The following mortuary ledger created by Mortimer Madison Virts was lost for many decades, then found in an attic by Louis Jet in 2018 and scanned by the volunteers at the Edwin Washington Project.

Louis is an historian who focuses on Black history. Were it not for him, the ledger would have been destroyed, as everything in the attic was scheduled to be tossed. We encourage anyone who finds historical records of any kind like this to preserve them and, if possible, to donate them to a museum or library in order to benefit the public. We also encourage scanning such records so that even if destroyed, the images are retained.

Although the records, sometimes blood-stained, are still being examined, we can relate that they deal with coffins manufactured by Mr. Mortimer Virts, an undertaker in Hillsboro, Loudoun County, Virginia.   Genealogical and family history details are often revealed, as well as the fees related to burial, sometimes locations, etc. Mr. Virts was born September 30, 1835 in Loudoun County and died October 22, 1920 in the county. He was buried at Arnold Grove Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery, Hillsboro.

Local historian Pat Ball Duncan helped us study the records, which have numerous entries for Blacks, important because it contains death information during a time when neither the county death register nor the issuance of death certificates were required.

We are looking for a volunteer to manage this project in 2022.

Father:	Jacob Virts
Mother:	Pleasant Ann Virts
Spouse:	Harriet A Virts
Children:	Hattie Inez Virts Anna Mariah Roberts Chester H. Virts Rose Garland Wiley Charles J Virts

Preliminary Research on the Ledger, 2018

Actual Images scanned by the Edwin Washington Project

Additional Research on Black Clients, 2018