{"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1884\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026page=11","prev":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1884\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026page=10","next":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1884\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026page=12","last":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1884\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026page=43"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":11,"next_page":12,"prev_page":10,"total_pages":43,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":100,"total_count":425,"first_page?":false,"last_page?":false}},"data":[{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c05","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"E. Shipments-General, 1883/1920","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c05#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c05","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c05"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c05","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12","parent_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Iron, Ore \u0026 Pig"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c12"],"title_filing_ssi":"E. Shipments-General","title_ssm":["E. Shipments-General"],"title_tesim":["E. Shipments-General"],"normalized_title_ssm":["E. Shipments-General, 1883/1920"],"text":["E. Shipments-General, 1883/1920","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Iron, Ore \u0026 Pig","24 volumes"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Iron, Ore \u0026 Pig"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Iron, Ore \u0026 Pig"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1883/1920"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1883-1920"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":55,"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["24 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"date_range_isim":[1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#11/components#4","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:56:23.128Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viu_viu00917","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/uva-sc/viu00917.xml","title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"title_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","662","95 linear feer + 1200\n volumes","Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections.","The word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.","As noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.","The first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.","These steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.","Some consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.","A certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project.","The Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.","Coal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.","The towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.","In the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.","The Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.","Perhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026 O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026 O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"","The problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n To Mr. George Wickes \n Supt. of Mines \n Kay Moor, Virginia \n Dear George, \n Tony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.Signed, \n Ed D. Wickes Supt. of MinesLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.","Low Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.","The Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"","When America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.","The Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.","Why did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n Manufacturers Recorddated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.","During the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.","In examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.","Low Moor Iron Company Personnel:","Executive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.","Factory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919.","The Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.","The records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts.","By 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.","In preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.","The bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.","In late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.","The more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide.","The Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.","This material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers.","See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"access_terms_ssm":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection was purchased from Green Bookman in\n 1939."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["95 linear feer + 1200\n volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eStored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eAs noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThese steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eSome consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eA certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Organization"],"arrangement_tesim":["The word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.","As noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.","The first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.","These steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.","Some consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.","A certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eCoal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003ePerhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026amp; O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026amp; O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n \u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo Mr. George Wickes \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSupt. of Mines \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eKay Moor, Virginia \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDear George, \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eTony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003eLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eWhen America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eWhy did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n \u003cbibref type=\"simple\" href=\"\"\u003e\u003ctitle type=\"simple\" href=\"\"\u003eManufacturers Record\u003c/title\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003edated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eDuring the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eExecutive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eFactory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.","Coal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.","The towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.","In the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.","The Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.","Perhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026 O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026 O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"","The problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n To Mr. George Wickes \n Supt. of Mines \n Kay Moor, Virginia \n Dear George, \n Tony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.Signed, \n Ed D. Wickes Supt. of MinesLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.","Low Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.","The Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"","When America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.","The Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.","Why did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n Manufacturers Recorddated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.","During the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.","In examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.","Low Moor Iron Company Personnel:","Executive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.","Factory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Provenance"],"custodhist_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.","The records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts."],"otherfindaid_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSome 1200 bound accounting record books of the Low Moor\n Iron Company came into the custody of the Library with the\n loose papers. When the project staff investigated these\n volumes in the dormitory attic where they were stored, they\n found that the volumes had been shelved by size rather than\n by series. Thus, a letterbook may stand next to a stock\n report book for a furnace, which is, in turn, next to a\n store account book for the Kay Moor Mines' store. No series\n are shelved in order.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eMembers of the project staff surveyed the volumes,\n completing for each volume two copies of a mimeographed\n survey form, and assigning to each volume a number. One\n copy of the survey report form was placed in the volume,\n and the second was returned to the Library.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eFrom the survey report forms, 3 x 5 inch index\n cards--with a carbon copy of each--were typed. One set of\n index cards has been kept in order by the numbers assigned\n to the volumes as they stand on the shelves. This provides\n a shelf list for the use of the library staff. The other\n set of cards was sorted into categories as a finding aid.\n On the list that follows, the researcher will find a number\n of major headings such as \"Accounts,\" \"Inventories,\"\n \"Letter Books,\" and \"Shipments-Outgoing.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eInsofar as it has been possible to determine from the\n data on the survey report forms, the volumes have been\n assigned to categories. Most of the major categories, or\n headings, have sub-headings. Within those sub-headings, the\n volumes have been arranged chronologically. The\n investigators realize that after careful study of some of\n these volumes, they will be revealed as belonging to other\n categories than those in which they have initially been\n placed. The card index will allow such movement.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eAvailable in the Manuscripts/Archives Reading Room in\n the Library is the sorted card index file. There is a card\n for every volume in this file whereas, on the pages that\n follow, volumes have been summarized under the headings and\n sub-headings. In each case, the number of volumes has been\n given in the summarized list; the date ranges given are\n inclusive in most cases, and do not reveal the many gaps in\n sequences unless the number of volumes is small and the\n date range wide. Occasional remarks about the content of\n volumes have been supplied if the contents are not obvious\n from the heading or sub-heading.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eResearchers wishing to examine any of these volumes will\n have to use the card index file in order to be able to give\n to the staff the volume number assigned to the individual\n volumes that are to be inspected.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"otherfindaid_heading_ssm":["Other Finding Aid"],"otherfindaid_tesim":["Some 1200 bound accounting record books of the Low Moor\n Iron Company came into the custody of the Library with the\n loose papers. When the project staff investigated these\n volumes in the dormitory attic where they were stored, they\n found that the volumes had been shelved by size rather than\n by series. Thus, a letterbook may stand next to a stock\n report book for a furnace, which is, in turn, next to a\n store account book for the Kay Moor Mines' store. No series\n are shelved in order.","Members of the project staff surveyed the volumes,\n completing for each volume two copies of a mimeographed\n survey form, and assigning to each volume a number. One\n copy of the survey report form was placed in the volume,\n and the second was returned to the Library.","From the survey report forms, 3 x 5 inch index\n cards--with a carbon copy of each--were typed. One set of\n index cards has been kept in order by the numbers assigned\n to the volumes as they stand on the shelves. This provides\n a shelf list for the use of the library staff. The other\n set of cards was sorted into categories as a finding aid.\n On the list that follows, the researcher will find a number\n of major headings such as \"Accounts,\" \"Inventories,\"\n \"Letter Books,\" and \"Shipments-Outgoing.\"","Insofar as it has been possible to determine from the\n data on the survey report forms, the volumes have been\n assigned to categories. Most of the major categories, or\n headings, have sub-headings. Within those sub-headings, the\n volumes have been arranged chronologically. The\n investigators realize that after careful study of some of\n these volumes, they will be revealed as belonging to other\n categories than those in which they have initially been\n placed. The card index will allow such movement.","Available in the Manuscripts/Archives Reading Room in\n the Library is the sorted card index file. There is a card\n for every volume in this file whereas, on the pages that\n follow, volumes have been summarized under the headings and\n sub-headings. In each case, the number of volumes has been\n given in the summarized list; the date ranges given are\n inclusive in most cases, and do not reveal the many gaps in\n sequences unless the number of volumes is small and the\n date range wide. Occasional remarks about the content of\n volumes have been supplied if the contents are not obvious\n from the heading or sub-heading.","Researchers wishing to examine any of these volumes will\n have to use the card index file in order to be able to give\n to the staff the volume number assigned to the individual\n volumes that are to be inspected."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of the Low Moor Iron Company, Accession #662,\n Special Collections, University of Virginia Library,\n Charlottesville, Va.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"prefercite_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company, Accession #662,\n Special Collections, University of Virginia Library,\n Charlottesville, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBy 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["By 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.","In preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.","The bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.","In late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.","The more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThis material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.","This material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSee the \n \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.library.virginia.edu/policies/use-of-materials\"\u003e\n University of Virginia Library’s use policy.\u003c/extref\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":1879,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:56:23.128Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c05"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c05","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"E. Store, 1883/1911","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c05#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c05","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c05"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c05","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13","parent_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Journals"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c13"],"title_filing_ssi":"E. Store","title_ssm":["E. Store"],"title_tesim":["E. Store"],"normalized_title_ssm":["E. Store, 1883/1911"],"text":["E. Store, 1883/1911","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Journals","3 volumes"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Journals"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Journals"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1883/1911"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1883-1911"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":63,"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["3 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"date_range_isim":[1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#12/components#4","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:56:23.128Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viu_viu00917","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/uva-sc/viu00917.xml","title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"title_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","662","95 linear feer + 1200\n volumes","Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections.","The word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.","As noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.","The first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.","These steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.","Some consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.","A certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project.","The Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.","Coal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.","The towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.","In the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.","The Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.","Perhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026 O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026 O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"","The problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n To Mr. George Wickes \n Supt. of Mines \n Kay Moor, Virginia \n Dear George, \n Tony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.Signed, \n Ed D. Wickes Supt. of MinesLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.","Low Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.","The Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"","When America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.","The Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.","Why did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n Manufacturers Recorddated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.","During the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.","In examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.","Low Moor Iron Company Personnel:","Executive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.","Factory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919.","The Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.","The records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts.","By 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.","In preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.","The bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.","In late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.","The more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide.","The Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.","This material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers.","See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"access_terms_ssm":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection was purchased from Green Bookman in\n 1939."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["95 linear feer + 1200\n volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eStored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eAs noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThese steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eSome consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eA certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Organization"],"arrangement_tesim":["The word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.","As noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.","The first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.","These steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.","Some consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.","A certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eCoal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003ePerhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026amp; O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026amp; O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n \u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo Mr. George Wickes \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSupt. of Mines \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eKay Moor, Virginia \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDear George, \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eTony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003eLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eWhen America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eWhy did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n \u003cbibref type=\"simple\" href=\"\"\u003e\u003ctitle type=\"simple\" href=\"\"\u003eManufacturers Record\u003c/title\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003edated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eDuring the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eExecutive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eFactory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.","Coal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.","The towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.","In the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.","The Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.","Perhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026 O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026 O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"","The problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n To Mr. George Wickes \n Supt. of Mines \n Kay Moor, Virginia \n Dear George, \n Tony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.Signed, \n Ed D. Wickes Supt. of MinesLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.","Low Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.","The Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"","When America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.","The Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.","Why did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n Manufacturers Recorddated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.","During the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.","In examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.","Low Moor Iron Company Personnel:","Executive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.","Factory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Provenance"],"custodhist_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.","The records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts."],"otherfindaid_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSome 1200 bound accounting record books of the Low Moor\n Iron Company came into the custody of the Library with the\n loose papers. When the project staff investigated these\n volumes in the dormitory attic where they were stored, they\n found that the volumes had been shelved by size rather than\n by series. Thus, a letterbook may stand next to a stock\n report book for a furnace, which is, in turn, next to a\n store account book for the Kay Moor Mines' store. No series\n are shelved in order.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eMembers of the project staff surveyed the volumes,\n completing for each volume two copies of a mimeographed\n survey form, and assigning to each volume a number. One\n copy of the survey report form was placed in the volume,\n and the second was returned to the Library.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eFrom the survey report forms, 3 x 5 inch index\n cards--with a carbon copy of each--were typed. One set of\n index cards has been kept in order by the numbers assigned\n to the volumes as they stand on the shelves. This provides\n a shelf list for the use of the library staff. The other\n set of cards was sorted into categories as a finding aid.\n On the list that follows, the researcher will find a number\n of major headings such as \"Accounts,\" \"Inventories,\"\n \"Letter Books,\" and \"Shipments-Outgoing.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eInsofar as it has been possible to determine from the\n data on the survey report forms, the volumes have been\n assigned to categories. Most of the major categories, or\n headings, have sub-headings. Within those sub-headings, the\n volumes have been arranged chronologically. The\n investigators realize that after careful study of some of\n these volumes, they will be revealed as belonging to other\n categories than those in which they have initially been\n placed. The card index will allow such movement.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eAvailable in the Manuscripts/Archives Reading Room in\n the Library is the sorted card index file. There is a card\n for every volume in this file whereas, on the pages that\n follow, volumes have been summarized under the headings and\n sub-headings. In each case, the number of volumes has been\n given in the summarized list; the date ranges given are\n inclusive in most cases, and do not reveal the many gaps in\n sequences unless the number of volumes is small and the\n date range wide. Occasional remarks about the content of\n volumes have been supplied if the contents are not obvious\n from the heading or sub-heading.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eResearchers wishing to examine any of these volumes will\n have to use the card index file in order to be able to give\n to the staff the volume number assigned to the individual\n volumes that are to be inspected.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"otherfindaid_heading_ssm":["Other Finding Aid"],"otherfindaid_tesim":["Some 1200 bound accounting record books of the Low Moor\n Iron Company came into the custody of the Library with the\n loose papers. When the project staff investigated these\n volumes in the dormitory attic where they were stored, they\n found that the volumes had been shelved by size rather than\n by series. Thus, a letterbook may stand next to a stock\n report book for a furnace, which is, in turn, next to a\n store account book for the Kay Moor Mines' store. No series\n are shelved in order.","Members of the project staff surveyed the volumes,\n completing for each volume two copies of a mimeographed\n survey form, and assigning to each volume a number. One\n copy of the survey report form was placed in the volume,\n and the second was returned to the Library.","From the survey report forms, 3 x 5 inch index\n cards--with a carbon copy of each--were typed. One set of\n index cards has been kept in order by the numbers assigned\n to the volumes as they stand on the shelves. This provides\n a shelf list for the use of the library staff. The other\n set of cards was sorted into categories as a finding aid.\n On the list that follows, the researcher will find a number\n of major headings such as \"Accounts,\" \"Inventories,\"\n \"Letter Books,\" and \"Shipments-Outgoing.\"","Insofar as it has been possible to determine from the\n data on the survey report forms, the volumes have been\n assigned to categories. Most of the major categories, or\n headings, have sub-headings. Within those sub-headings, the\n volumes have been arranged chronologically. The\n investigators realize that after careful study of some of\n these volumes, they will be revealed as belonging to other\n categories than those in which they have initially been\n placed. The card index will allow such movement.","Available in the Manuscripts/Archives Reading Room in\n the Library is the sorted card index file. There is a card\n for every volume in this file whereas, on the pages that\n follow, volumes have been summarized under the headings and\n sub-headings. In each case, the number of volumes has been\n given in the summarized list; the date ranges given are\n inclusive in most cases, and do not reveal the many gaps in\n sequences unless the number of volumes is small and the\n date range wide. Occasional remarks about the content of\n volumes have been supplied if the contents are not obvious\n from the heading or sub-heading.","Researchers wishing to examine any of these volumes will\n have to use the card index file in order to be able to give\n to the staff the volume number assigned to the individual\n volumes that are to be inspected."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of the Low Moor Iron Company, Accession #662,\n Special Collections, University of Virginia Library,\n Charlottesville, Va.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"prefercite_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company, Accession #662,\n Special Collections, University of Virginia Library,\n Charlottesville, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBy 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["By 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.","In preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.","The bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.","In late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.","The more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThis material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.","This material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSee the \n \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.library.virginia.edu/policies/use-of-materials\"\u003e\n University of Virginia Library’s use policy.\u003c/extref\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":1879,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:56:23.128Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c05"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c15_c05","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"E. Store, 1883/1911","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c15_c05#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c15_c05","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c15_c05"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c15_c05","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c15","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c15","parent_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Letter Books"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c15"],"title_filing_ssi":"E. Store","title_ssm":["E. Store"],"title_tesim":["E. Store"],"normalized_title_ssm":["E. Store, 1883/1911"],"text":["E. Store, 1883/1911","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Letter Books","3 volumes"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Letter Books"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Letter Books"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1883/1911"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1883-1911"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":77,"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["3 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"date_range_isim":[1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#14/components#4","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:56:23.128Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viu_viu00917","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/uva-sc/viu00917.xml","title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"title_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","662","95 linear feer + 1200\n volumes","Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections.","The word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.","As noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.","The first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.","These steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.","Some consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.","A certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project.","The Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.","Coal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.","The towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.","In the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.","The Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.","Perhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026 O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026 O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"","The problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n To Mr. George Wickes \n Supt. of Mines \n Kay Moor, Virginia \n Dear George, \n Tony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.Signed, \n Ed D. Wickes Supt. of MinesLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.","Low Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.","The Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"","When America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.","The Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.","Why did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n Manufacturers Recorddated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.","During the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.","In examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.","Low Moor Iron Company Personnel:","Executive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.","Factory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919.","The Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.","The records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts.","By 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.","In preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.","The bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.","In late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.","The more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide.","The Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.","This material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers.","See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"access_terms_ssm":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection was purchased from Green Bookman in\n 1939."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["95 linear feer + 1200\n volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eStored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eAs noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThese steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eSome consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eA certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Organization"],"arrangement_tesim":["The word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.","As noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.","The first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.","These steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.","Some consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.","A certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eCoal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003ePerhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026amp; O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026amp; O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n \u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo Mr. George Wickes \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSupt. of Mines \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eKay Moor, Virginia \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDear George, \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eTony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003eLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eWhen America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eWhy did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n \u003cbibref type=\"simple\" href=\"\"\u003e\u003ctitle type=\"simple\" href=\"\"\u003eManufacturers Record\u003c/title\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003edated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eDuring the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eExecutive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eFactory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.","Coal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.","The towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.","In the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.","The Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.","Perhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026 O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026 O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"","The problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n To Mr. George Wickes \n Supt. of Mines \n Kay Moor, Virginia \n Dear George, \n Tony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.Signed, \n Ed D. Wickes Supt. of MinesLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.","Low Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.","The Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"","When America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.","The Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.","Why did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n Manufacturers Recorddated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.","During the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.","In examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.","Low Moor Iron Company Personnel:","Executive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.","Factory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Provenance"],"custodhist_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.","The records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts."],"otherfindaid_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSome 1200 bound accounting record books of the Low Moor\n Iron Company came into the custody of the Library with the\n loose papers. When the project staff investigated these\n volumes in the dormitory attic where they were stored, they\n found that the volumes had been shelved by size rather than\n by series. Thus, a letterbook may stand next to a stock\n report book for a furnace, which is, in turn, next to a\n store account book for the Kay Moor Mines' store. No series\n are shelved in order.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eMembers of the project staff surveyed the volumes,\n completing for each volume two copies of a mimeographed\n survey form, and assigning to each volume a number. One\n copy of the survey report form was placed in the volume,\n and the second was returned to the Library.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eFrom the survey report forms, 3 x 5 inch index\n cards--with a carbon copy of each--were typed. One set of\n index cards has been kept in order by the numbers assigned\n to the volumes as they stand on the shelves. This provides\n a shelf list for the use of the library staff. The other\n set of cards was sorted into categories as a finding aid.\n On the list that follows, the researcher will find a number\n of major headings such as \"Accounts,\" \"Inventories,\"\n \"Letter Books,\" and \"Shipments-Outgoing.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eInsofar as it has been possible to determine from the\n data on the survey report forms, the volumes have been\n assigned to categories. Most of the major categories, or\n headings, have sub-headings. Within those sub-headings, the\n volumes have been arranged chronologically. The\n investigators realize that after careful study of some of\n these volumes, they will be revealed as belonging to other\n categories than those in which they have initially been\n placed. The card index will allow such movement.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eAvailable in the Manuscripts/Archives Reading Room in\n the Library is the sorted card index file. There is a card\n for every volume in this file whereas, on the pages that\n follow, volumes have been summarized under the headings and\n sub-headings. In each case, the number of volumes has been\n given in the summarized list; the date ranges given are\n inclusive in most cases, and do not reveal the many gaps in\n sequences unless the number of volumes is small and the\n date range wide. Occasional remarks about the content of\n volumes have been supplied if the contents are not obvious\n from the heading or sub-heading.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eResearchers wishing to examine any of these volumes will\n have to use the card index file in order to be able to give\n to the staff the volume number assigned to the individual\n volumes that are to be inspected.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"otherfindaid_heading_ssm":["Other Finding Aid"],"otherfindaid_tesim":["Some 1200 bound accounting record books of the Low Moor\n Iron Company came into the custody of the Library with the\n loose papers. When the project staff investigated these\n volumes in the dormitory attic where they were stored, they\n found that the volumes had been shelved by size rather than\n by series. Thus, a letterbook may stand next to a stock\n report book for a furnace, which is, in turn, next to a\n store account book for the Kay Moor Mines' store. No series\n are shelved in order.","Members of the project staff surveyed the volumes,\n completing for each volume two copies of a mimeographed\n survey form, and assigning to each volume a number. One\n copy of the survey report form was placed in the volume,\n and the second was returned to the Library.","From the survey report forms, 3 x 5 inch index\n cards--with a carbon copy of each--were typed. One set of\n index cards has been kept in order by the numbers assigned\n to the volumes as they stand on the shelves. This provides\n a shelf list for the use of the library staff. The other\n set of cards was sorted into categories as a finding aid.\n On the list that follows, the researcher will find a number\n of major headings such as \"Accounts,\" \"Inventories,\"\n \"Letter Books,\" and \"Shipments-Outgoing.\"","Insofar as it has been possible to determine from the\n data on the survey report forms, the volumes have been\n assigned to categories. Most of the major categories, or\n headings, have sub-headings. Within those sub-headings, the\n volumes have been arranged chronologically. The\n investigators realize that after careful study of some of\n these volumes, they will be revealed as belonging to other\n categories than those in which they have initially been\n placed. The card index will allow such movement.","Available in the Manuscripts/Archives Reading Room in\n the Library is the sorted card index file. There is a card\n for every volume in this file whereas, on the pages that\n follow, volumes have been summarized under the headings and\n sub-headings. In each case, the number of volumes has been\n given in the summarized list; the date ranges given are\n inclusive in most cases, and do not reveal the many gaps in\n sequences unless the number of volumes is small and the\n date range wide. Occasional remarks about the content of\n volumes have been supplied if the contents are not obvious\n from the heading or sub-heading.","Researchers wishing to examine any of these volumes will\n have to use the card index file in order to be able to give\n to the staff the volume number assigned to the individual\n volumes that are to be inspected."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of the Low Moor Iron Company, Accession #662,\n Special Collections, University of Virginia Library,\n Charlottesville, Va.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"prefercite_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company, Accession #662,\n Special Collections, University of Virginia Library,\n Charlottesville, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBy 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["By 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.","In preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.","The bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.","In late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.","The more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThis material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.","This material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSee the \n \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.library.virginia.edu/policies/use-of-materials\"\u003e\n University of Virginia Library’s use policy.\u003c/extref\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":1879,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:56:23.128Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c15_c05"}},{"id":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01_c01","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Expense Ledger (including salaries), 1884/1896","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01_c01","ref_ssm":["vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01_c01"],"id":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01_c01","ead_ssi":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86","_root_":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86","_nest_parent_":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01","parent_ssi":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01","parent_ssim":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923","Business Office Expense Ledgers"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86","vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Expense Ledger (including salaries)","title_ssm":["Expense Ledger (including salaries)"],"title_tesim":["Expense Ledger (including salaries)"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Expense Ledger (including salaries), 1884/1896"],"text":["Expense Ledger (including salaries), 1884/1896","Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923","Business Office Expense Ledgers","box 01 of 41"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923","Business Office Expense Ledgers"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923","Business Office Expense Ledgers"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1884/1896"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1884-1896"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":2,"repository_ssim":["Longwood University"],"collection_ssim":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923"],"extent_ssm":["1 Volumes"],"extent_tesim":["1 Volumes"],"containers_ssim":["box 01 of 41"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes."],"date_range_isim":[1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#0","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:33:49.698Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86","ead_ssi":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86","_root_":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86","_nest_parent_":"vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/LONG/repositories_2_resources_86.xml","title_ssm":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers"],"title_tesim":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1884-1923"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1884-1923"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1884/1923"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923"],"text":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923","LU.106","College students -- Virginia -- tuition","Longwood University -- Accounting","Longwood University -- Faculty -- Salaries","Longwood University -- Finance","Longwood University -- History","Ledgers (account books)","There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes.","The business office at the State Female Normal School was under the purview of Benjamin Matthew Cox from 1884 until his death in 1924. His office oversaw all financial aspects of the management of the school, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, salaries, and student accounts.","The ledgers in this collection originated in the business office of both State Female Normal School and State Normal School for Women. It is unknown when this collection was transferred to the Greenwood Library Archives.","This collection, which dates from 1884 to 1923, consists of 41 individual ledgers which contain details of accounts payable, accounts receivable, salaries, student accounts, cash records, and other business office financial records.","Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections","English\n."],"collection_title_tesim":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923"],"collection_ssim":["Business Office Accounting Ledgers, 1884/1923"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["LU.106"],"unitid_tesim":["LU.106"],"repository_ssm":["Longwood University"],"repository_ssim":["Longwood University"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections"],"creators_ssim":["Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections"],"access_subjects_ssim":["College students -- Virginia -- tuition","Longwood University -- Accounting","Longwood University -- Faculty -- Salaries","Longwood University -- Finance","Longwood University -- History","Ledgers (account books)"],"access_subjects_ssm":["College students -- Virginia -- tuition","Longwood University -- Accounting","Longwood University -- Faculty -- Salaries","Longwood University -- Finance","Longwood University -- History","Ledgers (account books)"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["37 Linear Feet 41 flat boxes"],"extent_tesim":["37 Linear Feet 41 flat boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Ledgers (account books)"],"date_range_isim":[1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes.\u003c/p\u003e "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe business office at the State Female Normal School was under the purview of Benjamin Matthew Cox from 1884 until his death in 1924. His office oversaw all financial aspects of the management of the school, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, salaries, and student accounts.\u003c/p\u003e "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical / Historical"],"bioghist_tesim":["The business office at the State Female Normal School was under the purview of Benjamin Matthew Cox from 1884 until his death in 1924. His office oversaw all financial aspects of the management of the school, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, salaries, and student accounts."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe ledgers in this collection originated in the business office of both State Female Normal School and State Normal School for Women. It is unknown when this collection was transferred to the Greenwood Library Archives.\u003c/p\u003e "],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Custodial History"],"custodhist_tesim":["The ledgers in this collection originated in the business office of both State Female Normal School and State Normal School for Women. It is unknown when this collection was transferred to the Greenwood Library Archives."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection, which dates from 1884 to 1923, consists of 41 individual ledgers which contain details of accounts payable, accounts receivable, salaries, student accounts, cash records, and other business office financial records.\u003c/p\u003e "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection, which dates from 1884 to 1923, consists of 41 individual ledgers which contain details of accounts payable, accounts receivable, salaries, student accounts, cash records, and other business office financial records."],"corpname_ssim":["Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections"],"names_ssim":["Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections"],"language_ssim":["English\n."],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":41,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:33:49.698Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifarl_repositories_2_resources_86_c01_c01"}},{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08_c01","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Fertilizer accounts ledgers, 1881/1899","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08_c01#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003e[also includes wholesale accounts, 1877-1903; for 1895 fertilizer accounts, see milll book, 1892-1903]\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08_c01","ref_ssm":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08_c01"],"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08_c01","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08","parent_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08","parent_ssim":["Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947","Series IV: Other Financial Records, 1870/1935","Fertilizer accounts ledgers"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08"],"title_filing_ssi":"Fertilizer accounts ledgers","title_ssm":["Fertilizer accounts ledgers"],"title_tesim":["Fertilizer accounts ledgers"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Fertilizer accounts ledgers, 1881/1899"],"text":["Fertilizer accounts ledgers, 1881/1899","Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947","Series IV: Other Financial Records, 1870/1935","Fertilizer accounts ledgers","box 121","folder 2","[also includes wholesale accounts, 1877-1903; for 1895 fertilizer accounts, see milll book, 1892-1903]"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947","Series IV: Other Financial Records, 1870/1935","Fertilizer accounts ledgers"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947","Series IV: Other Financial Records, 1870/1935","Fertilizer accounts ledgers"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1881/1899"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1881-1894, 1896-1899"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":163,"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"collection_ssim":["Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947"],"containers_ssim":["box 121","folder 2"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["The collection is open for research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"date_range_isim":[1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e[also includes wholesale accounts, 1877-1903; for 1895 fertilizer accounts, see milll book, 1892-1903]\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents note"],"scopecontent_tesim":["[also includes wholesale accounts, 1877-1903; for 1895 fertilizer accounts, see milll book, 1892-1903]"],"_nest_path_":"/components#3/components#7/components#0","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:29:47.882Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_1631.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Kent's Store Records","title_ssm":["Kent's Store Records"],"title_tesim":["Kent's Store Records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1868-1947"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1868-1947"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1868/1947"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947"],"text":["Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947","Ms.1989.004","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","The collection is open for research.","The collection is arranged by item type, then chronologically, within the following series:","Series I: Daybooks, 1869-1903. This series contains daybooks maintained by Kent \u0026 Parrish and G. H. Kent \u0026 Company. Recorded within the day books are all of the transactions at the store for each day of operation. Each entry provides the customer's name, items purchased, and amounts owed or paid. Entries for credit transactions were marked with a check and copied to the corresponding journal for that date. The final book for Kent \u0026 Parrish commences in 1883, the year of James M. Kent's death, and runs through 1901, with later entries detailing the settlement of existing accounts. Daybooks for G. H. Kent \u0026 Company commence immediately upon assumption of the store's operation in August 1883 and continue through 1903, when the company went into trusteeship and the use of daybooks was discontinued. The series is arranged chronologically.","Series II: Journals, 1868-1947. This series contains business journals maintained by Kent \u0026 Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026 Company, and G. H. Kent. Like the daybooks, the journals contain records of the store's daily transactions. While the daybooks recorded every transaction, however, only credit transactions were copied to the early journals. The journals sometimes record the details of the transaction but often only summaries, including customer name and amounts owed or paid. Accompanying each entry is the page number on which the customer's account may be found in the corresponding account ledger. The final journal for Kent \u0026 Parrish concludes in 1899, as accounts continued to be settled long after James M. Kent's 1883 death. The G. H. Kent \u0026 Company journals commence in 1883, running through 1903, when the store was placed under the trusteeship of S. M. Shepherd. The trusteeship journals span the years 1903 to 1910. Journals from 1906 to 1947 were maintained by G. H. Kent, conducting business under his own name, and by his heirs after his death in 1936. Beginning in 1906, the journals also include the store's cash transactions. The series is arranged chronologically.","Series III: Account Ledgers, 1868-1926. This series contains store ledgers maintained by Kent \u0026 Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026 Company, and G. H. Kent. The credit transactions recorded within the daily journals are reconciled here in the account ledgers. The accounts of each credit customer are detailed, including names, dates of purchases, and amounts owed and paid. The accounts are not arranged in any logical order within the ledgers, but each volume includes an alphabetical index, arranged by customer name. A single customer's account may span several pages within an individual ledger and may continue for many years through several volumes. The account ledgers for Kent \u0026 Parrish continue through 1895, as accounts continued to be settled long after ownership had passed to G. H. Kent \u0026 Company. Likewise, two G. H. Kent \u0026 Company ledgers commenced in 1903 continue long past the company's dissolution and were used for the final settlement of existing accounts. Finally, the G. H. Kent ledgers, which commence with Kent's purchase of the store's pharmaceutical inventory in 1906, continue through 1926. The series is arranged chronologically.","Series IV: Other Business and Financial Records, 1874-1934. This series contains other business and personal financial records of the Kent family. Most of these records relate to the operation of Kent \u0026 Parrish and G. H. Kent \u0026 Company, as well as a few records relating to the administration of James M. Kent's estate, and other financial / legal matters.","Included in the series are such materials as bill ledgers, cash books, and an 1886 inventory, all relating to the store's operation, as well as records tracking the transactions of a number of related businesses. Among these is a volume relating to pharmaceutical sales that lists customers for various poisons, venereal medications, and paregoric). Also included within this series are records relating to the purchasing and selling of apples and fertilizer, a livery stable, mill work, and the store's post office. The series contains a single accounts ledger for blacksmith James Parrish, who seems to have leased his shop from the Kents. The series also contains three ledgers which seem to be related to the store but remain unidentified.","Also within this series are volumes not directly relating to the store's business, including several concerning the administration of the estates of James M. Kent and Rev. Stephen Eastin. Another ledger details the accounts of the Byrd Chapel Building Committee. Completing the series are a few fragments from other related records. The series is arranged by document type, then chronologically.","Oversize Materials, 1871-1907. Contained here are materials too large to fit in their respective series.","James Madison Kent, son of John and Elizabeth Baskett Kent, was born in Virginia in 1819. In 1845, Kent purchased from Longston Mosby a tract of land in Fluvanna County, Virginia and built a residence and store near what is today the intersection of Route 601 and Kents Store Way. By 1868, Kent had partnered with his future brother-in-law, Booker Parrish, to form Kent \u0026 Parrish, and in 1870, he married Elizabeth Parrish. The couple would have two sons, George Henry and James Aubrey Kent.","Kent \u0026 Parrish grew quickly, and by 1870, it had become one of the largest general mercantile stores in Virginia, selling primarily household goods but also catering to the wagon traffic that stopped there en route to deliver tobacco and other products to the James River Canal at Columbia.","George Henry Kent, oldest son of James and Elizabeth Parrish Kent, was born in Fluvanna County on March 6, 1853. He established the Kent's Store post office in 1874, thus giving the community an official name. Upon the death of his father (August 25, 1883), Kent continued to serve as postmaster while he and his younger brother James assumed operation of the store under the name G. H. Kent \u0026 Company. George H. Kent married Florence Mary Wood in 1881, and the couple had seven children.","Records within the collection indicate that under Kent's management, the store expanded into pharmaceutical and fertilizer sales and began the wholesale buying and selling of locally produced goods (farm crops, livestock, animal skins, etc.).","G. H. Kent \u0026 Company seems to have passed into trusteeship under S. M. Shepherd in 1903, with the remaining store inventory sold to H. R. Adams. The records within the collection indicate that George Kent purchased the store's pharmaceutical inventory and continued to operate a shop there, doing business under his own name. Following Kent's death (November 16, 1936), the business apparently continued to be operated by family members as late as 1947.","The guide to the Kent's Store Records by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).","The processing, arrangement and description of the Kent's Store Records commenced in June, 2008 and was completed in October, 2008.","This collection consists of financial records maintained by Kent \u0026 Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026 Company, and G. H. Kent, successive owners of a general mercantile store at Kent's Store (Fluvanna County), Virginia. The majority of the collection is comprised of daybooks, journals and their corresponding account ledgers, but it also includes other types of business records such as bill books, cash books, and petty ledgers, relating not only to the store's operation but to several related enterprises, including a post office, pharmaceutical sales, fertilizer purchases and sales, a blacksmith's shop, and a livery stable. The collection also contains records relating to the administration of James M. Kent's estate.","The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.","This collection includes the business records of Kent's Store in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Account books, including daybooks, journals and ledgers maintained by general mercantile businesses Kent \u0026 Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026 Co. and G. H. Kent. Other records include cash books; bill books; post office ledgers; pharmaceutical, fertilizer, mill work, and blacksmith account ledgers; and James M. Kent estate records.","Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Kent's Store (Kents Store, Va.)","The materials in the collection are in English."],"collection_title_tesim":["Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947"],"collection_ssim":["Kent's Store Records, 1868/1947"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["Ms.1989.004"],"unitid_tesim":["Ms.1989.004"],"repository_ssm":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"creator_ssm":["Kent's Store (Kents Store, Va.)"],"creator_ssim":["Kent's Store (Kents Store, Va.)"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Kent's Store (Kents Store, Va.)"],"creators_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Kent's Store (Kents Store, Va.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"acqinfo_ssim":["The Kent's Store Records were purchased by Special Collections in 1989."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Local/Regional History and Appalachian South"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Local/Regional History and Appalachian South"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["57 Cubic Feet 125 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["57 Cubic Feet 125 boxes"],"date_range_isim":[1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is open for research.\u003c/p\u003e "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["The collection is open for research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged by item type, then chronologically, within the following series: \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries I: Daybooks, 1869-1903. This series contains daybooks maintained by Kent \u0026amp; Parrish and G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company. Recorded within the day books are all of the transactions at the store for each day of operation. Each entry provides the customer's name, items purchased, and amounts owed or paid. Entries for credit transactions were marked with a check and copied to the corresponding journal for that date. The final book for Kent \u0026amp; Parrish commences in 1883, the year of James M. Kent's death, and runs through 1901, with later entries detailing the settlement of existing accounts. Daybooks for G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company commence immediately upon assumption of the store's operation in August 1883 and continue through 1903, when the company went into trusteeship and the use of daybooks was discontinued. The series is arranged chronologically. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries II: Journals, 1868-1947. This series contains business journals maintained by Kent \u0026amp; Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company, and G. H. Kent. Like the daybooks, the journals contain records of the store's daily transactions. While the daybooks recorded every transaction, however, only credit transactions were copied to the early journals. The journals sometimes record the details of the transaction but often only summaries, including customer name and amounts owed or paid. Accompanying each entry is the page number on which the customer's account may be found in the corresponding account ledger. The final journal for Kent \u0026amp; Parrish concludes in 1899, as accounts continued to be settled long after James M. Kent's 1883 death. The G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company journals commence in 1883, running through 1903, when the store was placed under the trusteeship of S. M. Shepherd. The trusteeship journals span the years 1903 to 1910. Journals from 1906 to 1947 were maintained by G. H. Kent, conducting business under his own name, and by his heirs after his death in 1936. Beginning in 1906, the journals also include the store's cash transactions. The series is arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries III: Account Ledgers, 1868-1926. This series contains store ledgers maintained by Kent \u0026amp; Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company, and G. H. Kent. The credit transactions recorded within the daily journals are reconciled here in the account ledgers. The accounts of each credit customer are detailed, including names, dates of purchases, and amounts owed and paid. The accounts are not arranged in any logical order within the ledgers, but each volume includes an alphabetical index, arranged by customer name. A single customer's account may span several pages within an individual ledger and may continue for many years through several volumes. The account ledgers for Kent \u0026amp; Parrish continue through 1895, as accounts continued to be settled long after ownership had passed to G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company. Likewise, two G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company ledgers commenced in 1903 continue long past the company's dissolution and were used for the final settlement of existing accounts. Finally, the G. H. Kent ledgers, which commence with Kent's purchase of the store's pharmaceutical inventory in 1906, continue through 1926. The series is arranged chronologically. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries IV: Other Business and Financial Records, 1874-1934. This series contains other business and personal financial records of the Kent family. Most of these records relate to the operation of Kent \u0026amp; Parrish and G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company, as well as a few records relating to the administration of James M. Kent's estate, and other financial / legal matters. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIncluded in the series are such materials as bill ledgers, cash books, and an 1886 inventory, all relating to the store's operation, as well as records tracking the transactions of a number of related businesses. Among these is a volume relating to pharmaceutical sales that lists customers for various poisons, venereal medications, and paregoric). Also included within this series are records relating to the purchasing and selling of apples and fertilizer, a livery stable, mill work, and the store's post office. The series contains a single accounts ledger for blacksmith James Parrish, who seems to have leased his shop from the Kents. The series also contains three ledgers which seem to be related to the store but remain unidentified.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlso within this series are volumes not directly relating to the store's business, including several concerning the administration of the estates of James M. Kent and Rev. Stephen Eastin. Another ledger details the accounts of the Byrd Chapel Building Committee. Completing the series are a few fragments from other related records. The series is arranged by document type, then chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOversize Materials, 1871-1907. Contained here are materials too large to fit in their respective series.\u003c/p\u003e "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged by item type, then chronologically, within the following series:","Series I: Daybooks, 1869-1903. This series contains daybooks maintained by Kent \u0026 Parrish and G. H. Kent \u0026 Company. Recorded within the day books are all of the transactions at the store for each day of operation. Each entry provides the customer's name, items purchased, and amounts owed or paid. Entries for credit transactions were marked with a check and copied to the corresponding journal for that date. The final book for Kent \u0026 Parrish commences in 1883, the year of James M. Kent's death, and runs through 1901, with later entries detailing the settlement of existing accounts. Daybooks for G. H. Kent \u0026 Company commence immediately upon assumption of the store's operation in August 1883 and continue through 1903, when the company went into trusteeship and the use of daybooks was discontinued. The series is arranged chronologically.","Series II: Journals, 1868-1947. This series contains business journals maintained by Kent \u0026 Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026 Company, and G. H. Kent. Like the daybooks, the journals contain records of the store's daily transactions. While the daybooks recorded every transaction, however, only credit transactions were copied to the early journals. The journals sometimes record the details of the transaction but often only summaries, including customer name and amounts owed or paid. Accompanying each entry is the page number on which the customer's account may be found in the corresponding account ledger. The final journal for Kent \u0026 Parrish concludes in 1899, as accounts continued to be settled long after James M. Kent's 1883 death. The G. H. Kent \u0026 Company journals commence in 1883, running through 1903, when the store was placed under the trusteeship of S. M. Shepherd. The trusteeship journals span the years 1903 to 1910. Journals from 1906 to 1947 were maintained by G. H. Kent, conducting business under his own name, and by his heirs after his death in 1936. Beginning in 1906, the journals also include the store's cash transactions. The series is arranged chronologically.","Series III: Account Ledgers, 1868-1926. This series contains store ledgers maintained by Kent \u0026 Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026 Company, and G. H. Kent. The credit transactions recorded within the daily journals are reconciled here in the account ledgers. The accounts of each credit customer are detailed, including names, dates of purchases, and amounts owed and paid. The accounts are not arranged in any logical order within the ledgers, but each volume includes an alphabetical index, arranged by customer name. A single customer's account may span several pages within an individual ledger and may continue for many years through several volumes. The account ledgers for Kent \u0026 Parrish continue through 1895, as accounts continued to be settled long after ownership had passed to G. H. Kent \u0026 Company. Likewise, two G. H. Kent \u0026 Company ledgers commenced in 1903 continue long past the company's dissolution and were used for the final settlement of existing accounts. Finally, the G. H. Kent ledgers, which commence with Kent's purchase of the store's pharmaceutical inventory in 1906, continue through 1926. The series is arranged chronologically.","Series IV: Other Business and Financial Records, 1874-1934. This series contains other business and personal financial records of the Kent family. Most of these records relate to the operation of Kent \u0026 Parrish and G. H. Kent \u0026 Company, as well as a few records relating to the administration of James M. Kent's estate, and other financial / legal matters.","Included in the series are such materials as bill ledgers, cash books, and an 1886 inventory, all relating to the store's operation, as well as records tracking the transactions of a number of related businesses. Among these is a volume relating to pharmaceutical sales that lists customers for various poisons, venereal medications, and paregoric). Also included within this series are records relating to the purchasing and selling of apples and fertilizer, a livery stable, mill work, and the store's post office. The series contains a single accounts ledger for blacksmith James Parrish, who seems to have leased his shop from the Kents. The series also contains three ledgers which seem to be related to the store but remain unidentified.","Also within this series are volumes not directly relating to the store's business, including several concerning the administration of the estates of James M. Kent and Rev. Stephen Eastin. Another ledger details the accounts of the Byrd Chapel Building Committee. Completing the series are a few fragments from other related records. The series is arranged by document type, then chronologically.","Oversize Materials, 1871-1907. Contained here are materials too large to fit in their respective series."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eJames Madison Kent, son of John and Elizabeth Baskett Kent, was born in Virginia in 1819. In 1845, Kent purchased from Longston Mosby a tract of land in Fluvanna County, Virginia and built a residence and store near what is today the intersection of Route 601 and Kents Store Way. By 1868, Kent had partnered with his future brother-in-law, Booker Parrish, to form Kent \u0026amp; Parrish, and in 1870, he married Elizabeth Parrish. The couple would have two sons, George Henry and James Aubrey Kent. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eKent \u0026amp; Parrish grew quickly, and by 1870, it had become one of the largest general mercantile stores in Virginia, selling primarily household goods but also catering to the wagon traffic that stopped there en route to deliver tobacco and other products to the James River Canal at Columbia. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eGeorge Henry Kent, oldest son of James and Elizabeth Parrish Kent, was born in Fluvanna County on March 6, 1853. He established the Kent's Store post office in 1874, thus giving the community an official name. Upon the death of his father (August 25, 1883), Kent continued to serve as postmaster while he and his younger brother James assumed operation of the store under the name G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company. George H. Kent married Florence Mary Wood in 1881, and the couple had seven children.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eRecords within the collection indicate that under Kent's management, the store expanded into pharmaceutical and fertilizer sales and began the wholesale buying and selling of locally produced goods (farm crops, livestock, animal skins, etc.). \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eG. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company seems to have passed into trusteeship under S. M. Shepherd in 1903, with the remaining store inventory sold to H. R. Adams. The records within the collection indicate that George Kent purchased the store's pharmaceutical inventory and continued to operate a shop there, doing business under his own name. Following Kent's death (November 16, 1936), the business apparently continued to be operated by family members as late as 1947. \u003c/p\u003e "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Note"],"bioghist_tesim":["James Madison Kent, son of John and Elizabeth Baskett Kent, was born in Virginia in 1819. In 1845, Kent purchased from Longston Mosby a tract of land in Fluvanna County, Virginia and built a residence and store near what is today the intersection of Route 601 and Kents Store Way. By 1868, Kent had partnered with his future brother-in-law, Booker Parrish, to form Kent \u0026 Parrish, and in 1870, he married Elizabeth Parrish. The couple would have two sons, George Henry and James Aubrey Kent.","Kent \u0026 Parrish grew quickly, and by 1870, it had become one of the largest general mercantile stores in Virginia, selling primarily household goods but also catering to the wagon traffic that stopped there en route to deliver tobacco and other products to the James River Canal at Columbia.","George Henry Kent, oldest son of James and Elizabeth Parrish Kent, was born in Fluvanna County on March 6, 1853. He established the Kent's Store post office in 1874, thus giving the community an official name. Upon the death of his father (August 25, 1883), Kent continued to serve as postmaster while he and his younger brother James assumed operation of the store under the name G. H. Kent \u0026 Company. George H. Kent married Florence Mary Wood in 1881, and the couple had seven children.","Records within the collection indicate that under Kent's management, the store expanded into pharmaceutical and fertilizer sales and began the wholesale buying and selling of locally produced goods (farm crops, livestock, animal skins, etc.).","G. H. Kent \u0026 Company seems to have passed into trusteeship under S. M. Shepherd in 1903, with the remaining store inventory sold to H. R. Adams. The records within the collection indicate that George Kent purchased the store's pharmaceutical inventory and continued to operate a shop there, doing business under his own name. Following Kent's death (November 16, 1936), the business apparently continued to be operated by family members as late as 1947."],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe guide to the Kent's Store Records by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (\u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/\"\u003ehttps://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/\u003c/a\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e "],"odd_heading_ssm":["Rights Statement for Archival Description"],"odd_tesim":["The guide to the Kent's Store Records by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/)."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eResearchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Kent's Store Records, 1868-1947, Ms1989-004, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.\u003c/p\u003e "],"prefercite_tesim":["Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Kent's Store Records, 1868-1947, Ms1989-004, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe processing, arrangement and description of the Kent's Store Records commenced in June, 2008 and was completed in October, 2008.\u003c/p\u003e "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["The processing, arrangement and description of the Kent's Store Records commenced in June, 2008 and was completed in October, 2008."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection consists of financial records maintained by Kent \u0026amp; Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Company, and G. H. Kent, successive owners of a general mercantile store at Kent's Store (Fluvanna County), Virginia. The majority of the collection is comprised of daybooks, journals and their corresponding account ledgers, but it also includes other types of business records such as bill books, cash books, and petty ledgers, relating not only to the store's operation but to several related enterprises, including a post office, pharmaceutical sales, fertilizer purchases and sales, a blacksmith's shop, and a livery stable. The collection also contains records relating to the administration of James M. Kent's estate.\u003c/p\u003e "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection consists of financial records maintained by Kent \u0026 Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026 Company, and G. H. Kent, successive owners of a general mercantile store at Kent's Store (Fluvanna County), Virginia. The majority of the collection is comprised of daybooks, journals and their corresponding account ledgers, but it also includes other types of business records such as bill books, cash books, and petty ledgers, relating not only to the store's operation but to several related enterprises, including a post office, pharmaceutical sales, fertilizer purchases and sales, a blacksmith's shop, and a livery stable. The collection also contains records relating to the administration of James M. Kent's estate."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/scuareproduction\"\u003ehttp://bit.ly/scuareproduction\u003c/a\u003e. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/scuapublication\"\u003ehttp://bit.ly/scuapublication\u003c/a\u003e. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.\u003c/p\u003e "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_0cd30652028cd749d23dda0d92cd3ace\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThis collection includes the business records of Kent's Store in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Account books, including daybooks, journals and ledgers maintained by general mercantile businesses Kent \u0026amp; Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026amp; Co. and G. H. Kent. Other records include cash books; bill books; post office ledgers; pharmaceutical, fertilizer, mill work, and blacksmith account ledgers; and James M. Kent estate records.\u003c/abstract\u003e\n "],"abstract_tesim":["This collection includes the business records of Kent's Store in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Account books, including daybooks, journals and ledgers maintained by general mercantile businesses Kent \u0026 Parrish, G. H. Kent \u0026 Co. and G. H. Kent. Other records include cash books; bill books; post office ledgers; pharmaceutical, fertilizer, mill work, and blacksmith account ledgers; and James M. Kent estate records."],"corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Kent's Store (Kents Store, Va.)"],"names_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Kent's Store (Kents Store, Va.)"],"language_ssim":["The materials in the collection are in English."],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":184,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:29:47.882Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1631_c04_c08_c01"}},{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05_c03","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Financial accounts, 1863/1895","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05_c03","ref_ssm":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05_c03"],"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05_c03","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05","parent_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05","parent_ssim":["Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924","Henry Frazier Dickson, 1841/1909"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05"],"title_filing_ssi":"Financial accounts","title_ssm":["Financial accounts"],"title_tesim":["Financial accounts"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Financial accounts, 1863/1895"],"text":["Financial accounts, 1863/1895","Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924","Henry Frazier Dickson, 1841/1909"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924","Henry Frazier Dickson, 1841/1909"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924","Henry Frazier Dickson, 1841/1909"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1863/1895"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1863-1895"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":158,"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"collection_ssim":["Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":4,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["The collection is open for research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"date_range_isim":[1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895],"_nest_path_":"/components#4/components#2","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:29:47.882Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_1599.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Dickson Family Papers","title_ssm":["Dickson Family Papers"],"title_tesim":["Dickson Family Papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1769-1924"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1769-1924"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1769/1924"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924"],"text":["Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924","Ms.1988.094","/repositories/2/resources/1599","Greenbrier County (W. Va.)","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","The collection is open for research.","The papers are arranged by family member and then by type of material.","The Dicksons were pioneer settlers of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Joseph Dickson (1749-1822) settled in what is now Greenbrier County, West Virginia, from Ireland by way of Pennsylvania in the 1770s. He received land grants originally from the King's land office in 1769, and later from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1785, 1789, and 1795 for property on Howard's Creek. His son, Robert Dickson (1795-1869?), inherited the land and built Locust Hill in 1833, now called Mountain Home. Robert Renick Dickson (1827-1888) and Henry Frazier Dickson (1841-1909), Robert Dickson's sons, inherited the land and in turn left it to their heirs. The Dicksons turned Mountain Home near White Sulphur Springs into a resort in the 1800s and early 1900s. The property and home were owned by the family until they were sold in 1968.","The guide to the Dickson Family Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).","The processing, arrangement, and description of the Dickson Family Papers was completed prior to 2001.","The papers consist largely of land, property, and goods transaction receipts and documents of each of the four generations of the Dickson Family, who originally settled in what is now Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in the 1770s. Certificates, oaths, correspondence, deeds, and a diary are included in Joseph Dickson's papers, along with several sale documents for enslaved people from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Much of the land and goods and many of the enslaved people were exchanged with neighbors and others in the area. Most of Joseph Dickson's documents are individually described in this inventory. The papers of John Dickson (1737-1809, brother of Joseph Dickson), Robert Dickson, Robert Renick Dickson and Henry Frazier Dickson, and Geraldine Dickson Burrow (1879-1943, daughter of Henry Frazier Dickson), are grouped by type of material (for example, financial accounts, correspondence, and land deeds). Within Robert Dickson's correspondence are a few references to the American Civil War, including a letter from a Confederate tax collector demanding payment of his 1863 Confederate taxes. Other interesting documents include the transcript (1916) of the trial of Sallie Dickson (wife of Robert Renick Dickson) who was sued by Henry Frazier Dickson, for payment of rent due to him. The papers also include genealogy charts of the family.","The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.","The papers consist largely of land, property, and goods transaction receipts and documents of each of the four generations of the Dickson Family, who originally settled in what is now Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in the 1770s. Certificates, oaths, correspondence, deeds, and a diary are included in Joseph Dickson's papers, along with several sale documents for enslaved people from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Much of the land and goods and many of the enslaved people were exchanged with neighbors and others in the area.","Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Dickson family (Greenbrier County, W. Va.)","Gib (enslaved person)","Patten (enslaved person)","Nan (enslaved person)","Elijah (enslaved person)","Joel (enslaved person)","Jude (enslaved person)","Jeff (enslaved person)","Jane (enslaved person)","The materials in the collection are in English."],"collection_title_tesim":["Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924"],"collection_ssim":["Dickson Family Papers, 1769/1924"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["Ms.1988.094","/repositories/2/resources/1599"],"unitid_tesim":["Ms.1988.094","/repositories/2/resources/1599"],"repository_ssm":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"geogname_ssm":["Greenbrier County (W. Va.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Greenbrier County (W. Va.)"],"places_ssim":["Greenbrier County (W. Va.)"],"creator_ssm":["Dickson family (Greenbrier County, W. Va.)"],"creator_ssim":["Dickson family (Greenbrier County, W. Va.)"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Gib (enslaved person)","Patten (enslaved person)","Nan (enslaved person)","Elijah (enslaved person)","Joel (enslaved person)","Jude (enslaved person)","Jeff (enslaved person)","Jane (enslaved person)"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech"],"creator_famname_ssim":["Dickson family (Greenbrier County, W. Va.)"],"creators_ssim":["Gib (enslaved person)","Patten (enslaved person)","Nan (enslaved person)","Elijah (enslaved person)","Joel (enslaved person)","Jude (enslaved person)","Jeff (enslaved person)","Jane (enslaved person)","Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Dickson family (Greenbrier County, W. Va.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"acqinfo_ssim":["The collection was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in 1988."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Local/Regional History and Appalachian South"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Local/Regional History and Appalachian South"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["2.8 Cubic Feet 2 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["2.8 Cubic Feet 2 boxes"],"date_range_isim":[1769,1770,1771,1772,1773,1774,1775,1776,1777,1778,1779,1780,1781,1782,1783,1784,1785,1786,1787,1788,1789,1790,1791,1792,1793,1794,1795,1796,1797,1798,1799,1800,1801,1802,1803,1804,1805,1806,1807,1808,1809,1810,1811,1812,1813,1814,1815,1816,1817,1818,1819,1820,1821,1822,1823,1824,1825,1826,1827,1828,1829,1830,1831,1832,1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847,1848,1849,1850,1851,1852,1853,1854,1855,1856,1857,1858,1859,1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is open for research.\u003c/p\u003e "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["The collection is open for research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe papers are arranged by family member and then by type of material.\u003c/p\u003e "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The papers are arranged by family member and then by type of material."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Dicksons were pioneer settlers of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Joseph Dickson (1749-1822) settled in what is now Greenbrier County, West Virginia, from Ireland by way of Pennsylvania in the 1770s. He received land grants originally from the King's land office in 1769, and later from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1785, 1789, and 1795 for property on Howard's Creek. His son, Robert Dickson (1795-1869?), inherited the land and built Locust Hill in 1833, now called Mountain Home. Robert Renick Dickson (1827-1888) and Henry Frazier Dickson (1841-1909), Robert Dickson's sons, inherited the land and in turn left it to their heirs. The Dicksons turned Mountain Home near White Sulphur Springs into a resort in the 1800s and early 1900s. The property and home were owned by the family until they were sold in 1968.\u003c/p\u003e "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Family History Note"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Dicksons were pioneer settlers of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Joseph Dickson (1749-1822) settled in what is now Greenbrier County, West Virginia, from Ireland by way of Pennsylvania in the 1770s. He received land grants originally from the King's land office in 1769, and later from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1785, 1789, and 1795 for property on Howard's Creek. His son, Robert Dickson (1795-1869?), inherited the land and built Locust Hill in 1833, now called Mountain Home. Robert Renick Dickson (1827-1888) and Henry Frazier Dickson (1841-1909), Robert Dickson's sons, inherited the land and in turn left it to their heirs. The Dicksons turned Mountain Home near White Sulphur Springs into a resort in the 1800s and early 1900s. The property and home were owned by the family until they were sold in 1968."],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe guide to the Dickson Family Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (\u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/\"\u003ehttps://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/\u003c/a\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e "],"odd_heading_ssm":["Rights Statement for Archival Description"],"odd_tesim":["The guide to the Dickson Family Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/)."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eResearchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Dickson Family Papers, 1769-1924, Ms1988-094, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.\u003c/p\u003e "],"prefercite_tesim":["Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Dickson Family Papers, 1769-1924, Ms1988-094, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe processing, arrangement, and description of the Dickson Family Papers was completed prior to 2001.\u003c/p\u003e "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["The processing, arrangement, and description of the Dickson Family Papers was completed prior to 2001."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe papers consist largely of land, property, and goods transaction receipts and documents of each of the four generations of the Dickson Family, who originally settled in what is now Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in the 1770s. Certificates, oaths, correspondence, deeds, and a diary are included in Joseph Dickson's papers, along with several sale documents for enslaved people from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Much of the land and goods and many of the enslaved people were exchanged with neighbors and others in the area. Most of Joseph Dickson's documents are individually described in this inventory. The papers of John Dickson (1737-1809, brother of Joseph Dickson), Robert Dickson, Robert Renick Dickson and Henry Frazier Dickson, and Geraldine Dickson Burrow (1879-1943, daughter of Henry Frazier Dickson), are grouped by type of material (for example, financial accounts, correspondence, and land deeds). Within Robert Dickson's correspondence are a few references to the American Civil War, including a letter from a Confederate tax collector demanding payment of his 1863 Confederate taxes. Other interesting documents include the transcript (1916) of the trial of Sallie Dickson (wife of Robert Renick Dickson) who was sued by Henry Frazier Dickson, for payment of rent due to him. The papers also include genealogy charts of the family.\u003c/p\u003e "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The papers consist largely of land, property, and goods transaction receipts and documents of each of the four generations of the Dickson Family, who originally settled in what is now Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in the 1770s. Certificates, oaths, correspondence, deeds, and a diary are included in Joseph Dickson's papers, along with several sale documents for enslaved people from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Much of the land and goods and many of the enslaved people were exchanged with neighbors and others in the area. Most of Joseph Dickson's documents are individually described in this inventory. The papers of John Dickson (1737-1809, brother of Joseph Dickson), Robert Dickson, Robert Renick Dickson and Henry Frazier Dickson, and Geraldine Dickson Burrow (1879-1943, daughter of Henry Frazier Dickson), are grouped by type of material (for example, financial accounts, correspondence, and land deeds). Within Robert Dickson's correspondence are a few references to the American Civil War, including a letter from a Confederate tax collector demanding payment of his 1863 Confederate taxes. Other interesting documents include the transcript (1916) of the trial of Sallie Dickson (wife of Robert Renick Dickson) who was sued by Henry Frazier Dickson, for payment of rent due to him. The papers also include genealogy charts of the family."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/scuareproduction\"\u003ehttp://bit.ly/scuareproduction\u003c/a\u003e. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/scuapublication\"\u003ehttp://bit.ly/scuapublication\u003c/a\u003e. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.\u003c/p\u003e "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_38302d5600958a1e835db472b2c30d32\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe papers consist largely of land, property, and goods transaction receipts and documents of each of the four generations of the Dickson Family, who originally settled in what is now Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in the 1770s. Certificates, oaths, correspondence, deeds, and a diary are included in Joseph Dickson's papers, along with several sale documents for enslaved people from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Much of the land and goods and many of the enslaved people were exchanged with neighbors and others in the area.\u003c/abstract\u003e\n "],"abstract_tesim":["The papers consist largely of land, property, and goods transaction receipts and documents of each of the four generations of the Dickson Family, who originally settled in what is now Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in the 1770s. Certificates, oaths, correspondence, deeds, and a diary are included in Joseph Dickson's papers, along with several sale documents for enslaved people from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Much of the land and goods and many of the enslaved people were exchanged with neighbors and others in the area."],"corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech"],"famname_ssim":["Dickson family (Greenbrier County, W. Va.)"],"persname_ssim":["Gib (enslaved person)","Patten (enslaved person)","Nan (enslaved person)","Elijah (enslaved person)","Joel (enslaved person)","Jude (enslaved person)","Jeff (enslaved person)","Jane (enslaved person)"],"names_coll_ssim":["Gib (enslaved person)","Patten (enslaved person)","Nan (enslaved person)","Elijah (enslaved person)","Joel (enslaved person)","Jude (enslaved person)","Jeff (enslaved person)","Jane (enslaved person)"],"names_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Dickson family (Greenbrier County, W. Va.)","Gib (enslaved person)","Patten (enslaved person)","Nan (enslaved person)","Elijah (enslaved person)","Joel (enslaved person)","Jude (enslaved person)","Jeff (enslaved person)","Jane (enslaved person)"],"language_ssim":["The materials in the collection are in English."],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":173,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:29:47.882Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1599_c05_c03"}},{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07_c04","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Financial Records, 1873/1936","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07_c04#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07_c04","ref_ssm":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07_c04"],"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07_c04","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07","parent_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07","parent_ssim":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998","Series VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers, 1864/1936"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07"],"title_filing_ssi":"Financial Records","title_ssm":["Financial Records"],"title_tesim":["Financial Records"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Financial Records, 1873/1936"],"text":["Financial Records, 1873/1936","Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998","Series VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers, 1864/1936"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998","Series VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers, 1864/1936"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998","Series VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers, 1864/1936"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1873/1936"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1873-1936"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":94,"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"collection_ssim":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":23,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["The collection is open for research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.","Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"date_range_isim":[1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936],"_nest_path_":"/components#6/components#3","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:30:59.961Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_2361.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection","title_ssm":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection"],"title_tesim":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection"],"unitdate_ssm":["1780-1998"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1780-1998"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1780/1998"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998"],"text":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998","Ms.2008.040","Montgomery County (Va.)","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Women -- History","The collection is open for research.","The collection is arranged into series corresponding to the creators. Each series arranged by type of material and then placed in chronological order.","Series I: Gordon Cloyd Bell, Sr. Papers, 1917-1962","Series II: Edgar Withrow Bell Papers, 1919-1970","Series III: Gordon Cloyd Bell, Jr. Papers, 1921-1967","Series IV: David Kent Bell Papers, 1925-1978","Series V: Bell Family Papers, 1834-1841","Series VI: James Withrow Papers, 1848-1910","Series VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers, 1864-1936","Series VIII: Annie Withrow Papers, 1889-1981","Series IX: Withrow Family Papers, 1870-1941","Series X: Kent Family Papers, 1814-1881","Series XI: Cloyd Family Papers, 1792-1866","Series XII: Other Family Papers, 1780-1998","Series XIII: Other Materials, 1901-1997","Gen. Gordon Cloyd was a descendant of David Cloyd. In 1764, Indians attacked the homestead of David Cloyd in Rockbridge County, Virginia. His wife, Margaret, was killed, as well as his son, John. Another son, Joseph Cloyd was away from the house at the time of the attack and was thus spared. David Cloyd passed away in 1792; Joseph Cloyd bought land and settled in Back Creek in present day Pulaski County in 1773. During the American Revolution, Joseph Cloyd served under Col. William Preston of Montgomery County. He is credited with saving Col. Preston's life when Preston was thrown from his horse during a skirmish at Wetzell's Mill in North Carolina. Following the war, Joseph Cloyd bought up more land in Pulaski County and built a brick house on Back Creek.","Joseph Cloyd married Mary Gordon and together they had three sons, Gordon, David, and Thomas. Gordon and David married two sisters, Sallie and Elizabeth McGavock. The McGavock sisters were the daughters of James McGavock and Mary Cloyd, Joseph Cloyd's sister. James and Mary McGavock also had a third daughter, Margaret, who married Joseph Kent.","David Cloyd and Sallie McGavock had five children: Margaret, Joseph, Gordon, Cynthia, and James McGavock. James McGavock Cloyd married Frances E. McNutt on November 5, 1853, together they had on child, David, in January of 1855. Frances died on December 21, 1858. James then married Harriet J. Ernest on January 10, 1861. They had four children: Fanny Ernest, Lucy McGavock, Sally, and Harriet Gordon. James Cloyd lived at the homestead on Back Creek in Pulaski County that was originally settled by Col. Joseph Cloyd.","Gordon Cloyd commanded the 19th Brigade of the Virginia Militia during the War of 1812; he was later promoted to Major-General and thereafter was known as General Cloyd. He later served as a land surveyor for the Montgomery County area, and together with his brothers, purchased a tract of land along the New River know as Buchanan's Bottom. Gen. Gordon Cloyd and Elizabeth McGavock Cloyd together had six children, only two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth Cloyd survived. The two sisters married two brothers, James Randal and David Fenton Kent. David and James were the sons of Joseph Kent and Margaret McGavock Kent. Gordon Cloyd left the Buchanan's Bottom land to his daughter, Mary, and her husband, James Randal Kent. Elizabeth Kent and David Fenton Kent received the land at Back Creek and the house known as Springfield.","David Fenton Kent and Elizabeth Cloyd were married on January 2, 1834. Together they had seven children: Gordon Cloyd, born December 7, 1834, died November 11, 1837; an unnamed son, April 23, 1836 who lived eight days; Mary Elizabeth, born May 17, 1837, died December 14, 1837; James Randal, born August 15, 1838, died September 4, 1861; Sarah McGavock, born November 5, 1839, died March 9, 1891; Joseph Gordon, born March 22, 1841, died July 15, 1886; David Fenton, born May 17, 1844, died October 18, 1878. David F. Kent lived at the Springfield property and ran businesses with a Thomas Miller. He was reputed to have been an entertaining storyteller. David Fenton Kent died on January 28, 1850. Elizabeth Cloyd Kent outlived him by nineteen years, dying February 7, 1869.","James Randal Kent and Mary Cloyd Kent moved to Buchanan's Bottom and lived at first in the old Trigg house. Later, they built Kentland mansion, which stands to this day. Together James and Mary had five daughters, Elizabeth Cloyd, born 1819, Sarah James, born 1822, Mary Louisa, born 1824, Cynthia, born 1827, and Margaret Gordon, born 1840. James Randal Kent was an enslaver, prominent landowner, and successful farmer. He also held several minor public offices including Sheriff of Montgomery County from 1822 to 1823, he also served as a Justice and a land surveyor. Throughout the 1830s and 1840s, James Randal Kent bought up land, he owned around 8000 acres in 1860. In 1855, construction began on a resort at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs, a hotel that later served as a hospital during the American Civil War. In 1860, James Randal Kent became a founder of the Preston and Olin Institute, a Methodist school in Blacksburg that was the predecessor to present day Virginia Tech. He was among the wealthiest men in Montgomery County with an estimated wealth of $196,000. Kent was a staunch supporter of the Confederacy, he enslaved more than 100 people at the start of the war. He served as an organizer for the Confederate Army, as well as a supplier of foodstuffs, providing grain and beef to the Confederate Army all the way up to the day Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Though Kentland survived the war, many barns and out-buildings were burned, including the plantation office with the majority of James Kent's personal papers, and in 1867 his land was valued at 41% less than it had been in 1860. James Randal Kent died on May 29, 1867.","Sarah James Kent, daughter of James Randal Kent, married Francis Bell, a cattle buyer from Staunton, in 1855. Together Sarah and Francis had four surviving children: twin sons, James Randal Kent Bell and Samuel Hays Bell in 1858, a daughter, Mary Louisa Bell in 1861, and Francis \"Frank\" Bell in 1864. They built a home on the land in Pulaski given to Sarah by her father. They lived at Mountain Home until the mid-1870s, when in 1872 Francis Bell purchased land from the Darsts and the Cloyds, their new home, Rockwood, was built c. 1876.","The four Bell children were well educated and all attended college for some period of time. Public schools were non-existent at this time, so a governess, Mary Eliza Sedgewick taught them while they lived at Mountain Home. James Randal Kent and Samuel Hays Bell both attended Washington College in Lexington from 1875 to 1877. Mary Louisa Bell went to Mary Baldwin College in Staunton. Frank Bell attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute before transferring to the Virginia Military Institute and graduating with the class of 1885.","Sarah James Kent Bell died in April of 1884; Francis Bell followed her nine years later in 1893. In their will, all their land and properties were to be divided by the four children as they saw fit. James Randal Kent Bell received the Mountain Home properties, Samuel inherited the land in Augusta County, and Rockwood was split between Frank Bell and Mary Louisa Bell.","James Randal Kent Bell married three times. His first wife was Maria L. Sedgwick, the daughter of their governess, Mary Eliza Sedgewick, Maria died shortly after the birth of their daughter, Mary Peck Bell. His second wife was Lida Howell Whitsett, Lida died in January of 1902. Together they had five children, Amelia Louise, Elizabeth Kent, Sarah Frances, James, and Francis Joseph. The name of James R. K. Bell's third wife is unknown. All of his children were born at Mountain Home and grew up there.","Samuel Hays Bell married Bessie Arbuthnot on May 18, 1893. Together they had four daughters, Sarah James, Elizabeth, Mary Lou, and Margaret. They lived in Staunton on the land inherited from Francis Bell. Samuel Bell died in Staunton on June 26, 1903.","Mary Louisa Bell married Dr. Kent Black at Rockwood November 14, 1894. Dr. Black graduated from the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1875, he worked as physician and surgeon at the school until 1890. Dr. Black died in 1909, following his death Mary Louisa Bell Black moved back to Pulaski to live with her family, she died at Rockwood December 12, 1943.","Frank Bell married Ellen Gordan Kent, the granddaughter of David Fenton Kent, in 1889. They had eight children: Sarah Kent Bell born September 28, 1890, Gordon Cloyd Bell born January 16, 1892, Ellen Howe Bell born February 12, 1893, Francis Bell born August 16, 1894, Mary Lou Bell born July 1, 1896, Elizabeth Cloyd Bell born September 7, 1897, Samuel Hays Bell born May 16, 1901, and Agnes McGavock Bell born September 1, 1905. Frank Bell worked in the cattle business just like his father and grandfather, he was an accomplished business man and over the years he bought up the rest of the Rockwood property from his sister, Mary Louisa Bell Black. He died at Rockwood on December 21, 1939, just a few months after the celebration of his fiftieth wedding anniversary.","Frank Bell's son, Gordon Cloyd Bell married Mary Eliza Withrow on November 16, 1918. They had four sons, Edgar Withrow Bell, Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr., David Kent Bell, and Andrew Mathews Bell. Gordon Bell Sr. was a farmer and overseer of farm lands, he also served as the President of the Bank of Dublin. Mary Withrow Bell died September 30, 1938. Gordon Cloyd Sr. then married Lucy Preston King in October of 1942, they lived for a time in Phoenix, Arizona where Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. died in 1965.","Edgar Withrow Bell, the eldest son of Gordon Cloyd and Mary Withrow Bell was born on October 27, 1919. He grew up in Dublin and attended Lees-McCrea College in North Carolina. He wrote articles about music trends and opened \"The Record Bar\" at Wysor Electric Appliance Co. in Dublin. He also served as a postal worker in Arlington where he died in November of 1971.","Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. was born in Dublin on May 13, 1921. He was a farmer and overseer of the Withrow and Bell lands in Pulaski County, VA. He also served on the board of the Bank of Dublin. He attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Furman College before entering the armed services in January of 1943 and served with the Black Panther Division during World War II. Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in September of 1967.","David Kent Bell was born in Dublin on April 5, 1925. David attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and graduated with the Class of 1949. He also served in the armed services during World War II. He married Beverly Ann Gould from Baltimore, together they had two children: Sheri Lynn Bell born April 30, 1957 and James Gordon Bell born March 3, 1959. David Kent and Beverly Gould divorced and he married Helga Lewandowski. David Kent Bell died January 26, 2003.","Andrew Mathews Bell was born in Dublin on July 14, 1932. He died October 26, 1948.","Ellen Howe Bell was born February 12, 1893. She attended Mary Baldwin College. Ellen married Orrin Rankin Magill on September 30, 1915. Through the National YMCA, they moved to China where they lived for many years. Upon retiring, they moved to Blacksburg where they often entertained Chinese students attending Virginia Tech. Ellen Howe Bell Magill was elected the 1962 Mother of the Year in Blacksburg. She died January 19, 1968.","In 1918, Gordon Cloyd Bell married Mary Eliza Withrow. She was the granddaughter of James W. Withrow of Greenbrier County. James Withrow was born in Lewisburg, in what is now West Virginia, on October 23, 1818. Though not a licensed attorney he served as a judge and for many years, the Master Commissioner of the Circuit Court. He also represented the county in the state legislature where he served on the Judiciary Committee. He married Mary Jane Kincaid and had two sons, Edgar Daingerfield Withrow and Heber K. Withrow, and three daughters, Mrs. Helen Feamster, Miss Mary J. Withrow, and Mrs. Lucy Withrow Montgomery. James Withrow died June 26, 1901.","Edgar Daingerfield Withrow was born December 9, 1845. He married Mary See Renick on November 3, 1886. Edgar served in the Civil War as a member of Confederate company E of the 14th Virginia Cavalry. Edgar was captured at Berryville in 1864 and spent the end of the war at Camp Chare in Ohio. Following the War, Edgar went into business with his father, and later ran his own business selling agricultural implements. Together with Mary Renick, he had six daughters and one son: Mary Mathews Withrow, born September 16, 1887, died October 3, 1892; Annie Primrose Withrow, born January 26, 1889, died June 16, 1982; Mary Eliza Withrow, born November 29, 1892, died September 29, 1938; Helen Cameron Withrow, born January 9, 1895, died July 25, 1903; Letitia Renick Withrow, born July 1, 1897, died December 24, 1922; Geraldine Withrow, born August 1, 1901, died July 8, 1902; Edgar D. Withrow Jr., born July 8, 1903, died October 2, 1913. The Withrows moved to Pulaski County sometime around 1910. Edgar Withrow died March 9, 1926 and Mary Renick Withrow died January 7, 1929.","Annie P. Withrow never married. She was very close with her nephews, Edgar, Gordon, David and Andrew Bell, and much of their correspondence was written to her. She attended the Lewisburg Female Institute beginning in 1907. Annie Withrow died in June of 1982.","Letitia R. Withrow was born July 1, 1897. She moved with her family to Dublin and graduated from Dublin High School. She then attended Stonewall Jackson College in Abingdon until the school burned in 1914. She then entered Hollins College in Roanoke, VA, following graduation she became a special student of voice under Professor A. Y. Cornell of New York for two years. In 1919, she took a job as Assistant Voice Teacher at Greenville Women's College in Greenville, South Carolina. She taught there for two years, and one year at Annville College in Annville, Pennsylvania. She left Annville College to return to New York in order to resume her training with Professor Cornell in preparation for a singing career. Shortly thereafter she returned home, where she died from influenza on December 24, 1922.","The guide to the the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).","The processing, arrangement, and description of the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection began in June 2008 and was completed in October 2008.","A listing of individuals and families in the Biographical Vertical Files at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives is available online, but files of particular interest may include:","Bentley family (related to the Cloyd, Kent, and McGavock families)--this file contains a 2014 update to: Robert Gray's The McGavock Family. A Genealogical History of James McGavock and His Descendants from 1760 to 1903. Richmond: W.E. Jones, 1903. CS 71 .M144 1903 (copies in Special Collections and University Archives and Newman Library). The 2014 update is also available online. \nKent","See the following materials related to these families, which are also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives:","Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers, Ms1974-003","James Randal Kent Papers, Ms1987-031","Elizabeth Kent Adams Papers, Ms1990-045","\"Whitethorne Photographs of Kentland for Margaret K. Cowan\" Photograph Album, Ms2021-020","Francis Bell Letter, Ms2024-088","The Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection spans the dates 1780 to 1998. The collection contains the papers and business records of four prominent families from Montgomery County and Pulaski County, Virginia and Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Also included are documents relating to numerous other individuals and families from across Southwest Virginia and Southern West Virginia. Documents include correspondence, land deeds and warrants, as well as financial records including debt statements, receipts, account statements, and money orders. The collection is divided into thirteen major series: Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. Papers, Edgar Withrow Bell Papers, Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. Papers, David Kent Bell Papers, Bell Family Papers, James Withrow Papers, Edgar D. Withrow Papers, Annie P. Withrow Papers, Withrow Family Papers, Kent Family Papers, Cloyd Family Papers, Other Family Papers, and Other Materials.","Series I: Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. Papers: This series spans the years 1917 to 1962 and includes personal correspondence to and from Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. as well as business correspondence and materials from Bell's time as the President of the Bank of Dublin in Dublin, VA. The series also contains bank statements from 1940 to 1941.","Series II: Edgar Withrow Bell Papers: This series contains materials dating from 1919 to 1970, including a birth certificate for Edgar W. Bell. The papers are mainly personal in nature. There is extensive correspondence, dating from 1934 to 1970 as well as a scrapbook and some newspaper clippings. There is a limited amount of Edgar Bell's financial records including bank statements dating from 1942 to 1945.","Series III: Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. Papers: these papers date from 1921 to 1967. These papers include a birth certificate and academic records, as well as, land deeds, tax documents, and financial records. Also included are materials from Gordon Bell Jr.'s time in the military including correspondence from the time of his service in World War II. World War II materials also include a \"Save Conduct Leaflet.\" These leaflets were air dropped in Western Europe by Allied forces in order to aid in the surrender of German Soldiers, the leaflet in this collection was most likely the version distributed from December 1944 through April 1945, it contains both English and German text.","Series IV: David Kent Bell Papers: These papers date from 1925 to 1978. They range in scope from David Bell's birth certificate and education records to financial records and insurance documents. Also included is correspondence, some of which dates from David Bell's service in World War II. Also from this period are military documents dating from 1943 to 1948.","Series V: Bell Family Papers: This series is composed for documents from various members of the Bell family including James Bell, Mary Withrow Bell, Andrew Bell, Francis Bell, and Ellen Howe Bell Magill. These items range in date from 1834 to 1967. They include financial records for James Bell, along with correspondence from Mary Withrow Bell, Andrew Bell, and Ellen Howe Bell Magill. This series also contains information regarding the settlement of the estates of both Francis Bell and Mary Withrow Bell.","Series VI: James Withrow Papers: This series contains material ranging in date from 1848 to 1910. The bulk of the material in this series is financial records for James Withrow's business in agriculture, including contracts, correspondence, checks, receipts, money orders, debt statements, and account statements. Also present are documents relating to the settlement of James Withrow's estate.","Series VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers: This series spans the dates 1864 through 1936. Included in this series are personal items including correspondence from Edgar Withrow's time as a Confederate Prisoner of War. Also included are records from the Greenbrier Light Infantry Grays of which Edgar Withrow was a member. The majority of this series is composed of financial records and business records from Edgar Withrow's business as an agricultural implements salesman.","Series VIII: Annie Primrose Withrow Papers: These papers consist of personal correspondence and items dating from 1889 to 1981, including land deeds and other legal documents as well as a 1908 \"Greenbrier\" yearbook from the Lewisburg Female Institute.","Series IX: The Withrow Family Papers: This series spans from 1870 to 1941, it contains materials from members of the Withrow family including business records from various businesses run by James Withrow and his son, Edgar, in addition to this are papers from Heber K. Withrow, Mary Renick Withrow, Helen Withrow, Mary E. Withrow, Mary J. Withrow, Letitia Withrow, and papers from Withrow Place as well as the Withrow Tourist Home.","Series X: The Kent Family Papers: This series includes materials dating from 1814 to 1881. The series includes the correspondence and financial records of two prominent Southwest Virginia landowners, James Randal Kent and David Fenton Kent.","Series XI: The Cloyd Family Papers: The Cloyd family papers include correspondence and financial records for Gordon, Mary, and James Cloyd. Also included are several land surveys done by Gordon Cloyd, a land surveyor for Southwest Virginia. These materials date from 1792 to 1866.","Series XII: Other Family Papers: This series is composed of land warrants and deeds, financial records, and personal correspondence from numerous individuals and families from Southwest Virginia and what is now, Southern West Virginia. These materials range in date from 1780 to 1998 and are dived into two categories, those materials sorted by individual or family and items organized by category.","Series XIII: Other Materials: This series is composed of magazines, booklets, brochures, and photographs that could not be identified as belonging to any one person or family. The series spans the dates 1901 through 1997.","The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.","Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.","The Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection contains the personal papers and financial records of members of four prominent families. Included are members of the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, and Withrow families, as well as, materials from related families and acquaintances. This is a diverse collection containing materials dating from 1780 to 1998. Items of interest include several Land Deeds and Warrant from the late 18th Century, including one signed by Benjamin Harrison, then Governor of Virginia; American Civil War correspondence from Confederate POW, Edgar Withrow; Regimental listings from the 19th Brigade of the Virginia Militia; and correspondence and military documents dating from World War II. The main collection contains materials from Gen. Gordon Cloyd, James Randal Kent, David Fenton Kent, Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr., David Kent Bell, James and Edgar Withrow, and many others.","Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Withrow family","Cloyd family","Kent family","Bell family","The materials in the collection are in English."],"collection_title_tesim":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998"],"collection_ssim":["Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, 1780/1998"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["Ms.2008.040"],"unitid_tesim":["Ms.2008.040"],"repository_ssm":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"creator_ssm":["Withrow family","Cloyd family","Kent family","Bell family"],"creator_ssim":["Withrow family","Cloyd family","Kent family","Bell family"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech"],"creator_famname_ssim":["Withrow family","Cloyd family","Kent family","Bell family"],"creators_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Withrow family","Cloyd family","Kent family","Bell family"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.","Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"acqinfo_ssim":["The Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection was donated by James Gordon Bell to Special Collections in 2008: \"In memory of my grandfather, Gordon Cloyd Bell, who collected items of historical interest, and my father, David Kent Bell, who treasured them, my wish is that these items be used to preserve our history.\""],"access_subjects_ssim":["Montgomery County (Va.)","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Women -- History"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Montgomery County (Va.)","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Women -- History"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["9.5 Cubic Feet 18 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["9.5 Cubic Feet 18 boxes"],"date_range_isim":[1780,1781,1782,1783,1784,1785,1786,1787,1788,1789,1790,1791,1792,1793,1794,1795,1796,1797,1798,1799,1800,1801,1802,1803,1804,1805,1806,1807,1808,1809,1810,1811,1812,1813,1814,1815,1816,1817,1818,1819,1820,1821,1822,1823,1824,1825,1826,1827,1828,1829,1830,1831,1832,1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847,1848,1849,1850,1851,1852,1853,1854,1855,1856,1857,1858,1859,1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is open for research.\u003c/p\u003e "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["The collection is open for research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged into series corresponding to the creators. Each series arranged by type of material and then placed in chronological order. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries I: Gordon Cloyd Bell, Sr. Papers, 1917-1962\t\t\t\t\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries II: Edgar Withrow Bell Papers, 1919-1970\t\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries III: Gordon Cloyd Bell, Jr. Papers, 1921-1967\t\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries IV: David Kent Bell Papers, 1925-1978\t\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries V: Bell Family Papers, 1834-1841\t\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries VI: James Withrow Papers, 1848-1910\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers, 1864-1936\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries VIII: Annie Withrow Papers, 1889-1981\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries IX: Withrow Family Papers, 1870-1941\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries X: Kent Family Papers, 1814-1881\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries XI: Cloyd Family Papers, 1792-1866\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries XII: Other Family Papers, 1780-1998\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries XIII: Other Materials, 1901-1997\u003c/p\u003e "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged into series corresponding to the creators. Each series arranged by type of material and then placed in chronological order.","Series I: Gordon Cloyd Bell, Sr. Papers, 1917-1962","Series II: Edgar Withrow Bell Papers, 1919-1970","Series III: Gordon Cloyd Bell, Jr. Papers, 1921-1967","Series IV: David Kent Bell Papers, 1925-1978","Series V: Bell Family Papers, 1834-1841","Series VI: James Withrow Papers, 1848-1910","Series VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers, 1864-1936","Series VIII: Annie Withrow Papers, 1889-1981","Series IX: Withrow Family Papers, 1870-1941","Series X: Kent Family Papers, 1814-1881","Series XI: Cloyd Family Papers, 1792-1866","Series XII: Other Family Papers, 1780-1998","Series XIII: Other Materials, 1901-1997"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eGen. Gordon Cloyd was a descendant of David Cloyd. In 1764, Indians attacked the homestead of David Cloyd in Rockbridge County, Virginia. His wife, Margaret, was killed, as well as his son, John. Another son, Joseph Cloyd was away from the house at the time of the attack and was thus spared. David Cloyd passed away in 1792; Joseph Cloyd bought land and settled in Back Creek in present day Pulaski County in 1773. During the American Revolution, Joseph Cloyd served under Col. William Preston of Montgomery County. He is credited with saving Col. Preston's life when Preston was thrown from his horse during a skirmish at Wetzell's Mill in North Carolina. Following the war, Joseph Cloyd bought up more land in Pulaski County and built a brick house on Back Creek. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eJoseph Cloyd married Mary Gordon and together they had three sons, Gordon, David, and Thomas. Gordon and David married two sisters, Sallie and Elizabeth McGavock. The McGavock sisters were the daughters of James McGavock and Mary Cloyd, Joseph Cloyd's sister. James and Mary McGavock also had a third daughter, Margaret, who married Joseph Kent.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDavid Cloyd and Sallie McGavock had five children: Margaret, Joseph, Gordon, Cynthia, and James McGavock. James McGavock Cloyd married Frances E. McNutt on November 5, 1853, together they had on child, David, in January of 1855. Frances died on December 21, 1858. James then married Harriet J. Ernest on January 10, 1861. They had four children: Fanny Ernest, Lucy McGavock, Sally, and Harriet Gordon. James Cloyd lived at the homestead on Back Creek in Pulaski County that was originally settled by Col. Joseph Cloyd.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eGordon Cloyd commanded the 19th Brigade of the Virginia Militia during the War of 1812; he was later promoted to Major-General and thereafter was known as General Cloyd. He later served as a land surveyor for the Montgomery County area, and together with his brothers, purchased a tract of land along the New River know as Buchanan's Bottom. Gen. Gordon Cloyd and Elizabeth McGavock Cloyd together had six children, only two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth Cloyd survived. The two sisters married two brothers, James Randal and David Fenton Kent. David and James were the sons of Joseph Kent and Margaret McGavock Kent. Gordon Cloyd left the Buchanan's Bottom land to his daughter, Mary, and her husband, James Randal Kent. Elizabeth Kent and David Fenton Kent received the land at Back Creek and the house known as Springfield.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDavid Fenton Kent and Elizabeth Cloyd were married on January 2, 1834. Together they had seven children: Gordon Cloyd, born December 7, 1834, died November 11, 1837; an unnamed son, April 23, 1836 who lived eight days; Mary Elizabeth, born May 17, 1837, died December 14, 1837; James Randal, born August 15, 1838, died September 4, 1861; Sarah McGavock, born November 5, 1839, died March 9, 1891; Joseph Gordon, born March 22, 1841, died July 15, 1886; David Fenton, born May 17, 1844, died October 18, 1878. David F. Kent lived at the Springfield property and ran businesses with a Thomas Miller. He was reputed to have been an entertaining storyteller. David Fenton Kent died on January 28, 1850. Elizabeth Cloyd Kent outlived him by nineteen years, dying February 7, 1869.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eJames Randal Kent and Mary Cloyd Kent moved to Buchanan's Bottom and lived at first in the old Trigg house. Later, they built Kentland mansion, which stands to this day. Together James and Mary had five daughters, Elizabeth Cloyd, born 1819, Sarah James, born 1822, Mary Louisa, born 1824, Cynthia, born 1827, and Margaret Gordon, born 1840. James Randal Kent was an enslaver, prominent landowner, and successful farmer. He also held several minor public offices including Sheriff of Montgomery County from 1822 to 1823, he also served as a Justice and a land surveyor. Throughout the 1830s and 1840s, James Randal Kent bought up land, he owned around 8000 acres in 1860. In 1855, construction began on a resort at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs, a hotel that later served as a hospital during the American Civil War. In 1860, James Randal Kent became a founder of the Preston and Olin Institute, a Methodist school in Blacksburg that was the predecessor to present day Virginia Tech. He was among the wealthiest men in Montgomery County with an estimated wealth of $196,000. Kent was a staunch supporter of the Confederacy, he enslaved more than 100 people at the start of the war. He served as an organizer for the Confederate Army, as well as a supplier of foodstuffs, providing grain and beef to the Confederate Army all the way up to the day Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Though Kentland survived the war, many barns and out-buildings were burned, including the plantation office with the majority of James Kent's personal papers, and in 1867 his land was valued at 41% less than it had been in 1860. James Randal Kent died on May 29, 1867. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSarah James Kent, daughter of James Randal Kent, married Francis Bell, a cattle buyer from Staunton, in 1855. Together Sarah and Francis had four surviving children: twin sons, James Randal Kent Bell and Samuel Hays Bell in 1858, a daughter, Mary Louisa Bell in 1861, and Francis \"Frank\" Bell in 1864. They built a home on the land in Pulaski given to Sarah by her father. They lived at Mountain Home until the mid-1870s, when in 1872 Francis Bell purchased land from the Darsts and the Cloyds, their new home, Rockwood, was built c. 1876.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe four Bell children were well educated and all attended college for some period of time. Public schools were non-existent at this time, so a governess, Mary Eliza Sedgewick taught them while they lived at Mountain Home. James Randal Kent and Samuel Hays Bell both attended Washington College in Lexington from 1875 to 1877. Mary Louisa Bell went to Mary Baldwin College in Staunton. Frank Bell attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute before transferring to the Virginia Military Institute and graduating with the class of 1885.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSarah James Kent Bell died in April of 1884; Francis Bell followed her nine years later in 1893. In their will, all their land and properties were to be divided by the four children as they saw fit. James Randal Kent Bell received the Mountain Home properties, Samuel inherited the land in Augusta County, and Rockwood was split between Frank Bell and Mary Louisa Bell.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eJames Randal Kent Bell married three times. His first wife was Maria L. Sedgwick, the daughter of their governess, Mary Eliza Sedgewick, Maria died shortly after the birth of their daughter, Mary Peck Bell. His second wife was Lida Howell Whitsett, Lida died in January of 1902. Together they had five children, Amelia Louise, Elizabeth Kent, Sarah Frances, James, and Francis Joseph. The name of James R. K. Bell's third wife is unknown. All of his children were born at Mountain Home and grew up there.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSamuel Hays Bell married Bessie Arbuthnot on May 18, 1893. Together they had four daughters, Sarah James, Elizabeth, Mary Lou, and Margaret. They lived in Staunton on the land inherited from Francis Bell. Samuel Bell died in Staunton on June 26, 1903.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eMary Louisa Bell married Dr. Kent Black at Rockwood November 14, 1894. Dr. Black graduated from the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1875, he worked as physician and surgeon at the school until 1890. Dr. Black died in 1909, following his death Mary Louisa Bell Black moved back to Pulaski to live with her family, she died at Rockwood December 12, 1943.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFrank Bell married Ellen Gordan Kent, the granddaughter of David Fenton Kent, in 1889. They had eight children: Sarah Kent Bell born September 28, 1890, Gordon Cloyd Bell born January 16, 1892, Ellen Howe Bell born February 12, 1893, Francis Bell born August 16, 1894, Mary Lou Bell born July 1, 1896, Elizabeth Cloyd Bell born September 7, 1897, Samuel Hays Bell born May 16, 1901, and Agnes McGavock Bell born September 1, 1905. Frank Bell worked in the cattle business just like his father and grandfather, he was an accomplished business man and over the years he bought up the rest of the Rockwood property from his sister, Mary Louisa Bell Black. He died at Rockwood on December 21, 1939, just a few months after the celebration of his fiftieth wedding anniversary.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFrank Bell's son, Gordon Cloyd Bell married Mary Eliza Withrow on November 16, 1918. They had four sons, Edgar Withrow Bell, Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr., David Kent Bell, and Andrew Mathews Bell. Gordon Bell Sr. was a farmer and overseer of farm lands, he also served as the President of the Bank of Dublin. Mary Withrow Bell died September 30, 1938. Gordon Cloyd Sr. then married Lucy Preston King in October of 1942, they lived for a time in Phoenix, Arizona where Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. died in 1965.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eEdgar Withrow Bell, the eldest son of Gordon Cloyd and Mary Withrow Bell was born on October 27, 1919. He grew up in Dublin and attended Lees-McCrea College in North Carolina. He wrote articles about music trends and opened \"The Record Bar\" at Wysor Electric Appliance Co. in Dublin. He also served as a postal worker in Arlington where he died in November of 1971.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eGordon Cloyd Bell Jr. was born in Dublin on May 13, 1921. He was a farmer and overseer of the Withrow and Bell lands in Pulaski County, VA. He also served on the board of the Bank of Dublin. He attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Furman College before entering the armed services in January of 1943 and served with the Black Panther Division during World War II. Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in September of 1967.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDavid Kent Bell was born in Dublin on April 5, 1925. David attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and graduated with the Class of 1949. He also served in the armed services during World War II. He married Beverly Ann Gould from Baltimore, together they had two children: Sheri Lynn Bell born April 30, 1957 and James Gordon Bell born March 3, 1959. David Kent and Beverly Gould divorced and he married Helga Lewandowski. David Kent Bell died January 26, 2003.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAndrew Mathews Bell was born in Dublin on July 14, 1932. He died October 26, 1948.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eEllen Howe Bell was born February 12, 1893. She attended Mary Baldwin College. Ellen married Orrin Rankin Magill on September 30, 1915. Through the National YMCA, they moved to China where they lived for many years. Upon retiring, they moved to Blacksburg where they often entertained Chinese students attending Virginia Tech. Ellen Howe Bell Magill was elected the 1962 Mother of the Year in Blacksburg. She died January 19, 1968.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1918, Gordon Cloyd Bell married Mary Eliza Withrow. She was the granddaughter of James W. Withrow of Greenbrier County. James Withrow was born in Lewisburg, in what is now West Virginia, on October 23, 1818. Though not a licensed attorney he served as a judge and for many years, the Master Commissioner of the Circuit Court. He also represented the county in the state legislature where he served on the Judiciary Committee. He married Mary Jane Kincaid and had two sons, Edgar Daingerfield Withrow and Heber K. Withrow, and three daughters, Mrs. Helen Feamster, Miss Mary J. Withrow, and Mrs. Lucy Withrow Montgomery. James Withrow died June 26, 1901.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eEdgar Daingerfield Withrow was born December 9, 1845. He married Mary See Renick on November 3, 1886. Edgar served in the Civil War as a member of Confederate company E of the 14th Virginia Cavalry. Edgar was captured at Berryville in 1864 and spent the end of the war at Camp Chare in Ohio. Following the War, Edgar went into business with his father, and later ran his own business selling agricultural implements. Together with Mary Renick, he had six daughters and one son: Mary Mathews Withrow, born September 16, 1887, died October 3, 1892; Annie Primrose Withrow, born January 26, 1889, died June 16, 1982; Mary Eliza Withrow, born November 29, 1892, died September 29, 1938; Helen Cameron Withrow, born January 9, 1895, died July 25, 1903; Letitia Renick Withrow, born July 1, 1897, died December 24, 1922; Geraldine Withrow, born August 1, 1901, died July 8, 1902; Edgar D. Withrow Jr., born July 8, 1903, died October 2, 1913. The Withrows moved to Pulaski County sometime around 1910. Edgar Withrow died March 9, 1926 and Mary Renick Withrow died January 7, 1929. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAnnie P. Withrow never married. She was very close with her nephews, Edgar, Gordon, David and Andrew Bell, and much of their correspondence was written to her. She attended the Lewisburg Female Institute beginning in 1907. Annie Withrow died in June of 1982.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eLetitia R. Withrow was born July 1, 1897. She moved with her family to Dublin and graduated from Dublin High School. She then attended Stonewall Jackson College in Abingdon until the school burned in 1914. She then entered Hollins College in Roanoke, VA, following graduation she became a special student of voice under Professor A. Y. Cornell of New York for two years. In 1919, she took a job as Assistant Voice Teacher at Greenville Women's College in Greenville, South Carolina. She taught there for two years, and one year at Annville College in Annville, Pennsylvania. She left Annville College to return to New York in order to resume her training with Professor Cornell in preparation for a singing career. Shortly thereafter she returned home, where she died from influenza on December 24, 1922.\u003c/p\u003e "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Family History"],"bioghist_tesim":["Gen. Gordon Cloyd was a descendant of David Cloyd. In 1764, Indians attacked the homestead of David Cloyd in Rockbridge County, Virginia. His wife, Margaret, was killed, as well as his son, John. Another son, Joseph Cloyd was away from the house at the time of the attack and was thus spared. David Cloyd passed away in 1792; Joseph Cloyd bought land and settled in Back Creek in present day Pulaski County in 1773. During the American Revolution, Joseph Cloyd served under Col. William Preston of Montgomery County. He is credited with saving Col. Preston's life when Preston was thrown from his horse during a skirmish at Wetzell's Mill in North Carolina. Following the war, Joseph Cloyd bought up more land in Pulaski County and built a brick house on Back Creek.","Joseph Cloyd married Mary Gordon and together they had three sons, Gordon, David, and Thomas. Gordon and David married two sisters, Sallie and Elizabeth McGavock. The McGavock sisters were the daughters of James McGavock and Mary Cloyd, Joseph Cloyd's sister. James and Mary McGavock also had a third daughter, Margaret, who married Joseph Kent.","David Cloyd and Sallie McGavock had five children: Margaret, Joseph, Gordon, Cynthia, and James McGavock. James McGavock Cloyd married Frances E. McNutt on November 5, 1853, together they had on child, David, in January of 1855. Frances died on December 21, 1858. James then married Harriet J. Ernest on January 10, 1861. They had four children: Fanny Ernest, Lucy McGavock, Sally, and Harriet Gordon. James Cloyd lived at the homestead on Back Creek in Pulaski County that was originally settled by Col. Joseph Cloyd.","Gordon Cloyd commanded the 19th Brigade of the Virginia Militia during the War of 1812; he was later promoted to Major-General and thereafter was known as General Cloyd. He later served as a land surveyor for the Montgomery County area, and together with his brothers, purchased a tract of land along the New River know as Buchanan's Bottom. Gen. Gordon Cloyd and Elizabeth McGavock Cloyd together had six children, only two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth Cloyd survived. The two sisters married two brothers, James Randal and David Fenton Kent. David and James were the sons of Joseph Kent and Margaret McGavock Kent. Gordon Cloyd left the Buchanan's Bottom land to his daughter, Mary, and her husband, James Randal Kent. Elizabeth Kent and David Fenton Kent received the land at Back Creek and the house known as Springfield.","David Fenton Kent and Elizabeth Cloyd were married on January 2, 1834. Together they had seven children: Gordon Cloyd, born December 7, 1834, died November 11, 1837; an unnamed son, April 23, 1836 who lived eight days; Mary Elizabeth, born May 17, 1837, died December 14, 1837; James Randal, born August 15, 1838, died September 4, 1861; Sarah McGavock, born November 5, 1839, died March 9, 1891; Joseph Gordon, born March 22, 1841, died July 15, 1886; David Fenton, born May 17, 1844, died October 18, 1878. David F. Kent lived at the Springfield property and ran businesses with a Thomas Miller. He was reputed to have been an entertaining storyteller. David Fenton Kent died on January 28, 1850. Elizabeth Cloyd Kent outlived him by nineteen years, dying February 7, 1869.","James Randal Kent and Mary Cloyd Kent moved to Buchanan's Bottom and lived at first in the old Trigg house. Later, they built Kentland mansion, which stands to this day. Together James and Mary had five daughters, Elizabeth Cloyd, born 1819, Sarah James, born 1822, Mary Louisa, born 1824, Cynthia, born 1827, and Margaret Gordon, born 1840. James Randal Kent was an enslaver, prominent landowner, and successful farmer. He also held several minor public offices including Sheriff of Montgomery County from 1822 to 1823, he also served as a Justice and a land surveyor. Throughout the 1830s and 1840s, James Randal Kent bought up land, he owned around 8000 acres in 1860. In 1855, construction began on a resort at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs, a hotel that later served as a hospital during the American Civil War. In 1860, James Randal Kent became a founder of the Preston and Olin Institute, a Methodist school in Blacksburg that was the predecessor to present day Virginia Tech. He was among the wealthiest men in Montgomery County with an estimated wealth of $196,000. Kent was a staunch supporter of the Confederacy, he enslaved more than 100 people at the start of the war. He served as an organizer for the Confederate Army, as well as a supplier of foodstuffs, providing grain and beef to the Confederate Army all the way up to the day Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Though Kentland survived the war, many barns and out-buildings were burned, including the plantation office with the majority of James Kent's personal papers, and in 1867 his land was valued at 41% less than it had been in 1860. James Randal Kent died on May 29, 1867.","Sarah James Kent, daughter of James Randal Kent, married Francis Bell, a cattle buyer from Staunton, in 1855. Together Sarah and Francis had four surviving children: twin sons, James Randal Kent Bell and Samuel Hays Bell in 1858, a daughter, Mary Louisa Bell in 1861, and Francis \"Frank\" Bell in 1864. They built a home on the land in Pulaski given to Sarah by her father. They lived at Mountain Home until the mid-1870s, when in 1872 Francis Bell purchased land from the Darsts and the Cloyds, their new home, Rockwood, was built c. 1876.","The four Bell children were well educated and all attended college for some period of time. Public schools were non-existent at this time, so a governess, Mary Eliza Sedgewick taught them while they lived at Mountain Home. James Randal Kent and Samuel Hays Bell both attended Washington College in Lexington from 1875 to 1877. Mary Louisa Bell went to Mary Baldwin College in Staunton. Frank Bell attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute before transferring to the Virginia Military Institute and graduating with the class of 1885.","Sarah James Kent Bell died in April of 1884; Francis Bell followed her nine years later in 1893. In their will, all their land and properties were to be divided by the four children as they saw fit. James Randal Kent Bell received the Mountain Home properties, Samuel inherited the land in Augusta County, and Rockwood was split between Frank Bell and Mary Louisa Bell.","James Randal Kent Bell married three times. His first wife was Maria L. Sedgwick, the daughter of their governess, Mary Eliza Sedgewick, Maria died shortly after the birth of their daughter, Mary Peck Bell. His second wife was Lida Howell Whitsett, Lida died in January of 1902. Together they had five children, Amelia Louise, Elizabeth Kent, Sarah Frances, James, and Francis Joseph. The name of James R. K. Bell's third wife is unknown. All of his children were born at Mountain Home and grew up there.","Samuel Hays Bell married Bessie Arbuthnot on May 18, 1893. Together they had four daughters, Sarah James, Elizabeth, Mary Lou, and Margaret. They lived in Staunton on the land inherited from Francis Bell. Samuel Bell died in Staunton on June 26, 1903.","Mary Louisa Bell married Dr. Kent Black at Rockwood November 14, 1894. Dr. Black graduated from the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1875, he worked as physician and surgeon at the school until 1890. Dr. Black died in 1909, following his death Mary Louisa Bell Black moved back to Pulaski to live with her family, she died at Rockwood December 12, 1943.","Frank Bell married Ellen Gordan Kent, the granddaughter of David Fenton Kent, in 1889. They had eight children: Sarah Kent Bell born September 28, 1890, Gordon Cloyd Bell born January 16, 1892, Ellen Howe Bell born February 12, 1893, Francis Bell born August 16, 1894, Mary Lou Bell born July 1, 1896, Elizabeth Cloyd Bell born September 7, 1897, Samuel Hays Bell born May 16, 1901, and Agnes McGavock Bell born September 1, 1905. Frank Bell worked in the cattle business just like his father and grandfather, he was an accomplished business man and over the years he bought up the rest of the Rockwood property from his sister, Mary Louisa Bell Black. He died at Rockwood on December 21, 1939, just a few months after the celebration of his fiftieth wedding anniversary.","Frank Bell's son, Gordon Cloyd Bell married Mary Eliza Withrow on November 16, 1918. They had four sons, Edgar Withrow Bell, Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr., David Kent Bell, and Andrew Mathews Bell. Gordon Bell Sr. was a farmer and overseer of farm lands, he also served as the President of the Bank of Dublin. Mary Withrow Bell died September 30, 1938. Gordon Cloyd Sr. then married Lucy Preston King in October of 1942, they lived for a time in Phoenix, Arizona where Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. died in 1965.","Edgar Withrow Bell, the eldest son of Gordon Cloyd and Mary Withrow Bell was born on October 27, 1919. He grew up in Dublin and attended Lees-McCrea College in North Carolina. He wrote articles about music trends and opened \"The Record Bar\" at Wysor Electric Appliance Co. in Dublin. He also served as a postal worker in Arlington where he died in November of 1971.","Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. was born in Dublin on May 13, 1921. He was a farmer and overseer of the Withrow and Bell lands in Pulaski County, VA. He also served on the board of the Bank of Dublin. He attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Furman College before entering the armed services in January of 1943 and served with the Black Panther Division during World War II. Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in September of 1967.","David Kent Bell was born in Dublin on April 5, 1925. David attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and graduated with the Class of 1949. He also served in the armed services during World War II. He married Beverly Ann Gould from Baltimore, together they had two children: Sheri Lynn Bell born April 30, 1957 and James Gordon Bell born March 3, 1959. David Kent and Beverly Gould divorced and he married Helga Lewandowski. David Kent Bell died January 26, 2003.","Andrew Mathews Bell was born in Dublin on July 14, 1932. He died October 26, 1948.","Ellen Howe Bell was born February 12, 1893. She attended Mary Baldwin College. Ellen married Orrin Rankin Magill on September 30, 1915. Through the National YMCA, they moved to China where they lived for many years. Upon retiring, they moved to Blacksburg where they often entertained Chinese students attending Virginia Tech. Ellen Howe Bell Magill was elected the 1962 Mother of the Year in Blacksburg. She died January 19, 1968.","In 1918, Gordon Cloyd Bell married Mary Eliza Withrow. She was the granddaughter of James W. Withrow of Greenbrier County. James Withrow was born in Lewisburg, in what is now West Virginia, on October 23, 1818. Though not a licensed attorney he served as a judge and for many years, the Master Commissioner of the Circuit Court. He also represented the county in the state legislature where he served on the Judiciary Committee. He married Mary Jane Kincaid and had two sons, Edgar Daingerfield Withrow and Heber K. Withrow, and three daughters, Mrs. Helen Feamster, Miss Mary J. Withrow, and Mrs. Lucy Withrow Montgomery. James Withrow died June 26, 1901.","Edgar Daingerfield Withrow was born December 9, 1845. He married Mary See Renick on November 3, 1886. Edgar served in the Civil War as a member of Confederate company E of the 14th Virginia Cavalry. Edgar was captured at Berryville in 1864 and spent the end of the war at Camp Chare in Ohio. Following the War, Edgar went into business with his father, and later ran his own business selling agricultural implements. Together with Mary Renick, he had six daughters and one son: Mary Mathews Withrow, born September 16, 1887, died October 3, 1892; Annie Primrose Withrow, born January 26, 1889, died June 16, 1982; Mary Eliza Withrow, born November 29, 1892, died September 29, 1938; Helen Cameron Withrow, born January 9, 1895, died July 25, 1903; Letitia Renick Withrow, born July 1, 1897, died December 24, 1922; Geraldine Withrow, born August 1, 1901, died July 8, 1902; Edgar D. Withrow Jr., born July 8, 1903, died October 2, 1913. The Withrows moved to Pulaski County sometime around 1910. Edgar Withrow died March 9, 1926 and Mary Renick Withrow died January 7, 1929.","Annie P. Withrow never married. She was very close with her nephews, Edgar, Gordon, David and Andrew Bell, and much of their correspondence was written to her. She attended the Lewisburg Female Institute beginning in 1907. Annie Withrow died in June of 1982.","Letitia R. Withrow was born July 1, 1897. She moved with her family to Dublin and graduated from Dublin High School. She then attended Stonewall Jackson College in Abingdon until the school burned in 1914. She then entered Hollins College in Roanoke, VA, following graduation she became a special student of voice under Professor A. Y. Cornell of New York for two years. In 1919, she took a job as Assistant Voice Teacher at Greenville Women's College in Greenville, South Carolina. She taught there for two years, and one year at Annville College in Annville, Pennsylvania. She left Annville College to return to New York in order to resume her training with Professor Cornell in preparation for a singing career. Shortly thereafter she returned home, where she died from influenza on December 24, 1922."],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe guide to the the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (\u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/\"\u003ehttps://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/\u003c/a\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e "],"odd_heading_ssm":["Rights Statement for Archival Description"],"odd_tesim":["The guide to the the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/)."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eResearchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, Ms2008-040, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.\u003c/p\u003e "],"prefercite_tesim":["Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, Ms2008-040, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe processing, arrangement, and description of the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection began in June 2008 and was completed in October 2008.\u003c/p\u003e "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["The processing, arrangement, and description of the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection began in June 2008 and was completed in October 2008."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_3149.xml\"\u003eA listing of individuals and families in the Biographical Vertical Files at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives is available online,\u003c/a\u003e but files of particular interest may include:\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003clist\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eBentley family (related to the Cloyd, Kent, and McGavock families)--this file contains a 2014 update to: Robert Gray's \u003ctitle render=\"italic\"\u003eThe McGavock Family. A Genealogical History of James McGavock and His Descendants from 1760 to 1903\u003c/title\u003e. Richmond: W.E. Jones, 1903. CS 71 .M144 1903 (copies in Special Collections and University Archives and Newman Library). \u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/items/show/2684\"\u003eThe 2014 update is also available online.\u003c/a\u003e \u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eKent\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSee the following materials related to these families, which are also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives:\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_1290.xml\"\u003eBlack, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers, Ms1974-003\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_1474.xml\"\u003eJames Randal Kent Papers, Ms1987-031\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_1779.xml\"\u003eElizabeth Kent Adams Papers, Ms1990-045\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_3537.xml\"\u003e\"Whitethorne Photographs of Kentland for Margaret K. Cowan\" Photograph Album, Ms2021-020\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_4314.xml\"\u003eFrancis Bell Letter, Ms2024-088\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e "],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Archival Materials"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["A listing of individuals and families in the Biographical Vertical Files at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives is available online, but files of particular interest may include:","Bentley family (related to the Cloyd, Kent, and McGavock families)--this file contains a 2014 update to: Robert Gray's The McGavock Family. A Genealogical History of James McGavock and His Descendants from 1760 to 1903. Richmond: W.E. Jones, 1903. CS 71 .M144 1903 (copies in Special Collections and University Archives and Newman Library). The 2014 update is also available online. \nKent","See the following materials related to these families, which are also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives:","Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers, Ms1974-003","James Randal Kent Papers, Ms1987-031","Elizabeth Kent Adams Papers, Ms1990-045","\"Whitethorne Photographs of Kentland for Margaret K. Cowan\" Photograph Album, Ms2021-020","Francis Bell Letter, Ms2024-088"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection spans the dates 1780 to 1998. The collection contains the papers and business records of four prominent families from Montgomery County and Pulaski County, Virginia and Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Also included are documents relating to numerous other individuals and families from across Southwest Virginia and Southern West Virginia. Documents include correspondence, land deeds and warrants, as well as financial records including debt statements, receipts, account statements, and money orders. The collection is divided into thirteen major series: Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. Papers, Edgar Withrow Bell Papers, Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. Papers, David Kent Bell Papers, Bell Family Papers, James Withrow Papers, Edgar D. Withrow Papers, Annie P. Withrow Papers, Withrow Family Papers, Kent Family Papers, Cloyd Family Papers, Other Family Papers, and Other Materials. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries I: Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. Papers: This series spans the years 1917 to 1962 and includes personal correspondence to and from Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. as well as business correspondence and materials from Bell's time as the President of the Bank of Dublin in Dublin, VA. The series also contains bank statements from 1940 to 1941.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries II: Edgar Withrow Bell Papers: This series contains materials dating from 1919 to 1970, including a birth certificate for Edgar W. Bell. The papers are mainly personal in nature. There is extensive correspondence, dating from 1934 to 1970 as well as a scrapbook and some newspaper clippings. There is a limited amount of Edgar Bell's financial records including bank statements dating from 1942 to 1945.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries III: Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. Papers: these papers date from 1921 to 1967. These papers include a birth certificate and academic records, as well as, land deeds, tax documents, and financial records. Also included are materials from Gordon Bell Jr.'s time in the military including correspondence from the time of his service in World War II. World War II materials also include a \"Save Conduct Leaflet.\" These leaflets were air dropped in Western Europe by Allied forces in order to aid in the surrender of German Soldiers, the leaflet in this collection was most likely the version distributed from December 1944 through April 1945, it contains both English and German text.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries IV: David Kent Bell Papers: These papers date from 1925 to 1978. They range in scope from David Bell's birth certificate and education records to financial records and insurance documents. Also included is correspondence, some of which dates from David Bell's service in World War II. Also from this period are military documents dating from 1943 to 1948.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries V: Bell Family Papers: This series is composed for documents from various members of the Bell family including James Bell, Mary Withrow Bell, Andrew Bell, Francis Bell, and Ellen Howe Bell Magill. These items range in date from 1834 to 1967. They include financial records for James Bell, along with correspondence from Mary Withrow Bell, Andrew Bell, and Ellen Howe Bell Magill. This series also contains information regarding the settlement of the estates of both Francis Bell and Mary Withrow Bell.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries VI: James Withrow Papers: This series contains material ranging in date from 1848 to 1910. The bulk of the material in this series is financial records for James Withrow's business in agriculture, including contracts, correspondence, checks, receipts, money orders, debt statements, and account statements. Also present are documents relating to the settlement of James Withrow's estate.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers: This series spans the dates 1864 through 1936. Included in this series are personal items including correspondence from Edgar Withrow's time as a Confederate Prisoner of War. Also included are records from the Greenbrier Light Infantry Grays of which Edgar Withrow was a member. The majority of this series is composed of financial records and business records from Edgar Withrow's business as an agricultural implements salesman.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries VIII: Annie Primrose Withrow Papers: These papers consist of personal correspondence and items dating from 1889 to 1981, including land deeds and other legal documents as well as a 1908 \"Greenbrier\" yearbook from the Lewisburg Female Institute.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries IX: The Withrow Family Papers: This series spans from 1870 to 1941, it contains materials from members of the Withrow family including business records from various businesses run by James Withrow and his son, Edgar, in addition to this are papers from Heber K. Withrow, Mary Renick Withrow, Helen Withrow, Mary E. Withrow, Mary J. Withrow, Letitia Withrow, and papers from Withrow Place as well as the Withrow Tourist Home.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries X: The Kent Family Papers: This series includes materials dating from 1814 to 1881. The series includes the correspondence and financial records of two prominent Southwest Virginia landowners, James Randal Kent and David Fenton Kent.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries XI: The Cloyd Family Papers: The Cloyd family papers include correspondence and financial records for Gordon, Mary, and James Cloyd. Also included are several land surveys done by Gordon Cloyd, a land surveyor for Southwest Virginia. These materials date from 1792 to 1866.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries XII: Other Family Papers: This series is composed of land warrants and deeds, financial records, and personal correspondence from numerous individuals and families from Southwest Virginia and what is now, Southern West Virginia. These materials range in date from 1780 to 1998 and are dived into two categories, those materials sorted by individual or family and items organized by category.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries XIII: Other Materials: This series is composed of magazines, booklets, brochures, and photographs that could not be identified as belonging to any one person or family. The series spans the dates 1901 through 1997.\u003c/p\u003e "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection spans the dates 1780 to 1998. The collection contains the papers and business records of four prominent families from Montgomery County and Pulaski County, Virginia and Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Also included are documents relating to numerous other individuals and families from across Southwest Virginia and Southern West Virginia. Documents include correspondence, land deeds and warrants, as well as financial records including debt statements, receipts, account statements, and money orders. The collection is divided into thirteen major series: Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. Papers, Edgar Withrow Bell Papers, Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. Papers, David Kent Bell Papers, Bell Family Papers, James Withrow Papers, Edgar D. Withrow Papers, Annie P. Withrow Papers, Withrow Family Papers, Kent Family Papers, Cloyd Family Papers, Other Family Papers, and Other Materials.","Series I: Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. Papers: This series spans the years 1917 to 1962 and includes personal correspondence to and from Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr. as well as business correspondence and materials from Bell's time as the President of the Bank of Dublin in Dublin, VA. The series also contains bank statements from 1940 to 1941.","Series II: Edgar Withrow Bell Papers: This series contains materials dating from 1919 to 1970, including a birth certificate for Edgar W. Bell. The papers are mainly personal in nature. There is extensive correspondence, dating from 1934 to 1970 as well as a scrapbook and some newspaper clippings. There is a limited amount of Edgar Bell's financial records including bank statements dating from 1942 to 1945.","Series III: Gordon Cloyd Bell Jr. Papers: these papers date from 1921 to 1967. These papers include a birth certificate and academic records, as well as, land deeds, tax documents, and financial records. Also included are materials from Gordon Bell Jr.'s time in the military including correspondence from the time of his service in World War II. World War II materials also include a \"Save Conduct Leaflet.\" These leaflets were air dropped in Western Europe by Allied forces in order to aid in the surrender of German Soldiers, the leaflet in this collection was most likely the version distributed from December 1944 through April 1945, it contains both English and German text.","Series IV: David Kent Bell Papers: These papers date from 1925 to 1978. They range in scope from David Bell's birth certificate and education records to financial records and insurance documents. Also included is correspondence, some of which dates from David Bell's service in World War II. Also from this period are military documents dating from 1943 to 1948.","Series V: Bell Family Papers: This series is composed for documents from various members of the Bell family including James Bell, Mary Withrow Bell, Andrew Bell, Francis Bell, and Ellen Howe Bell Magill. These items range in date from 1834 to 1967. They include financial records for James Bell, along with correspondence from Mary Withrow Bell, Andrew Bell, and Ellen Howe Bell Magill. This series also contains information regarding the settlement of the estates of both Francis Bell and Mary Withrow Bell.","Series VI: James Withrow Papers: This series contains material ranging in date from 1848 to 1910. The bulk of the material in this series is financial records for James Withrow's business in agriculture, including contracts, correspondence, checks, receipts, money orders, debt statements, and account statements. Also present are documents relating to the settlement of James Withrow's estate.","Series VII: Edgar D. Withrow Papers: This series spans the dates 1864 through 1936. Included in this series are personal items including correspondence from Edgar Withrow's time as a Confederate Prisoner of War. Also included are records from the Greenbrier Light Infantry Grays of which Edgar Withrow was a member. The majority of this series is composed of financial records and business records from Edgar Withrow's business as an agricultural implements salesman.","Series VIII: Annie Primrose Withrow Papers: These papers consist of personal correspondence and items dating from 1889 to 1981, including land deeds and other legal documents as well as a 1908 \"Greenbrier\" yearbook from the Lewisburg Female Institute.","Series IX: The Withrow Family Papers: This series spans from 1870 to 1941, it contains materials from members of the Withrow family including business records from various businesses run by James Withrow and his son, Edgar, in addition to this are papers from Heber K. Withrow, Mary Renick Withrow, Helen Withrow, Mary E. Withrow, Mary J. Withrow, Letitia Withrow, and papers from Withrow Place as well as the Withrow Tourist Home.","Series X: The Kent Family Papers: This series includes materials dating from 1814 to 1881. The series includes the correspondence and financial records of two prominent Southwest Virginia landowners, James Randal Kent and David Fenton Kent.","Series XI: The Cloyd Family Papers: The Cloyd family papers include correspondence and financial records for Gordon, Mary, and James Cloyd. Also included are several land surveys done by Gordon Cloyd, a land surveyor for Southwest Virginia. These materials date from 1792 to 1866.","Series XII: Other Family Papers: This series is composed of land warrants and deeds, financial records, and personal correspondence from numerous individuals and families from Southwest Virginia and what is now, Southern West Virginia. These materials range in date from 1780 to 1998 and are dived into two categories, those materials sorted by individual or family and items organized by category.","Series XIII: Other Materials: This series is composed of magazines, booklets, brochures, and photographs that could not be identified as belonging to any one person or family. The series spans the dates 1901 through 1997."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eReproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/scuareproduction\"\u003ehttp://bit.ly/scuareproduction\u003c/a\u003e. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/scuapublication\"\u003ehttp://bit.ly/scuapublication\u003c/a\u003e. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.\u003c/p\u003e "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.","Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_a5f70c760aaa388e4b03cbb66aec856e\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection contains the personal papers and financial records of members of four prominent families. Included are members of the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, and Withrow families, as well as, materials from related families and acquaintances. This is a diverse collection containing materials dating from 1780 to 1998. Items of interest include several Land Deeds and Warrant from the late 18th Century, including one signed by Benjamin Harrison, then Governor of Virginia; American Civil War correspondence from Confederate POW, Edgar Withrow; Regimental listings from the 19th Brigade of the Virginia Militia; and correspondence and military documents dating from World War II. The main collection contains materials from Gen. Gordon Cloyd, James Randal Kent, David Fenton Kent, Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr., David Kent Bell, James and Edgar Withrow, and many others.\u003c/abstract\u003e\n "],"abstract_tesim":["The Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection contains the personal papers and financial records of members of four prominent families. Included are members of the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, and Withrow families, as well as, materials from related families and acquaintances. This is a diverse collection containing materials dating from 1780 to 1998. Items of interest include several Land Deeds and Warrant from the late 18th Century, including one signed by Benjamin Harrison, then Governor of Virginia; American Civil War correspondence from Confederate POW, Edgar Withrow; Regimental listings from the 19th Brigade of the Virginia Militia; and correspondence and military documents dating from World War II. The main collection contains materials from Gen. Gordon Cloyd, James Randal Kent, David Fenton Kent, Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr., David Kent Bell, James and Edgar Withrow, and many others."],"corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech"],"famname_ssim":["Withrow family","Cloyd family","Kent family","Bell family"],"names_coll_ssim":["Withrow family","Kent family","Cloyd family","Bell family"],"names_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Withrow family","Cloyd family","Kent family","Bell family"],"language_ssim":["The materials in the collection are in English."],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":221,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:30:59.961Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_2361_c07_c04"}},{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27_c03","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Fraternities, 1876/1916","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27_c03#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eMo 3 may include Fraternities \u0026amp; Sororities--Social. Mo 3a may include Kappa Sigma. Mo 3b may include Sigma Alpha. Mo 3b, 3d may include Pi Kappa Alpha (Social Fraternity). Mo 3c may include Alpha Phi. Mo 3c no. 2 may include Beta Theta Pi (Social Fraternity).\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27_c03","ref_ssm":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27_c03"],"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27_c03","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27","parent_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27","parent_ssim":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings","Organizations"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27"],"title_filing_ssi":"Fraternities","title_ssm":["Fraternities"],"title_tesim":["Fraternities"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Fraternities, 1876/1916"],"text":["Fraternities, 1876/1916","Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings","Organizations","Mo 3 may include Fraternities \u0026 Sororities--Social.\nMo 3a may include Kappa Sigma.\nMo 3b may include Sigma Alpha.\nMo 3b, 3d may include Pi Kappa Alpha (Social Fraternity).\nMo 3c may include Alpha Phi.\nMo 3c no. 2 may include Beta Theta Pi (Social Fraternity)."],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings","Organizations"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings","Organizations"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1876/1916"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1876-1916"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":195,"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"collection_ssim":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":1,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["The collection is open for research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.","Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"date_range_isim":[1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMo 3 may include Fraternities \u0026amp; Sororities--Social.\nMo 3a may include Kappa Sigma.\nMo 3b may include Sigma Alpha.\nMo 3b, 3d may include Pi Kappa Alpha (Social Fraternity).\nMo 3c may include Alpha Phi.\nMo 3c no. 2 may include Beta Theta Pi (Social Fraternity).\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Mo 3 may include Fraternities \u0026 Sororities--Social.\nMo 3a may include Kappa Sigma.\nMo 3b may include Sigma Alpha.\nMo 3b, 3d may include Pi Kappa Alpha (Social Fraternity).\nMo 3c may include Alpha Phi.\nMo 3c no. 2 may include Beta Theta Pi (Social Fraternity)."],"_nest_path_":"/components#26/components#2","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:31:39.599Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_3151.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings","title_ssm":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings"],"title_tesim":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings"],"unitdate_ssm":["c. 1870s-c. 1960s"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["c. 1870s-c. 1960s"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings"],"text":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings","VerticalFile.006","Blacksburg (Va.)","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Montgomery County (Va.)","University History","The collection is open for research.","Mounted Clippings are arranged by subject, primarily alphabetically.","The guide to the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/).","The processing, arrangement, and description was completed by Special Collections staff prior to 2015. The finding aid was completed in August 2015. The re-integration of Mo56a-i, Association of Married Students was completed in October 2019.","See also Vertical Files (successors to the mounted clippings):\nBiographical Vertical Files\nBlacksburg Vertical Files\nMontgomery County/Christiansburg Vertical Files\nRecord Group Vertical Files\nSouthwest Virginia Vertical Files","In general, the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephermera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the activities of members of the community or university.","The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.","Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.","In general, the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephermera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the activities of members of the community or university. The collection was primarily collected by library staff through the 1960s.","Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (1896-1944)","Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970)","The materials in the collection are in English."],"collection_title_tesim":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings"],"collection_ssim":["Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["VerticalFile.006"],"unitid_tesim":["VerticalFile.006"],"repository_ssm":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"geogname_ssm":["Blacksburg (Va.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Blacksburg (Va.)"],"places_ssim":["Blacksburg (Va.)"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (1896-1944)","Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970)"],"creators_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (1896-1944)","Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.","Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Newman Library staff collected materials for mounted clippings through the 1960s."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Montgomery County (Va.)","University History"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Montgomery County (Va.)","University History"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["64 Cubic Feet 147 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["64 Cubic Feet 147 boxes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is open for research.\u003c/p\u003e "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["The collection is open for research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMounted Clippings are arranged by subject, primarily alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Mounted Clippings are arranged by subject, primarily alphabetically."],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe guide to the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (\u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/share-your-%20work/public-domain/cc0/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttps://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/\u003c/a\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e "],"odd_heading_ssm":["Rights Statement for Archival Description"],"odd_tesim":["The guide to the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/)."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eResearchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [number of card], Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.\u003c/p\u003e "],"prefercite_tesim":["Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [number of card], Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe processing, arrangement, and description was completed by Special Collections staff prior to 2015. The finding aid was completed in August 2015. The re-integration of Mo56a-i, Association of Married Students was completed in October 2019.\u003c/p\u003e "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["The processing, arrangement, and description was completed by Special Collections staff prior to 2015. The finding aid was completed in August 2015. The re-integration of Mo56a-i, Association of Married Students was completed in October 2019."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003clist\u003e\n\u003chead\u003eSee also Vertical Files (successors to the mounted clippings):\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vt/viblbv01185.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBiographical Vertical Files\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vt/viblbv01042.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBlacksburg Vertical Files\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vt/viblbv01043.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMontgomery County/Christiansburg Vertical Files\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vt/viblbv01186.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eRecord Group Vertical Files\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vt/viblbv01044.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSouthwest Virginia Vertical Files\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\u003c/p\u003e "],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Archival Materials"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["See also Vertical Files (successors to the mounted clippings):\nBiographical Vertical Files\nBlacksburg Vertical Files\nMontgomery County/Christiansburg Vertical Files\nRecord Group Vertical Files\nSouthwest Virginia Vertical Files"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn general, the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephermera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the activities of members of the community or university.\u003c/p\u003e "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["In general, the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephermera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the activities of members of the community or university."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eReproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/scuareproduction\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp://bit.ly/scuareproduction\u003c/a\u003e. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/scuapublication\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp://bit.ly/scuapublication\u003c/a\u003e. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (\u003ca href=\"mailto:specref@vt.edu\"\u003especref@vt.edu\u003c/a\u003e or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.\u003c/p\u003e "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.","Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_2bfd88fb1d82a46fb92b3adac8eb3bf1\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eIn general, the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephermera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the activities of members of the community or university. The collection was primarily collected by library staff through the 1960s.\u003c/abstract\u003e\n "],"abstract_tesim":["In general, the Virginia Tech and Local History Mounted Clippings include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephermera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the activities of members of the community or university. The collection was primarily collected by library staff through the 1960s."],"corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (1896-1944)","Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970)"],"names_coll_ssim":["Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (1896-1944)","Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970)"],"names_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (1896-1944)","Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970)"],"language_ssim":["The materials in the collection are in English."],"total_component_count_is":440,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:31:39.599Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_3151_c27_c03"}},{"id":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12_c03","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"From Her Brothers and Sisters, 1860/1907","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12_c03","ref_ssm":["wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12_c03"],"id":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12_c03","ead_ssi":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574","_root_":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574","_nest_parent_":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12","parent_ssi":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12","parent_ssim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900","Series 12. Incoming Letters to Semantha Atkeson-Morgan from Her Relatives, 1860/1907"],"parent_ids_ssim":["wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574","wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12"],"title_filing_ssi":"From Her Brothers and Sisters","title_ssm":["From Her Brothers and Sisters"],"title_tesim":["From Her Brothers and Sisters"],"normalized_title_ssm":["From Her Brothers and Sisters, 1860/1907"],"text":["From Her Brothers and Sisters, 1860/1907","Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900","Series 12. Incoming Letters to Semantha Atkeson-Morgan from Her Relatives, 1860/1907","Box 2","Folder 4-6"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900","Series 12. Incoming Letters to Semantha Atkeson-Morgan from Her Relatives, 1860/1907"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900","Series 12. Incoming Letters to Semantha Atkeson-Morgan from Her Relatives, 1860/1907"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1860/1907"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1860–1907"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":62,"repository_ssim":["West Virginia and Regional History Center"],"collection_ssim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900"],"containers_ssim":["Box 2","Folder 4-6"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":3,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["No special access restriction applies."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website."],"date_range_isim":[1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907],"_nest_path_":"/components#11/components#2","timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:49.367Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574","ead_ssi":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574","_root_":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574","_nest_parent_":"wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/WVU/repositories_2_resources_1574.xml","aspace_url_ssi":"https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/ark:/99999/195850","title_ssm":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers"],"title_tesim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1833-1923","1850-1900"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1833-1923"],"unitdate_bulk_ssim":["1850-1900"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900"],"text":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900","A\u0026M 3372","Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","/repositories/2/resources/1574","Barboursville (W. Va.)","Buffalo (Putnam County, W. Va.)","Cabell County (W. Va.)","Gallipolis (Ohio)","Kanawha County (W. Va.)","Ohio River and Valley.","Point Pleasant (Mason County, W. Va.)","Putnam County (W. Va.)","Walnut Grove, Kanawha County.","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","Agriculture","Hunting -- West Virginia","Poetry.","Steamboats","No special access restriction applies.","John Morgan, born in Shenandoah County, Virginia on October 10, 1840, was brought by his parents, John and Elizabeth A. (Beale) Morgan, to Putnam County where they settled in 1846.","John Morgan was married to Samantha J., daughter of Thomas and Virginia (Brown) Atkeson. She was born in Mason County in January 1843, and was married to John Morgan on 12 October 1875 in Putnam County by Reverend Crooks. They had three sons: John (born 18 August 1876), Thomas Atkeson (15 April 1878), and Rembrandt (19 June 1880).","During the Civil War John Morgan enlisted in 1863 in Company A, 22nd Virginia Regiment, Confederate Army, serving till the surrender. His brother William S. Morgan, a member of Company A., 36th Regiment, Confederate Army, was killed at Fayette Courthouse in 1862. John Morgan was a farmer who lived on bottom land opposite the mouth of the Poca River in Putnam County, West Virginia. (From West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, 1976)","Papers of John and Sarah Atkeson-Morgan documenting Atkeson-Morgan family history and the history of the Morgan home and farm in Putnam County, West Virginia for period ca. 1840-1900.","Materials include Civil War papers; personal and business correspondence; legal documents; school compositions and poetry; one photograph; and invoices and receipts.","Subjects include: personal business (such as health, travel, and courtship), farm business, hunting, education (particularly at Barboursville College), and steamboat travel (including the vessels 'Active' and 'Chesapeake'), among others.","Individuals who are prominently documented in the collection include: John Morgan, Sr., John Morgan, Jr., James 'Jim' Morgan, Semantha Atkeson-Morgan, John Beale, James Beale, Samuel Moore, Thomas Atkeson Morgan, Rembrandt Morgan, Albert Sidney Morgan, Anna Jackson, Thomas Atkeson, and Virginia Wells.","West Virginia and Virginia locations of significance to the family include: Walnut Grove, Kanawha County; Point Pleasant; Kanawha Court House; Buffalo, Putnam County; Poca or Poca Bottom; Pocatalico or Pocatalico Bottom; Mount Jackson; Gallipolis, Raymond City, Putnam County; Barboursville; Winfield; Charleston; Rio, Hardy and Hampshire Counties; Orkney Springs; Edge Hill, Virginia; Lewisburg; Letart; Huntington; and Fowlers, Brooke County. Other states of interest include: New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Washington, D.C.","February 21, 1896 issue of the Putnam Democrat separated for microfilming and incorporation into the Miscellaneous Newspaper Collection.","Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.","West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: West Virginia \u0026 Regional History Center","West Virginia and Regional History Center","Barboursville College","Atkeson-Morgan Family","Atkins family","Morgan family","McKinley, William, 1843-1901","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900"],"collection_ssim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, 1833/1923, bulk 1850/1900"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["A\u0026M 3372","Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","/repositories/2/resources/1574"],"unitid_tesim":["A\u0026M 3372","Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","Previous Archival Resource Key","/repositories/2/resources/1574"],"repository_ssm":["West Virginia and Regional History Center"],"repository_ssim":["West Virginia and Regional History Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Barboursville (W. Va.)","Buffalo (Putnam County, W. Va.)","Cabell County (W. Va.)","Gallipolis (Ohio)","Kanawha County (W. Va.)","Ohio River and Valley.","Point Pleasant (Mason County, W. Va.)","Putnam County (W. Va.)","Walnut Grove, Kanawha County.","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865"],"geogname_ssim":["Barboursville (W. Va.)","Buffalo (Putnam County, W. Va.)","Cabell County (W. Va.)","Gallipolis (Ohio)","Kanawha County (W. Va.)","Ohio River and Valley.","Point Pleasant (Mason County, W. Va.)","Putnam County (W. Va.)","Walnut Grove, Kanawha County.","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865"],"places_ssim":["Barboursville (W. Va.)","Buffalo (Putnam County, W. Va.)","Cabell County (W. Va.)","Gallipolis (Ohio)","Kanawha County (W. Va.)","Ohio River and Valley.","Point Pleasant (Mason County, W. Va.)","Putnam County (W. Va.)","Walnut Grove, Kanawha County.","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865"],"creator_ssm":["Atkeson-Morgan Family"],"creator_ssim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family"],"creator_persname_ssim":["McKinley, William, 1843-1901"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["West Virginia and Regional History Center","Barboursville College"],"creator_famname_ssim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family","Atkins family","Morgan family"],"creators_ssim":["McKinley, William, 1843-1901","West Virginia and Regional History Center","Barboursville College","Atkeson-Morgan Family","Atkins family","Morgan family"],"access_terms_ssm":["Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Agriculture","Hunting -- West Virginia","Poetry.","Steamboats"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Agriculture","Hunting -- West Virginia","Poetry.","Steamboats"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["1.9 Linear Feet Summary: 23 in. (4 document cases, 1 flat storage box)"],"extent_tesim":["1.9 Linear Feet Summary: 23 in. (4 document cases, 1 flat storage box)"],"date_range_isim":[1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847,1848,1849,1850,1851,1852,1853,1854,1855,1856,1857,1858,1859,1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eNo special access restriction applies.\u003c/p\u003e "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["No special access restriction applies."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eJohn Morgan, born in Shenandoah County, Virginia on October 10, 1840, was brought by his parents, John and Elizabeth A. (Beale) Morgan, to Putnam County where they settled in 1846.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eJohn Morgan was married to Samantha J., daughter of Thomas and Virginia (Brown) Atkeson. She was born in Mason County in January 1843, and was married to John Morgan on 12 October 1875 in Putnam County by Reverend Crooks. They had three sons: John (born 18 August 1876), Thomas Atkeson (15 April 1878), and Rembrandt (19 June 1880). \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring the Civil War John Morgan enlisted in 1863 in Company A, 22nd Virginia Regiment, Confederate Army, serving till the surrender. His brother William S. Morgan, a member of Company A., 36th Regiment, Confederate Army, was killed at Fayette Courthouse in 1862. John Morgan was a farmer who lived on bottom land opposite the mouth of the Poca River in Putnam County, West Virginia. (From West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, 1976)\u003c/p\u003e "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical / Historical"],"bioghist_tesim":["John Morgan, born in Shenandoah County, Virginia on October 10, 1840, was brought by his parents, John and Elizabeth A. (Beale) Morgan, to Putnam County where they settled in 1846.","John Morgan was married to Samantha J., daughter of Thomas and Virginia (Brown) Atkeson. She was born in Mason County in January 1843, and was married to John Morgan on 12 October 1875 in Putnam County by Reverend Crooks. They had three sons: John (born 18 August 1876), Thomas Atkeson (15 April 1878), and Rembrandt (19 June 1880).","During the Civil War John Morgan enlisted in 1863 in Company A, 22nd Virginia Regiment, Confederate Army, serving till the surrender. His brother William S. Morgan, a member of Company A., 36th Regiment, Confederate Army, was killed at Fayette Courthouse in 1862. John Morgan was a farmer who lived on bottom land opposite the mouth of the Poca River in Putnam County, West Virginia. (From West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, 1976)"],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, A\u0026amp;M 3372, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e "],"prefercite_tesim":["[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers, A\u0026M 3372, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of John and Sarah Atkeson-Morgan documenting Atkeson-Morgan family history and the history of the Morgan home and farm in Putnam County, West Virginia for period ca. 1840-1900.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eMaterials include Civil War papers; personal and business correspondence; legal documents; school compositions and poetry; one photograph; and invoices and receipts.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSubjects include: personal business (such as health, travel, and courtship), farm business, hunting, education (particularly at Barboursville College), and steamboat travel (including the vessels 'Active' and 'Chesapeake'), among others.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIndividuals who are prominently documented in the collection include: John Morgan, Sr., John Morgan, Jr., James 'Jim' Morgan, Semantha Atkeson-Morgan, John Beale, James Beale, Samuel Moore, Thomas Atkeson Morgan, Rembrandt Morgan, Albert Sidney Morgan, Anna Jackson, Thomas Atkeson, and Virginia Wells.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWest Virginia and Virginia locations of significance to the family include: Walnut Grove, Kanawha County; Point Pleasant; Kanawha Court House; Buffalo, Putnam County; Poca or Poca Bottom; Pocatalico or Pocatalico Bottom; Mount Jackson; Gallipolis, Raymond City, Putnam County; Barboursville; Winfield; Charleston; Rio, Hardy and Hampshire Counties; Orkney Springs; Edge Hill, Virginia; Lewisburg; Letart; Huntington; and Fowlers, Brooke County. Other states of interest include: New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Washington, D.C.\u003c/p\u003e "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Papers of John and Sarah Atkeson-Morgan documenting Atkeson-Morgan family history and the history of the Morgan home and farm in Putnam County, West Virginia for period ca. 1840-1900.","Materials include Civil War papers; personal and business correspondence; legal documents; school compositions and poetry; one photograph; and invoices and receipts.","Subjects include: personal business (such as health, travel, and courtship), farm business, hunting, education (particularly at Barboursville College), and steamboat travel (including the vessels 'Active' and 'Chesapeake'), among others.","Individuals who are prominently documented in the collection include: John Morgan, Sr., John Morgan, Jr., James 'Jim' Morgan, Semantha Atkeson-Morgan, John Beale, James Beale, Samuel Moore, Thomas Atkeson Morgan, Rembrandt Morgan, Albert Sidney Morgan, Anna Jackson, Thomas Atkeson, and Virginia Wells.","West Virginia and Virginia locations of significance to the family include: Walnut Grove, Kanawha County; Point Pleasant; Kanawha Court House; Buffalo, Putnam County; Poca or Poca Bottom; Pocatalico or Pocatalico Bottom; Mount Jackson; Gallipolis, Raymond City, Putnam County; Barboursville; Winfield; Charleston; Rio, Hardy and Hampshire Counties; Orkney Springs; Edge Hill, Virginia; Lewisburg; Letart; Huntington; and Fowlers, Brooke County. Other states of interest include: New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Washington, D.C."],"separatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFebruary 21, 1896 issue of the Putnam Democrat separated for microfilming and incorporation into the Miscellaneous Newspaper Collection.\u003c/p\u003e "],"separatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Separated Materials"],"separatedmaterial_tesim":["February 21, 1896 issue of the Putnam Democrat separated for microfilming and incorporation into the Miscellaneous Newspaper Collection."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePermission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the \u003ca href=\"https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/visit/permissions-and-copyright\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePermissions and Copyright page\u003c/a\u003e on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.\u003c/p\u003e "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_4add46305460bc810dce1b883f0a76bb\"\u003eWest Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: \u003ca href=\"https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/\"\u003eWest Virginia \u0026amp; Regional History Center\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/physloc\u003e\n "],"physloc_tesim":["West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: West Virginia \u0026 Regional History Center"],"corpname_ssim":["West Virginia and Regional History Center","Barboursville College"],"names_coll_ssim":["Barboursville College","Atkins family","Morgan family","McKinley, William, 1843-1901"],"famname_ssim":["Atkeson-Morgan Family","Atkins family","Morgan family"],"persname_ssim":["McKinley, William, 1843-1901"],"names_ssim":["West Virginia and Regional History Center","Barboursville College","Atkeson-Morgan Family","Atkins family","Morgan family","McKinley, William, 1843-1901"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":157,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:49.367Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/wvmturhc_repositories_2_resources_1574_c12_c03"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c06","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"F. Stack Mines, 1881/1909","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c06#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c06","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c06"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c06","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21","parent_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Payroll Books"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c21"],"title_filing_ssi":"F. Stack Mines","title_ssm":["F. Stack Mines"],"title_tesim":["F. Stack Mines"],"normalized_title_ssm":["F. Stack Mines, 1881/1909"],"text":["F. Stack Mines, 1881/1909","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Payroll Books","5 volumes"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Payroll Books"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Payroll Books"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1881/1909"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1881-1909"],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":115,"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["5 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"date_range_isim":[1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#20/components#5","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:56:23.128Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viu_viu00917","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/uva-sc/viu00917.xml","title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"title_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","662","95 linear feer + 1200\n volumes","Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections.","The word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.","As noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.","The first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.","These steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.","Some consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.","A certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project.","The Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.","Coal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.","The towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.","In the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.","The Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.","Perhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026 O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026 O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"","The problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n To Mr. George Wickes \n Supt. of Mines \n Kay Moor, Virginia \n Dear George, \n Tony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.Signed, \n Ed D. Wickes Supt. of MinesLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.","Low Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.","The Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"","When America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.","The Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.","Why did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n Manufacturers Recorddated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.","During the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.","In examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.","Low Moor Iron Company Personnel:","Executive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.","Factory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919.","The Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.","The records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts.","By 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.","In preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.","The bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.","In late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.","The more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide.","The Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.","This material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers.","See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"access_terms_ssm":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection was purchased from Green Bookman in\n 1939."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["95 linear feer + 1200\n volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eStored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eAs noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThese steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eSome consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eA certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Organization"],"arrangement_tesim":["The word \"organization\" is used here with considerable\n diffidence, for any researcher studying the container list\n that follows will realize quickly that there is no\n organization in the usual sense of the word.","As noted under \"Provenance,\" the Low Moor Iron Company\n papers were subjected to a number of moves; when processing\n began in the fall of 1976, no discernible scheme of\n organization could be determined.","The first step was to review the series of coded numbers\n placed on the bundles of papers before they were moved to\n the dormitory attic, but these did not provide any sort of\n useful organization. Next, the spine titles of the original\n letter boxes were reviewed (they had been copied onto the\n gray cardboard sheets before the move to the dormitory\n attic), but they, too, proved useless.","These steps having provided no scheme, and after a\n considerable hiatus due to a turnover in student processors\n on the collection, the new student processors were\n instructed to begin a box-by-box inventory of the contents\n of the collection. During this inventory, old folders were\n replaced with acid-free ones, and the original folder\n headings were copied onto the new ones. Some removal of\n paper clips was accomplished, and the materials were\n reviewed and notes taken for the guide.","Some consolidation of materials was accomplished, and in\n other cases, materials were moved. This work has created\n some problems in the numbering of the boxes. Thus, the\n researchers will find boxes marked \"6A\" and \"23C\"; he will\n also discover that certain box numbers have been entirely\n omitted. As the box numbers exist only to aid in the\n location of material, it was not felt that the unusual\n numbers and the omissions would cause problems in working\n with the papers.","A certain amount of movement of boxes within the\n collection, and of materials among boxes, probably would\n ease use of it. But what processing was accomplished on\n this project took far longer than had been anticipated, and\n there was no time in the late spring of 1978, when the\n processors had to complete their work with the project, to\n undertake a mass movement of material. Thus, they stand in\n the order in which we found them at the beginning of the\n project."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eCoal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003ePerhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026amp; O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026amp; O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n \u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo Mr. George Wickes \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSupt. of Mines \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eKay Moor, Virginia \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDear George, \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eTony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003eLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eWhen America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eWhy did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n \u003cbibref type=\"simple\" href=\"\"\u003e\u003ctitle type=\"simple\" href=\"\"\u003eManufacturers Record\u003c/title\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003edated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eDuring the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eExecutive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eFactory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company, the first producer of pig\n iron in Virginia according to the company's claims, was a\n self-contained manufacturing unit producing from its own\n mines the coal, limestone, and iron ore needed for its iron\n production. Located in Low Moor near Clifton Forge in\n Alleghany County in western Virginia, an area rich in\n mineral deposits, the company was in operation from\n 1872-1930, producing only pig iron; it never attempted to\n produce finished iron products.","Coal came to the Low Moor furnaces from the Kay Moor\n Mines at Kay Moor, West Virginia, about thirty miles from\n Low Moor; limestone was produced from the Low Moor\n limestone quarries; and iron ore came from the Fenwick,\n Dolly Ann, Jordan, Rich Patch, Low Moor, and Longdale\n Mines, most of them within twenty miles of Low Moor at\n Covington or Clifton Forge.","The towns of Low Moor and Kay Moor were company towns in\n every respect. Workers lived in company-owned houses,\n bought food in company stores, worshiped at the company\n church, saw movies in the company theater, were treated in\n the company hospital, and were buried in the company\n cemetery. Workers received part of their pay in scrip that\n they exchanged for goods and services. According to a\n statement from the Kay Moor Mines dated November 1904, Kay\n Moor then employed 338 people, paid them an average wage of\n $36.26 per month, and issued half of their pay in scrip.\n Kay Moor had four stores; Low Moor had seven or eight. All\n of these stores carried large inventories which are\n detailed in the collection. These inventories are valuable\n to anyone interested in determining the wants and needs of\n a coal miner and his family.","In the late 1910's and 1920's Kay Moor had a company\n theater called the Azure Theater which seated about 300\n people. There were also plans for a company-owned social\n center, to have pool tables, a soda fountain, and\n provisions for dancing and skating. The company was in\n tough economic straits by the 1920's, however, and there is\n no evidence that the social center was built. The town of\n Low Moor was so completely under the company's influence\n that one of Low Moor Iron Company's assistant managers\n served as the town sheriff. He often foreclosed on people\n who did not pay their debts, and drove troublesome people\n \"out of town on a rail\" as he put it.","The Low Moor Iron Company's fortunes fluctuated during\n the various business cycles between the years 1880-1930.\n Low Moor was one of the larger pig iron producers in\n Virginia, but Virginia pig iron production was not\n important nationally. Low Moor officials sometimes sold\n their product themselves, but more often they used agents,\n the prevalent method at the time. Low Moor Iron Company\n used a variety of agents through the 1900's. James F. Bryan\n acted as the exclusive agent for the sale of Kay Moor Coal\n from September 21, 1903 to September, 1905. From about 1890\n until about 1910 Dalton Nash and Company were the exclusive\n eastern agents of Low Moor Iron. After that time the\n exclusive agency went to Philips Isham and Company located\n in New York. From about 1890 the western agency was handled\n chiefly by Thomas Mack and Company. After 1902 Thomas Mack\n and Company underwent a name change, becoming Walter\n Wallingford and Company, with offices located in\n Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.","Perhaps the Low Moor Iron Company's biggest problem over\n the years was obtaining railroad cars for the\n transportation of its finished product. Low Moor Iron\n Company had its own cars for transporting its raw materials\n among its various facilities. For the long haul necessary\n for its finished goods, however, it depended upon the\n services of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the\n relationship was not always a happy one. The Low Moor\n Company complained many times to the C \u0026 O Railroad\n about the discrepancies between long-and shorthaul freight\n rates. Low Moor also had trouble getting cars from the C\n \u0026 O. In a letter to one of Low Moor Company's agents\n from an irate customer dated 1898, the customer wrote: \"We\n wrote you on Saturday and endeavored to question upon your\n mind the necessity of taking care of us with Low Moor iron.\n We are on our uppers--there is not a pound of Low Moor iron\n in the yard. Of the one hundred tons ordered some time ago,\n not one pound of it has been received.\" This was, according\n to the Low Moor Iron Company, because they could not get\n the railroad cars. In a letter from Thomas Mack and Company\n dated November 26, 1901, to General Manager E. C. Means:\n \"We are hopeful that the car supply will get better because\n of the number of orders you have of ours for prompt\n shipment. Our customers are complaining that they are not\n getting the iron fast enough. . . . We hope that the\n railroad will be able to supply you with empty cars.\" In\n another letter dated 1916 to John B. Guernsey, then acting\n General Manager of the Low Moor Iron Company, \"We were not\n supplied with coke cars for today's loading, and\n consequently we have been practically down of Kay Moor\n ovens all day.\"","The problem of procuring labor also plagued the Low Moor\n Company. The company sometimes tried to hire immigrant\n laborers and send the men directly to Low Moor from New\n York City. There were problems with this, as is explained\n in the following letter dated April 7, 1906: \n To Mr. George Wickes \n Supt. of Mines \n Kay Moor, Virginia \n Dear George, \n Tony arrived with twenty one men last night. One\n got away in Jersey two in Washington D.C., four in\n Charlottesville. Some of the men are very good looking,\n but taken as a whole they are the worst lot I have ever\n seen: Irish, German-Jews, and Italians. . . . Our New\n York transportations to this place have never been a\n success.Signed, \n Ed D. Wickes Supt. of MinesLow Moor usually employed labor agencies, one\n of which was Atwood's Employment Agency. Often the Low Moor\n Company would request certain nationalities, believing them\n to be better workers than others. Sometimes the company\n would request a gang of twenty made up of \"ten Greeks and\n ten Italians.\" Many of the immigrants fled Low Moor and Kay\n Moor when they learned that they would have to work\n underground. There is a fair amount of material on\n immigrant labor and its procurement in the collection, and\n it is noted in the description of the box contents.","Low Moor Iron Company not only had trouble procuring\n labor, but it also had trouble with labor already employed\n in the mines and at the factory. Labor dissension and\n strikes troubled the Kay Moor Mines through the 1900's. The\n great coal strike of 1902 hurt the Low Moor Company's coal\n mining operation, but by 1903 things were \"nearly back to\n normal\" according to the mine superintendent. There was\n still trouble at Kay Moor Mines, however. In a letter dated\n April 26, 1906, to the treasurer of Low Moor Company, the\n manager of the mines wrote about the trouble in \"trying to\n get the agitators out.\" The mines were seventy-five men\n short of the total labor force needed because many of the\n coal miners returned to their farms during the spring.\n There were rumblings of another strike at Kay Moor, the\n result of which was to be a fourteen percent increase in\n wages for the Kay Moor Mine workers via an agreement with\n the United Mine Workers Union in December.","The Low Moor Iron Company grew along with the rest of\n Virginia industry in the 1890's and 1900's. Starting with\n only one furnace in the 1870's, it opened a second furnace\n at Covington, Virginia, in 1891. In 1911 it opened a third\n furnace, this time at Low Moor. Covington, with its heavy\n industry, soon became known as the \"Pittsburgh of\n Virginia.\" Virginia's pig iron production rose from 9,000\n short tons in 1870 to 544,034 long tons in 1903. Judging\n from the Low Moor Company's correspondence, the most\n prosperous period for the company fell between the years\n 1895-1907. In the years between 1907-1917 problems befell\n the Virginia pig iron industry. In a letter from William W.\n Hearns, the president of the Virginia based Princess Pig\n Iron Company, to U. S. Senator Thomas S. Martin, Hearns\n writes of the problems of the Virginia pig iron industry:\n \"There is not a blast furnace in Virginia that is making\n any money from the manufacture of pig iron. The cause of\n this is there is an exceedingly low price on pig iron in\n the country at the present time, and the increased cost of\n manufacturing is due to the increase in wages in all\n lines.\" With the outbreak of World War I prices rose\n dramatically, but in a market report to Low Moor dated\n November 11, 1916, it was stated that: \"In spite of the\n high prices, it is not a picnic to be in the iron industry.\n There is a desperate shortage of cars and equipment in the\n coal and iron districts, and in consequence there are\n troubles of all kinds to get materials shipped. The\n situation has grown serious.\"","When America became involved in the First World War, it\n meant a boost for the Low Moor Iron Company. The government\n helped it procure labor, and even helped it repair its\n furnaces. The problem of supplies and cars for their\n shipments, however, plagued the company more than ever. It\n had a good deal of trouble getting all the raw materials it\n needed due chiefly to the \"tight ship\" run by Harry F.\n Byrd, Sr., U.S. Fuel Administrator for Virginia. After the\n war very serious problems began to trouble the Low Moor\n Iron Company. The demand for iron fell precipitously and a\n short but severe depression ensued from 1919-1922. The\n depression seemed to hit the iron industry especially hard.\n Prices took a huge drop due to the lack of demand, and many\n pre-war contracts had to be revalued. To compound the\n company's problems, the Kay Moor Mines went on strike in\n 1919. This strike was quickly settled, as the market for\n coal was so good that the Low Moor Company ceased taking\n orders temporarily in 1921 as it could not fill the orders\n it had on hand.","The Low Moor Company furnaces lay idle for some twenty\n months. Finally, in November 1922 one of Low Moor's\n furnaces was finally fired up. While prosperity gradually\n returned to the rest of the country, the Low Moor Iron\n Company never recovered. Production of pig iron in the\n Virginia iron industry declined from 544,034 tons in 1903\n to 148,053 tons in 1923, considered a good year for the\n industry as a whole. In February 1926 Low Moor officials\n talked of merging with two other iron companies in order to\n revive the iron business for the three companies. The\n merger, however, never occurred. By late 1926 the company\n was in the process of liquidation. An advertisement in the\n Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail dated April 30, 1927,\n told of a huge warehouse sale at the Low Moor Iron Company.\n The advertisement noted \"thousands of screws, pipe\n fittings, valves, etc.\" The last piece of correspondence\n from the Low Moor Iron Company in the collection is dated\n 1929. It deals with the sale of a machine.","Why did the iron industry in Virginia decline as it did?\n Some say that lack of speed, efficiency, and a decent\n transportation system for Alleghany County caused it. In a\n letter from C. E. Bertie, secretary of the Virginia Pig\n Iron Association, to the \n Manufacturers Recorddated 1925, Bertie claimed that it was the\n tremendous rise in the cost of transportation. Virginia, he\n claimed, had almost no home market. Over 80% of its normal\n production was shipped out to other states. The failure of\n the Interstate Commerce Commission to treat Virginia\n furnaces as southern furnaces was the cause of much of the\n trouble. From 1914-1925 there were four blanket increases\n in freight rates in the country, of which only one applied\n equally to all localities. Southern furnaces were received\n only two increases--a 25% increase in 1918 and a 25%\n increase in 1920--but northern furnaces had had 5%, 15%,\n 25%, and 40% increases in their transportation costs.\n Virginia furnaces, although recognized as southern\n furnaces, had had freight rates increased in line with the\n northern furnaces. Prior to the war Virginia iron reached\n all points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois on a\n competitive basis with southern furnaces. After World War I\n the advantage was limited to a small portion of\n southeastern Ohio. All of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan\n were now lost to the Virginia producers. The Virginia\n producer, according to Bertie, felt that the freight rates\n should be restored to a relationship with southern\n furnaces. If what Bertie said was true, the other southern\n states iron industries should not have been in the same\n desperate economic straits as Virginia's, and statistics\n should support this. In the 1920's production rose to new\n heights in Alabama. In Tennessee, however, iron production\n plunged to new lows during the 1920's. While the south\n accounted for 10.2% of the entire U. S. production in the\n years 1919-1924, Virginia accounted for less than 1% during\n those years. In 1915 Virginia accounted for over 6% of the\n U.S. iron production. One can see a decline in other areas\n of the south than Virginia. While the discrepancies in the\n freight rates may have helped cause the decline, clearly\n there are other reasons.","During the 1900's there was a discovery of extremely\n rich iron ore deposits in the mid-west. Much of this ore\n was on or near the surface, making the mining of it both\n easy and inexpensive. This in turn lowered production costs\n of the pig iron. This caused iron production to shift to\n that region, and resulted in a decline in the Virginia iron\n industry. There was a sharp increase in iron production in\n the mid-west through the 1920's. The iron ore in the\n mid-west may have been of better quality than Virginia, but\n the iron ore in Virginia was of sufficient quality to\n produce a good pig iron. The western ore deposits were not\n as conveniently located as Virginia deposits, but the\n inexpensiveness of production more than made up for it.","In examining the rise and fall of the Low Moor Iron\n Company, we can see a situation in which the conditions for\n the manufacture of iron were nearly ideal. There was plenty\n of land for expansion and resources for the manufacture of\n the iron. The major internal problem faced by the Low Moor\n Iron Company was that of transportation. External\n developments, however, caused the final demise of the Low\n Moor Iron Company.","Low Moor Iron Company Personnel:","Executive Staff: Managing Director, Colonel H. M.\n Goodwin: ca. 1881. General Managers: H. G. Merry: ca.\n 1884-1902; E. C. Means: ca. 1905-1915; J. P. Guernsey: ca.\n 1915 (acting General Manager); F. U. Humbert: ca.\n 1916-1929. Assistant General Manager: E. B. Wilkinson: ca.\n 1909-1915. Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers: Edward Low:\n ca. 1886-1898; Frank Lyman (in New York): ca. 1898-1919; S.\n G. Cragill (Asst. Treasurer): ca. 1900-1915; H. A. Dalton:\n ca. 1921-1929; John Lipscomb (Asst. Treasurer): ca.\n 1918-1928.","Factory and Mine Supervisors: Kay Moor Superintendents:\n C. C. Cooke: ca. 1918; Ed. D. Wickes: ca. 1906; H. L.\n Tansell: ca. 1903; A. H. Reed: ca. 1906. Kay Moor Managers:\n J. W. Monteith: manager of mines. ca. 1918; promoted in\n 1925 to general superintendent in charge of mine plants,\n coke ovens, shops, repairs, and construction; A. L.\n Monteith: assistant superintendent of mines, ca. 1918;\n George T. Wickes: manager of Covington mines, ca.\n 1906-1917; Ross Howell, ca. 1918. Stack Mines\n Superintendents: J. H. Carpenter: ca. 1906; C. D.\n Oberschain: ca. 1907; J. L. Harris: ca. 1903; John S. Ham:\n ca. 1891-1901. Rich Patch Mines Superintendents: John R.\n Thompson: foreman, ca. 1906. Low Moor assorted other\n personnel: S. L. Tulley: trainmaster, ca. 1906; B. J.\n Shenkley: foreman, Low Moor limestone quarries; L. Q. Wood:\n assistant traffic manager, ca. 1919."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Provenance"],"custodhist_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company ceased operations in 1930;\n what happened to the records of the company in the years\n immediately following is not known, but in 1939, the Green\n Bookman, a Charlottesville bookshop, sold the records to\n the University of Virginia Library.","The records arrived at the receiving room door of the\n new Alderman Library on October 16, 1939, in a trailer\n truck whose load was estimated to weigh about fourteen\n tons. As the manuscripts staff dug around in the piles of\n over 1200 account books, and countless boxes of papers they\n realized that the company had saved almost all of its\n papers including checks, invoices, vouchers, and receipts,\n and certain of these records were destroyed as their\n information was recorded in other records. Once the bulk of\n the collection had been reduced, the remaining records were\n transferred to the stack area of the Division of Rare Books\n and Manuscripts."],"otherfindaid_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSome 1200 bound accounting record books of the Low Moor\n Iron Company came into the custody of the Library with the\n loose papers. When the project staff investigated these\n volumes in the dormitory attic where they were stored, they\n found that the volumes had been shelved by size rather than\n by series. Thus, a letterbook may stand next to a stock\n report book for a furnace, which is, in turn, next to a\n store account book for the Kay Moor Mines' store. No series\n are shelved in order.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eMembers of the project staff surveyed the volumes,\n completing for each volume two copies of a mimeographed\n survey form, and assigning to each volume a number. One\n copy of the survey report form was placed in the volume,\n and the second was returned to the Library.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eFrom the survey report forms, 3 x 5 inch index\n cards--with a carbon copy of each--were typed. One set of\n index cards has been kept in order by the numbers assigned\n to the volumes as they stand on the shelves. This provides\n a shelf list for the use of the library staff. The other\n set of cards was sorted into categories as a finding aid.\n On the list that follows, the researcher will find a number\n of major headings such as \"Accounts,\" \"Inventories,\"\n \"Letter Books,\" and \"Shipments-Outgoing.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eInsofar as it has been possible to determine from the\n data on the survey report forms, the volumes have been\n assigned to categories. Most of the major categories, or\n headings, have sub-headings. Within those sub-headings, the\n volumes have been arranged chronologically. The\n investigators realize that after careful study of some of\n these volumes, they will be revealed as belonging to other\n categories than those in which they have initially been\n placed. The card index will allow such movement.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eAvailable in the Manuscripts/Archives Reading Room in\n the Library is the sorted card index file. There is a card\n for every volume in this file whereas, on the pages that\n follow, volumes have been summarized under the headings and\n sub-headings. In each case, the number of volumes has been\n given in the summarized list; the date ranges given are\n inclusive in most cases, and do not reveal the many gaps in\n sequences unless the number of volumes is small and the\n date range wide. Occasional remarks about the content of\n volumes have been supplied if the contents are not obvious\n from the heading or sub-heading.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eResearchers wishing to examine any of these volumes will\n have to use the card index file in order to be able to give\n to the staff the volume number assigned to the individual\n volumes that are to be inspected.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"otherfindaid_heading_ssm":["Other Finding Aid"],"otherfindaid_tesim":["Some 1200 bound accounting record books of the Low Moor\n Iron Company came into the custody of the Library with the\n loose papers. When the project staff investigated these\n volumes in the dormitory attic where they were stored, they\n found that the volumes had been shelved by size rather than\n by series. Thus, a letterbook may stand next to a stock\n report book for a furnace, which is, in turn, next to a\n store account book for the Kay Moor Mines' store. No series\n are shelved in order.","Members of the project staff surveyed the volumes,\n completing for each volume two copies of a mimeographed\n survey form, and assigning to each volume a number. One\n copy of the survey report form was placed in the volume,\n and the second was returned to the Library.","From the survey report forms, 3 x 5 inch index\n cards--with a carbon copy of each--were typed. One set of\n index cards has been kept in order by the numbers assigned\n to the volumes as they stand on the shelves. This provides\n a shelf list for the use of the library staff. The other\n set of cards was sorted into categories as a finding aid.\n On the list that follows, the researcher will find a number\n of major headings such as \"Accounts,\" \"Inventories,\"\n \"Letter Books,\" and \"Shipments-Outgoing.\"","Insofar as it has been possible to determine from the\n data on the survey report forms, the volumes have been\n assigned to categories. Most of the major categories, or\n headings, have sub-headings. Within those sub-headings, the\n volumes have been arranged chronologically. The\n investigators realize that after careful study of some of\n these volumes, they will be revealed as belonging to other\n categories than those in which they have initially been\n placed. The card index will allow such movement.","Available in the Manuscripts/Archives Reading Room in\n the Library is the sorted card index file. There is a card\n for every volume in this file whereas, on the pages that\n follow, volumes have been summarized under the headings and\n sub-headings. In each case, the number of volumes has been\n given in the summarized list; the date ranges given are\n inclusive in most cases, and do not reveal the many gaps in\n sequences unless the number of volumes is small and the\n date range wide. Occasional remarks about the content of\n volumes have been supplied if the contents are not obvious\n from the heading or sub-heading.","Researchers wishing to examine any of these volumes will\n have to use the card index file in order to be able to give\n to the staff the volume number assigned to the individual\n volumes that are to be inspected."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of the Low Moor Iron Company, Accession #662,\n Special Collections, University of Virginia Library,\n Charlottesville, Va.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"prefercite_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company, Accession #662,\n Special Collections, University of Virginia Library,\n Charlottesville, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBy 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eIn late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThe more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["By 1958, little storage space remained in Alderman\n Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division was\n especially crowded because of the rapid growth of its\n collections. After an examination of its storage areas, the\n division's staff decided to move the Low Moor records to\n the attic of one of the student dormitories. The collection\n had had little use chiefly because there was no finding\n aid. There seemed little likelihood of extensive researcher\n use until the collection could be processed.","In preparation for the move, the old letter boxes in\n which much of the collection had arrived in the Library\n were discarded. The records from each box were placed\n between sheets of the heavy gray cardboard used to protect\n unbound newspapers in the Library's stacks, and the spine\n labels of the old letter boxes were copied onto the\n cardboard. The resulting bundles were wrapped with brown\n Kraft paper and tied up with string. The bundles were\n numbered. Whatever original order the letter boxes may have\n had was lost by the time they arrived in the Library, and\n after the bundling, removal to a dormitory attic, and\n subsequent return to the Library in 1976, all vestiges of\n the original order were lost.","The bundles remained in the dormitory attic for almost\n twenty years. Occasional visits were made by the division\n staff to check on their condition, and on very rare\n occasions, a researcher was brave enough to ask to be shown\n the collection. Once the researcher saw the imposing amount\n of material and the conditions in the attic, interest in\n using the collection invariably died.","In late 1976 a grant from the National Endowment for the\n Humanities was obtained to allow the Library to process the\n Low Moor Iron Company papers, and the papers of Edward L.\n Stone and the Borderland Coal Company, another large\n collection of records stored in the same dormitory attic.\n All of these records and papers were moved back to the\n Library where the bundles were cleaned and opened. The\n contents of each were placed in a Hollinger storage box,\n and all notes on the paper wrappings and on the gray\n cardboard sheets were recorded.","The more than 1200 bound accounting records of the Low\n Moor Iron Company were surveyed by the grant project staff.\n The contents of each volume were noted on a mimeographed\n form, and later typed on 3 x 5\" cards to create a\n readily-accessible file for the Manuscripts Reading Room.\n This information was also typed on pages to be added to\n this guide."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e\n ","\u003cp\u003eThis material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers.\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Low Moor Iron Company papers consist of\n approximately 280 four-inch Hollinger archives boxes (ca.\n 95 linear feet) of records, ca. 1885-1927, and some 1200\n bound volumes of the company's accounting records,\n 1873-1927, of this iron producing company located in Low\n Moor (four miles southwest of Clifton Forge), Alleghany\n County, Virginia.","This material consists of records typical of those\n produced by a firm of this type in the period, but as the\n company owned its own coal and iron mines and limestone\n quarries, there is considerable information about the\n production of these raw materials. Large numbers of the\n records that deal with the company's employees have\n survived: time books, payroll books, hands ledgers, and the\n like. Because these books sometimes include information\n about the employee's trade or job with the company, and as\n race is indicated in some of the records, these books\n should provide date for studies of the structure and upward\n mobility within the labor force, patterns of\n ethnic--possibly racial--occupational penetration and\n mobility, material conditions of the workers, and so on.\n The papers should permit a range of studies detailing the\n pattern and evolution of industrial organization in the\n iron industry, and the evolution of markets and marketing\n structures for the entire period. Because the company was\n dependent upon railroads to move its raw materials to the\n furnaces, and for the marketing of its products, there is\n considerable information about railroads and their\n relationship to their customers."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSee the \n \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.library.virginia.edu/policies/use-of-materials\"\u003e\n University of Virginia Library’s use policy.\u003c/extref\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["See the \n \n University of Virginia Library’s use policy."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":1879,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:56:23.128Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c06"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"repository_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Repository","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Alexandria Library","value":"Alexandria Library","hits":9},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1884\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Alexandria+Library"}},{"attributes":{"label":"College of William and Mary","value":"College of William and Mary","hits":118},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1884\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=College+of+William+and+Mary"}},{"attributes":{"label":"George Mason University","value":"George Mason 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