The records of Ellis & Allan Company of Richmond, Virginia, span the years 1795-1889 and consist of correspondence, letterbooks, cash books, tobacco books, journals, and ledgers of the firms of Ellis & Allan; Thomas & Charles Ellis; Ellis & Sons; Thomas and Charles Ellis & Company; and Wiatt, Ellis & Norvell, of Richmond, Virginia, general merchants and buyers and sellers of tobacco. Also included are records of Allan & Ellis, the counterpart firm in London, England, as well as those of several subsidiary companies organized in Lynchburg, Virginia, and in Amherst County, Virginia, for the buying and selling of tobacco. The collection is organized into the following series: General Correspondence; Journals; Ledgers; Letterbooks; Daybooks; Cashbooks; Cash, Letter, and Invoice Book; Invoice Books; Bill Books; Receipt Books; Checkbooks; and Miscellany.

The General Correspondence series comprises the most significant portion of the records and consists of business and personal correspondence reflecting the economic and social history of Virginia, especially the tobacco trade in the James River Valley. Prominent correspondents include many members of the Ellis family. Charles Ellis wrote during the 1830s descriptive letters from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia; his brother Thomas H. Ellis wrote similar letters from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. Other correspondents include William Bolling, Archibald Cary, John Hartwell Cocke, Powhatan Ellis, Armistead Gordon, J. B. Harrison, James Maury, Carter Page, John Randolph, Thomas M. Randolph, and St. George Tucker.

Financial records of the company are contained in journals, ledgers, letterbooks, daybooks, cashbooks, invoice books, bill books, receipt books, and checkbooks. Among names found in the company's ledgers are those of Peter Francisco, James Monroe, Spencer Roane, and William Wickham. Also included are records dating principally between 1830 and 1850 of the James River and Kanawha Company, chartered by the state to build a canal from Richmond to West Virginia along the James River. Other business records are found in the General Correspondence and Miscellany series.

The Miscellany includes bound sales books, tobacco books, order books, and debt statements, as well as material on settlement of the estate of Charles Ellis. Also present are other records of Ellis & Allan Company; letters and circulars of Charles Simms, Charles Lee, and John Fitzgerald, collectors of customs for the port of Alexandria, Virginia ; and material of James N. Ellis while a student at the United States Military Academy.