{"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=2","prev":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=1","next":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=3","last":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=49"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":2,"next_page":3,"prev_page":1,"total_pages":49,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":10,"total_count":485,"first_page?":false,"last_page?":false}},"data":[{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Account Books (5 ledgers)","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04_c01","ref_ssm":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04_c01"],"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04_c01","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04","parent_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04","parent_ssim":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers","Series IV. Black Family Business Records"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers","Series IV. Black Family Business Records"],"text":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers","Series IV. Black Family Business Records","Account Books (5 ledgers)"],"title_filing_ssi":"Account Books (5 ledgers)","title_ssm":["Account Books (5 ledgers)"],"title_tesim":["Account Books (5 ledgers)"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1832-1908"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1832/1908"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Account Books (5 ledgers)"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"collection_ssim":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":4,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":68,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["The collection is open to 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":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#3/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T02:25:26.069Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_1290.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers","title_ssm":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers"],"title_tesim":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1779-1984"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1779-1984"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["Ms.1974.003"],"text":["Ms.1974.003","Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers","Blacksburg (Va.)","Huntsville (Ala.)","Marion (Va.)","Civil War","Folk, historical, and patent medicine","Genealogy","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Medicine","Medicine, Military -- History","Montgomery County (Va.)","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Diaries","Women -- History","The collection is open to research.","Some of this collection has been digitized and is available online.","A microfilm edition of the diary, 1847-1850, of Harvey Black and the American Civil War diaries of John S. Apperson was made by the Library of Virginia in January 1976 and is available at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. The Civil War letters of Harvey Black were published in 1995 in a volume edited by Glenn L. McMullen, which is available in the Rare Book Collection and in Newman Library.","The papers are arranged into series corresponding to the creators of the material and subseries by type of material.","Series include the following:","Series I. Harvey Black Papers Series II. Black Family Papers Series III. Germanicus Kent Papers Series IV. Black Family Business Records Series V. John S. Apperson Papers Series VI. Mary E. Apperson Papers Series VII. Alexander Apperson Papers Series VIII. Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks Series IX. Blacksburg Mining and Manufacturing Company Series X. Assorted Papers","This series is arranged by format.","This series is arranged by format.","Arranged alphabetically by name of family being researched.","In 1889, Elizabeth Black of Blacksburg, Virginia, married John Apperson of Marion, joining the Black and Kent families of Blacksburg with the Apperson family. Elizabeth Black's father Harvey Black and John S. Apperson served together in the 4th Virginia, 1st Brigade during the American Civil War. Black was a regimental surgeon and Apperson was a hospital steward under his command.","Harvey Black (1827-1888) was a native of Blacksburg and a grandson of town founder John Black. (Harvey Black did not use the e in his given name, but as an adult he regularly signed his name as H. Black and he was almost always identified publicly as Harvey Black.) After attending local schools, he began studying medicine under two local doctors. In 1847, he volunteered to serve in the Mexican War in the 1st Regiment Virginia Volunteers; three months later, he was made a hospital steward. He entered medical school at the University of Virginia in 1848 and graduated in June 1849. That fall, he took a four-month journey, on horseback, from western Virginia through the upper Mid-West as far west as Iowa. He decided to settle in Blacksburg and opened a medical practice there in 1852. The same year, he married Mary Kent of Blacksburg.","On August 2, 1861, Harvey Black was appointed regimental surgeon in the 4th Virginia, 1st Brigade, known as the Stonewall Brigade. John Apperson, who had enlisted with the Smyth Blues of Smyth County, Virginia, in April 1861, was appointed hospital steward under the command of Harvey Black in March 1862. Black and Apperson served together with the 4th regiment until late 1862. They provided medical care to the wounded at first Manassas, second Manassas, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. In late 1862, Black was appointed surgeon of the field hospital of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, and brought Apperson with him. Both served in this hospital until the end of the war, taking care of recuperating soldiers who were wounded of the Second Corps' major engagements, including the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863 and the Spotsylvania Campaign in 1864. Black assisted Hunter Holmes McGuire with the amputation of Stonewall Jackson's arm on May 3, 1863.","After the Civil War, Harvey Black resumed his medical practice in Blacksburg. He was elected president of the Medical Society of Virginia in 1872. He played an instrumental role in the founding of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in Blacksburg in 1872. He was the first rector of the Board of Visitors.","From 1786 to 1882, Harvey Black was Superintendent of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg. In 1884, he was appointed to the board of a proposed state mental hospital for southwestern Virginia. In 1885, he was elected to represent Montgomery County in the House of Delegates and served two sessions. In the House, he influenced the decision to locate the new hospital in Marion. In 1887, Black became the first superintendent of the new Southwestern State Lunatic Asylum in Marion. He appointed John S. Apperson assistant physician there. Harvey Black died in Richmond in October 1888 and was buried in Westview Cemetery in Blacksburg.","John S. Apperson (1837-1908) was born in Locust Grove, Virginia, and moved to Smyth County in 1859. He took a job splitting rails and began to study medicine under local physician William Faris. In 1861, Apperson enlisted in the Smyth Blues, organized as Company D, 4th Virginia. After the Civil War, he studied medicine at the University of Virginia, earning a degree in 1867. He returned to Smyth County and married Victoria Hull in 1868. They lived in Chilhowie, and Apperson practiced medicine and farmed. They had seven children.","John Apperson's first wife died in 1887. The same year, he took a job as assistant physician under Harvey Black at the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia in Marion. When Harvey Black died in 1888, Apperson resigned his position at the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum and established a medical practice in Marion. In 1889, he married Elizabeth, daughter of his friend and mentor Harvey Black. They had four children: Harvey, Alexander, Kent, and Mary.","After his second marriage, John Apperson pursued a career in business. He was one of eight founders of Staley's Creek Manganese and Iron Company. In 1906, he expanded the operations of the Marion Foundry and Milling Company into the Marion Foundry and Machine Works. He also promoted the building of the Marion and Rye Valley Railroad.","In 1892, the Virginia Board of World's Fair Managers employed Apperson to collect items and transport Virginia exhibits to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. John Apperson died in Marion in 1908. His wife Elizabeth died in Blacksburg in 1942.","Harvey Black Apperson (1890-1948), the oldest child of John Apperson and Elizabeth Black, lived in Salem, Virginia, and practiced law in Roanoke for thirty years. He became active in Democratic Party politics in the 1920s. In a special election in 1933, he was elected to represent Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, and Roanoke counties and the cities of Radford and Roanoke in the State Senate. He served on the State Corporation Commission from 1944 to 1947 and was Chairman of the Commission from June 1944 to 1947. Governor William Tuck appointed him Attorney General in August 1947, and he took office October 7, 1947. He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Richmond on February 2, 1948. Alexander Apperson worked at the Marion Foundry and Machine Works for a period and later moved to Birmingham, Alabama.","Germanicus Kent (1791-1861) and Arabella Amiss Kent (1809-1951), parents of Harvey Black's wife Mary, are also documented in this collection. Germanicus Kent was born in Suffield, Connecticut, and attended Yale College. Circa 1822, he moved to Huntsville, Alabama, and worked as a cotton merchant. In 1827, he married Arabella Amiss of Blacksburg. According to a family account, Germanicus Kent left Huntsville in 1834 at the insistence of his brother Aratus Kent, a missionary in Illinois who opposed slavery. Aratus Kent was a founder of Beloit and Rockford colleges in Illinois. The family moved to Illinois in 1834. Lewis Kent (also known as Lewis Lemon), who was enslaved by Germanicus Kent in North Carolina when he was a boy, moved with the family and later purchased his freedom and settled in Iowa. Germanicus Kent is considered a founder of the town of Rockford, Illinois, and served in the Illinois state legislature. Mary Kent, born in 1836, was the first child of European ancestry born in Rockford. The family returned to Arabella's hometown of Blacksburg in 1843.","Sources Glenn L. McMullen, \"Tending the Wounded: Two Virginians in the Confederate Medical Corps,\" Virginia Cavalcade, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Spring 1991), 172-183 A Surgeon with Stonewall Jackson: The Civil War Letters of Dr. Harvey Black, edited by Glenn L. McMullen (Baltimore: Butternut and Blue, 1995) Biographical sketches of John S. Apperson by Glenn McMullen and of Harvey Black Apperson, by Crandall Shiflett in John T. Kneebone, J. Jefferson Looney, Brent Tartar, and Sandra Gioia Treadway, eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Vol. 1 (The Library of Virginia, 1998), 181-183 \"Germanicus A. Kent: Founder of Rockford, Illinois,\" published by the Rockford Historical Society, n.d.","The guide to the Black, Kent, and Apperson 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 papers were previously organized into three collections: the Black Family Papers, Ms1974-003; the Apperson Family Papers, Ms1974-017; and the Kent Family Papers, Ms1974-018. They were further processed and merged into one collection in 2002. Additional description was completed in 2021.","Three boxes are unprocessed. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for more information.","This item was previously listed on the finding aid as \"General Store, Blacksburg, 1857-1862.\"","See the following materials related to these families, which are also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives:","James Randal Kent Papers, Ms1987-031","Elizabeth Kent Adams Papers, Ms1990-045","Medical Bill Signed by Dr. Harvey Black, Ms2009-084","Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, Ms2008-040","The Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers, 1779-1984 (bulk 1821-1948) documents the families of Blacksburg and Marion, Virginia. The collection comprises American Civil War letters of Dr. Harvey Black, Civil War diaries of John Apperson, records and correspondence pertaining to nineteenth-century Blacksburg residents Edwin Amiss, his sister Arabella Amiss Kent, and her husband Germanicus Kent, cotton trader and Rockford, Illinois pioneer; and account books, correspondence, and photographs of several members of the Black, Kent, and Apperson families of Blacksburg and Marion, Virginia. The collection is divided into the following major series: Harvey Black Papers, Black Family Papers, Germanicus Kent Papers, Black Family Business Records, John S. Apperson Papers, Mary E. Apperson Papers, Alexander Apperson Papers, and Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks.","Series I. Harvey Black Papers, 1847-1888, contains the following subseries: Diaries, Civil War Letters, General Correspondence, Medical Career Records, and Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. It also includes one photograph, ca. 1865, of Harvey Black.","Dating 1861 to 1864, the Civil War Letters document Black's experiences as a regimental surgeon in the Stonewall Brigade and as surgeon in charge of the Second Corps field hospital. The series comprises letters Black wrote to his wife Mary (Molly) in Blacksburg. Black usually wrote to his wife two to three days after a major battle and reported who, from Blacksburg, had been killed or wounded. He describes the effects of disease on the troops, looking for his brother-in-law Lewis Kent among the Union wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg, the delirium of Stonewall Jackson as he lay dying at Guinea Station, and the difficulties of keeping his family clothed and fed during the war.","The Diaries consist of a short diary Black kept of his journey from Christiansburg to Mexico to fight in the Mexican War and a diary of a four-month journey, on horseback, from western Virginia through West Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Tennessee in the fall of 1849. The Mexican War diary details Black's trip from Christiansburg to Norfolk and eventually Buena Vista, but provides little information about serving in the war. Both diaries contain mainly Black's observations about the towns and cities he passes through. The diary of the trip west compares culture and society in Virginia and the West and references encounters with Virginians who had moved west.","General Correspondence, 1847-1871, comprises two letters Black wrote while he was studying medicine at the University of Virginia, his proposal of marriage to Mary (Molly) Kent, and a folder of letters Black received from family members between 1848 and 1871. One letter describes pioneering in Island County, Washington Territory, in 1853; and two letters from Virginia State Senator John Penn regard the establishment of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, forerunner of Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg.","The Medical Career Records, dating 1848 to 1888, documents Harvey Black's medical career before and after the Civil War and letters of recommendation for the position of Superintendent of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia and the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia. This series also contains an 1887 annual report for the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia.","The Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College Records span the years 1870 to 1873. This small series consists of a subscription list for the Preston and Olin Institute, an early history of the founding of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and certificates of appointment to the college's Board of Visitors.","Series II. Black Family Papers, 1779-1911 (bulk 1845-1911): Materials include an 1845 bill of sale for an enslaved girl named Adaline; an 1856 letter from Charles to Alexander Black; photographs of Alexander Black, Kent Black, and Kent's wife Mary Bell Black; a 1911 letter from Mary Kent to her children; and a quilt given to Kent Black by his medical patients, ca. 1890. Additionally, the series has the wedding register of Mary and Kent Black and an invitation to the 1885 Blacksburg Grand Annual Ball.","Series III. Germanicus Kent Papers, 1818-1899: The series comprises Germanicus Kent's cotton books and correspondence with his sons Lewis and John, his brother Aratus Kent, and his brother-in- law Edwin Amiss. The cotton books document Kent's experience as a cotton merchant based in Huntsville, Alabama, 1821 to 1823. They provide lists of cotton prices and copies of correspondence to clients in Nashville and New Orleans. The correspondence describes life in Blacksburg in the 1830s, the Kent family's decision to settle in Virginia after living in Illinois, and Kent's business investments in the west and in Blacksburg. Letters from Edwin Amiss to Arabella and Germanicus Kent pertain to Arabella Kent continuing to enslave people by inheriting her mother's estate. An 1860 letter from Germanicus Kent to Aratus Kent discusses Germanicus Kent's desire to establish contact with the man he formerly enslaved Lewis Lemon Kent, then living in Iowa.","Series IV. Black Family Business Records, 1832-1924: Account books for mercantile establishments in Blacksburg make up the bulk of this series.. It also contains an account book for A.W. Luster; a 1908 inventory for W. Stone \u0026 Son; and a copy of an undated newspaper advertisement for A. Black and Company.","Series V. John S. Apperson Papers, 1858-1915: John Apperson's Civil War Diary is the centerpiece. The diary consist of Apperson's account of his journey, in 1859, from his home in Locust Grove, Virginia to Smyth County in Southwest Virginia. In the Civil War diaries, he describes medical care of soldiers and lists monthly figures of wounded and dead for the Second Corps field hospital. He discusses going onto the battlefield after the fighting stopped at First Manassas, the scene on the morning of the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862; performing his first amputation; and his efforts to continue his medical education during the Civil War. Additionally, this series contains correspondence about Apperson's business career, 1900 and 1910, a catalog for the Marion Foundry and Machine Works, and photographs of John Apperson, Elizabeth Black, and their children.","Series VI. Mary E. Apperson Papers, 1889-1977, and Series VII. Alexander Apperson Papers, 1827-1984: Research files on the Black, Kent, and Apperson families of Blacksburg and Marion compose the bulk of these two series. Materials also include publications pertaining to family history; correspondence with the Rockford, Illinois Historical Society regarding research on Germanicus Kent; correspondence related to other genealogy research; the recollections of Elizabeth Black Apperson about Blacksburg history and buildings; family photographs and a photograph, ca. 1900, of the Alexander Black house in Blacksburg; and family artifacts.","Series VIII. Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks, 1933-1950: The scrapbooks largely consist of newspaper clippings detailing Harvey B. Apperson's political career and Democratic Party politics in the Roanoke area in the 1930s and in Richmond in the 1940s. Additionally, there are letters and telegrams of congratulation Apperson received when he was appointed Attorney General of Virginia in 1947, telegrams and letters of condolence his wife received upon his death four months later, photographs, and political ephemera.","Series IX. Blacksburg Mining and Manufacturing Company, 1826-1965: Legal documents and correspondence pertain to the division of proceeds of mining investments among the Apperson descendants of Harvey Black. The series also contains maps of Black and Apperson property in Blacksburg, ca. 1949.","Series X. Assorted Papers, 1872, 1912: The last series includes two items, the Louise Caton Travel Diary, 1912, and  The Christian Union  publication, 1872. The diary of Louise Caton's four-month tour of Europe in 1912 describes her voyage from New York to Genoa on the Laxmia and from Liverpool back to New York on the Celtic. The relationship of Louise Caton to the Black, Kent, and Apperson families is unknown.","This small series includes a letter Harvey Black received from family who had settled in Wisconsin; a letter from a member of the Crockett family pioneering in Washington Territory, and two letters from Virginia State Senator John Penn regarding the establishment of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in Blacksburg.","In this subseries of five letters from Germanicus Kent to his sons and his brother Aratus, Kent discusses investments, family, and Lewis Lemon (Kent), who bought his freedom from Kent ca. 1835.","This folder contains four family letters presumed to pertain to the extended Kent Amiss family. The correspondents are Edith Boggs, David and E. Cook, Mary Sloutermires, William G., and his son Nelson.","Accounts and correspondence in these two bound cotton books detail Germanicus Kent's business as a cotton merchant in Huntsville, Alabama.","Materials corncern the Kent family's move from Alabama to Illinois.","This file contains a contract outlining the terms of a proposed business partnership between Edwin Amiss and Germanicus Kent and a contract to build a home in Blacksburg.","This series is composed primarily of five ledgers containing alphabetically indexed customer account histories for various mercantile establishments, probably in Blacksburg. Also included are documents and correspondence pertaining to Black family investments in oil drilling operations in Texas, 1912-1924.","This ledger includes an inventory, July 1908, for W. Stone \u0026 Son.","This subseries comprises documents pertaining to investments in the Radford Land Improvement Company, 1889; the Radford West End Land Company, 1909; and oil drilling operations in Texas, 1912-1924.","This subseries comprises miscellaneous receipts, 1862; Business Correspondence, 1900-1910; and a catalog for the Marion Foundry and Machine Works, 1915.","These letters discuss the illness of the daughter of Mrs. Cyprus McCormick and John S. Apperson.","This file contains newspaper clippings on Blacksburg history and members of the Black, Kent, and Apperson families.","The Directory's cover illustration is a photograph of a sculpture commemorating the role played by Germanicus Kent and Lewis Lemon, Kent's former slave, in the founding of Rockford, Illinois.","This series is primarily composed of research files on the genealogy of the Black, Kent, Apperson and related families. It also contains family photographs, including a picture of the Alexander Black House, later burned, ca. 1900; a folder of correspondence pertaining to Alexander Black's service on the vestry of Mountainbrook Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1944-1954; a 1914 edition of \"The X-Ray,\" the yearbook of Marion High School; and a program from the 1962 annual convention of the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.","This subseries contains one folder of correspondence pertaining to a proposed memorial to Harvey Black at Virginia Tech from 1953; one folder of correspondence concerning Mountainbrook Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1944-1954, and one letter, 1934, from A.J. Oliver to Harvey Black Apperson, discussing Oliver's father, who worked for Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in the 1870s and helped plant the first trees on the campus.","This subseries includes the Marion High School yearbook, 1914; and a program from the Sixty-seventh Annual Convention of the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1962.","This subseries comprises correspondence, applications to family heritage organizations, and copies of documents regarding genealogy research on the Black, Kent, Apperson, and related families.","File contains three items in French.","Documents in this subseries pertain to applications, by members of the Black family, for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, Huguenot Society, Magna Carta Barons, National Society of Colonial Wars, and the Society of Colonial Dames.","Scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, incoming correspondence and telegrams, photographs, and ephemera documenting Harvey Apperson's political career from 1933, when he ran for the State Senate, to his death in 1948, four months after Governor William Tuck appointed him Attorney General.","Five scrapbooks and one box of items removed from the scrapbooks and copied for preservation. Photographs and ephemera removed from the scrapbooks are stored in Box 15.","This series is comprised of deeds, reports, correspondence, lease agreements, and receipts pertaining to Apperson family investments in mining operations at Poverty Hollow, Tom's Creek Road, the Blacksburg Manufacturing and Mining Company, and M.C. Slusser and Company. It also contains maps of Blacksburg Manufacturing and Mining Company coal land sold to the Hoge heirs in 1928 and maps showing property owned by the Alexander and Lizzie O. Black estate and Apperson Properties in 1937 and 1948.","The diary is an account of Louise Caton's voyage from New York to Genoa, Italy, her travels through Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, France, and England, and her return from Liverpool to New York in the summer of 1912.","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 contains the papers and artifacts of an interrelated family prominent in Blacksburg's history. It includes the American Civil War letters of Confederate surgeon Dr. Harvey Black, the Civil War diary of hospital steward John S. Apperson, cotton books and correspondence of Germanicus Kent, nineteenth-century account books of a Blacksburg general store, 1912 European travel diary, and the political scrapbooks of State Senator and Attorney General Harvey B. Apperson.","Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","A. W. Luster","Confederate States of America. Army. Stonewall Brigade","Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia","Marion Foundry and Machine Works (Marion, Va.)","Preston and Olin Institute (Blacksburg, Va.)","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia (1887-1935)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","W. Stone \u0026 Son","Apperson family","Black family","Kent family","Amiss, Edwin","Apperson, Alex","Apperson, Elizabeth Black","Apperson, Harvey Black, 1890-1948","Apperson, John Samuel, 1837-1904","Apperson, Mary","Black, Harvey, 1827-1888","Black, Kent, active 1876-1890","Black, Mary Kent, b.1836","Caton, Louise","Kent, Germanicus, 1791-1862","Lemon, Lewis","Kent, Lewis (enslaved person)","The materials in the collection are in English."],"unitid_tesim":["Ms.1974.003"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers"],"collection_ssim":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers"],"repository_ssm":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"repository_ssim":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"],"geogname_ssm":["Blacksburg (Va.)","Huntsville (Ala.)","Marion (Va.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Blacksburg (Va.)","Huntsville (Ala.)","Marion (Va.)"],"places_ssim":["Blacksburg (Va.)","Huntsville (Ala.)","Marion (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 Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers were donated to Virginia Tech from 1955 to 1990. The American Civil War letters of Harvey Black and the Civil War diaries of John Apperson were donated in 1974."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Civil War","Folk, historical, and patent medicine","Genealogy","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Medicine","Medicine, Military -- History","Montgomery County (Va.)","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Diaries","Women -- History"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Civil War","Folk, historical, and patent medicine","Genealogy","Local/Regional History and Appalachian South","Medicine","Medicine, Military -- History","Montgomery County (Va.)","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Diaries","Women -- History"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["ca. 7 Cubic Feet 21 boxes and 1 oversize folder"],"extent_tesim":["ca. 7 Cubic Feet 21 boxes and 1 oversize folder"],"date_range_isim":[1779,1780,1781,1782,1783,1784,1785,1786,1787,1788,1789,1790,1791,1792,1793,1794,1795,1796,1797,1798,1799,1800,1801,1802,1803,1804,1805,1806,1807,1808,1809,1810,1811,1812,1813,1814,1815,1816,1817,1818,1819,1820,1821,1822,1823,1824,1825,1826,1827,1828,1829,1830,1831,1832,1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847,1848,1849,1850,1851,1852,1853,1854,1855,1856,1857,1858,1859,1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is open to research.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["The collection is open to research."],"altformavail_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ca show=\"_blank\" href=\"https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/collections/show/38\"\u003eSome of this collection has been digitized and is available online.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eA microfilm edition of the diary, 1847-1850, of Harvey Black and the American Civil War diaries of John S. Apperson was made by the Library of Virginia in January 1976 and is available at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. The Civil War letters of Harvey Black were published in 1995 in a volume edited by Glenn L. McMullen, which is available in the Rare Book Collection and in Newman Library.\u003c/p\u003e"],"altformavail_heading_ssm":["Existence and Location of Copies"],"altformavail_tesim":["Some of this collection has been digitized and is available online.","A microfilm edition of the diary, 1847-1850, of Harvey Black and the American Civil War diaries of John S. Apperson was made by the Library of Virginia in January 1976 and is available at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. The Civil War letters of Harvey Black were published in 1995 in a volume edited by Glenn L. McMullen, which is available in the Rare Book Collection and in Newman Library."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe papers are arranged into series corresponding to the creators of the material and subseries by type of material.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries include the following:\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003clist\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries I. Harvey Black Papers\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II. Black Family Papers\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III. Germanicus Kent Papers\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV. Black Family Business Records\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries V. John S. Apperson Papers\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries VI. Mary E. Apperson Papers\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries VII. Alexander Apperson Papers\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries VIII. Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IX. Blacksburg Mining and Manufacturing Company\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries X. Assorted Papers\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series is arranged by format.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series is arranged by format.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArranged alphabetically by name of family being researched.\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement","Arrangement","Arrangement","Arrangement note"],"arrangement_tesim":["The papers are arranged into series corresponding to the creators of the material and subseries by type of material.","Series include the following:","Series I. Harvey Black Papers Series II. Black Family Papers Series III. Germanicus Kent Papers Series IV. Black Family Business Records Series V. John S. Apperson Papers Series VI. Mary E. Apperson Papers Series VII. Alexander Apperson Papers Series VIII. Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks Series IX. Blacksburg Mining and Manufacturing Company Series X. Assorted Papers","This series is arranged by format.","This series is arranged by format.","Arranged alphabetically by name of family being researched."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn 1889, Elizabeth Black of Blacksburg, Virginia, married John Apperson of Marion, joining the Black and Kent families of Blacksburg with the Apperson family. Elizabeth Black's father Harvey Black and John S. Apperson served together in the 4th Virginia, 1st Brigade during the American Civil War. Black was a regimental surgeon and Apperson was a hospital steward under his command.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eHarvey Black (1827-1888) was a native of Blacksburg and a grandson of town founder John Black. (Harvey Black did not use the e in his given name, but as an adult he regularly signed his name as H. Black and he was almost always identified publicly as Harvey Black.) After attending local schools, he began studying medicine under two local doctors. In 1847, he volunteered to serve in the Mexican War in the 1st Regiment Virginia Volunteers; three months later, he was made a hospital steward. He entered medical school at the University of Virginia in 1848 and graduated in June 1849. That fall, he took a four-month journey, on horseback, from western Virginia through the upper Mid-West as far west as Iowa. He decided to settle in Blacksburg and opened a medical practice there in 1852. The same year, he married Mary Kent of Blacksburg.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eOn August 2, 1861, Harvey Black was appointed regimental surgeon in the 4th Virginia, 1st Brigade, known as the Stonewall Brigade. John Apperson, who had enlisted with the Smyth Blues of Smyth County, Virginia, in April 1861, was appointed hospital steward under the command of Harvey Black in March 1862. Black and Apperson served together with the 4th regiment until late 1862. They provided medical care to the wounded at first Manassas, second Manassas, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. In late 1862, Black was appointed surgeon of the field hospital of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, and brought Apperson with him. Both served in this hospital until the end of the war, taking care of recuperating soldiers who were wounded of the Second Corps' major engagements, including the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863 and the Spotsylvania Campaign in 1864. Black assisted Hunter Holmes McGuire with the amputation of Stonewall Jackson's arm on May 3, 1863.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAfter the Civil War, Harvey Black resumed his medical practice in Blacksburg. He was elected president of the Medical Society of Virginia in 1872. He played an instrumental role in the founding of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in Blacksburg in 1872. He was the first rector of the Board of Visitors.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFrom 1786 to 1882, Harvey Black was Superintendent of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg. In 1884, he was appointed to the board of a proposed state mental hospital for southwestern Virginia. In 1885, he was elected to represent Montgomery County in the House of Delegates and served two sessions. In the House, he influenced the decision to locate the new hospital in Marion. In 1887, Black became the first superintendent of the new Southwestern State Lunatic Asylum in Marion. He appointed John S. Apperson assistant physician there. Harvey Black died in Richmond in October 1888 and was buried in Westview Cemetery in Blacksburg.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJohn S. Apperson (1837-1908) was born in Locust Grove, Virginia, and moved to Smyth County in 1859. He took a job splitting rails and began to study medicine under local physician William Faris. In 1861, Apperson enlisted in the Smyth Blues, organized as Company D, 4th Virginia. After the Civil War, he studied medicine at the University of Virginia, earning a degree in 1867. He returned to Smyth County and married Victoria Hull in 1868. They lived in Chilhowie, and Apperson practiced medicine and farmed. They had seven children.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJohn Apperson's first wife died in 1887. The same year, he took a job as assistant physician under Harvey Black at the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia in Marion. When Harvey Black died in 1888, Apperson resigned his position at the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum and established a medical practice in Marion. In 1889, he married Elizabeth, daughter of his friend and mentor Harvey Black. They had four children: Harvey, Alexander, Kent, and Mary.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAfter his second marriage, John Apperson pursued a career in business. He was one of eight founders of Staley's Creek Manganese and Iron Company. In 1906, he expanded the operations of the Marion Foundry and Milling Company into the Marion Foundry and Machine Works. He also promoted the building of the Marion and Rye Valley Railroad.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1892, the Virginia Board of World's Fair Managers employed Apperson to collect items and transport Virginia exhibits to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. John Apperson died in Marion in 1908. His wife Elizabeth died in Blacksburg in 1942.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eHarvey Black Apperson (1890-1948), the oldest child of John Apperson and Elizabeth Black, lived in Salem, Virginia, and practiced law in Roanoke for thirty years. He became active in Democratic Party politics in the 1920s. In a special election in 1933, he was elected to represent Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, and Roanoke counties and the cities of Radford and Roanoke in the State Senate. He served on the State Corporation Commission from 1944 to 1947 and was Chairman of the Commission from June 1944 to 1947. Governor William Tuck appointed him Attorney General in August 1947, and he took office October 7, 1947. He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Richmond on February 2, 1948. Alexander Apperson worked at the Marion Foundry and Machine Works for a period and later moved to Birmingham, Alabama.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eGermanicus Kent (1791-1861) and Arabella Amiss Kent (1809-1951), parents of Harvey Black's wife Mary, are also documented in this collection. Germanicus Kent was born in Suffield, Connecticut, and attended Yale College. Circa 1822, he moved to Huntsville, Alabama, and worked as a cotton merchant. In 1827, he married Arabella Amiss of Blacksburg. According to a family account, Germanicus Kent left Huntsville in 1834 at the insistence of his brother Aratus Kent, a missionary in Illinois who opposed slavery. Aratus Kent was a founder of Beloit and Rockford colleges in Illinois. The family moved to Illinois in 1834. Lewis Kent (also known as Lewis Lemon), who was enslaved by Germanicus Kent in North Carolina when he was a boy, moved with the family and later purchased his freedom and settled in Iowa. Germanicus Kent is considered a founder of the town of Rockford, Illinois, and served in the Illinois state legislature. Mary Kent, born in 1836, was the first child of European ancestry born in Rockford. The family returned to Arabella's hometown of Blacksburg in 1843.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSources\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eGlenn L. McMullen, \"Tending the Wounded: Two Virginians in the Confederate Medical Corps,\" Virginia Cavalcade, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Spring 1991), 172-183\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eA Surgeon with Stonewall Jackson: The Civil War Letters of Dr. Harvey Black, edited by Glenn L. McMullen (Baltimore: Butternut and Blue, 1995)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eBiographical sketches of John S. Apperson by Glenn McMullen and of Harvey Black Apperson, by Crandall Shiflett in John T. Kneebone, J. Jefferson Looney, Brent Tartar, and Sandra Gioia Treadway, eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Vol. 1 (The Library of Virginia, 1998), 181-183\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003e\"Germanicus A. Kent: Founder of Rockford, Illinois,\" published by the Rockford Historical Society, n.d.\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Note"],"bioghist_tesim":["In 1889, Elizabeth Black of Blacksburg, Virginia, married John Apperson of Marion, joining the Black and Kent families of Blacksburg with the Apperson family. Elizabeth Black's father Harvey Black and John S. Apperson served together in the 4th Virginia, 1st Brigade during the American Civil War. Black was a regimental surgeon and Apperson was a hospital steward under his command.","Harvey Black (1827-1888) was a native of Blacksburg and a grandson of town founder John Black. (Harvey Black did not use the e in his given name, but as an adult he regularly signed his name as H. Black and he was almost always identified publicly as Harvey Black.) After attending local schools, he began studying medicine under two local doctors. In 1847, he volunteered to serve in the Mexican War in the 1st Regiment Virginia Volunteers; three months later, he was made a hospital steward. He entered medical school at the University of Virginia in 1848 and graduated in June 1849. That fall, he took a four-month journey, on horseback, from western Virginia through the upper Mid-West as far west as Iowa. He decided to settle in Blacksburg and opened a medical practice there in 1852. The same year, he married Mary Kent of Blacksburg.","On August 2, 1861, Harvey Black was appointed regimental surgeon in the 4th Virginia, 1st Brigade, known as the Stonewall Brigade. John Apperson, who had enlisted with the Smyth Blues of Smyth County, Virginia, in April 1861, was appointed hospital steward under the command of Harvey Black in March 1862. Black and Apperson served together with the 4th regiment until late 1862. They provided medical care to the wounded at first Manassas, second Manassas, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. In late 1862, Black was appointed surgeon of the field hospital of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, and brought Apperson with him. Both served in this hospital until the end of the war, taking care of recuperating soldiers who were wounded of the Second Corps' major engagements, including the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863 and the Spotsylvania Campaign in 1864. Black assisted Hunter Holmes McGuire with the amputation of Stonewall Jackson's arm on May 3, 1863.","After the Civil War, Harvey Black resumed his medical practice in Blacksburg. He was elected president of the Medical Society of Virginia in 1872. He played an instrumental role in the founding of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in Blacksburg in 1872. He was the first rector of the Board of Visitors.","From 1786 to 1882, Harvey Black was Superintendent of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg. In 1884, he was appointed to the board of a proposed state mental hospital for southwestern Virginia. In 1885, he was elected to represent Montgomery County in the House of Delegates and served two sessions. In the House, he influenced the decision to locate the new hospital in Marion. In 1887, Black became the first superintendent of the new Southwestern State Lunatic Asylum in Marion. He appointed John S. Apperson assistant physician there. Harvey Black died in Richmond in October 1888 and was buried in Westview Cemetery in Blacksburg.","John S. Apperson (1837-1908) was born in Locust Grove, Virginia, and moved to Smyth County in 1859. He took a job splitting rails and began to study medicine under local physician William Faris. In 1861, Apperson enlisted in the Smyth Blues, organized as Company D, 4th Virginia. After the Civil War, he studied medicine at the University of Virginia, earning a degree in 1867. He returned to Smyth County and married Victoria Hull in 1868. They lived in Chilhowie, and Apperson practiced medicine and farmed. They had seven children.","John Apperson's first wife died in 1887. The same year, he took a job as assistant physician under Harvey Black at the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia in Marion. When Harvey Black died in 1888, Apperson resigned his position at the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum and established a medical practice in Marion. In 1889, he married Elizabeth, daughter of his friend and mentor Harvey Black. They had four children: Harvey, Alexander, Kent, and Mary.","After his second marriage, John Apperson pursued a career in business. He was one of eight founders of Staley's Creek Manganese and Iron Company. In 1906, he expanded the operations of the Marion Foundry and Milling Company into the Marion Foundry and Machine Works. He also promoted the building of the Marion and Rye Valley Railroad.","In 1892, the Virginia Board of World's Fair Managers employed Apperson to collect items and transport Virginia exhibits to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. John Apperson died in Marion in 1908. His wife Elizabeth died in Blacksburg in 1942.","Harvey Black Apperson (1890-1948), the oldest child of John Apperson and Elizabeth Black, lived in Salem, Virginia, and practiced law in Roanoke for thirty years. He became active in Democratic Party politics in the 1920s. In a special election in 1933, he was elected to represent Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, and Roanoke counties and the cities of Radford and Roanoke in the State Senate. He served on the State Corporation Commission from 1944 to 1947 and was Chairman of the Commission from June 1944 to 1947. Governor William Tuck appointed him Attorney General in August 1947, and he took office October 7, 1947. He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Richmond on February 2, 1948. Alexander Apperson worked at the Marion Foundry and Machine Works for a period and later moved to Birmingham, Alabama.","Germanicus Kent (1791-1861) and Arabella Amiss Kent (1809-1951), parents of Harvey Black's wife Mary, are also documented in this collection. Germanicus Kent was born in Suffield, Connecticut, and attended Yale College. Circa 1822, he moved to Huntsville, Alabama, and worked as a cotton merchant. In 1827, he married Arabella Amiss of Blacksburg. According to a family account, Germanicus Kent left Huntsville in 1834 at the insistence of his brother Aratus Kent, a missionary in Illinois who opposed slavery. Aratus Kent was a founder of Beloit and Rockford colleges in Illinois. The family moved to Illinois in 1834. Lewis Kent (also known as Lewis Lemon), who was enslaved by Germanicus Kent in North Carolina when he was a boy, moved with the family and later purchased his freedom and settled in Iowa. Germanicus Kent is considered a founder of the town of Rockford, Illinois, and served in the Illinois state legislature. Mary Kent, born in 1836, was the first child of European ancestry born in Rockford. The family returned to Arabella's hometown of Blacksburg in 1843.","Sources Glenn L. McMullen, \"Tending the Wounded: Two Virginians in the Confederate Medical Corps,\" Virginia Cavalcade, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Spring 1991), 172-183 A Surgeon with Stonewall Jackson: The Civil War Letters of Dr. Harvey Black, edited by Glenn L. McMullen (Baltimore: Butternut and Blue, 1995) Biographical sketches of John S. Apperson by Glenn McMullen and of Harvey Black Apperson, by Crandall Shiflett in John T. Kneebone, J. Jefferson Looney, Brent Tartar, and Sandra Gioia Treadway, eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Vol. 1 (The Library of Virginia, 1998), 181-183 \"Germanicus A. Kent: Founder of Rockford, Illinois,\" published by the Rockford Historical Society, n.d."],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe guide to the Black, Kent, and Apperson 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 Black, Kent, and Apperson 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], Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers, Ms1974-003, 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], Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers, Ms1974-003, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe papers were previously organized into three collections: the Black Family Papers, Ms1974-003; the Apperson Family Papers, Ms1974-017; and the Kent Family Papers, Ms1974-018. They were further processed and merged into one collection in 2002. Additional description was completed in 2021.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThree boxes are unprocessed. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for more information.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis item was previously listed on the finding aid as \"General Store, Blacksburg, 1857-1862.\"\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information","Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["The papers were previously organized into three collections: the Black Family Papers, Ms1974-003; the Apperson Family Papers, Ms1974-017; and the Kent Family Papers, Ms1974-018. They were further processed and merged into one collection in 2002. Additional description was completed in 2021.","Three boxes are unprocessed. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for more information.","This item was previously listed on the finding aid as \"General Store, Blacksburg, 1857-1862.\""],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSee the following materials related to these families, which are also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives:\u003c/p\u003e\n","\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\n","\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\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_2503.xml\"\u003eMedical Bill Signed by Dr. Harvey Black, Ms2009-084\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=oai/VT/repositories_2_resources_2361.xml\"\u003eBell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, Ms2008-040\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Archival Materials"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["See the following materials related to these families, which are also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives:","James Randal Kent Papers, Ms1987-031","Elizabeth Kent Adams Papers, Ms1990-045","Medical Bill Signed by Dr. Harvey Black, Ms2009-084","Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection, Ms2008-040"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers, 1779-1984 (bulk 1821-1948) documents the families of Blacksburg and Marion, Virginia. The collection comprises American Civil War letters of Dr. Harvey Black, Civil War diaries of John Apperson, records and correspondence pertaining to nineteenth-century Blacksburg residents Edwin Amiss, his sister Arabella Amiss Kent, and her husband Germanicus Kent, cotton trader and Rockford, Illinois pioneer; and account books, correspondence, and photographs of several members of the Black, Kent, and Apperson families of Blacksburg and Marion, Virginia. The collection is divided into the following major series: Harvey Black Papers, Black Family Papers, Germanicus Kent Papers, Black Family Business Records, John S. Apperson Papers, Mary E. Apperson Papers, Alexander Apperson Papers, and Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries I. Harvey Black Papers, 1847-1888, contains the following subseries: Diaries, Civil War Letters, General Correspondence, Medical Career Records, and Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. It also includes one photograph, ca. 1865, of Harvey Black.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDating 1861 to 1864, the Civil War Letters document Black's experiences as a regimental surgeon in the Stonewall Brigade and as surgeon in charge of the Second Corps field hospital. The series comprises letters Black wrote to his wife Mary (Molly) in Blacksburg. Black usually wrote to his wife two to three days after a major battle and reported who, from Blacksburg, had been killed or wounded. He describes the effects of disease on the troops, looking for his brother-in-law Lewis Kent among the Union wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg, the delirium of Stonewall Jackson as he lay dying at Guinea Station, and the difficulties of keeping his family clothed and fed during the war.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Diaries consist of a short diary Black kept of his journey from Christiansburg to Mexico to fight in the Mexican War and a diary of a four-month journey, on horseback, from western Virginia through West Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Tennessee in the fall of 1849. The Mexican War diary details Black's trip from Christiansburg to Norfolk and eventually Buena Vista, but provides little information about serving in the war. Both diaries contain mainly Black's observations about the towns and cities he passes through. The diary of the trip west compares culture and society in Virginia and the West and references encounters with Virginians who had moved west.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eGeneral Correspondence, 1847-1871, comprises two letters Black wrote while he was studying medicine at the University of Virginia, his proposal of marriage to Mary (Molly) Kent, and a folder of letters Black received from family members between 1848 and 1871. One letter describes pioneering in Island County, Washington Territory, in 1853; and two letters from Virginia State Senator John Penn regard the establishment of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, forerunner of Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Medical Career Records, dating 1848 to 1888, documents Harvey Black's medical career before and after the Civil War and letters of recommendation for the position of Superintendent of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia and the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia. This series also contains an 1887 annual report for the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College Records span the years 1870 to 1873. This small series consists of a subscription list for the Preston and Olin Institute, an early history of the founding of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and certificates of appointment to the college's Board of Visitors.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries II. Black Family Papers, 1779-1911 (bulk 1845-1911): Materials include an 1845 bill of sale for an enslaved girl named Adaline; an 1856 letter from Charles to Alexander Black; photographs of Alexander Black, Kent Black, and Kent's wife Mary Bell Black; a 1911 letter from Mary Kent to her children; and a quilt given to Kent Black by his medical patients, ca. 1890. Additionally, the series has the wedding register of Mary and Kent Black and an invitation to the 1885 Blacksburg Grand Annual Ball.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries III. Germanicus Kent Papers, 1818-1899: The series comprises Germanicus Kent's cotton books and correspondence with his sons Lewis and John, his brother Aratus Kent, and his brother-in- law Edwin Amiss. The cotton books document Kent's experience as a cotton merchant based in Huntsville, Alabama, 1821 to 1823. They provide lists of cotton prices and copies of correspondence to clients in Nashville and New Orleans. The correspondence describes life in Blacksburg in the 1830s, the Kent family's decision to settle in Virginia after living in Illinois, and Kent's business investments in the west and in Blacksburg. Letters from Edwin Amiss to Arabella and Germanicus Kent pertain to Arabella Kent continuing to enslave people by inheriting her mother's estate. An 1860 letter from Germanicus Kent to Aratus Kent discusses Germanicus Kent's desire to establish contact with the man he formerly enslaved Lewis Lemon Kent, then living in Iowa.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries IV. Black Family Business Records, 1832-1924: Account books for mercantile establishments in Blacksburg make up the bulk of this series.. It also contains an account book for A.W. Luster; a 1908 inventory for W. Stone \u0026amp; Son; and a copy of an undated newspaper advertisement for A. Black and Company.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries V. John S. Apperson Papers, 1858-1915: John Apperson's Civil War Diary is the centerpiece. The diary consist of Apperson's account of his journey, in 1859, from his home in Locust Grove, Virginia to Smyth County in Southwest Virginia. In the Civil War diaries, he describes medical care of soldiers and lists monthly figures of wounded and dead for the Second Corps field hospital. He discusses going onto the battlefield after the fighting stopped at First Manassas, the scene on the morning of the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862; performing his first amputation; and his efforts to continue his medical education during the Civil War. Additionally, this series contains correspondence about Apperson's business career, 1900 and 1910, a catalog for the Marion Foundry and Machine Works, and photographs of John Apperson, Elizabeth Black, and their children.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries VI. Mary E. Apperson Papers, 1889-1977, and Series VII. Alexander Apperson Papers, 1827-1984: Research files on the Black, Kent, and Apperson families of Blacksburg and Marion compose the bulk of these two series. Materials also include publications pertaining to family history; correspondence with the Rockford, Illinois Historical Society regarding research on Germanicus Kent; correspondence related to other genealogy research; the recollections of Elizabeth Black Apperson about Blacksburg history and buildings; family photographs and a photograph, ca. 1900, of the Alexander Black house in Blacksburg; and family artifacts.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries VIII. Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks, 1933-1950: The scrapbooks largely consist of newspaper clippings detailing Harvey B. Apperson's political career and Democratic Party politics in the Roanoke area in the 1930s and in Richmond in the 1940s. Additionally, there are letters and telegrams of congratulation Apperson received when he was appointed Attorney General of Virginia in 1947, telegrams and letters of condolence his wife received upon his death four months later, photographs, and political ephemera.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries IX. Blacksburg Mining and Manufacturing Company, 1826-1965: Legal documents and correspondence pertain to the division of proceeds of mining investments among the Apperson descendants of Harvey Black. The series also contains maps of Black and Apperson property in Blacksburg, ca. 1949.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries X. Assorted Papers, 1872, 1912: The last series includes two items, the Louise Caton Travel Diary, 1912, and \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eThe Christian Union\u003c/emph\u003e publication, 1872. The diary of Louise Caton's four-month tour of Europe in 1912 describes her voyage from New York to Genoa on the Laxmia and from Liverpool back to New York on the Celtic. The relationship of Louise Caton to the Black, Kent, and Apperson families is unknown.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis small series includes a letter Harvey Black received from family who had settled in Wisconsin; a letter from a member of the Crockett family pioneering in Washington Territory, and two letters from Virginia State Senator John Penn regarding the establishment of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in Blacksburg.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn this subseries of five letters from Germanicus Kent to his sons and his brother Aratus, Kent discusses investments, family, and Lewis Lemon (Kent), who bought his freedom from Kent ca. 1835.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis folder contains four family letters presumed to pertain to the extended Kent Amiss family. The correspondents are Edith Boggs, David and E. Cook, Mary Sloutermires, William G., and his son Nelson.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAccounts and correspondence in these two bound cotton books detail Germanicus Kent's business as a cotton merchant in Huntsville, Alabama.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eMaterials corncern the Kent family's move from Alabama to Illinois.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis file contains a contract outlining the terms of a proposed business partnership between Edwin Amiss and Germanicus Kent and a contract to build a home in Blacksburg.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series is composed primarily of five ledgers containing alphabetically indexed customer account histories for various mercantile establishments, probably in Blacksburg. Also included are documents and correspondence pertaining to Black family investments in oil drilling operations in Texas, 1912-1924.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis ledger includes an inventory, July 1908, for W. Stone \u0026amp; Son.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis subseries comprises documents pertaining to investments in the Radford Land Improvement Company, 1889; the Radford West End Land Company, 1909; and oil drilling operations in Texas, 1912-1924.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis subseries comprises miscellaneous receipts, 1862; Business Correspondence, 1900-1910; and a catalog for the Marion Foundry and Machine Works, 1915.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThese letters discuss the illness of the daughter of Mrs. Cyprus McCormick and John S. Apperson.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis file contains newspaper clippings on Blacksburg history and members of the Black, Kent, and Apperson families.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Directory's cover illustration is a photograph of a sculpture commemorating the role played by Germanicus Kent and Lewis Lemon, Kent's former slave, in the founding of Rockford, Illinois.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series is primarily composed of research files on the genealogy of the Black, Kent, Apperson and related families. It also contains family photographs, including a picture of the Alexander Black House, later burned, ca. 1900; a folder of correspondence pertaining to Alexander Black's service on the vestry of Mountainbrook Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1944-1954; a 1914 edition of \"The X-Ray,\" the yearbook of Marion High School; and a program from the 1962 annual convention of the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis subseries contains one folder of correspondence pertaining to a proposed memorial to Harvey Black at Virginia Tech from 1953; one folder of correspondence concerning Mountainbrook Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1944-1954, and one letter, 1934, from A.J. Oliver to Harvey Black Apperson, discussing Oliver's father, who worked for Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in the 1870s and helped plant the first trees on the campus.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis subseries includes the Marion High School yearbook, 1914; and a program from the Sixty-seventh Annual Convention of the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1962.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis subseries comprises correspondence, applications to family heritage organizations, and copies of documents regarding genealogy research on the Black, Kent, Apperson, and related families.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFile contains three items in French.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDocuments in this subseries pertain to applications, by members of the Black family, for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, Huguenot Society, Magna Carta Barons, National Society of Colonial Wars, and the Society of Colonial Dames.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eScrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, incoming correspondence and telegrams, photographs, and ephemera documenting Harvey Apperson's political career from 1933, when he ran for the State Senate, to his death in 1948, four months after Governor William Tuck appointed him Attorney General.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFive scrapbooks and one box of items removed from the scrapbooks and copied for preservation. Photographs and ephemera removed from the scrapbooks are stored in Box 15.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series is comprised of deeds, reports, correspondence, lease agreements, and receipts pertaining to Apperson family investments in mining operations at Poverty Hollow, Tom's Creek Road, the Blacksburg Manufacturing and Mining Company, and M.C. Slusser and Company. It also contains maps of Blacksburg Manufacturing and Mining Company coal land sold to the Hoge heirs in 1928 and maps showing property owned by the Alexander and Lizzie O. Black estate and Apperson Properties in 1937 and 1948.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe diary is an account of Louise Caton's voyage from New York to Genoa, Italy, her travels through Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, France, and England, and her return from Liverpool to New York in the summer of 1912.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Contents note","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Contents note","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Content","Scope and Contents note","Scope and Contents note"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers, 1779-1984 (bulk 1821-1948) documents the families of Blacksburg and Marion, Virginia. The collection comprises American Civil War letters of Dr. Harvey Black, Civil War diaries of John Apperson, records and correspondence pertaining to nineteenth-century Blacksburg residents Edwin Amiss, his sister Arabella Amiss Kent, and her husband Germanicus Kent, cotton trader and Rockford, Illinois pioneer; and account books, correspondence, and photographs of several members of the Black, Kent, and Apperson families of Blacksburg and Marion, Virginia. The collection is divided into the following major series: Harvey Black Papers, Black Family Papers, Germanicus Kent Papers, Black Family Business Records, John S. Apperson Papers, Mary E. Apperson Papers, Alexander Apperson Papers, and Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks.","Series I. Harvey Black Papers, 1847-1888, contains the following subseries: Diaries, Civil War Letters, General Correspondence, Medical Career Records, and Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. It also includes one photograph, ca. 1865, of Harvey Black.","Dating 1861 to 1864, the Civil War Letters document Black's experiences as a regimental surgeon in the Stonewall Brigade and as surgeon in charge of the Second Corps field hospital. The series comprises letters Black wrote to his wife Mary (Molly) in Blacksburg. Black usually wrote to his wife two to three days after a major battle and reported who, from Blacksburg, had been killed or wounded. He describes the effects of disease on the troops, looking for his brother-in-law Lewis Kent among the Union wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg, the delirium of Stonewall Jackson as he lay dying at Guinea Station, and the difficulties of keeping his family clothed and fed during the war.","The Diaries consist of a short diary Black kept of his journey from Christiansburg to Mexico to fight in the Mexican War and a diary of a four-month journey, on horseback, from western Virginia through West Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Tennessee in the fall of 1849. The Mexican War diary details Black's trip from Christiansburg to Norfolk and eventually Buena Vista, but provides little information about serving in the war. Both diaries contain mainly Black's observations about the towns and cities he passes through. The diary of the trip west compares culture and society in Virginia and the West and references encounters with Virginians who had moved west.","General Correspondence, 1847-1871, comprises two letters Black wrote while he was studying medicine at the University of Virginia, his proposal of marriage to Mary (Molly) Kent, and a folder of letters Black received from family members between 1848 and 1871. One letter describes pioneering in Island County, Washington Territory, in 1853; and two letters from Virginia State Senator John Penn regard the establishment of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, forerunner of Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg.","The Medical Career Records, dating 1848 to 1888, documents Harvey Black's medical career before and after the Civil War and letters of recommendation for the position of Superintendent of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia and the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia. This series also contains an 1887 annual report for the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia.","The Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College Records span the years 1870 to 1873. This small series consists of a subscription list for the Preston and Olin Institute, an early history of the founding of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and certificates of appointment to the college's Board of Visitors.","Series II. Black Family Papers, 1779-1911 (bulk 1845-1911): Materials include an 1845 bill of sale for an enslaved girl named Adaline; an 1856 letter from Charles to Alexander Black; photographs of Alexander Black, Kent Black, and Kent's wife Mary Bell Black; a 1911 letter from Mary Kent to her children; and a quilt given to Kent Black by his medical patients, ca. 1890. Additionally, the series has the wedding register of Mary and Kent Black and an invitation to the 1885 Blacksburg Grand Annual Ball.","Series III. Germanicus Kent Papers, 1818-1899: The series comprises Germanicus Kent's cotton books and correspondence with his sons Lewis and John, his brother Aratus Kent, and his brother-in- law Edwin Amiss. The cotton books document Kent's experience as a cotton merchant based in Huntsville, Alabama, 1821 to 1823. They provide lists of cotton prices and copies of correspondence to clients in Nashville and New Orleans. The correspondence describes life in Blacksburg in the 1830s, the Kent family's decision to settle in Virginia after living in Illinois, and Kent's business investments in the west and in Blacksburg. Letters from Edwin Amiss to Arabella and Germanicus Kent pertain to Arabella Kent continuing to enslave people by inheriting her mother's estate. An 1860 letter from Germanicus Kent to Aratus Kent discusses Germanicus Kent's desire to establish contact with the man he formerly enslaved Lewis Lemon Kent, then living in Iowa.","Series IV. Black Family Business Records, 1832-1924: Account books for mercantile establishments in Blacksburg make up the bulk of this series.. It also contains an account book for A.W. Luster; a 1908 inventory for W. Stone \u0026 Son; and a copy of an undated newspaper advertisement for A. Black and Company.","Series V. John S. Apperson Papers, 1858-1915: John Apperson's Civil War Diary is the centerpiece. The diary consist of Apperson's account of his journey, in 1859, from his home in Locust Grove, Virginia to Smyth County in Southwest Virginia. In the Civil War diaries, he describes medical care of soldiers and lists monthly figures of wounded and dead for the Second Corps field hospital. He discusses going onto the battlefield after the fighting stopped at First Manassas, the scene on the morning of the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862; performing his first amputation; and his efforts to continue his medical education during the Civil War. Additionally, this series contains correspondence about Apperson's business career, 1900 and 1910, a catalog for the Marion Foundry and Machine Works, and photographs of John Apperson, Elizabeth Black, and their children.","Series VI. Mary E. Apperson Papers, 1889-1977, and Series VII. Alexander Apperson Papers, 1827-1984: Research files on the Black, Kent, and Apperson families of Blacksburg and Marion compose the bulk of these two series. Materials also include publications pertaining to family history; correspondence with the Rockford, Illinois Historical Society regarding research on Germanicus Kent; correspondence related to other genealogy research; the recollections of Elizabeth Black Apperson about Blacksburg history and buildings; family photographs and a photograph, ca. 1900, of the Alexander Black house in Blacksburg; and family artifacts.","Series VIII. Harvey B. Apperson Political Scrapbooks, 1933-1950: The scrapbooks largely consist of newspaper clippings detailing Harvey B. Apperson's political career and Democratic Party politics in the Roanoke area in the 1930s and in Richmond in the 1940s. Additionally, there are letters and telegrams of congratulation Apperson received when he was appointed Attorney General of Virginia in 1947, telegrams and letters of condolence his wife received upon his death four months later, photographs, and political ephemera.","Series IX. Blacksburg Mining and Manufacturing Company, 1826-1965: Legal documents and correspondence pertain to the division of proceeds of mining investments among the Apperson descendants of Harvey Black. The series also contains maps of Black and Apperson property in Blacksburg, ca. 1949.","Series X. Assorted Papers, 1872, 1912: The last series includes two items, the Louise Caton Travel Diary, 1912, and  The Christian Union  publication, 1872. The diary of Louise Caton's four-month tour of Europe in 1912 describes her voyage from New York to Genoa on the Laxmia and from Liverpool back to New York on the Celtic. The relationship of Louise Caton to the Black, Kent, and Apperson families is unknown.","This small series includes a letter Harvey Black received from family who had settled in Wisconsin; a letter from a member of the Crockett family pioneering in Washington Territory, and two letters from Virginia State Senator John Penn regarding the establishment of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in Blacksburg.","In this subseries of five letters from Germanicus Kent to his sons and his brother Aratus, Kent discusses investments, family, and Lewis Lemon (Kent), who bought his freedom from Kent ca. 1835.","This folder contains four family letters presumed to pertain to the extended Kent Amiss family. The correspondents are Edith Boggs, David and E. Cook, Mary Sloutermires, William G., and his son Nelson.","Accounts and correspondence in these two bound cotton books detail Germanicus Kent's business as a cotton merchant in Huntsville, Alabama.","Materials corncern the Kent family's move from Alabama to Illinois.","This file contains a contract outlining the terms of a proposed business partnership between Edwin Amiss and Germanicus Kent and a contract to build a home in Blacksburg.","This series is composed primarily of five ledgers containing alphabetically indexed customer account histories for various mercantile establishments, probably in Blacksburg. Also included are documents and correspondence pertaining to Black family investments in oil drilling operations in Texas, 1912-1924.","This ledger includes an inventory, July 1908, for W. Stone \u0026 Son.","This subseries comprises documents pertaining to investments in the Radford Land Improvement Company, 1889; the Radford West End Land Company, 1909; and oil drilling operations in Texas, 1912-1924.","This subseries comprises miscellaneous receipts, 1862; Business Correspondence, 1900-1910; and a catalog for the Marion Foundry and Machine Works, 1915.","These letters discuss the illness of the daughter of Mrs. Cyprus McCormick and John S. Apperson.","This file contains newspaper clippings on Blacksburg history and members of the Black, Kent, and Apperson families.","The Directory's cover illustration is a photograph of a sculpture commemorating the role played by Germanicus Kent and Lewis Lemon, Kent's former slave, in the founding of Rockford, Illinois.","This series is primarily composed of research files on the genealogy of the Black, Kent, Apperson and related families. It also contains family photographs, including a picture of the Alexander Black House, later burned, ca. 1900; a folder of correspondence pertaining to Alexander Black's service on the vestry of Mountainbrook Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1944-1954; a 1914 edition of \"The X-Ray,\" the yearbook of Marion High School; and a program from the 1962 annual convention of the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.","This subseries contains one folder of correspondence pertaining to a proposed memorial to Harvey Black at Virginia Tech from 1953; one folder of correspondence concerning Mountainbrook Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1944-1954, and one letter, 1934, from A.J. Oliver to Harvey Black Apperson, discussing Oliver's father, who worked for Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in the 1870s and helped plant the first trees on the campus.","This subseries includes the Marion High School yearbook, 1914; and a program from the Sixty-seventh Annual Convention of the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1962.","This subseries comprises correspondence, applications to family heritage organizations, and copies of documents regarding genealogy research on the Black, Kent, Apperson, and related families.","File contains three items in French.","Documents in this subseries pertain to applications, by members of the Black family, for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, Huguenot Society, Magna Carta Barons, National Society of Colonial Wars, and the Society of Colonial Dames.","Scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, incoming correspondence and telegrams, photographs, and ephemera documenting Harvey Apperson's political career from 1933, when he ran for the State Senate, to his death in 1948, four months after Governor William Tuck appointed him Attorney General.","Five scrapbooks and one box of items removed from the scrapbooks and copied for preservation. Photographs and ephemera removed from the scrapbooks are stored in Box 15.","This series is comprised of deeds, reports, correspondence, lease agreements, and receipts pertaining to Apperson family investments in mining operations at Poverty Hollow, Tom's Creek Road, the Blacksburg Manufacturing and Mining Company, and M.C. Slusser and Company. It also contains maps of Blacksburg Manufacturing and Mining Company coal land sold to the Hoge heirs in 1928 and maps showing property owned by the Alexander and Lizzie O. Black estate and Apperson Properties in 1937 and 1948.","The diary is an account of Louise Caton's voyage from New York to Genoa, Italy, her travels through Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, France, and England, and her return from Liverpool to New York in the summer of 1912."],"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\n","\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_36b4a62ab56ab232aa259e6ea40349e2\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThis collection contains the papers and artifacts of an interrelated family prominent in Blacksburg's history. It includes the American Civil War letters of Confederate surgeon Dr. Harvey Black, the Civil War diary of hospital steward John S. Apperson, cotton books and correspondence of Germanicus Kent, nineteenth-century account books of a Blacksburg general store, 1912 European travel diary, and the political scrapbooks of State Senator and Attorney General Harvey B. Apperson.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["This collection contains the papers and artifacts of an interrelated family prominent in Blacksburg's history. It includes the American Civil War letters of Confederate surgeon Dr. Harvey Black, the Civil War diary of hospital steward John S. Apperson, cotton books and correspondence of Germanicus Kent, nineteenth-century account books of a Blacksburg general store, 1912 European travel diary, and the political scrapbooks of State Senator and Attorney General Harvey B. Apperson."],"names_coll_ssim":["A. W. Luster","Confederate States of America. Army. Stonewall Brigade","Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia","Marion Foundry and Machine Works (Marion, Va.)","Preston and Olin Institute (Blacksburg, Va.)","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia (1887-1935)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","W. Stone \u0026 Son","Apperson family","Black family","Kent family","Amiss, Edwin","Apperson, Alex","Apperson, Elizabeth Black","Apperson, Harvey Black, 1890-1948","Apperson, John Samuel, 1837-1904","Apperson, Mary","Black, Harvey, 1827-1888","Black, Kent, active 1876-1890","Black, Mary Kent, b.1836","Caton, Louise","Kent, Germanicus, 1791-1862","Lemon, Lewis","Kent, Lewis (enslaved person)"],"names_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","A. W. Luster","Confederate States of America. Army. Stonewall Brigade","Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia","Marion Foundry and Machine Works (Marion, Va.)","Preston and Olin Institute (Blacksburg, Va.)","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia (1887-1935)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","W. Stone \u0026 Son","Apperson family","Black family","Kent family","Amiss, Edwin","Apperson, Alex","Apperson, Elizabeth Black","Apperson, Harvey Black, 1890-1948","Apperson, John Samuel, 1837-1904","Apperson, Mary","Black, Harvey, 1827-1888","Black, Kent, active 1876-1890","Black, Mary Kent, b.1836","Caton, Louise","Kent, Germanicus, 1791-1862","Lemon, Lewis","Kent, Lewis (enslaved person)"],"corpname_ssim":["Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech","A. W. Luster","Confederate States of America. Army. Stonewall Brigade","Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia","Marion Foundry and Machine Works (Marion, Va.)","Preston and Olin Institute (Blacksburg, Va.)","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia (1887-1935)","Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)","W. Stone \u0026 Son"],"famname_ssim":["Apperson family","Black family","Kent family"],"persname_ssim":["Amiss, Edwin","Apperson, Alex","Apperson, Elizabeth Black","Apperson, Harvey Black, 1890-1948","Apperson, John Samuel, 1837-1904","Apperson, Mary","Black, Harvey, 1827-1888","Black, Kent, active 1876-1890","Black, Mary Kent, b.1836","Caton, Louise","Kent, Germanicus, 1791-1862","Lemon, Lewis","Kent, Lewis (enslaved person)"],"language_ssim":["The materials in the collection are in English."],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":172,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-21T02:25:26.069Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c04_c01"}},{"id":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01_c06","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Account statement and bonds, Jack Bell with R.S. Paulett","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01_c06#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01_c06","ref_ssm":["vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01_c06"],"id":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01_c06","ead_ssi":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179","_root_":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179","_nest_parent_":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01","parent_ssi":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01","parent_ssim":["vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179","vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179","vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Paulett Family Business Records","Richard S. Paulett records"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Paulett Family Business Records","Richard S. Paulett records"],"text":["Paulett Family Business Records","Richard S. Paulett records","Account statement and bonds, Jack Bell with R.S. Paulett","box 01 of 01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Account statement and bonds, Jack Bell with R.S. Paulett","title_ssm":["Account statement and bonds, Jack Bell with R.S. Paulett"],"title_tesim":["Account statement and bonds, Jack Bell with R.S. Paulett"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1895-1900"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1895/1900"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Account statement and bonds, Jack Bell with R.S. Paulett"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["Longwood University"],"collection_ssim":["Paulett Family Business Records"],"extent_ssm":["1 Folder"],"extent_tesim":["1 Folder"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":7,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes."],"date_range_isim":[1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900],"containers_ssim":["box 01 of 01"],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#5","timestamp":"2026-05-20T19:32:51.981Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179","ead_ssi":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179","_root_":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179","_nest_parent_":"vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/LONG/repositories_3_resources_179.xml","title_ssm":["Paulett Family Business Records"],"title_tesim":["Paulett Family Business Records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1877-1929"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1877-1929"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["HS.023"],"text":["HS.023","Paulett Family Business Records","Farmville (Va.) -- Commerce.","Prince Edward County (Va.) -- History.","Deeds -- Virginia -- Prince Edward County.","Sharecropping -- United States -- Virginia.","There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes.","The Paulett Family has a long history associated with business in Farmville, Virginia. Richard Singleton Paulett, born in Charlotte County in 1820, came to Farmville in 1842. He was a commission merchant, establishing a partnership with John Thackston and W.P. Elam, which later operated as R.S. Paulett and Company, Paulett and Carroll, Hilliard, Hill and Company, Warren, Paulett, and Company, and then as Paulett, Son, and Company (which he operated with his son, Richard H. Paulett, who later formed a hardware firm with Charles F. Bugg). Richard S. Paulett was also involved in the tobacco business. His tobacco company, R.S. Paulett \u0026 Son (which he operated with his son Samuel Whitfield Paulett) was one of the largest exporters of tobacco in the state, shipping primarily to England and Norway. After the death of H.E. Warren, the first President of Planters Bank, R.S. Paulett was named his successor, and remained in that position until his death in 1902. Samuel W. Paulett, who later opened Paulett Crockery Company, was a veteran of the Confederate Army, having enlisted when he was 15 years old. S.W. Paulett was also a member of the Farmville District School Board from 1886 to 1920, and was Farmville's mayor from 1916 to 1920.","This collection was donated to the Farmville-Prince Edward County Historical Society by Thelma Mottley in the early 2000s.","This collection is part of the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society Archives which are housed at the Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections","This collection, which dates from 1877 to 1929, represents the business records of Richard Singleton Paulett, Paulett, Son\u0026 Company, S.W. Paulett, R.H. Paulett, H.A. Paulett, H.C. Paulett, E.L. Paulett, and Paulett and Bugg. These records include property deeds, deeds of trust, stock certificates, contracts, and correspondence.","Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society Archives","Paulett and Bugg","Paulett, Son and Co","R.S. Paulett and Co","R.S. Paulett and Son","Paulett Family.","Paulett, Henry C.","Paulett, Richard Henry.","Paulett, R.S. (Richard Singleton)","Paulett, S.W. (Samuel W.)","Paulett, Richard H.","Bugg, Charles F.","English \n.    "],"unitid_tesim":["HS.023"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Paulett Family Business Records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Paulett Family Business Records"],"collection_ssim":["Paulett Family Business Records"],"repository_ssm":["Longwood University"],"repository_ssim":["Longwood University"],"geogname_ssm":["Farmville (Va.) -- Commerce.","Prince Edward County (Va.) -- History."],"geogname_ssim":["Farmville (Va.) -- Commerce.","Prince Edward County (Va.) -- History."],"creator_ssm":["Paulett, Henry C.","Paulett, Richard Henry.","Paulett, R.S. (Richard Singleton)","Paulett, S.W. (Samuel W.)","Paulett Family.","Paulett and Bugg","Paulett, Son and Co","R.S. Paulett and Co","R.S. Paulett and Son"],"creator_ssim":["Paulett, Henry C.","Paulett, Richard Henry.","Paulett, R.S. (Richard Singleton)","Paulett, S.W. (Samuel W.)","Paulett Family.","Paulett and Bugg","Paulett, Son and Co","R.S. Paulett and Co","R.S. Paulett and Son"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Paulett, Henry C.","Paulett, Richard Henry.","Paulett, R.S. (Richard Singleton)","Paulett, S.W. (Samuel W.)"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Paulett and Bugg","Paulett, Son and Co","R.S. Paulett and Co","R.S. Paulett and Son"],"creator_famname_ssim":["Paulett Family."],"creators_ssim":["Paulett, Henry C.","Paulett, Richard Henry.","Paulett, R.S. (Richard Singleton)","Paulett, S.W. (Samuel W.)","Paulett and Bugg","Paulett, Son and Co","R.S. Paulett and Co","R.S. Paulett and Son","Paulett Family."],"places_ssim":["Farmville (Va.) -- Commerce.","Prince Edward County (Va.) -- History."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Deeds -- Virginia -- Prince Edward County.","Sharecropping -- United States -- Virginia."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Deeds -- Virginia -- Prince Edward County.","Sharecropping -- United States -- Virginia."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".65 Linear Feet 1 legal-sized archival box"],"extent_tesim":[".65 Linear Feet 1 legal-sized archival box"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":[" Restrictions on Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Paulett Family has a long history associated with business in Farmville, Virginia. Richard Singleton Paulett, born in Charlotte County in 1820, came to Farmville in 1842. He was a commission merchant, establishing a partnership with John Thackston and W.P. Elam, which later operated as R.S. Paulett and Company, Paulett and Carroll, Hilliard, Hill and Company, Warren, Paulett, and Company, and then as Paulett, Son, and Company (which he operated with his son, Richard H. Paulett, who later formed a hardware firm with Charles F. Bugg). Richard S. Paulett was also involved in the tobacco business. His tobacco company, R.S. Paulett \u0026amp; Son (which he operated with his son Samuel Whitfield Paulett) was one of the largest exporters of tobacco in the state, shipping primarily to England and Norway. After the death of H.E. Warren, the first President of Planters Bank, R.S. Paulett was named his successor, and remained in that position until his death in 1902. Samuel W. Paulett, who later opened Paulett Crockery Company, was a veteran of the Confederate Army, having enlisted when he was 15 years old. S.W. Paulett was also a member of the Farmville District School Board from 1886 to 1920, and was Farmville's mayor from 1916 to 1920.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical sketch"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Paulett Family has a long history associated with business in Farmville, Virginia. Richard Singleton Paulett, born in Charlotte County in 1820, came to Farmville in 1842. He was a commission merchant, establishing a partnership with John Thackston and W.P. Elam, which later operated as R.S. Paulett and Company, Paulett and Carroll, Hilliard, Hill and Company, Warren, Paulett, and Company, and then as Paulett, Son, and Company (which he operated with his son, Richard H. Paulett, who later formed a hardware firm with Charles F. Bugg). Richard S. Paulett was also involved in the tobacco business. His tobacco company, R.S. Paulett \u0026 Son (which he operated with his son Samuel Whitfield Paulett) was one of the largest exporters of tobacco in the state, shipping primarily to England and Norway. After the death of H.E. Warren, the first President of Planters Bank, R.S. Paulett was named his successor, and remained in that position until his death in 1902. Samuel W. Paulett, who later opened Paulett Crockery Company, was a veteran of the Confederate Army, having enlisted when he was 15 years old. S.W. Paulett was also a member of the Farmville District School Board from 1886 to 1920, and was Farmville's mayor from 1916 to 1920."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection was donated to the Farmville-Prince Edward County Historical Society by Thelma Mottley in the early 2000s.\u003c/p\u003e"],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Ownership and Custodial History"],"custodhist_tesim":["This collection was donated to the Farmville-Prince Edward County Historical Society by Thelma Mottley in the early 2000s."],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is part of the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society Archives which are housed at the Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections\u003c/p\u003e"],"odd_heading_ssm":["General Note"],"odd_tesim":["This collection is part of the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society Archives which are housed at the Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection, which dates from 1877 to 1929, represents the business records of Richard Singleton Paulett, Paulett, Son\u0026amp; Company, S.W. Paulett, R.H. Paulett, H.A. Paulett, H.C. Paulett, E.L. Paulett, and Paulett and Bugg. These records include property deeds, deeds of trust, stock certificates, contracts, and correspondence.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection, which dates from 1877 to 1929, represents the business records of Richard Singleton Paulett, Paulett, Son\u0026 Company, S.W. Paulett, R.H. Paulett, H.A. Paulett, H.C. Paulett, E.L. Paulett, and Paulett and Bugg. These records include property deeds, deeds of trust, stock certificates, contracts, and correspondence."],"names_ssim":["Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society Archives","Paulett and Bugg","Paulett, Son and Co","R.S. Paulett and Co","R.S. Paulett and Son","Paulett Family.","Paulett, Henry C.","Paulett, Richard Henry.","Paulett, R.S. (Richard Singleton)","Paulett, S.W. (Samuel W.)","Paulett, Richard H.","Bugg, Charles F."],"corpname_ssim":["Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society Archives","Paulett and Bugg","Paulett, Son and Co","R.S. Paulett and Co","R.S. Paulett and Son"],"famname_ssim":["Paulett Family."],"names_coll_ssim":["Paulett, R.S. (Richard Singleton)","Paulett, Richard H.","Paulett, S.W. (Samuel W.)","Paulett, Henry C.","Bugg, Charles F."],"persname_ssim":["Paulett, Henry C.","Paulett, Richard Henry.","Paulett, R.S. (Richard Singleton)","Paulett, S.W. (Samuel W.)","Paulett, Richard H.","Bugg, Charles F."],"language_ssim":["English \n.    "],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":106,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-20T19:32:51.981Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifarl_repositories_3_resources_179_c01_c06"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c26_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"A. Coal and Coke Receipts,\n                     [1]-[10]","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c26_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c26_c01","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c26_c01"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c26_c01","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c26","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c26","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c26"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c26"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Shipments-Incoming"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Shipments-Incoming"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Shipments-Incoming","A. Coal and Coke Receipts,\n                     [1]-[10]","9 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"A. Coal and Coke Receipts,\n                     [1]-[10]","title_ssm":["A. Coal and Coke Receipts,\n                     [1]-[10]"],"title_tesim":["A. Coal and Coke Receipts,\n                     [1]-[10]"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1880-1910"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1880/1910"],"normalized_title_ssm":["A. Coal and Coke Receipts,\n                     [1]-[10]"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["9 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":139,"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#25/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z","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"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"text":["662","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","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. \n","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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"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"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"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"],"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. \n"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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\n\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\n\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\n\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n            \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\n\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e","\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","\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"],"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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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"],"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"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions\n"],"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":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c26_c01"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c08_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"A. Coal Mined, Hauled, and\n                     Delivered","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c08_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c08_c01","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c08_c01"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c08_c01","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c08","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c08","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c08"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c08"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Coal"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Coal"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Coal","A. Coal Mined, Hauled, and\n                     Delivered","4 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"A. Coal Mined, Hauled, and\n                     Delivered","title_ssm":["A. Coal Mined, Hauled, and\n                     Delivered"],"title_tesim":["A. Coal Mined, Hauled, and\n                     Delivered"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1886-1916"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1886/1916"],"normalized_title_ssm":["A. Coal Mined, Hauled, and\n                     Delivered"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["4 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":29,"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#7/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z","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"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"text":["662","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","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. \n","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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"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"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"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"],"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. \n"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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\n\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\n\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\n\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n            \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\n\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e","\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","\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"],"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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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"],"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"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions\n"],"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":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c08_c01"}},{"id":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Addressed to John T. Harris","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01_c01","ref_ssm":["vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01_c01"],"id":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01_c01","ead_ssi":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244","_root_":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244","_nest_parent_":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01","parent_ssi":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01","parent_ssim":["vihart_repositories_4_resources_244","vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vihart_repositories_4_resources_244","vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["John T. Harris papers","Correspondence"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["John T. Harris papers","Correspondence"],"text":["John T. Harris papers","Correspondence","Addressed to John T. Harris"],"title_filing_ssi":"Addressed to John T. Harris","title_ssm":["Addressed to John T. Harris"],"title_tesim":["Addressed to John T. Harris"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1845-1899"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1845/1899"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Addressed to John T. Harris"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["James Madison University"],"collection_ssim":["John T. Harris papers"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":17,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":2,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collection Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu)."],"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T00:23:48.473Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244","ead_ssi":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244","_root_":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244","_nest_parent_":"vihart_repositories_4_resources_244","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/JMU/repositories_4_resources_244.xml","title_ssm":["John T. Harris papers"],"title_tesim":["John T. Harris papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1771-1937","1850-1900"],"unitdate_bulk_ssim":["1850-1900"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1771-1937"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["SC 0089","/repositories/4/resources/244"],"text":["SC 0089","/repositories/4/resources/244","John T. Harris papers","Rockingham County (Va.) -- Politics and government","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950","Virginia -- Genealogy","Virginia -- History, Local","Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","Virginia -- Social life and customs","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate","United States -- Politics and government -- 1849-1861","United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century","Lawyers -- Virginia","Judges -- Virginia","Practice of law -- Virginia","Elections -- Virginia","Statesmen -- Virginia","Letters (correspondence)","Genealogies (histories)","Newspaper clippings","Indentures","Photographs","Wills","broadsides (notices)","Legal documents","Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.","The collection is also available on microfilm at Special Collections of James Madison University (Microfilm # 1471-1479) and at the Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.","The collection is arranged into the following four series and subseries. All correspondence series are arranged chronologically, and all other series are arranged topically.","Series 1: Correspondence, 1831-1937 1.1: Addressed to John T. Harris, 1841-1899 1.2: Harris Family, 1831-1937 1.3: Addressed to Peyton Randolph, 1846-1884 1.4: Randolph Family, 1837-1928 Series 2: Personal and Family Papers, 1843-1936 Series 3: Political Papers, 1856-1896 Series 4: Miscellaneous, 1771-1933","Boatner, Mark Mayo.  The Civil War Dictionary . New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1959.","Dabney, Virginius.  Virginia: The New Dominion . Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1971.","Daniels, Jonathon.  The Randolphs of Virginia . New York: Doubleday, 1972.","Johnson, Allen \u0026 Malone, Dumas, ed.  Dictionary of American Biography.  Vol. VI. NY: Scribner's     Sons, 1931. ","Krick, Robert K.  Lee's Colonels: A Biographical Register of the Field Officers of the Army of Northern Virginia . Dayton, Ohio: Press of Morningside Bookshop, 1979. ","Members of Congress Since 1789. Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1977. ","The National Cyclopedia of American Biography . Vol. XIX. NY: Charles T. White and Co., 1926. ","Tewksbury, Donald G.  The Founding of American Colleges and Universities Before the Civil War . NY: Archon Books, 1965. ","Wakelyn, Jon L.  Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy . Westport, CN: Greenwood, 1977. ","Wayland, John W.  A History of Rockingham County, Virginia . Dayton, VA: Ruebush-Elkins, 1912. ","John T. Harris (1823-1899) was perhaps one of the most prominent citizens of Rockingham County throughout the nineteenth century. The son of Nathan and Ann Harris, he was commonwealth's attorney for Rockingham County from 1852 to 1859, and in 1856 served as a Presidential elector for James Buchanan. Thereafter, he served in the United States Congress from 1859 until the outbreak of the Civil War. Despite his strong Unionist sentiments and his continual efforts to keep Virginia in the Union, Harris remained loyal to Virginia when she seceded in May 1861. During the war he served two terms in the Virginia General Assembly. Following the war John T. Harris was judge of the 12th judicial circuit, which included Rockingham County. In 1870 he was again elected to Congress and was continuously re-elected until 1880, after which he resumed his law practice in Harrisonburg. John T. Harris returned to politics in 1889 as a rival of P.W. McKinney for the Democratic nomination for the governorship. Later he was appointed by Governor McKinney as one of the representatives for Virginia to the World's Columbian Exposition in 1892. He died in Harrisonburg, October 14, 1899. ","In addition to the Harris family letters, there are a large number of miscellaneous letters (3 Hollinger boxes) of the related Peyton Randolph Family. The Randolph family papers came into the Harris family when John T. Harris's son, John T. Harris Jr., married Peyton Randolph's daughter, Mary Elizabeth Randolph. Born in Washington, D.C. in 1833, Peyton was the son of James Innes Randolph, a congressional clerk, and Susan Armistead Randolph. However, despite the numerous letters to him, little is known about Peyton Randolph. Prior to the Civil War he attended Columbian College (now George Washington University) and was an engineer on numerous railroad projects in Virginia, Indiana, and Alabama through the 1850's. He enlisted in the army in Mobile, Alabama, at the outbreak of war and served as an engineer in Pickett's division, rising to the rank of major by 1865. Thereafter, even less is known of his life. He married Mary Fisher following the war, returned to the engineering profession, and died November 28, 1888.","In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017.  This collection was previously cataloged as SC 2025.","Harter, Dale F.  Of Men and Measures: The Memoirs of John T. Harris of Virginia.  M.A. Thesis, University of South Carolina, 1999.","The John T. Harris Papers, 1771-1937 (bulk 1850-1900), consists of seven boxes and two oversize folders of material. Although the collection contains a large number of personal and political documents relevant to the life and career of John T. Harris, the bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence addressed to John T. Harris and his family, and between Peyton Randolph and his family. A small number of James Clarkson papers are also present. The collection is arranged in four series: Correspondence, Personal and Family Papers, Political Papers, and Miscellaneous.","Series 1: Correspondence, 1831-1937, is arranged chronologically in four subseries:  ","Subseries 1.1: Addressed to John T. Harris, 1841-1899, consists of correspondence addressed to Harris from his constituents requesting personal favors. Letters from 1860 to 1861 primarily address the issue of Virginia seceding from the Union. Most of the letters express pro-Unionist feelings and encourage Harris to work for a compromise in Congress to avert violent conflict. The contents of these letters suggest that Harris worked with and may have been a close friend of Stephen A. Douglas. The 24 May 1871 letter addressed to Harris from William Nelson Pendelton, written on behalf of Henry Clay White of Rockbridge County requesting appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point is property of Special Collections at James Madison University, and does not form part of the original collection on deposit. It is not available on microfilm.","Subseries 1.2: Harris Family, 1831-1937, consists chiefly of letters among various members of the Harris family; content includes descriptions of family life. Also included among this subseries are several letters to John T. Harris, Jr., from Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.","Subseries 1.3: Addressed to Peyton Randolph, 1846-1884, consists of letters from several college friends of Randolph and from Randolph's immediate family. Notable among these are letters from college friend Henry Force. Force was the son of historian Peter Force and acted as surveyor on the Border Commission dispatched to study the newly acquired lands in present-day New Mexico and Arizona. In a series of letters to Peyton from 1848 to 1853, Force describes his encounters with Mexican soldiers and Apache Indians, as well as his duties on the trek from New Orleans to San Diego. Transcriptions are available for eight of Force's letters, 1848-1851.","Subseries 1.4: Randolph Family, 1837-1928, includes letters addressed to Peyton Randolph and his sisters, Mollie Randolph, Nannie Randolph and Sue Randolph from their mother, Susan Armistead Randolph, correspondence between the Randolph siblings, as well as a few miscellaneous items of Peyton Randolph's including a book of psalms which he carried during the Civil War. The letters from Susan Armistead Randolph form the bulk of this subseries. In her weekly four-page letters, Susan Randolph describes life in Washington, D.C. during the 1850's, including the inauguration of Franklin Pierce and the funeral of Henry Clay. Susan Randolph was acutely aware of the political climate of her era and took particular interest in the Know-Nothing party in the 1850's. In several letters she outlines the platform of the Know-Nothings and even urges Peyton to join the party. However, despite her vivid political commentaries and her proximity to the arena of the conflict, she does not mention the issue of slavery. In addition to her political and social sketches, she provides detailed accounts of family life, including detailed descriptions of the deaths of various family members. Her letters from Richmond during the war describe the changes in life in that city through the course of the war and include detailed examples of the rampant inflation of prices on common goods such as bacon and flour. Of particular interest are Mrs. Randolph's inquiries concerning her first cousin, General Lewis Armistead, who was said to be the first Confederate soldier to cross into Union lines during Pickett's Charge at the battle of Gettysburg. See Randolph Harris Moulton's Some Randolphs Around Civil War Times for transcriptions of some of the Peyton Randolph letters.","Series 2: Personal and Family Papers, 1843-1936, is arranged topically and contains a variety of materials. General papers include John T. Harris' law license, an 1861 will, and his post-Civil War oath of allegiance to the United States. [A certificate in which President Benjamin Harrison appoints Harris as Virginia's representative at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1892 is located in the oversize miscellaneous file.] Also in this series is a photocopy of John T. Harris' handwritten 1898 autobiography, which gives many particulars of his life, as well as a photocopy of his son John T. Harris Jr.'s typed 1936 autobiography, which includes characterizations of the lawyers with which the younger Harris was acquainted. Genealogical notes and charts as well as newspaper clippings pertaining to the Harris family are also present.","Series 3: Political Papers, 1856-1896, consists primarily of copies of John T. Harris' Congressional speeches as well as several made by other members of Congress. The most notable of these is the resignation speech of Preston B. \"Bully\" Brookes, who was censured by Congress for caning Charles Sumner in 1856. In addition, there are election returns from elections in which Harris was a candidate. These include reports from Rockingham County and localities throughout the Shenandoah Valley. There is also a folder containing political ephemera such as political broadsides, handbills, and selected pages from newspapers regarding local and national elections","Series 4: Miscellaneous, 1771-1933, contains a variety of materials, including general miscellany and receipts, Civil War documents, indentures, James Clarkson Papers, photographs and undated material. Among the Civil War documents are requests for exemption from military service, requisition receipts from Confederate military authorities, contracts between individuals and their military substitutes, and requests to John  T. Harris for release from Union prisoner-of-war camps. The James Clarkson Papers primarily are comprised of legal documents from Albemarle County. These documents were preserved by John T. Harris's wife, Virginia Harris, who was a descendant of James Clarkson. Among the photographs is a print of Peyton Randolph and his four brothers, a photographed portrait of James Innes, and photographs of John T. Harris' writing desk, a young Isabelle Heard, and an unidentified young girl.  Undated material consists of any items in this series that may be undated, including print material, notes, memoranda, receipts, various lists, writings, and calling cards. In addition, also includes a certificate signed by Benjamin Harrison appointing him as Virginia's representative at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1892; a land grant to Joel S. Graves signed by Governor Thomas M. Randolph; and a sheet dated March 11, 1861, signed by members of the provisional government of secession (Civil War) from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.","Notable Letters: 2 Feb. 1857, Arch Graham on national, state and local politics, with letter of 20 July from John T. Harris (son) interpreting the meaning of the letter 3 March 1860 Supporter of Stephen A. Douglas and \"squatter sovereignty.\" 2 May 1860 Talk of secession 30 Oct. 1860 England blamed for dissolution of the Union 1 Dec. 1860 South Carolina resident gives plans of that state with regards to the Union. 16 Dec. 1860 Harris believes Union must be preserved.","Notable Letters: 21 Jan. Constituent blames \"Black Republicans\" and Lincoln for conflict between the North and South","Notable Letters 20 Feb. Letter from Gov. John Letcher 21 Feb. Constituent refers to slavery as the \"never ending nigger question\" 27 Feb. Letter from Col. David B. Bimey, son of abolitionist James G. Bime","Notable Letters: 13, 18 July 1912 Letters from Woodrow Wilson 25 Oct., 17 Nov. 1915 Letters from Teddy Roosevelt","Notable Letters: Eight letters in this folder from Henry Force to Peyton Randolph, 1848-1851, are available in  transcription  (NOT ON MICROFILM) 17 Aug. 1850 Henry Force describes voyage from New York to Havana and New Orleans. 7 Sept. 1850 Henry Force's duties as surveyor on Border Commission in Victoria, Texas. 5 April 1850 Samuel Force giving views of a Princeton Freshman. 29 June 1851 Henry Force describes encounters with Mexicans and Apaches in New Mexico.","Notable Letters: 9 March Henry Force describe duties and life in San Diego and survey of the Gila River. 21 March Susan Randolph, Peyton's mother, notes new painting in Capitol Rotunda-Washington Crossing the Delaware. 4 July Mother describes Henry Clay's funeral. 3 Oct. Mother describes father's involvement in Whig vs. Democrat politics.","Notable Letters: 2 Jan. Mother describes death of Nannie's son, Randolph, of scarlet fever. 4 Jan. Mother describes death of Peyton's grandfather. 9 Jan. Mother describes erecting of statue of Andrew Jackson with speech by Stephen A. Douglas. 6 Feb. Mother anticipates somber character of Franklin Pierce's inauguration because of recent death of his only son. 13 Feb. Henry Force describes Apache attack on return trip from El Paso. 13 March Mother describes Pierce's inauguration. 22 May Mother describes 25th wedding anniversary.","Notable Letters: 21 Nov. James Innes Randolph asks for $200 to avoid foreclosure on house and sale of furniture.","Notable Letters: 28 May Father believes Kansas-Nebraska Act will make Northerners refuse to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. 18 June Mother urges Peyton to join the Know-Nothings. 26 June Mother notes rumor that Pope's nuncio was engaged in Catholic atrocities to subvert the government and make Washington the headquarters of the Pope.","Notable Letters: 23 July Mother describes spread of cholera in Washington. 19 Nov. Mother describes financial panic in Washington.","Notable Letters: 1 March Mother gives vivid description of Grandmother's death. 10 May Wm. Titcomb warns Peyton not to join Know-Nothings. 22 Dec. Wm. Titcomb anticipates arrival of Santa Claus.","Notable Letters: 9 July Henry Force describes trial of Preston Brookes for assault of Sumner in the Senate. 17 Aug. Henry Force discusses maintenance of Washington Territory boundary. 24 Aug. Father tries unsuccessfully to get a clerkship at Congress. 3 Sept. Henry Force describes his father's (Peter Force) problems with his documentary history of America. 3 Nov. Peyton believes Buchanan will defeat Fillmore in presidential election.","Notable Letters: 7 June 1857 Peyton in Mississippi gladly notes absence of foreigners and Yankees.","Notable Letters: 6 Jan. 1861 Peyton believes conflict between South Carolina and the U.S. will not last long because neither can afford a war. 17 March 1861 Mother believes Lincoln will preserve peace. 24 March 1861 Peyton joins the Army at Fort Morgan, Alabama. 24 March 1861 Mother observes that most Know-Nothings have switched to the Republicans. 14 April 1861 Mother says, \"Hurrah for the Southern Confederacy.\" 8 Sept. 1861 Mother describes rising prices in Richmond. Peyton's brother John could see the Capitol rotunda on picket duty outside Washington. 20 Oct. 1861 Mother visits Richmond hospitals filled with soldiers. 5 May 1862 Mother describes Confederate evacuation of Yorktown and Norfolk. Notes Merrimac is in the James River. 24 Dec. 1862 Peyton asks when General. Armistead's uniforms will be ready.","Notable Letters: 15 Feb. 1863 Prices sky rocketing in Richmond. 14 July 1863 Mother believes Lewis Armistead still alive despite rumors of his death at Gettysburg. 20 Aug. 1863 Mother questions fate of General. Armistead. 17 July 1864 Mother describes scarcity of food in Richmond.","Notable Letters: 6 July 1854 Birthday letter to Mary Fisher, Peyton's future wife. Advises her what to look for in a husband. 10 Feb. 1856 Letter to Innes Randolph at Hobart College, New York.","Notable Letters: 4 Dec. 1861 John Randolph describes winter camp life in the army and his efforts to stay warm. 6 Feb. 1862 Mollie, fearing that the North will win, wonders why England and France will not recognize the Confederacy. 12 Aug. 1863 Mother unsure of Lewis Armistead's fate. Notes the high cost of wood and coal. 22 Nov. 1863 Mother describes death of James Innes Randolph. 13 May 1864 Family wakes to booming cannon outside Richmond. John brought home wounded in thigh.","Notable items: 1856 Resignation speech of Congressman Preston B. Brookes.","Notable items: 1795 List of Subscribers to the \"New Virginia Justice\"","The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collection Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).","The John T. Harris Papers, 1771-1937 (bulk 1850-1900), consist of a large number of personal and political documents relevant to the life and career of John T. Harris. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters of John T. Harris and his family, and of Peyton Randolph and his family. Several letters discuss Southern secession and the American Civil War. Also included are Randolph family letters, James Clarkson Papers, Civil War documents and Harris genealogy.","James Madison University Libraries Special Collections","Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society","Virginia. General Assembly. House of Delegates -- Elections","Harris family -- Correspondence","Randolph family -- Correspondence","Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899","Harris, R. Randolph","Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Peyton, 1833-1891 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Susan Armistead, 1810-1884 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Innes, 1837-1887","English"],"unitid_tesim":["SC 0089","/repositories/4/resources/244"],"normalized_title_ssm":["John T. Harris papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["John T. Harris papers"],"collection_ssim":["John T. Harris papers"],"repository_ssm":["James Madison University"],"repository_ssim":["James Madison University"],"geogname_ssm":["Rockingham County (Va.) -- Politics and government","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950","Virginia -- Genealogy","Virginia -- History, Local","Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","Virginia -- Social life and customs","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate","United States -- Politics and government -- 1849-1861","United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century"],"geogname_ssim":["Rockingham County (Va.) -- Politics and government","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950","Virginia -- Genealogy","Virginia -- History, Local","Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","Virginia -- Social life and customs","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate","United States -- Politics and government -- 1849-1861","United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century"],"creator_ssm":["Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899","Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society","Harris, R. Randolph"],"creator_ssim":["Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899","Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society","Harris, R. Randolph"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899","Harris, R. Randolph"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society"],"creators_ssim":["Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899","Harris, R. Randolph","Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society"],"places_ssim":["Rockingham County (Va.) -- Politics and government","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950","Virginia -- Genealogy","Virginia -- History, Local","Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","Virginia -- Social life and customs","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate","United States -- Politics and government -- 1849-1861","United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collection Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Placed on deposit according to a November 1985 contract with the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society. Two letters were donated to JMU Special Collections in July 2003 by R. Randolph Harris, great-grandson of John T. Harris (1823-1899)."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Lawyers -- Virginia","Judges -- Virginia","Practice of law -- Virginia","Elections -- Virginia","Statesmen -- Virginia","Letters (correspondence)","Genealogies (histories)","Newspaper clippings","Indentures","Photographs","Wills","broadsides (notices)","Legal documents"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Lawyers -- Virginia","Judges -- Virginia","Practice of law -- Virginia","Elections -- Virginia","Statesmen -- Virginia","Letters (correspondence)","Genealogies (histories)","Newspaper clippings","Indentures","Photographs","Wills","broadsides (notices)","Legal documents"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["2.47 cubic feet 7 boxes and 2 folders"],"extent_tesim":["2.47 cubic feet 7 boxes and 2 folders"],"genreform_ssim":["Letters (correspondence)","Genealogies (histories)","Newspaper clippings","Indentures","Photographs","Wills","broadsides (notices)","Legal documents"],"date_range_isim":[1771,1772,1773,1774,1775,1776,1777,1778,1779,1780,1781,1782,1783,1784,1785,1786,1787,1788,1789,1790,1791,1792,1793,1794,1795,1796,1797,1798,1799,1800,1801,1802,1803,1804,1805,1806,1807,1808,1809,1810,1811,1812,1813,1814,1815,1816,1817,1818,1819,1820,1821,1822,1823,1824,1825,1826,1827,1828,1829,1830,1831,1832,1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847,1848,1849,1850,1851,1852,1853,1854,1855,1856,1857,1858,1859,1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection."],"altformavail_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is also available on microfilm at Special Collections of James Madison University (Microfilm # 1471-1479) and at the Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e"],"altformavail_heading_ssm":["Other Formats Available"],"altformavail_tesim":["The collection is also available on microfilm at Special Collections of James Madison University (Microfilm # 1471-1479) and at the Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged into the following four series and subseries. All correspondence series are arranged chronologically, and all other series are arranged topically.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eSeries 1: Correspondence, 1831-1937\u003c/li\u003e\n  \u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e1.1: Addressed to John T. Harris, 1841-1899\u003c/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e1.2: Harris Family, 1831-1937\u003c/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e1.3: Addressed to Peyton Randolph, 1846-1884\u003c/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e1.4: Randolph Family, 1837-1928\u003c/li\u003e\n  \u003c/ul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eSeries 2: Personal and Family Papers, 1843-1936\u003c/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eSeries 3: Political Papers, 1856-1896\u003c/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eSeries 4: Miscellaneous, 1771-1933\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged into the following four series and subseries. All correspondence series are arranged chronologically, and all other series are arranged topically.","Series 1: Correspondence, 1831-1937 1.1: Addressed to John T. Harris, 1841-1899 1.2: Harris Family, 1831-1937 1.3: Addressed to Peyton Randolph, 1846-1884 1.4: Randolph Family, 1837-1928 Series 2: Personal and Family Papers, 1843-1936 Series 3: Political Papers, 1856-1896 Series 4: Miscellaneous, 1771-1933"],"bibliography_html_tesm":["\u003cbibref\u003eBoatner, Mark Mayo. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eThe Civil War Dictionary\u003c/emph\u003e. New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1959.\u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003eDabney, Virginius. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eVirginia: The New Dominion\u003c/emph\u003e. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1971.\u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003eDaniels, Jonathon. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eThe Randolphs of Virginia\u003c/emph\u003e. New York: Doubleday, 1972.\u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003eJohnson, Allen \u0026amp; Malone, Dumas, ed. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eDictionary of American Biography.\u003c/emph\u003e Vol. VI. NY: Scribner's     Sons, 1931. \u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003eKrick, Robert K. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eLee's Colonels: A Biographical Register of the Field Officers of the Army of Northern Virginia\u003c/emph\u003e. Dayton, Ohio: Press of Morningside Bookshop, 1979. \u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003eMembers of Congress Since 1789. Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1977. \u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003e\u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eThe National Cyclopedia of American Biography\u003c/emph\u003e. Vol. XIX. NY: Charles T. White and Co., 1926. \u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003eTewksbury, Donald G. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eThe Founding of American Colleges and Universities Before the Civil War\u003c/emph\u003e. NY: Archon Books, 1965. \u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003eWakelyn, Jon L. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eBiographical Dictionary of the Confederacy\u003c/emph\u003e. Westport, CN: Greenwood, 1977. \u003c/bibref\u003e","\u003cbibref\u003eWayland, John W. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eA History of Rockingham County, Virginia\u003c/emph\u003e. Dayton, VA: Ruebush-Elkins, 1912. \u003c/bibref\u003e"],"bibliography_heading_ssm":["Bibliography"],"bibliography_tesim":["Boatner, Mark Mayo.  The Civil War Dictionary . New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1959.","Dabney, Virginius.  Virginia: The New Dominion . Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1971.","Daniels, Jonathon.  The Randolphs of Virginia . New York: Doubleday, 1972.","Johnson, Allen \u0026 Malone, Dumas, ed.  Dictionary of American Biography.  Vol. VI. NY: Scribner's     Sons, 1931. ","Krick, Robert K.  Lee's Colonels: A Biographical Register of the Field Officers of the Army of Northern Virginia . Dayton, Ohio: Press of Morningside Bookshop, 1979. ","Members of Congress Since 1789. Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1977. ","The National Cyclopedia of American Biography . Vol. XIX. NY: Charles T. White and Co., 1926. ","Tewksbury, Donald G.  The Founding of American Colleges and Universities Before the Civil War . NY: Archon Books, 1965. ","Wakelyn, Jon L.  Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy . Westport, CN: Greenwood, 1977. ","Wayland, John W.  A History of Rockingham County, Virginia . Dayton, VA: Ruebush-Elkins, 1912. "],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eJohn T. Harris (1823-1899) was perhaps one of the most prominent citizens of Rockingham County throughout the nineteenth century. The son of Nathan and Ann Harris, he was commonwealth's attorney for Rockingham County from 1852 to 1859, and in 1856 served as a Presidential elector for James Buchanan. Thereafter, he served in the United States Congress from 1859 until the outbreak of the Civil War. Despite his strong Unionist sentiments and his continual efforts to keep Virginia in the Union, Harris remained loyal to Virginia when she seceded in May 1861. During the war he served two terms in the Virginia General Assembly. Following the war John T. Harris was judge of the 12th judicial circuit, which included Rockingham County. In 1870 he was again elected to Congress and was continuously re-elected until 1880, after which he resumed his law practice in Harrisonburg. John T. Harris returned to politics in 1889 as a rival of P.W. McKinney for the Democratic nomination for the governorship. Later he was appointed by Governor McKinney as one of the representatives for Virginia to the World's Columbian Exposition in 1892. He died in Harrisonburg, October 14, 1899. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to the Harris family letters, there are a large number of miscellaneous letters (3 Hollinger boxes) of the related Peyton Randolph Family. The Randolph family papers came into the Harris family when John T. Harris's son, John T. Harris Jr., married Peyton Randolph's daughter, Mary Elizabeth Randolph. Born in Washington, D.C. in 1833, Peyton was the son of James Innes Randolph, a congressional clerk, and Susan Armistead Randolph. However, despite the numerous letters to him, little is known about Peyton Randolph. Prior to the Civil War he attended Columbian College (now George Washington University) and was an engineer on numerous railroad projects in Virginia, Indiana, and Alabama through the 1850's. He enlisted in the army in Mobile, Alabama, at the outbreak of war and served as an engineer in Pickett's division, rising to the rank of major by 1865. Thereafter, even less is known of his life. He married Mary Fisher following the war, returned to the engineering profession, and died November 28, 1888.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Bio/Historical Note"],"bioghist_tesim":["John T. Harris (1823-1899) was perhaps one of the most prominent citizens of Rockingham County throughout the nineteenth century. The son of Nathan and Ann Harris, he was commonwealth's attorney for Rockingham County from 1852 to 1859, and in 1856 served as a Presidential elector for James Buchanan. Thereafter, he served in the United States Congress from 1859 until the outbreak of the Civil War. Despite his strong Unionist sentiments and his continual efforts to keep Virginia in the Union, Harris remained loyal to Virginia when she seceded in May 1861. During the war he served two terms in the Virginia General Assembly. Following the war John T. Harris was judge of the 12th judicial circuit, which included Rockingham County. In 1870 he was again elected to Congress and was continuously re-elected until 1880, after which he resumed his law practice in Harrisonburg. John T. Harris returned to politics in 1889 as a rival of P.W. McKinney for the Democratic nomination for the governorship. Later he was appointed by Governor McKinney as one of the representatives for Virginia to the World's Columbian Exposition in 1892. He died in Harrisonburg, October 14, 1899. ","In addition to the Harris family letters, there are a large number of miscellaneous letters (3 Hollinger boxes) of the related Peyton Randolph Family. The Randolph family papers came into the Harris family when John T. Harris's son, John T. Harris Jr., married Peyton Randolph's daughter, Mary Elizabeth Randolph. Born in Washington, D.C. in 1833, Peyton was the son of James Innes Randolph, a congressional clerk, and Susan Armistead Randolph. However, despite the numerous letters to him, little is known about Peyton Randolph. Prior to the Civil War he attended Columbian College (now George Washington University) and was an engineer on numerous railroad projects in Virginia, Indiana, and Alabama through the 1850's. He enlisted in the army in Mobile, Alabama, at the outbreak of war and served as an engineer in Pickett's division, rising to the rank of major by 1865. Thereafter, even less is known of his life. He married Mary Fisher following the war, returned to the engineering profession, and died November 28, 1888."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e[Identification of Item], [box #, folder #], John T. Harris Papers, 1771-1937 (bulk 1850-1900), SC 0089, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va. on deposit from Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, Dayton, Va., housed in Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["[Identification of Item], [box #, folder #], John T. Harris Papers, 1771-1937 (bulk 1850-1900), SC 0089, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va. on deposit from Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, Dayton, Va., housed in Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017. \u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eThis collection was previously cataloged as SC 2025.\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017.  This collection was previously cataloged as SC 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eHarter, Dale F. \u003cemph render=\"italic\"\u003eOf Men and Measures: The Memoirs of John T. Harris of Virginia.\u003c/emph\u003e M.A. Thesis, University of South Carolina, 1999.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Harter, Dale F.  Of Men and Measures: The Memoirs of John T. Harris of Virginia.  M.A. Thesis, University of South Carolina, 1999."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe John T. Harris Papers, 1771-1937 (bulk 1850-1900), consists of seven boxes and two oversize folders of material. Although the collection contains a large number of personal and political documents relevant to the life and career of John T. Harris, the bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence addressed to John T. Harris and his family, and between Peyton Randolph and his family. A small number of James Clarkson papers are also present. The collection is arranged in four series: Correspondence, Personal and Family Papers, Political Papers, and Miscellaneous.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Correspondence, 1831-1937, is arranged chronologically in four subseries:  \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSubseries 1.1: Addressed to John T. Harris, 1841-1899, consists of correspondence addressed to Harris from his constituents requesting personal favors. Letters from 1860 to 1861 primarily address the issue of Virginia seceding from the Union. Most of the letters express pro-Unionist feelings and encourage Harris to work for a compromise in Congress to avert violent conflict. The contents of these letters suggest that Harris worked with and may have been a close friend of Stephen A. Douglas. The 24 May 1871 letter addressed to Harris from William Nelson Pendelton, written on behalf of Henry Clay White of Rockbridge County requesting appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point is property of Special Collections at James Madison University, and does not form part of the original collection on deposit. It is not available on microfilm.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSubseries 1.2: Harris Family, 1831-1937, consists chiefly of letters among various members of the Harris family; content includes descriptions of family life. Also included among this subseries are several letters to John T. Harris, Jr., from Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSubseries 1.3: Addressed to Peyton Randolph, 1846-1884, consists of letters from several college friends of Randolph and from Randolph's immediate family. Notable among these are letters from college friend Henry Force. Force was the son of historian Peter Force and acted as surveyor on the Border Commission dispatched to study the newly acquired lands in present-day New Mexico and Arizona. In a series of letters to Peyton from 1848 to 1853, Force describes his encounters with Mexican soldiers and Apache Indians, as well as his duties on the trek from New Orleans to San Diego. Transcriptions are available for eight of Force's letters, 1848-1851.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSubseries 1.4: Randolph Family, 1837-1928, includes letters addressed to Peyton Randolph and his sisters, Mollie Randolph, Nannie Randolph and Sue Randolph from their mother, Susan Armistead Randolph, correspondence between the Randolph siblings, as well as a few miscellaneous items of Peyton Randolph's including a book of psalms which he carried during the Civil War. The letters from Susan Armistead Randolph form the bulk of this subseries. In her weekly four-page letters, Susan Randolph describes life in Washington, D.C. during the 1850's, including the inauguration of Franklin Pierce and the funeral of Henry Clay. Susan Randolph was acutely aware of the political climate of her era and took particular interest in the Know-Nothing party in the 1850's. In several letters she outlines the platform of the Know-Nothings and even urges Peyton to join the party. However, despite her vivid political commentaries and her proximity to the arena of the conflict, she does not mention the issue of slavery. In addition to her political and social sketches, she provides detailed accounts of family life, including detailed descriptions of the deaths of various family members. Her letters from Richmond during the war describe the changes in life in that city through the course of the war and include detailed examples of the rampant inflation of prices on common goods such as bacon and flour. Of particular interest are Mrs. Randolph's inquiries concerning her first cousin, General Lewis Armistead, who was said to be the first Confederate soldier to cross into Union lines during Pickett's Charge at the battle of Gettysburg. See Randolph Harris Moulton's Some Randolphs Around Civil War Times for transcriptions of some of the Peyton Randolph letters.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2: Personal and Family Papers, 1843-1936, is arranged topically and contains a variety of materials. General papers include John T. Harris' law license, an 1861 will, and his post-Civil War oath of allegiance to the United States. [A certificate in which President Benjamin Harrison appoints Harris as Virginia's representative at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1892 is located in the oversize miscellaneous file.] Also in this series is a photocopy of John T. Harris' handwritten 1898 autobiography, which gives many particulars of his life, as well as a photocopy of his son John T. Harris Jr.'s typed 1936 autobiography, which includes characterizations of the lawyers with which the younger Harris was acquainted. Genealogical notes and charts as well as newspaper clippings pertaining to the Harris family are also present.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Political Papers, 1856-1896, consists primarily of copies of John T. Harris' Congressional speeches as well as several made by other members of Congress. The most notable of these is the resignation speech of Preston B. \"Bully\" Brookes, who was censured by Congress for caning Charles Sumner in 1856. In addition, there are election returns from elections in which Harris was a candidate. These include reports from Rockingham County and localities throughout the Shenandoah Valley. There is also a folder containing political ephemera such as political broadsides, handbills, and selected pages from newspapers regarding local and national elections\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 4: Miscellaneous, 1771-1933, contains a variety of materials, including general miscellany and receipts, Civil War documents, indentures, James Clarkson Papers, photographs and undated material. Among the Civil War documents are requests for exemption from military service, requisition receipts from Confederate military authorities, contracts between individuals and their military substitutes, and requests to John  T. Harris for release from Union prisoner-of-war camps. The James Clarkson Papers primarily are comprised of legal documents from Albemarle County. These documents were preserved by John T. Harris's wife, Virginia Harris, who was a descendant of James Clarkson. Among the photographs is a print of Peyton Randolph and his four brothers, a photographed portrait of James Innes, and photographs of John T. Harris' writing desk, a young Isabelle Heard, and an unidentified young girl.  Undated material consists of any items in this series that may be undated, including print material, notes, memoranda, receipts, various lists, writings, and calling cards. In addition, also includes a certificate signed by Benjamin Harrison appointing him as Virginia's representative at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1892; a land grant to Joel S. Graves signed by Governor Thomas M. Randolph; and a sheet dated March 11, 1861, signed by members of the provisional government of secession (Civil War) from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e2 Feb. 1857, Arch Graham on national, state and local politics, with letter of 20 July from John T. Harris (son) interpreting the meaning of the letter\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e3 March 1860 Supporter of Stephen A. Douglas and \"squatter sovereignty.\"\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e2 May 1860 Talk of secession\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e30 Oct. 1860 England blamed for dissolution of the Union\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e1 Dec. 1860 South Carolina resident gives plans of that state with regards to the Union.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e16 Dec. 1860 Harris believes Union must be preserved.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e21 Jan. Constituent blames \"Black Republicans\" and Lincoln for conflict between the North and South\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e20 Feb. Letter from Gov. John Letcher\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e21 Feb. Constituent refers to slavery as the \"never ending nigger question\"\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e27 Feb. Letter from Col. David B. Bimey, son of abolitionist James G. Bime\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e13, 18 July 1912 Letters from Woodrow Wilson\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e25 Oct., 17 Nov. 1915 Letters from Teddy Roosevelt\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eEight letters in this folder from Henry Force to Peyton Randolph, 1848-1851, are available in \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"http://www.lib.jmu.edu/special/manuscripts/Harris_Coll_Force_Transcripts.html\"\u003etranscription\u003c/extref\u003e (NOT ON MICROFILM)\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e17 Aug. 1850 Henry Force describes voyage from New York to Havana and New Orleans.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e7 Sept. 1850 Henry Force's duties as surveyor on Border Commission in Victoria, Texas.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e5 April 1850 Samuel Force giving views of a Princeton Freshman.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e29 June 1851 Henry Force describes encounters with Mexicans and Apaches in New Mexico.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e9 March Henry Force describe duties and life in San Diego and survey of the Gila River.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e21 March Susan Randolph, Peyton's mother, notes new painting in Capitol Rotunda-Washington Crossing the Delaware.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e4 July Mother describes Henry Clay's funeral.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e3 Oct. Mother describes father's involvement in Whig vs. Democrat politics.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e2 Jan. Mother describes death of Nannie's son, Randolph, of scarlet fever.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e4 Jan. Mother describes death of Peyton's grandfather.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e9 Jan. Mother describes erecting of statue of Andrew Jackson with speech by Stephen A. Douglas.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e6 Feb. Mother anticipates somber character of Franklin Pierce's inauguration because of recent death of his only son.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e13 Feb. Henry Force describes Apache attack on return trip from El Paso.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e13 March Mother describes Pierce's inauguration.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e22 May Mother describes 25th wedding anniversary.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e21 Nov. James Innes Randolph asks for $200 to avoid foreclosure on house and sale of furniture.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e28 May Father believes Kansas-Nebraska Act will make Northerners refuse to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e18 June Mother urges Peyton to join the Know-Nothings.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e26 June Mother notes rumor that Pope's nuncio was engaged in Catholic atrocities to subvert the government and make Washington the headquarters of the Pope.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e23 July Mother describes spread of cholera in Washington.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e19 Nov. Mother describes financial panic in Washington.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e1 March Mother gives vivid description of Grandmother's death.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e10 May Wm. Titcomb warns Peyton not to join Know-Nothings.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e22 Dec. Wm. Titcomb anticipates arrival of Santa Claus.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e9 July Henry Force describes trial of Preston Brookes for assault of Sumner in the Senate.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e17 Aug. Henry Force discusses maintenance of Washington Territory boundary.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e24 Aug. Father tries unsuccessfully to get a clerkship at Congress.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e3 Sept. Henry Force describes his father's (Peter Force) problems with his documentary history of America.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e3 Nov. Peyton believes Buchanan will defeat Fillmore in presidential election.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e7 June 1857 Peyton in Mississippi gladly notes absence of foreigners and Yankees.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e6 Jan. 1861 Peyton believes conflict between South Carolina and the U.S. will not last long because neither can afford a war.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e17 March 1861 Mother believes Lincoln will preserve peace.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e24 March 1861 Peyton joins the Army at Fort Morgan, Alabama.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e24 March 1861 Mother observes that most Know-Nothings have switched to the Republicans.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e14 April 1861 Mother says, \"Hurrah for the Southern Confederacy.\"\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e8 Sept. 1861 Mother describes rising prices in Richmond. Peyton's brother John could see the Capitol rotunda on picket duty outside Washington.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e20 Oct. 1861 Mother visits Richmond hospitals filled with soldiers.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e5 May 1862 Mother describes Confederate evacuation of Yorktown and Norfolk. Notes Merrimac is in the James River.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e24 Dec. 1862 Peyton asks when General. Armistead's uniforms will be ready.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e15 Feb. 1863 Prices sky rocketing in Richmond.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e14 July 1863 Mother believes Lewis Armistead still alive despite rumors of his death at Gettysburg.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e20 Aug. 1863 Mother questions fate of General. Armistead.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e17 July 1864 Mother describes scarcity of food in Richmond.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e6 July 1854 Birthday letter to Mary Fisher, Peyton's future wife. Advises her what to look for in a husband.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e10 Feb. 1856 Letter to Innes Randolph at Hobart College, New York.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\u003chead\u003eNotable Letters:\u003c/head\u003e\n\u003citem\u003e4 Dec. 1861 John Randolph describes winter camp life in the army and his efforts to stay warm.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e6 Feb. 1862 Mollie, fearing that the North will win, wonders why England and France will not recognize the Confederacy.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e12 Aug. 1863 Mother unsure of Lewis Armistead's fate. Notes the high cost of wood and coal.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e22 Nov. 1863 Mother describes death of James Innes Randolph.\u003c/item\u003e\u003citem\u003e13 May 1864 Family wakes to booming cannon outside Richmond. John brought home wounded in thigh.\u003c/item\u003e\u003c/list\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNotable items: 1856 Resignation speech of Congressman Preston B. Brookes.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNotable items: 1795 List of Subscribers to the \"New Virginia Justice\"\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents","Scope and Contents"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The John T. Harris Papers, 1771-1937 (bulk 1850-1900), consists of seven boxes and two oversize folders of material. Although the collection contains a large number of personal and political documents relevant to the life and career of John T. Harris, the bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence addressed to John T. Harris and his family, and between Peyton Randolph and his family. A small number of James Clarkson papers are also present. The collection is arranged in four series: Correspondence, Personal and Family Papers, Political Papers, and Miscellaneous.","Series 1: Correspondence, 1831-1937, is arranged chronologically in four subseries:  ","Subseries 1.1: Addressed to John T. Harris, 1841-1899, consists of correspondence addressed to Harris from his constituents requesting personal favors. Letters from 1860 to 1861 primarily address the issue of Virginia seceding from the Union. Most of the letters express pro-Unionist feelings and encourage Harris to work for a compromise in Congress to avert violent conflict. The contents of these letters suggest that Harris worked with and may have been a close friend of Stephen A. Douglas. The 24 May 1871 letter addressed to Harris from William Nelson Pendelton, written on behalf of Henry Clay White of Rockbridge County requesting appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point is property of Special Collections at James Madison University, and does not form part of the original collection on deposit. It is not available on microfilm.","Subseries 1.2: Harris Family, 1831-1937, consists chiefly of letters among various members of the Harris family; content includes descriptions of family life. Also included among this subseries are several letters to John T. Harris, Jr., from Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.","Subseries 1.3: Addressed to Peyton Randolph, 1846-1884, consists of letters from several college friends of Randolph and from Randolph's immediate family. Notable among these are letters from college friend Henry Force. Force was the son of historian Peter Force and acted as surveyor on the Border Commission dispatched to study the newly acquired lands in present-day New Mexico and Arizona. In a series of letters to Peyton from 1848 to 1853, Force describes his encounters with Mexican soldiers and Apache Indians, as well as his duties on the trek from New Orleans to San Diego. Transcriptions are available for eight of Force's letters, 1848-1851.","Subseries 1.4: Randolph Family, 1837-1928, includes letters addressed to Peyton Randolph and his sisters, Mollie Randolph, Nannie Randolph and Sue Randolph from their mother, Susan Armistead Randolph, correspondence between the Randolph siblings, as well as a few miscellaneous items of Peyton Randolph's including a book of psalms which he carried during the Civil War. The letters from Susan Armistead Randolph form the bulk of this subseries. In her weekly four-page letters, Susan Randolph describes life in Washington, D.C. during the 1850's, including the inauguration of Franklin Pierce and the funeral of Henry Clay. Susan Randolph was acutely aware of the political climate of her era and took particular interest in the Know-Nothing party in the 1850's. In several letters she outlines the platform of the Know-Nothings and even urges Peyton to join the party. However, despite her vivid political commentaries and her proximity to the arena of the conflict, she does not mention the issue of slavery. In addition to her political and social sketches, she provides detailed accounts of family life, including detailed descriptions of the deaths of various family members. Her letters from Richmond during the war describe the changes in life in that city through the course of the war and include detailed examples of the rampant inflation of prices on common goods such as bacon and flour. Of particular interest are Mrs. Randolph's inquiries concerning her first cousin, General Lewis Armistead, who was said to be the first Confederate soldier to cross into Union lines during Pickett's Charge at the battle of Gettysburg. See Randolph Harris Moulton's Some Randolphs Around Civil War Times for transcriptions of some of the Peyton Randolph letters.","Series 2: Personal and Family Papers, 1843-1936, is arranged topically and contains a variety of materials. General papers include John T. Harris' law license, an 1861 will, and his post-Civil War oath of allegiance to the United States. [A certificate in which President Benjamin Harrison appoints Harris as Virginia's representative at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1892 is located in the oversize miscellaneous file.] Also in this series is a photocopy of John T. Harris' handwritten 1898 autobiography, which gives many particulars of his life, as well as a photocopy of his son John T. Harris Jr.'s typed 1936 autobiography, which includes characterizations of the lawyers with which the younger Harris was acquainted. Genealogical notes and charts as well as newspaper clippings pertaining to the Harris family are also present.","Series 3: Political Papers, 1856-1896, consists primarily of copies of John T. Harris' Congressional speeches as well as several made by other members of Congress. The most notable of these is the resignation speech of Preston B. \"Bully\" Brookes, who was censured by Congress for caning Charles Sumner in 1856. In addition, there are election returns from elections in which Harris was a candidate. These include reports from Rockingham County and localities throughout the Shenandoah Valley. There is also a folder containing political ephemera such as political broadsides, handbills, and selected pages from newspapers regarding local and national elections","Series 4: Miscellaneous, 1771-1933, contains a variety of materials, including general miscellany and receipts, Civil War documents, indentures, James Clarkson Papers, photographs and undated material. Among the Civil War documents are requests for exemption from military service, requisition receipts from Confederate military authorities, contracts between individuals and their military substitutes, and requests to John  T. Harris for release from Union prisoner-of-war camps. The James Clarkson Papers primarily are comprised of legal documents from Albemarle County. These documents were preserved by John T. Harris's wife, Virginia Harris, who was a descendant of James Clarkson. Among the photographs is a print of Peyton Randolph and his four brothers, a photographed portrait of James Innes, and photographs of John T. Harris' writing desk, a young Isabelle Heard, and an unidentified young girl.  Undated material consists of any items in this series that may be undated, including print material, notes, memoranda, receipts, various lists, writings, and calling cards. In addition, also includes a certificate signed by Benjamin Harrison appointing him as Virginia's representative at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1892; a land grant to Joel S. Graves signed by Governor Thomas M. Randolph; and a sheet dated March 11, 1861, signed by members of the provisional government of secession (Civil War) from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.","Notable Letters: 2 Feb. 1857, Arch Graham on national, state and local politics, with letter of 20 July from John T. Harris (son) interpreting the meaning of the letter 3 March 1860 Supporter of Stephen A. Douglas and \"squatter sovereignty.\" 2 May 1860 Talk of secession 30 Oct. 1860 England blamed for dissolution of the Union 1 Dec. 1860 South Carolina resident gives plans of that state with regards to the Union. 16 Dec. 1860 Harris believes Union must be preserved.","Notable Letters: 21 Jan. Constituent blames \"Black Republicans\" and Lincoln for conflict between the North and South","Notable Letters 20 Feb. Letter from Gov. John Letcher 21 Feb. Constituent refers to slavery as the \"never ending nigger question\" 27 Feb. Letter from Col. David B. Bimey, son of abolitionist James G. Bime","Notable Letters: 13, 18 July 1912 Letters from Woodrow Wilson 25 Oct., 17 Nov. 1915 Letters from Teddy Roosevelt","Notable Letters: Eight letters in this folder from Henry Force to Peyton Randolph, 1848-1851, are available in  transcription  (NOT ON MICROFILM) 17 Aug. 1850 Henry Force describes voyage from New York to Havana and New Orleans. 7 Sept. 1850 Henry Force's duties as surveyor on Border Commission in Victoria, Texas. 5 April 1850 Samuel Force giving views of a Princeton Freshman. 29 June 1851 Henry Force describes encounters with Mexicans and Apaches in New Mexico.","Notable Letters: 9 March Henry Force describe duties and life in San Diego and survey of the Gila River. 21 March Susan Randolph, Peyton's mother, notes new painting in Capitol Rotunda-Washington Crossing the Delaware. 4 July Mother describes Henry Clay's funeral. 3 Oct. Mother describes father's involvement in Whig vs. Democrat politics.","Notable Letters: 2 Jan. Mother describes death of Nannie's son, Randolph, of scarlet fever. 4 Jan. Mother describes death of Peyton's grandfather. 9 Jan. Mother describes erecting of statue of Andrew Jackson with speech by Stephen A. Douglas. 6 Feb. Mother anticipates somber character of Franklin Pierce's inauguration because of recent death of his only son. 13 Feb. Henry Force describes Apache attack on return trip from El Paso. 13 March Mother describes Pierce's inauguration. 22 May Mother describes 25th wedding anniversary.","Notable Letters: 21 Nov. James Innes Randolph asks for $200 to avoid foreclosure on house and sale of furniture.","Notable Letters: 28 May Father believes Kansas-Nebraska Act will make Northerners refuse to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. 18 June Mother urges Peyton to join the Know-Nothings. 26 June Mother notes rumor that Pope's nuncio was engaged in Catholic atrocities to subvert the government and make Washington the headquarters of the Pope.","Notable Letters: 23 July Mother describes spread of cholera in Washington. 19 Nov. Mother describes financial panic in Washington.","Notable Letters: 1 March Mother gives vivid description of Grandmother's death. 10 May Wm. Titcomb warns Peyton not to join Know-Nothings. 22 Dec. Wm. Titcomb anticipates arrival of Santa Claus.","Notable Letters: 9 July Henry Force describes trial of Preston Brookes for assault of Sumner in the Senate. 17 Aug. Henry Force discusses maintenance of Washington Territory boundary. 24 Aug. Father tries unsuccessfully to get a clerkship at Congress. 3 Sept. Henry Force describes his father's (Peter Force) problems with his documentary history of America. 3 Nov. Peyton believes Buchanan will defeat Fillmore in presidential election.","Notable Letters: 7 June 1857 Peyton in Mississippi gladly notes absence of foreigners and Yankees.","Notable Letters: 6 Jan. 1861 Peyton believes conflict between South Carolina and the U.S. will not last long because neither can afford a war. 17 March 1861 Mother believes Lincoln will preserve peace. 24 March 1861 Peyton joins the Army at Fort Morgan, Alabama. 24 March 1861 Mother observes that most Know-Nothings have switched to the Republicans. 14 April 1861 Mother says, \"Hurrah for the Southern Confederacy.\" 8 Sept. 1861 Mother describes rising prices in Richmond. Peyton's brother John could see the Capitol rotunda on picket duty outside Washington. 20 Oct. 1861 Mother visits Richmond hospitals filled with soldiers. 5 May 1862 Mother describes Confederate evacuation of Yorktown and Norfolk. Notes Merrimac is in the James River. 24 Dec. 1862 Peyton asks when General. Armistead's uniforms will be ready.","Notable Letters: 15 Feb. 1863 Prices sky rocketing in Richmond. 14 July 1863 Mother believes Lewis Armistead still alive despite rumors of his death at Gettysburg. 20 Aug. 1863 Mother questions fate of General. Armistead. 17 July 1864 Mother describes scarcity of food in Richmond.","Notable Letters: 6 July 1854 Birthday letter to Mary Fisher, Peyton's future wife. Advises her what to look for in a husband. 10 Feb. 1856 Letter to Innes Randolph at Hobart College, New York.","Notable Letters: 4 Dec. 1861 John Randolph describes winter camp life in the army and his efforts to stay warm. 6 Feb. 1862 Mollie, fearing that the North will win, wonders why England and France will not recognize the Confederacy. 12 Aug. 1863 Mother unsure of Lewis Armistead's fate. Notes the high cost of wood and coal. 22 Nov. 1863 Mother describes death of James Innes Randolph. 13 May 1864 Family wakes to booming cannon outside Richmond. John brought home wounded in thigh.","Notable items: 1856 Resignation speech of Congressman Preston B. Brookes.","Notable items: 1795 List of Subscribers to the \"New Virginia Justice\""],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collection Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collection Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu)."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_dc1bd08acadd3e1eb1362ba5b6c828f4\"\u003eThe John T. Harris Papers, 1771-1937 (bulk 1850-1900), consist of a large number of personal and political documents relevant to the life and career of John T. Harris. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters of John T. Harris and his family, and of Peyton Randolph and his family. Several letters discuss Southern secession and the American Civil War. Also included are Randolph family letters, James Clarkson Papers, Civil War documents and Harris genealogy.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The John T. Harris Papers, 1771-1937 (bulk 1850-1900), consist of a large number of personal and political documents relevant to the life and career of John T. Harris. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters of John T. Harris and his family, and of Peyton Randolph and his family. Several letters discuss Southern secession and the American Civil War. Also included are Randolph family letters, James Clarkson Papers, Civil War documents and Harris genealogy."],"names_coll_ssim":["Virginia. General Assembly. House of Delegates -- Elections","Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society","Harris family -- Correspondence","Randolph family -- Correspondence","Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Peyton, 1833-1891 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Susan Armistead, 1810-1884 -- Correspondence","Harris, R. Randolph"],"names_ssim":["James Madison University Libraries Special Collections","Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society","Virginia. General Assembly. House of Delegates -- Elections","Harris family -- Correspondence","Randolph family -- Correspondence","Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899","Harris, R. Randolph","Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Peyton, 1833-1891 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Susan Armistead, 1810-1884 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Innes, 1837-1887"],"corpname_ssim":["James Madison University Libraries Special Collections","Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society","Virginia. General Assembly. House of Delegates -- Elections"],"famname_ssim":["Harris family -- Correspondence","Randolph family -- Correspondence"],"persname_ssim":["Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899","Harris, R. Randolph","Harris, John T. (John Thomas), 1823-1899 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Peyton, 1833-1891 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Susan Armistead, 1810-1884 -- Correspondence","Randolph, Innes, 1837-1887"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":82,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-21T00:23:48.473Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vihart_repositories_4_resources_244_c01_c01"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c03_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"A. General","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c03_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c03_c01","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c03_c01"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c03_c01","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c03","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c03","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Banking"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Banking"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Banking","A. General","3 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"A. General","title_ssm":["A. General"],"title_tesim":["A. General"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1881-1896"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1881/1896"],"normalized_title_ssm":["A. General"],"component_level_isim":[3],"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,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":12,"date_range_isim":[1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#2/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z","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"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"text":["662","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","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. \n","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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"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"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"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"],"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. \n"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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\n\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\n\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\n\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n            \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\n\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e","\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","\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"],"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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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"],"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"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions\n"],"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":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c03_c01"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"A. General","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c01","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c01"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c01","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c13","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c13"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c13"],"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"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Journals","A. General","3 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"A. General","title_ssm":["A. General"],"title_tesim":["A. General"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1880-1916"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1880/1916"],"normalized_title_ssm":["A. General"],"component_level_isim":[3],"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,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":59,"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#12/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z","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"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"text":["662","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","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. \n","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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"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"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"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"],"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. \n"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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\n\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\n\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\n\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n            \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\n\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e","\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","\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"],"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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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"],"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"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions\n"],"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":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c13_c01"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c14_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"A. General","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c14_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c14_c01","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c14_c01"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c14_c01","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c14","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c14","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c14"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c14"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Ledgers"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Ledgers"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Ledgers","A. General","6 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"A. General","title_ssm":["A. General"],"title_tesim":["A. General"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1873-1899"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1873/1899"],"normalized_title_ssm":["A. General"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["6 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":66,"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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#13/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z","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"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"text":["662","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","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. \n","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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"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"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"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"],"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. \n"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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\n\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\n\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\n\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n            \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\n\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e","\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","\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"],"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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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"],"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"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions\n"],"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":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c14_c01"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"A. General","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c01","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c01"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c01","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c16","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c16","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c16"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c16"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Ledgers"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Ledgers"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Ledgers","A. General","6 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"A. General","title_ssm":["A. General"],"title_tesim":["A. General"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1873-1899"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1873/1899"],"normalized_title_ssm":["A. General"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["6 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":80,"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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#15/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z","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"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"text":["662","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","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. \n","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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"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"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"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"],"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. \n"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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\n\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\n\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\n\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n            \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\n\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e","\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","\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"],"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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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"],"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"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions\n"],"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":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c01"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"A. General","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c01","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c01"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c01","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c25","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c25","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c25"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c25"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Scrip Books"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Scrip Books"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Scrip Books","A. General","17 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"A. General","title_ssm":["A. General"],"title_tesim":["A. General"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1881-1922"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1881/1922"],"normalized_title_ssm":["A. General"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"collection_ssim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"physdesc_tesim":["17 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":125,"date_range_isim":[1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#24/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z","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"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["662"],"text":["662","Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927","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. \n","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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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"],"unitid_tesim":["662"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n         1873-1927"],"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"],"repository_ssm":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"repository_ssim":["University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept."],"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"],"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. \n"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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\n\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\n\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\n\u003cp\u003eSigned, \n            \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eEd D. Wickes Supt. of Mines\u003c/p\u003e\n\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\u003cp\u003eLow Moor Iron Company Personnel:\u003c/p\u003e","\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","\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"],"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 Mines Low 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 Record dated 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","\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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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"],"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","\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","\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","\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","\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"],"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","\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"],"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"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions\n"],"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":"2026-05-21T12:10:02.328Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c01"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"repository_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Repository","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Alexandria Library","value":"Alexandria Library","hits":6},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Alexandria+Library"}},{"attributes":{"label":"College of William and Mary","value":"College of William and Mary","hits":110},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=College+of+William+and+Mary"}},{"attributes":{"label":"George Mason University","value":"George Mason University","hits":9},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University"}},{"attributes":{"label":"James Madison University","value":"James Madison University","hits":9},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=James+Madison+University"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Longwood University","value":"Longwood University","hits":25},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Longwood+University"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Old Dominion University","value":"Old Dominion 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Archives","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Virginia+Military+Institute+Archives"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/repository_ssim.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries"}},{"type":"facet","id":"collection_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Collection","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Adele Goodman Clark papers","value":"Adele Goodman Clark papers","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Adele+Goodman+Clark+papers\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Admiral John Randolph Tucker Papers","value":"Admiral John Randolph Tucker Papers","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Admiral+John+Randolph+Tucker+Papers\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Alexander Farish Robertson Papers","value":"Alexander Farish Robertson Papers","hits":3},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Alexander+Farish+Robertson+Papers\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Alexander Haight family collection","value":"Alexander Haight family collection","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Alexander+Haight+family+collection\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Alumni Association Records","value":"Alumni Association Records","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Alumni+Association+Records\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Ancella Bickley, Historian, Research Papers regarding African-Americans","value":"Ancella Bickley, Historian, Research Papers regarding African-Americans","hits":9},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Ancella+Bickley%2C+Historian%2C+Research+Papers+regarding+African-Americans\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Armistead Boothe Papers (MS164)","value":"Armistead Boothe Papers (MS164)","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Armistead+Boothe+Papers+%28MS164%29\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1896\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Atkeson-Morgan Family Papers","value":"Atkeson-Morgan Family 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