Consists of a group of documents and correspondence recording the activities of John Whelan Luke (1815-1896) as a store owner, postmaster, and county treasurer in Waterloo, Missouri, from 1838 to 1841, and as a farmer and trader of enslaved persons in Berryville, Virginia, in the 1840s and 1850s. Materials pertaining to Luke's 1839 appointment and subsequent dismissal as postmaster of Waterloo, Missouri, include postal forms, an 1840 application for a new post office in the town of Suray, and an 1841 notice that he would be replaced as postmaster due to his failure to render accounts and reply to correspondence. Also present are an insurance policy and letters related to stocking Luke's general store, Stephenson and Luke, as well as manuscript receipts related to his work as county treasurer. Correspondence includes letters received by Luke in both Missouri and Virginia. Most are from friends and family, with some additional business content. Four of the letters from Luke's time in Virginia document his role in selling enslaved African Americans. These pertain to his role in facilitating the division of estates and making deals with other traders of enslaved persons, including the sale of a child named Walton in 1852.