grove newspaper. He was also supportive in the founding of Honey Grove High School in 1875. As an early merchant during the early growth of Honey Grove and the surrounding country, T.B. Yarbrough developed a reputation for fair and upright dealings to his customers.

This first ledger is the earliest found to date. There is an early reference to the founding of the store in 1866; however, what ledgers have been found are for later periods. Volume 1 covers January 1, 1883 to July, 1884. 1 The first section of the book contains the index — with one page per letter of the alphabet (A-Z). Page 1 of the ledger begins with January 1, 1883 and ends with July, 1884. This ledger has 524 pages.

Volume 1, Thomas B. Yarbrough’s Dry Goods Store

The index of the ledger has been typed below and directs the reader to appropriate pages to find the customer’s name and account listings. To read the manuscript click the page image above!

Index of Yarbrough's Dry Goods Store Ledger, Vol. 1

1. The H.G. Preservation League has designated this as Volume 1; the original has no number noted.[↩]