William Drake wrote, in 1997:

"My name is William Drake. My mother, Ruth Drake (1905-1997) was a first cousin to Nellie and Mary Sheridan, daughters of John L. Sheridan. John was the brother of Phillip Sheridan. While Nellie married, she had no children; Mary was a spinster. When Ruth was about 12, her mother died unexpectedly, and Nellie, along with Mary, who were about 10 years older, took a strong hand in guiding my mother through her adolescence. This experience forged a strong bond between the cousins. As Nellie grew older, my mother frequently visited at the Sheridan home in Somerset, Ohio. I often accompanied her on these trips, and vividly remember being surrounded by the memorabilia and ephemera of John and Phil. While I do not remember the ledger - it was probably deemed too fragile for a youngster to play with - it clearly was John Sheridan's. His name is written in the front of the ledger, and at Nellie's death, the contents of the home passed to my mother. At my mother’s death in 1997, I became the caretaker of the Sheridan family memorabilia. The ledger book was part of this inheritance. Signed, William Drake September 10, 2013"

Plains Ledger Art Digital Publishing Project (PILA), Mandeville Special Collections, UCSD Libraries, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA; Bradley Foundation, San Diego; H. Malcolm Grimmer Antique American Indian Art, Santa Fe, NM