{"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1899\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=5","prev":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1899\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=4","next":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1899\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6","last":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1899\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=51"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":5,"next_page":6,"prev_page":4,"total_pages":51,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":40,"total_count":510,"first_page?":false,"last_page?":false}},"data":[{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"B. Audit","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c02","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c02"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c16_c02","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","B. Audit","6 volumes and 5 index volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"B. Audit","title_ssm":["B. Audit"],"title_tesim":["B. Audit"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1881-1902"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1881/1902"],"normalized_title_ssm":["B. Audit"],"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 and 5 index volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":81,"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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#15/components#1","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_c02"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c04_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"B. Bills received","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c04_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c04_c02","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c04_c02"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c04_c02","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c04","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c04","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c04"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c04"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Bills"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Bills"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Bills","B. Bills received","29 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"B. Bills received","title_ssm":["B. Bills received"],"title_tesim":["B. Bills received"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1894-1926"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1894/1926"],"normalized_title_ssm":["B. Bills received"],"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":["29 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":17,"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#3/components#1","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_c04_c02"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c06_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"B. Cashbooks, Miscellaneous","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c06_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c06_c02","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c06_c02"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c06_c02","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c06","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c06","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c06"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c06"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Cashbooks"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Cashbooks"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Cashbooks","B. Cashbooks, Miscellaneous","6 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"B. Cashbooks, Miscellaneous","title_ssm":["B. Cashbooks, Miscellaneous"],"title_tesim":["B. Cashbooks, Miscellaneous"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1879-1923"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1879/1923"],"normalized_title_ssm":["B. Cashbooks, Miscellaneous"],"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":22,"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#5/components#1","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_c06_c02"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c18_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"B. Chronological sequence, including\n accounts and other records, not presently\n identified","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c18_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c18_c02","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c18_c02"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c18_c02","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c18","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c18","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c18"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c18"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Miscellaneous"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Miscellaneous"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Miscellaneous","B. Chronological sequence, including\n accounts and other records, not presently\n identified","13 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"B. Chronological sequence, including\n accounts and other records, not presently\n identified","title_ssm":["B. Chronological sequence, including\n accounts and other records, not presently\n identified"],"title_tesim":["B. Chronological sequence, including\n accounts and other records, not presently\n identified"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1881-1925"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1881/1925"],"normalized_title_ssm":["B. Chronological sequence, including\n accounts and other records, not presently\n identified"],"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":["13 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":103,"date_range_isim":[1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#17/components#1","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_c18_c02"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"B. Furnaces; includes numbered series,\n 1-7","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c02","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c02"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c25_c02","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","B. Furnaces; includes numbered series,\n 1-7","10 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"B. Furnaces; includes numbered series,\n 1-7","title_ssm":["B. Furnaces; includes numbered series,\n 1-7"],"title_tesim":["B. Furnaces; includes numbered series,\n 1-7"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1881-1917"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1881/1917"],"normalized_title_ssm":["B. Furnaces; includes numbered series,\n 1-7"],"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":["10 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":126,"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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#24/components#1","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_c02"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"B. Furnaces; includes scattered records\n of furnaces B, C, 3, 4, 6","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c02","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c02"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21_c02","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c21","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c21"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c21"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Payroll Books"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Payroll Books"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Payroll Books","B. Furnaces; includes scattered records\n of furnaces B, C, 3, 4, 6","8 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"B. Furnaces; includes scattered records\n of furnaces B, C, 3, 4, 6","title_ssm":["B. Furnaces; includes scattered records\n of furnaces B, C, 3, 4, 6"],"title_tesim":["B. Furnaces; includes scattered records\n of furnaces B, C, 3, 4, 6"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1883-1917"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1883/1917"],"normalized_title_ssm":["B. Furnaces; includes scattered records\n of furnaces B, C, 3, 4, 6"],"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":["8 volumes"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":111,"date_range_isim":[1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#20/components#1","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_c21_c02"}},{"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Biographical Information","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05_c01","ref_ssm":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05_c01"],"id":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05_c01","ead_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","_root_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","_nest_parent_":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05","parent_ssi":"viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05","parent_ssim":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290","viblbv_repositories_2_resources_1290_c05"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers","Series V. John S. Apperson Papers"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers","Series V. John S. Apperson Papers"],"text":["Black, Kent, and Apperson Family Papers","Series V. John S. Apperson Papers","Biographical Information","box 9","folder 1-2"],"title_filing_ssi":"Biographical Information","title_ssm":["Biographical Information"],"title_tesim":["Biographical Information"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1898, 1907"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1898/1907"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Biographical Information"],"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":0,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":82,"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":[1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907],"containers_ssim":["box 9","folder 1-2"],"_nest_path_":"/components#4/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_c05_c01"}},{"id":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Biography","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01_c01#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eThis series is related to the duPont genealogy in France and the United States, family relics, and tributes to Alfred I. duPont. It also includes correspondence and notes and galley sheets by Marquis James in preparation for publication of his biography, \"Alfred I. duPont: The Family Rebel.\"\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01_c01","ref_ssm":["vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01_c01"],"id":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01_c01","ead_ssi":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572","_root_":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572","_nest_parent_":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01","parent_ssi":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01","parent_ssim":["vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572","vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572","vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["duPont family papers","Alfred I. Du Pont papers"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["duPont family papers","Alfred I. Du Pont papers"],"text":["duPont family papers","Alfred I. Du Pont papers","Biography","Nemours (Greenville, Del. : Dwelling)","St. Stephen's Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)","Du Pont De Nemours Cemetery Company","E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company","Delaware Trust Company","Alfred I. Du Pont School District","Bobbs-Merrill Company","Du Pont Family","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Jakes, T. W. (Thomas Webber) (Thomas Webber Jakes ), 1867-1945","Gentieu, Frederick, 1872-1951","Gentieu, Celeste, 1879-1971","Bakewell-Green, Estelle, 1870-1956","Spooner, W. W. (Walter Whipple), 1861-1922","Du Pont, T. Coleman (Thomas Coleman), 1863-1930","Du Pont, Ernest, 1880-1944","Maxwell, George T. (Gee Tee), 1895-1965","Du Pont, Samuel Francis, 1803-1865","Heitmuller, Anton H. F. (Anton Henry F.), 1859-1943","Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826","de Morant, V. G. (Victor Georges), 1878-1961","Archibald, S. G., fl. 1912-1920","Du Pont, Pauline Foster, 1849-1902","Conrad, Henry C. (Henry Clay), 1852-1930","Johnson, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1856-1921","Ingersoll, Ralph (Ralph McAllister), 1900-1985","Du Pont, Pierre S. (Pierre Samuel), 1870-1954","Du Pont, E. Paul (Eleuthère Paul), 1887-1950","Stetser, Albert, 1886-1968","Du Pont, Eleuthère Irénée, 1771-1834","Du Pont, Mary Van Dyke, 1826-1909","Parker, E. W. (Eben Walter)","Lee, Maurice du Pont, 1885-1974","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Ruoff, Madeleine Mary Du Pont, 1887-1965","Macomber, Susan G.","MacGregor, Mary Alicia Maddox Du Pont, 1903-1975","Goldsborough, Edith","Du Pont, Mary Alicia Heyward Bradford, 1875-1920","Du Pont, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1900-1970","Hilles, Charles Dewey, 1867-1949","Huidekoper, Bessie Cazenove Du Pont, 1889-1973","Huidekoper, Reginald Shippen, 1876-1943","Du Pont, Victorine Elise, 1903-1965","Du Pont, Margaret (Margery) May Fitz Gerald, 1866-1951","Gray, R. A. (Robert Andrew), 1882-1975","Martinez, Joseph D.","Du Pont, Marcella Miller (1903-09-09-1985-09)","Mathewson, S. Frank","Connor, Ellen","James, Marquis, 1891-1955","Massey, Anne","Maxwell, T. J.","Chabannes, Jean-Pierre, Comte de Chabannes, 1862-1928","English","This series is related to the duPont genealogy in France and the United States, family relics, and tributes to Alfred I. duPont. It also includes correspondence and notes and galley sheets by Marquis James in preparation for publication of his biography, \"Alfred I. duPont: The Family Rebel.\""],"title_filing_ssi":"Biography","title_ssm":["Biography"],"title_tesim":["Biography"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1897-1950"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1897/1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Biography"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library"],"collection_ssim":["duPont family papers"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":2,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":2,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["The collection is open for research use."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections."],"date_range_isim":[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],"names_ssim":["Nemours (Greenville, Del. : Dwelling)","St. Stephen's Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)","Du Pont De Nemours Cemetery Company","E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company","Delaware Trust Company","Alfred I. Du Pont School District","Bobbs-Merrill Company","Du Pont Family","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Jakes, T. W. (Thomas Webber) (Thomas Webber Jakes ), 1867-1945","Gentieu, Frederick, 1872-1951","Gentieu, Celeste, 1879-1971","Bakewell-Green, Estelle, 1870-1956","Spooner, W. W. (Walter Whipple), 1861-1922","Du Pont, T. Coleman (Thomas Coleman), 1863-1930","Du Pont, Ernest, 1880-1944","Maxwell, George T. (Gee Tee), 1895-1965","Du Pont, Samuel Francis, 1803-1865","Heitmuller, Anton H. F. (Anton Henry F.), 1859-1943","Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826","de Morant, V. G. (Victor Georges), 1878-1961","Archibald, S. G., fl. 1912-1920","Du Pont, Pauline Foster, 1849-1902","Conrad, Henry C. (Henry Clay), 1852-1930","Johnson, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1856-1921","Ingersoll, Ralph (Ralph McAllister), 1900-1985","Du Pont, Pierre S. (Pierre Samuel), 1870-1954","Du Pont, E. Paul (Eleuthère Paul), 1887-1950","Stetser, Albert, 1886-1968","Du Pont, Eleuthère Irénée, 1771-1834","Du Pont, Mary Van Dyke, 1826-1909","Parker, E. W. (Eben Walter)","Lee, Maurice du Pont, 1885-1974","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Ruoff, Madeleine Mary Du Pont, 1887-1965","Macomber, Susan G.","MacGregor, Mary Alicia Maddox Du Pont, 1903-1975","Goldsborough, Edith","Du Pont, Mary Alicia Heyward Bradford, 1875-1920","Du Pont, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1900-1970","Hilles, Charles Dewey, 1867-1949","Huidekoper, Bessie Cazenove Du Pont, 1889-1973","Huidekoper, Reginald Shippen, 1876-1943","Du Pont, Victorine Elise, 1903-1965","Du Pont, Margaret (Margery) May Fitz Gerald, 1866-1951","Gray, R. A. (Robert Andrew), 1882-1975","Martinez, Joseph D.","Du Pont, Marcella Miller (1903-09-09-1985-09)","Mathewson, S. Frank","Connor, Ellen","James, Marquis, 1891-1955","Massey, Anne","Maxwell, T. J.","Chabannes, Jean-Pierre, Comte de Chabannes, 1862-1928"],"corpname_ssim":["Nemours (Greenville, Del. : Dwelling)","St. Stephen's Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)","Du Pont De Nemours Cemetery Company","E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company","Delaware Trust Company","Alfred I. Du Pont School District","Bobbs-Merrill Company"],"famname_ssim":["Du Pont Family"],"persname_ssim":["Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Jakes, T. W. (Thomas Webber) (Thomas Webber Jakes ), 1867-1945","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Gentieu, Frederick, 1872-1951","Gentieu, Celeste, 1879-1971","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Bakewell-Green, Estelle, 1870-1956","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Spooner, W. W. (Walter Whipple), 1861-1922","Du Pont, T. Coleman (Thomas Coleman), 1863-1930","Du Pont, Ernest, 1880-1944","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Maxwell, George T. (Gee Tee), 1895-1965","Du Pont, Samuel Francis, 1803-1865","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Heitmuller, Anton H. F. (Anton Henry F.), 1859-1943","Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Spooner, W. W. (Walter Whipple), 1861-1922","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","de Morant, V. G. (Victor Georges), 1878-1961","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Archibald, S. G., fl. 1912-1920","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Pauline Foster, 1849-1902","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Conrad, Henry C. (Henry Clay), 1852-1930","Johnson, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1856-1921","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Ingersoll, Ralph (Ralph McAllister), 1900-1985","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Pierre S. (Pierre Samuel), 1870-1954","Du Pont, E. Paul (Eleuthère Paul), 1887-1950","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Stetser, Albert, 1886-1968","Du Pont, Eleuthère Irénée, 1771-1834","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Mary Van Dyke, 1826-1909","Parker, E. W. (Eben Walter)","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, T. Coleman (Thomas Coleman), 1863-1930","Lee, Maurice du Pont, 1885-1974","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Ruoff, Madeleine Mary Du Pont, 1887-1965","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Macomber, Susan G.","MacGregor, Mary Alicia Maddox Du Pont, 1903-1975","Goldsborough, Edith","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Mary Alicia Heyward Bradford, 1875-1920","Du Pont, Pierre S. (Pierre Samuel), 1870-1954","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1900-1970","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Hilles, Charles Dewey, 1867-1949","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Huidekoper, Bessie Cazenove Du Pont, 1889-1973","Huidekoper, Reginald Shippen, 1876-1943","Du Pont, Victorine Elise, 1903-1965","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Du Pont, Margaret (Margery) May Fitz Gerald, 1866-1951","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Gray, R. A. (Robert Andrew), 1882-1975","Martinez, Joseph D.","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Marcella Miller (1903-09-09-1985-09)","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Mathewson, S. Frank","Connor, Ellen","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","James, Marquis, 1891-1955","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","James, Marquis, 1891-1955","Massey, Anne","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","James, Marquis, 1891-1955","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Maxwell, T. J.","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Chabannes, Jean-Pierre, Comte de Chabannes, 1862-1928","Du Pont, Mary Alicia Heyward Bradford, 1875-1920","James, Marquis, 1891-1955","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935"],"language_ssim":["English"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis series is related to the duPont genealogy in France and the United States, family relics, and tributes to Alfred I. duPont. It also includes correspondence and notes and galley sheets by Marquis James in preparation for publication of his biography, \"Alfred I. duPont: The Family Rebel.\"\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This series is related to the duPont genealogy in France and the United States, family relics, and tributes to Alfred I. duPont. It also includes correspondence and notes and galley sheets by Marquis James in preparation for publication of his biography, \"Alfred I. duPont: The Family Rebel.\""],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-20T21:30:16.538Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572","ead_ssi":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572","_root_":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572","_nest_parent_":"vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/WLU/repositories_5_resources_572.xml","title_ssm":["duPont family papers"],"title_tesim":["duPont family papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1897-1950"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1897-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["WLU.Coll.0169","/repositories/5/resources/572"],"text":["WLU.Coll.0169","/repositories/5/resources/572","duPont family papers","Correspondence","Photographs","The collection is open for research use.","The Alfred I. Du Pont Nemours papers consist of those Du Pont manuscripts which were maintained at Nemours, the family estate in Wilmington, Delaware. At some point they were shipped to the offices of the Jessie Ball Du Pont Religious, Charitable and Educational Fund in Jacksonville, Florida. As designated by Jessie Ball duPont in her will, the Nemours papers were donated to Washington and Lee University, along with the duPont family papers located in Jacksonville. Because of their distinct provenance it was decided to process the papers from Nemours as a separate series rather than integrating them into the Alfred I. Du Pont Jacksonville papers or into the Jessie Ball Du Pont Papers.","The original finding aid was funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in partnership with the History Associates Incorporated in 2001. Edits to this description for injest into ArchivesSpace were made by Graham McKemy and Mattie Clear in 2023.","This series is related to the duPont genealogy in France and the United States, family relics, and tributes to Alfred I. duPont. It also includes correspondence and notes and galley sheets by Marquis James in preparation for publication of his biography, \"Alfred I. duPont: The Family Rebel.\"","Items selected by Jesse Ball duPont, 1874-1940.","This series contains correspondence and legal documents relating to Alfred's relationship with his three wives and his children. His detailed correspondence with his adopted daughter Alicia through her childhood and early married years in Europe present an especially detailed picture of the lifestyle and spending habits of an extremely wealthy family. Alfred also carried on a lifelong correspondence with his daughter Madeleine who settled in Munich, Germany. Letters exchanged with his brother Maurice document the rise and fall of the powder business, other business activities, and numerous social events. Alfred's especially candid letters with his older sister Marguerite, whom it is said, was the only person he feared, reveal his most intimate thoughts and activities.","This series is made up of Alfred's extensive correspondence with cousins, nieces, and nephews, many of whom received his financial support. These included members of his third wife Jessie's family whom he adopted as his own. In his letters to his children he was especially warm and lighthearted, showing a side of his character which was not always evident in adult relations.","This series consists of correspondence between Alfred and his closest friends throughout his lifetime. Principal correspondents include James Hackett, a noted, flamboyant actor; Jimmy L. Dashiell, musician, entrepreneur, and one-time business manager of the duPont Company; and Dr. Charles Hanby, friend, family physician, and collaborator in many charitable enterprises.","Records contain correspondence regarding the operation of the Wilmington Morning News and other newspapers and their duPont influenced editorial policy. Other records related to E. M. Davis and T. W. Jakes, political informants on the duPont payroll, and Alfred's views on women's suffrage, World War I, welfare reform, and a host of other topics.","Business records document the early days of the duPont Powder Company at the turn of the century to its breakup in 1915. Included is correspondence between Alfred, his cousin,Frank Cazenove Jones, and his brother, Maurice duPont. The details of the duPont family lawsuit are covered, including the reports of lawyers and private detectives. Banking ventures, the Nemours Trading Co., a variety of business and real estate ventures, and Alfred's 1912 activities in Paris are included.","Intimate details of the duPont family are documented. Subjects include: deafness, storage of furs, jewels, purchase of antiques, intimate articles, home furnishings, clubs, personal views, poetry, and musical compositions by Alfred.","This series deals with Alfred's vast interest and knowledge of automobiles, pumps, machinery, and gadgets. It documents his lifelong preoccupation with the design and construction of yachts, particularly the Nenemoosha.","Alfred's Delaware estate, Nemours, was another lifelong project. These records document earliest plans and stages of construction. Correspondence with contractors describes details of decorations, placement of monuments, water systems, supervision of staff, purchase of antiques, decorating, landscaping, supplies, and operation of the \"Blue Ball\" farm as part of the estate.","The wide variety of duPont charities is documented. The record begins with Alfred's earliest doling out of small payments to the needy in his community to the establishment of hospitals and the reform of the welfare system for the state of Delaware. Alfred's increased interest in charities during the Great Depression is documented.","Florida records include correspondence with Edward Ball, Alfred's brother-in-law and business manager. Included are banking reports and records related to construction and upkeep of Epping Forest as well as Nemours.","The Nemours Papers are part of the Du Pont Family Collection and consist of 15 linear feet of records dating from 1831 to 1947. The bulk of the material dates from 1915 to 1935 and reflects the business, financial, and family affairs of Alfred I. duPont (1864-1935). In addition, the Papers include some of the records of Alfred's second wife, Alicia Bradford Maddox duPont (1875-1920), and his third wife, Jessie Ball duPont (1884-1970).","Document types include personal and business correspondence, as well as legal documents, which relate primarily to patents and to several lawsuits in which Alfred I. duPont was involved. Business and financial records relate to family matters, such as Alfred I. duPont's guardianship of Alicia Amory Maddox, as well as to professional interests such as mining. The Papers include printed materials, such as clippings, pamphlets, and magazine articles. They also contain a large number of photographs documenting the family and social lives of Alfred I. and Jessie Ball duPont.","The Alfred I. duPont Nemours Papers have been arranged as six series: Correspondence, Business and Financial Records, Legal Records, General, Printed Materials, and Photographs.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","The Wilmington Morning News Building design drawings (in pencil) have been transferred to Oversize collection storage.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections.","Washington and Lee University, University Library Special Collections and Archives","Nemours (Greenville, Del. : Dwelling)","St. Stephen's Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)","Du Pont De Nemours Cemetery Company","E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company","Delaware Trust Company","Alfred I. Du Pont School District","Bobbs-Merrill Company","Davis \u0026 Brother, Inc.","Richards \u0026 Affeld","Brentano's (Firm)","Tiffany Studios (New York, N.Y.). Ecclesiastical Department","Carrère \u0026 Hastings","St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (Norwood, Pennsylvania)","Battle Creek Sanitarium (Battle Creek, Mich.)","Massena and Du Pont","Phillips Academy","Bordentown Military Institute","Harriman Naitonal Bank","Du Pont Maternity Hospital","Wilmington Morning News","Every Evening Wilmington","Wilmington (Del.). Department of Police","Delaware Ledger","Okonite Company","Service Citizens of Delaware","Atlas Powder Company","East Texas Oil, Gas, and Mineral Company","Rocky Mountain National Bank","American International Oil Corporation","Cambridge Yacht Club","Edmund Kelly Real Estate","The Club-Fellow \u0026 Washington Mirror","Glaze \u0026 Fine law firm","New York World","United States. Department of the Treasury","Equitable Guarantee and Trust Co.","Tonkin Du Pont Graphite Co.","Harriman National Bank","Corn Exchange National Bank","Franklin Trust Company (Philadelphia, PA)","Public Service Company of Colorado","Denver Gas and Electric Light Co.","The First National Bank of the City of New York","French American Constructive Corporation","Nemours Trading Corporation","E.I. du Pont de Nemours \u0026 Company","Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company","Brandywine Realty","Delaware Barber Company","Delaware State Chamber of Commerce","Everett Railway, Light and Water Company","Hotel du Pont","Harding Peeling Machine Company","Liberty Brand Canning Company","Delaware Packing Company","Gorham Manufacturing Company","McLean Contracting Company","Crosby and Hill Company","General Acoustic Company","George Tiemann and Company","Miller and Cleghorn","E. A. Myers and Sons","Sonotone Corporation","Auratone Incorporated","William F. Murphy's Sons","Mercantile Printing Company","The Dreka Company","Cann Brothers and Kinding Incorporated","Hughes and Muller Tailoring","Mann and Dilks","Buckeye Shirt Company","Gene-Vall Cigar Company, Incorporated","Jung Arch Brace Company","Rand McNally and Company","H. W. Fisher and Company","J.E. Caldwell \u0026 Co","Waltham Watch Company","Wall and Ochs ","Bonschur and Holmes","Franklin Simon \u0026 Co","Boué Soeurs","Grande Maison de Blanc","Faultless Manufacturing Company","George L. Starks and Company","National Association of Retail Clothiers and Furnishers","New Process Company","John Morrell \u0026 Co","Pathéscope (Firm)","Bell \u0026 Howell Co","Montana State Prison","Unexcelled Manufacturing Company","Ritz-Carlton Hotels (Firm)","Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (U.S.)","United States. Post Office Department","National Horse Show Association of America","United States Lines Company","Social Register Association (U.S.)","Du Pont Bridge Club","G. Schirmer, Inc","Kny-Scheerer Company","Robinson Electric Manufacturing Company","Westchester Country Club (Rye, N.Y.)","Bankers Club of America","Beaver Lake Club","Congressional Country Club","Winchester Repeating Arms Company","Remington Arms Company","National Rifle Association of America","Jonas Bros. Taxidermy","Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company","A.G. Spalding \u0026 Bros","Abercrombie \u0026 Fitch","Graybar Electric Company inc","Pinkerton's National Detective Agency","League of Nations","United States Naval Academy","Delaware Automobile Association","International Harvester Company","Foss-Hughes Company","Rushmore Dynamo Works","Ford Motor Company","New York Edison Company","E. Rosenfeld and Company","Miniature Breaker Company","Packard Motor Car Company","Rolls-Royce of America","New York (State). Bureau of Motor Vehicles","Fortune Magazine","Toppan Boat Manufacturing Company","Shelton Electric Company","General Electric Company","Consilidated Gas and Gasoline Engine Company","Automatic Electrical Devices Company","New York Yacht Club","Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping (Firm)","Schenck and Schenck Insurance Agents and Brokers","United States. Hydrographic Office","Cox and Stevens","New London Ship and Engine Company","Wilmington Sunday Star","Western Pump Company","American Car and Foundry Company","Kelvinator","William J. Highfield General Insurance","Fire Association of Philadelphia","Marine Basin Company","Scott \u0026 Fowles (Firm)","Marine Construction Company","Yorktown Yacht Club","Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation","Cooper-Bessemer Corporation","Henry J. Gielow, Incorporated","Mathis Yacht Building Company","Earl H. Croft, Incorporated","Broward County Port Authority","Keil Motor Company","Huckins Yacht Corporation","The Universal Horticultural Establishment, Incorporated","Winslow Bros. Company","Booth, Garrett and Blair","Otis Elevator Company","J.L. Mott Iron Works","Wilmington (Del.). Water Department","The Spur","James Boyd and Brothers","Ajax Fire Engine Works","Saks \u0026 Company (New York, N.Y.)","Remington Machine Company","Polar Water Still Company","Vacuum Engineering Company","Spencer Turbine Cleaner Company","Diamond Ice and Coal Company","Huyler's (Firm)","Robinson and Payne","Pitt and Scott","Armstrong Seatag Corporation","J. L. Kraft and Brothers Company","G. Washington Coffee Refining Company","James Rowland and Company","C. V. Floyd Fruit Company","Henry R. Hallowell and Son","Belle Meade Farm","Hearn Brothers","Mouquin, incorporated","Walter Hawkins Fruit","Maerose Fruit Corporation of Texas","Chappel Brothers Incorporated","Magasins du Louvre","E. Gimpel and Wildenstein","Steinway \u0026 Sons","W. \u0026 J. Sloane","E.F. Hodgson Co","Tiffany and Company","Theodore B. Starr","George F. Barnes, Incorporated","Gilman Collamore and Company","William T. Stuart, Incorporated","Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)","Museum of Fine Arts, Boston","Seth Thomas Clock Company","Litchfield and Company","Aero Service Corporation","Rau Studios, Incorporated","Lewis \u0026 Conger","Samuel Kirk and Son","Davis Collamore and Company","Edmondson Warrin","Universal Appraisal Company","C. J. Benson and Company, Incorporated","S. P. Sulo Furniture Company","Bryant and Heffernan, Incorporated","Port Clinton Fish Company","Henry F. Michell Co","William H. Moon Company","Pierson U-Bar Company","Hitchings \u0026 Co","Wadley and Smythe","Skinner Irrigation Company","Ideal Power Lawn Mower Company","Coldwell Lawn Mower Company","Philadelphia Lawn Mower Company","Campbell Irrigation Company","John Polachek Bronze and Iron Works Company","Glen Brothers, Incorporated","Munson Whitaker Company","United States. Bureau of Forestry","Du Pont Gun Club","B. Ridgway and Son","Architectural Decorating Company","Johnson Service Company","Frigidaire Corporation","Tirrill Gas Machine Lighting Company","Manning Manufacturing Company","Oliver Oil Gas Burner and Machine Company","George W. McCaulley and Son Company","American Ironing Machine Co","Geyser Electric Washing Machine Company","Savage firearms","Church Art Work Company","Aladdin Company","Permutit Company","Smyth Construction Company","E. T. Burrowes","Wolfe and Adams","The Master Company","Bliss Exterminator Company","Verm-O-Spray","United Cork Flooring Company","Loomis-Manning Filter Distributing Company","Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company","Blue Ball Farm (Wilmington, DE)","Andover Ambulance Corps.","Ward, Gray, and Neary","Young Men's Christian Association (Wilmington, De.)","Cambridge Maternity Hospital","National Organization for Public Health Nursing (U.S.)","St. John's Rectory (Milford, DE)","University of Delaware","Staunton Military Academy","Wharton Grove Camp Ground","College of William \u0026 Mary","Kent General Hospital (Dover, DE)","Cathedral School of St. John the Divine","American Association for Old Age Security","Delaware Old Age Welfare Commission","Delaware Old Age Pension Fund","Delaware. Department of Public Instruction","Alfred I. Du Pont School (Talleyville, DE)","Delaware. State Board of Education","Industrial Trust Company","Delaware State Aid Society","Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation","Florida National Bank","First National Bank (Panama City, FL)","Du Pont Family","La Motte","Ball family","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Jakes, T. W. (Thomas Webber) (Thomas Webber Jakes ), 1867-1945","Gentieu, Frederick, 1872-1951","Gentieu, Celeste, 1879-1971","Bakewell-Green, Estelle, 1870-1956","Spooner, W. W. (Walter Whipple), 1861-1922","Du Pont, T. Coleman (Thomas Coleman), 1863-1930","Du Pont, Ernest, 1880-1944","Maxwell, George T. (Gee Tee), 1895-1965","Du Pont, Samuel Francis, 1803-1865","Heitmuller, Anton H. F. (Anton Henry F.), 1859-1943","Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826","de Morant, V. G. (Victor Georges), 1878-1961","Archibald, S. G., fl. 1912-1920","Du Pont, Pauline Foster, 1849-1902","Conrad, Henry C. (Henry Clay), 1852-1930","Johnson, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1856-1921","Ingersoll, Ralph (Ralph McAllister), 1900-1985","Du Pont, Pierre S. (Pierre Samuel), 1870-1954","Du Pont, E. Paul (Eleuthère Paul), 1887-1950","Stetser, Albert, 1886-1968","Du Pont, Eleuthère Irénée, 1771-1834","Du Pont, Mary Van Dyke, 1826-1909","Parker, E. W. (Eben Walter)","Lee, Maurice du Pont, 1885-1974","Ruoff, Madeleine Mary Du Pont, 1887-1965","Macomber, Susan G.","MacGregor, Mary Alicia Maddox Du Pont, 1903-1975","Goldsborough, Edith","Du Pont, Mary Alicia Heyward Bradford, 1875-1920","Du Pont, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1900-1970","Hilles, Charles Dewey, 1867-1949","Huidekoper, Bessie Cazenove Du Pont, 1889-1973","Huidekoper, Reginald Shippen, 1876-1943","Du Pont, Victorine Elise, 1903-1965","Du Pont, Margaret (Margery) May Fitz Gerald, 1866-1951","Gray, R. A. (Robert Andrew), 1882-1975","Martinez, Joseph D.","Du Pont, Marcella Miller (1903-09-09-1985-09)","Mathewson, S. Frank","Connor, Ellen","James, Marquis, 1891-1955","Massey, Anne","Maxwell, T. J.","Chabannes, Jean-Pierre, Comte de Chabannes, 1862-1928","Du Pont, B. G. (Bessie Gardner), 1864-1949","Du Pont, Elizabeth Gardner, 1864-1949","Copeland, Charles, 1867-1944","Mann, Harrington, 1864-1937","Dent, Victorine Elise Du Pont, 1903-1965","Davidson, C. Frank","Du Pont, Samuel, 1910","Du Pont, Eluthera Paulina, 1912","Shears, W. C., Rev., d. ca. 1928","Shears, Ethel","Hastings, Thomas, 1860-1929","Dent, Elbert, 1895-1965","von Frantzius, Ida","Tripp, Marie A.","Glendening, Harold Sanford, 1896-1990","Glendening, Alan Sanford, 1923-1979","Zapffe, Adelaide Camille Du Pont, 1915-2000","Hiebler, Max, 1887-1957","Hiebler, Benno Lorenz, 1914-1980","Ruoff, Hermann","Hiebler, Alfred Friedrich, 1915-1991","Hiebler, Bayard Wilson \"Max\", 1911-1945","Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945","Lee, Marguerite Du Pont, 1862-1936","Du Pont, Charlotte Louise, 1893-1972","Massena, Gabriel Francois, 1902-1945","Crane, Clara Isabel (Claris), 1880-1968","Crane, Sarah (Sadie) D., 1891-1970","Du Pont, Francis I. (Francis Irénée), 1873-1942","Du Pont, H. A. (Henry Algernon), 1838-1926","Du Pont, Nesta Pamela, 1903-1973","Duvall, Maria C. L. (Cumming Lamar), 1869-1957","Ellett, Katherine Gresham Tyler, 1909-2003","Francis, Olga M. (Olga Mary), 1904-2011","Gravely, Julian S. (\"Gin Gin\"), Mrs.","Gresham, Hattie Bell (\"de Blub\"), 1880-1964","Haile, Ella Grisham, 1845-1938","Jesse, Eoline C. (Eoline Carter) Ball, 1890-1989","La Motte, Arthur, 1871-1947","Eaton, George \"Pap\" Thomas, 1856-1937","La Motte, Ellen N. (Ellen Newbold), 1873-1961","La Motte, Ferdinand, Jr., 1879-1961","La Motte, Theodore R. (\"Cap\"), 1863-ca. 1931","Du Pont, Lammot, 1880-1952","Lee, Cazenove Gardner, 1882-1945","Lee, Dorothy Vandegrift, 1886-1972","Lee, Richard H. (Richard Henry), 1918-1940","Lee, Geraldine \"Gerry\" Shaw, b. 1889","Du Pont Lee, Marguerite, 1914-2004","Lee, Katherine, 1885-1968","Lee, Charlotte, 1921-2014","Du Pont Lee, Maurice, Jr., 1925-2020","Du Pont, Maurice (1866-1941)","Taylor, Archibald H., b. ca. 1851-d. 1928","Tyler, Frances Beale, 1911-2003","Wright, Thomas Ball Winston, 1909-1964","Adams, Floride Harding, 1887-1965","Harding, Rebecca W., 1882-1982","Ball, Isabella Louise, 1882-1971","Baker, N. Addison (Nehemiah Addison), 1882-1973","Baker, Jessie Gresham, 1918-1995","Ball, Maria Louisa, 1846-1932","Ball, Thomas , Jr., 1879-1960","Jesse, James D. (James DeJarnette), 1885-1962","Ball, A. L. C. (Addison Lombard Carter), 1876-1934","Bowley, Elsie Ball Wright, 1886-1972","Wright, Bayard W. (Bayard Winston), 1886-1940","Quigley, James P., Rev., 1862-1925","Troubetzkoy, Pierre, 1864-1936","Kirkus, Frederick M. (Frederick Maurice), Rev., 1862-1939","Brereton, Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1887-1964","Bayard Angell, Louisa Lee, 1870-1944","Bowley, Albert Jesse, 1875-1945","Dashiell, J. L. (James \"Jimmy\" Lambert), 1870-1950","DeShields, Henry C. (Henry Carrington), 1870-1937","Dubell, Charles Bratten, Rev., 1871-1952","Dunn, B. W. (Beverly Wyly), Colonel, 1860-1936","Francis, Lucy Elphinstone Smith Maitland, b. ca. 1865","Glasgow, William A., Mrs.","Hackett, James Keteltas, 1869-1926","Hanby, Charles M., Dr., 1874-1944","Kyle, Margaret B. Hanby, 1904-1966","Seagle, Oscar","Harding, Frances (Fanny) Jane Ball, 1858-1924","Joyner, Sterling J., b. 1874","Lee, Baker P. (Baker Perkins), Rev., 1870-1942","Lee, Lulu Skinner, 1870-1946","Vaughn, Bertha Hayes, 1884-1932","Young, Emily Riddle Hill, 1862-1959","Pizek, Stanley R., b. ca. 1885","Goldsborough, Phillips Lee, 1865-1946","Reybold, F. K. (Frederick K.), 1874-1969","Allee, J. Frank (James Frank), 1857-1938","Buck, Clayton Douglass, 1890-1965","Griffenberg, E. B. (Elwood Bryan), Senator, 1875-1963","Bradford, E. G. (Edward Green), Jr., Representative, 1878-1927","Hilles, Florence Bayard, 1866-1954","Pennewill, Simeon S. (Simeon Selby), Governor, 1867-1935","Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919","Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945","Davis, E. M. (Edward Milford), b.1887","Layton, Daniel J. (Daniel John), 1879-1960","Short, I. D. (Isaac Dolphus), 1875-1953","Hurley, Patrick J. (Patrick Jay), 1883-1963","Coolidge, Calvin (John Calvin), 1872-1933","Walls, J. E.","Black, George, 1868-1942","Horwitz, George Q. (George Quintard), 1868-1916","Beardslee, L. R. (Lisle Rhodes), 1879-1963","Connable, Frank L. (Frank Lee), 1871-1947","Du Pont, Alexis I. (Alexis Irénée), 1869-1921","Dunham, R. H. (Russell Harry), 1870-1958","Du Pont, Irénée, 1876-1963","Reese, Charles L. (Charles Lee), 1862-1940","Darling, Philip G. (Philip Greenville), 1878-1948","Stirling, Thomas J., 1848-1926","Gentieu, Pierre A. (Pierre Auguste), 10215","Cazenove, Louis A. (Louis Albert), 1851-1925","Jones, Frank Cazenove, Jr., 1887-1949","Raskob, John J. (John Jakob), 1879-1950","Scott, William L. (William Levi), 1857-1934","Prickett, C. D. (Clifford Denslow), 1863-1949","Ramsay, William G. (William Gouverneur), 1866-1916","Cauffiel, Daniel, 1867-1930","Gregory, Thomas Watt, 1861-1933","Du Pont, William, 1855-1928","Crosby, H. T. (Howard T.), 1880-1928","Ross, Howard D. (Howard DeHaven), b. 1872","Miller, Robert W., 1890-1943","Hassan, A. A. (Addison A.), b. ca.1857- d.1935","Eckersley, J. H. (James H.), b. ca. 1857- d.1921","Browne, Hugh C.","Harrison, D. B. (Duncan B.), Major","Scott, Temple, b. 1864","Glasgow, William A. (William Anderson), Jr., 1865-1930","Jones, Frank Cazenove, Sr., 1857-1918","Loos, Henry B. (Henry Beatty), 1892-1918","Rogers, James H. (James Hague), 1848-1919","Thompson, J. Clayton (John Clayton), b. 1874","Bielaski, A. Bruce (Alexander Bruce), 1851-1926","Du Pont Perot, Eleanor Ball, 1875-1934","Cate, Isaac M., 1838-1923","Lewis, Howard Benton, 1867-1946","Penington, Robert, b. 1874","Miles, Joshua W. (Joshua Weldon), 1858-1929","Vale, Ruby Ross, 1874-1961","Harriman, J. W. (Joseph Wright), 1867-1949","Eyre, James K. (James Kline), 1882-1956","Cochran, Thomas, 1871-1936","Archibald, S. G. (Samuel G.), Judge, b. 1875","Harvey, Holstein, 1847-1920","Price, Francis A., 1857-1937","Price, Frederick Somers, b. 1886","Dennison, Ethan Allen, 1881-1954","Davis, Curtis E., 1866-1935","Ball, Edward G. (Edward Gresham), 1888-1981","Phillips, H. R. (Henry Rodney), 1858-1929","Duveen, C. J. (Charles Joel), 1871-1940","Frishmuth, Harriet Whitney, 1880-1980","Novack, David Robert","Stow, Marcellus Henry","Hibbard, Harriet H., 1868-1941","Thomson, Arthur","Campbell, Donald, 1879-1948","Curtis, Chas. (Charles) M., b. 1860","Oliver, Howard T. (Howard Taylor), 1887-1969","McLean, Colin, 1844-1916","Mathewson, S. Frank (Samuel Francis), 1865-1945","Leonard, James C., 1855-1930","Lyell, Robert O. (Robert Oliver), MD, Dr., 1878-1968","Burnam, Curtis F. (Curtis Field), MD, Dr., 1877-1947","Lawton, Thomas, 1878-1947","Bradfield, Edna T. (Edna Turner), 1881-1946","Dodge, Edwin R. (Edwin Rouse), 1860-1934","Lutkin, James, b. 1866","Rau, William Herman, 1855-1920","Bartlett, Jane, 1843-1928","Coffin, Rachel J., b. 1876","Hardy, S. D. (Samuel Drury), 1883-1966","Barthman, F. William (Frederick William), 1865-1935","Macdonald, Arthur Nelson, 1866-1940","Lee, John Thomas, 1875-1953","Evans, Lynwood Ingerville, 1889-1949","Griffith, Eugene Artemus, 1903-1980","Harris, Herrman H. (Herrman Hirsch), Dr., 1883-1936","Brereton, Ruth , 1891-1951","Jannicelli, F. Francis (Francesco Francis), b. 1896","Robinson, J. N. (John Norris), 1865-1960","Fischer, Carl, 1849-1923","Jayne, Horace H. F. (Horace Howard Furness), 1898-1975","Newell, Edward Theodore, 1886-1941","Gravino, Adam, 1889-1962","McCurdy, M. L.","McCurdy, William T.","Hutchison, Miller Reese, Sr., 1876-1944","Carroll, Edward R. (Edward Rotchford), 1887-1952","Carroll, Cosette M., b. 1910","Hoover, Herbert (Herbert Clark), 1874-1964","Shakespeare, Frank H. (Franklin Heverin), 1879-1950","Preston, Lelia Harrison Dew, 1893-1984","Montague, James J. (James Jackson), 1873-1941","Gravely, J. Bland (Judith Bland), 1918-1998","Doty, William Kavanaugh, 1886-1956","Hull, George H. (George Henry), Jr., b. 1867","Brandenberger, Clarence R. (Clarence Richard), 1892-1976","Bowman, Sidney B., b. ca. 1867","Glendinning, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1867-1936","Carey, James L. (James Lucius), b. 1881","Kummerlowe, O. W. (Oscar Waldemar), 1884-1946","Songdahl, Peder Pedersen, Captain, b. 1873","C., McKnight-Smith","Smith, Jesse, Jr., Captain","Bowes, Thomas D. (Thomas David), Jr., 1883-1965","Kaighn, Herbert E. (Herbert Eugene), 1875-1934","Moody, Edmund P., 1857-1931","Smith, Harry A., 1878-1960","Harton, J. Howard (John Howard), 1887-1935","Smyth, James M. (James McKane), 1860-1943","Mack, Edward R. (Edward Resolved), 1876-1944","Horncastle, Thomas, b. ca. 1871","Perry, Roland Hinton, 1870-1941","Tartoue, Pierre, 1888-1974","Salvatore, Victor, 1884-1965","Danton, V. E. (Van Eaton), Dr.","Linding, H. M. (Herman Magnuson), b. 1880","Arthur Edwin, Bye, Dr., 1885-1968","Maugans, J. C. (John Clifford), 1878-1969","Glynn, Elizabeth Frances, 1895-1954","Keller, Ferdinand Hyskull, b. ca. 1870","Schmauk, B. T. (Benjamin Tyson), b. 1853","Judd, Joseph A., 1889-1937","Edwards, Anne C. F.","Potamkin, Barney, b. 1878","Horty, William H., 1861-1931","Manda, W. A. (William A.), b. 1862","McClure, R. L.","Mackensen, William J.","Conwell, H. Ernest (Henry), 1887-1964","Bateman, St. Elmo, 1877-1959","Fullarton, Andrew D. (Anderew Darling), 1878-1939","Roemer, Louise Frances Schenkel, 1894-1985","De Garis, F.","Du Pont Swift, Charles, 1875-1917","Levett, Edith E., b. ca. 1881","Simmonds, Helena Linck, 1882-1954","Goldsborough, Brice W. (Brice Worthington), Dr., 1859-1929","Chinn, J. W. (Joseph W.), Jr., Judge, 1866-1936","Earll, Irene B., b. 1888","Seiss, Ralph W. (Ralph William), Dr., 1861-1926","Wharton, H. M. (Henry Marvin), Rev., 1848-1928","Combs, L.R. (Laurence Rosseau), Rev., 1858-1937","Kay, H. Tyler, b. 1889","Tucker, Beverly R. (Beverly Randolph), Dr., 1874-1945","Robbins, Howard C. (Howard Chandler), 1876-1952","Schulz, Otto","Rossell, John S., 1856-1934","Walls, Laura J. C. (Laura J. Calhoun), 1882-1967","Hill, Jacob V. (Jacob Vincent), 1893-1942","Wickes, James C., Col., b. 1868","Wilson, D. Mifflin (Daniel Mifflin), 1856-1948","Zimmerman, B. John (Bernard John), 1901-1955","Payne, A. A. (Alvin Annon), 1889-1937","Bright, James C., d. 1947","Ottenstein, M. Z. (Morris Zachary), 1898-1993","Linares-Rivas, Jose M.","English"],"unitid_tesim":["WLU.Coll.0169","/repositories/5/resources/572"],"normalized_title_ssm":["duPont family papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["duPont family papers"],"collection_ssim":["duPont family papers"],"repository_ssm":["Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library"],"repository_ssim":["Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library"],"creator_ssm":["Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970"],"creator_ssim":["Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970"],"creators_ssim":["Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970"],"access_terms_ssm":["The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Correspondence","Photographs"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Correspondence","Photographs"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["33 Linear Feet"],"extent_tesim":["33 Linear Feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Photographs"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is open for research use.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["The collection is open for research use."],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Alfred I. Du Pont Nemours papers consist of those Du Pont manuscripts which were maintained at Nemours, the family estate in Wilmington, Delaware. At some point they were shipped to the offices of the Jessie Ball Du Pont Religious, Charitable and Educational Fund in Jacksonville, Florida. As designated by Jessie Ball duPont in her will, the Nemours papers were donated to Washington and Lee University, along with the duPont family papers located in Jacksonville. Because of their distinct provenance it was decided to process the papers from Nemours as a separate series rather than integrating them into the Alfred I. Du Pont Jacksonville papers or into the Jessie Ball Du Pont Papers.\u003c/p\u003e"],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Custodial History"],"custodhist_tesim":["The Alfred I. Du Pont Nemours papers consist of those Du Pont manuscripts which were maintained at Nemours, the family estate in Wilmington, Delaware. At some point they were shipped to the offices of the Jessie Ball Du Pont Religious, Charitable and Educational Fund in Jacksonville, Florida. As designated by Jessie Ball duPont in her will, the Nemours papers were donated to Washington and Lee University, along with the duPont family papers located in Jacksonville. Because of their distinct provenance it was decided to process the papers from Nemours as a separate series rather than integrating them into the Alfred I. Du Pont Jacksonville papers or into the Jessie Ball Du Pont Papers."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e[Identification of item], duPont Family Papers (WLU Coll. 0169), Special Collections and Archives, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["[Identification of item], duPont Family Papers (WLU Coll. 0169), Special Collections and Archives, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe original finding aid was funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in partnership with the History Associates Incorporated in 2001. Edits to this description for injest into ArchivesSpace were made by Graham McKemy and Mattie Clear in 2023.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["The original finding aid was funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in partnership with the History Associates Incorporated in 2001. Edits to this description for injest into ArchivesSpace were made by Graham McKemy and Mattie Clear in 2023."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis series is related to the duPont genealogy in France and the United States, family relics, and tributes to Alfred I. duPont. It also includes correspondence and notes and galley sheets by Marquis James in preparation for publication of his biography, \"Alfred I. duPont: The Family Rebel.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eItems selected by Jesse Ball duPont, 1874-1940.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series contains correspondence and legal documents relating to Alfred's relationship with his three wives and his children. His detailed correspondence with his adopted daughter Alicia through her childhood and early married years in Europe present an especially detailed picture of the lifestyle and spending habits of an extremely wealthy family. Alfred also carried on a lifelong correspondence with his daughter Madeleine who settled in Munich, Germany. Letters exchanged with his brother Maurice document the rise and fall of the powder business, other business activities, and numerous social events. Alfred's especially candid letters with his older sister Marguerite, whom it is said, was the only person he feared, reveal his most intimate thoughts and activities.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series is made up of Alfred's extensive correspondence with cousins, nieces, and nephews, many of whom received his financial support. These included members of his third wife Jessie's family whom he adopted as his own. In his letters to his children he was especially warm and lighthearted, showing a side of his character which was not always evident in adult relations.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series consists of correspondence between Alfred and his closest friends throughout his lifetime. Principal correspondents include James Hackett, a noted, flamboyant actor; Jimmy L. Dashiell, musician, entrepreneur, and one-time business manager of the duPont Company; and Dr. Charles Hanby, friend, family physician, and collaborator in many charitable enterprises.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eRecords contain correspondence regarding the operation of the Wilmington Morning News and other newspapers and their duPont influenced editorial policy. Other records related to E. M. Davis and T. W. Jakes, political informants on the duPont payroll, and Alfred's views on women's suffrage, World War I, welfare reform, and a host of other topics.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBusiness records document the early days of the duPont Powder Company at the turn of the century to its breakup in 1915. Included is correspondence between Alfred, his cousin,Frank Cazenove Jones, and his brother, Maurice duPont. The details of the duPont family lawsuit are covered, including the reports of lawyers and private detectives. Banking ventures, the Nemours Trading Co., a variety of business and real estate ventures, and Alfred's 1912 activities in Paris are included.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIntimate details of the duPont family are documented. Subjects include: deafness, storage of furs, jewels, purchase of antiques, intimate articles, home furnishings, clubs, personal views, poetry, and musical compositions by Alfred.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series deals with Alfred's vast interest and knowledge of automobiles, pumps, machinery, and gadgets. It documents his lifelong preoccupation with the design and construction of yachts, particularly the Nenemoosha.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlfred's Delaware estate, Nemours, was another lifelong project. These records document earliest plans and stages of construction. Correspondence with contractors describes details of decorations, placement of monuments, water systems, supervision of staff, purchase of antiques, decorating, landscaping, supplies, and operation of the \"Blue Ball\" farm as part of the estate.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe wide variety of duPont charities is documented. The record begins with Alfred's earliest doling out of small payments to the needy in his community to the establishment of hospitals and the reform of the welfare system for the state of Delaware. Alfred's increased interest in charities during the Great Depression is documented.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFlorida records include correspondence with Edward Ball, Alfred's brother-in-law and business manager. Included are banking reports and records related to construction and upkeep of Epping Forest as well as Nemours.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Nemours Papers are part of the Du Pont Family Collection and consist of 15 linear feet of records dating from 1831 to 1947. The bulk of the material dates from 1915 to 1935 and reflects the business, financial, and family affairs of Alfred I. duPont (1864-1935). In addition, the Papers include some of the records of Alfred's second wife, Alicia Bradford Maddox duPont (1875-1920), and his third wife, Jessie Ball duPont (1884-1970).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDocument types include personal and business correspondence, as well as legal documents, which relate primarily to patents and to several lawsuits in which Alfred I. duPont was involved. Business and financial records relate to family matters, such as Alfred I. duPont's guardianship of Alicia Amory Maddox, as well as to professional interests such as mining. The Papers include printed materials, such as clippings, pamphlets, and magazine articles. They also contain a large number of photographs documenting the family and social lives of Alfred I. and Jessie Ball duPont.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Alfred I. duPont Nemours Papers have been arranged as six series: Correspondence, Business and Financial Records, Legal Records, General, Printed Materials, and Photographs.\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"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This series is related to the duPont genealogy in France and the United States, family relics, and tributes to Alfred I. duPont. It also includes correspondence and notes and galley sheets by Marquis James in preparation for publication of his biography, \"Alfred I. duPont: The Family Rebel.\"","Items selected by Jesse Ball duPont, 1874-1940.","This series contains correspondence and legal documents relating to Alfred's relationship with his three wives and his children. His detailed correspondence with his adopted daughter Alicia through her childhood and early married years in Europe present an especially detailed picture of the lifestyle and spending habits of an extremely wealthy family. Alfred also carried on a lifelong correspondence with his daughter Madeleine who settled in Munich, Germany. Letters exchanged with his brother Maurice document the rise and fall of the powder business, other business activities, and numerous social events. Alfred's especially candid letters with his older sister Marguerite, whom it is said, was the only person he feared, reveal his most intimate thoughts and activities.","This series is made up of Alfred's extensive correspondence with cousins, nieces, and nephews, many of whom received his financial support. These included members of his third wife Jessie's family whom he adopted as his own. In his letters to his children he was especially warm and lighthearted, showing a side of his character which was not always evident in adult relations.","This series consists of correspondence between Alfred and his closest friends throughout his lifetime. Principal correspondents include James Hackett, a noted, flamboyant actor; Jimmy L. Dashiell, musician, entrepreneur, and one-time business manager of the duPont Company; and Dr. Charles Hanby, friend, family physician, and collaborator in many charitable enterprises.","Records contain correspondence regarding the operation of the Wilmington Morning News and other newspapers and their duPont influenced editorial policy. Other records related to E. M. Davis and T. W. Jakes, political informants on the duPont payroll, and Alfred's views on women's suffrage, World War I, welfare reform, and a host of other topics.","Business records document the early days of the duPont Powder Company at the turn of the century to its breakup in 1915. Included is correspondence between Alfred, his cousin,Frank Cazenove Jones, and his brother, Maurice duPont. The details of the duPont family lawsuit are covered, including the reports of lawyers and private detectives. Banking ventures, the Nemours Trading Co., a variety of business and real estate ventures, and Alfred's 1912 activities in Paris are included.","Intimate details of the duPont family are documented. Subjects include: deafness, storage of furs, jewels, purchase of antiques, intimate articles, home furnishings, clubs, personal views, poetry, and musical compositions by Alfred.","This series deals with Alfred's vast interest and knowledge of automobiles, pumps, machinery, and gadgets. It documents his lifelong preoccupation with the design and construction of yachts, particularly the Nenemoosha.","Alfred's Delaware estate, Nemours, was another lifelong project. These records document earliest plans and stages of construction. Correspondence with contractors describes details of decorations, placement of monuments, water systems, supervision of staff, purchase of antiques, decorating, landscaping, supplies, and operation of the \"Blue Ball\" farm as part of the estate.","The wide variety of duPont charities is documented. The record begins with Alfred's earliest doling out of small payments to the needy in his community to the establishment of hospitals and the reform of the welfare system for the state of Delaware. Alfred's increased interest in charities during the Great Depression is documented.","Florida records include correspondence with Edward Ball, Alfred's brother-in-law and business manager. Included are banking reports and records related to construction and upkeep of Epping Forest as well as Nemours.","The Nemours Papers are part of the Du Pont Family Collection and consist of 15 linear feet of records dating from 1831 to 1947. The bulk of the material dates from 1915 to 1935 and reflects the business, financial, and family affairs of Alfred I. duPont (1864-1935). In addition, the Papers include some of the records of Alfred's second wife, Alicia Bradford Maddox duPont (1875-1920), and his third wife, Jessie Ball duPont (1884-1970).","Document types include personal and business correspondence, as well as legal documents, which relate primarily to patents and to several lawsuits in which Alfred I. duPont was involved. Business and financial records relate to family matters, such as Alfred I. duPont's guardianship of Alicia Amory Maddox, as well as to professional interests such as mining. The Papers include printed materials, such as clippings, pamphlets, and magazine articles. They also contain a large number of photographs documenting the family and social lives of Alfred I. and Jessie Ball duPont.","The Alfred I. duPont Nemours Papers have been arranged as six series: Correspondence, Business and Financial Records, Legal Records, General, Printed Materials, and Photographs."],"separatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBlueprint moved to Oversize storage.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Wilmington Morning News Building design drawings (in pencil) have been transferred to Oversize collection storage.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBlueprint moved to Oversize storage.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBlueprint moved to Oversize storage.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBlueprint moved to Oversize storage.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBlueprint moved to Oversize storage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"separatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Separated Materials","Separated Materials","Separated Materials","Separated Materials","Separated Materials","Separated Materials"],"separatedmaterial_tesim":["Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","The Wilmington Morning News Building design drawings (in pencil) have been transferred to Oversize collection storage.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage.","Blueprint moved to Oversize storage."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections.\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections."],"names_ssim":["Washington and Lee University, University Library Special Collections and Archives","Nemours (Greenville, Del. : Dwelling)","St. Stephen's Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)","Du Pont De Nemours Cemetery Company","E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company","Delaware Trust Company","Alfred I. Du Pont School District","Bobbs-Merrill Company","Davis \u0026 Brother, Inc.","Richards \u0026 Affeld","Brentano's (Firm)","Tiffany Studios (New York, N.Y.). Ecclesiastical Department","Carrère \u0026 Hastings","St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (Norwood, Pennsylvania)","Battle Creek Sanitarium (Battle Creek, Mich.)","Massena and Du Pont","Phillips Academy","Bordentown Military Institute","Harriman Naitonal Bank","Du Pont Maternity Hospital","Wilmington Morning News","Every Evening Wilmington","Wilmington (Del.). Department of Police","Delaware Ledger","Okonite Company","Service Citizens of Delaware","Atlas Powder Company","East Texas Oil, Gas, and Mineral Company","Rocky Mountain National Bank","American International Oil Corporation","Cambridge Yacht Club","Edmund Kelly Real Estate","The Club-Fellow \u0026 Washington Mirror","Glaze \u0026 Fine law firm","New York World","United States. Department of the Treasury","Equitable Guarantee and Trust Co.","Tonkin Du Pont Graphite Co.","Harriman National Bank","Corn Exchange National Bank","Franklin Trust Company (Philadelphia, PA)","Public Service Company of Colorado","Denver Gas and Electric Light Co.","The First National Bank of the City of New York","French American Constructive Corporation","Nemours Trading Corporation","E.I. du Pont de Nemours \u0026 Company","Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company","Brandywine Realty","Delaware Barber Company","Delaware State Chamber of Commerce","Everett Railway, Light and Water Company","Hotel du Pont","Harding Peeling Machine Company","Liberty Brand Canning Company","Delaware Packing Company","Gorham Manufacturing Company","McLean Contracting Company","Crosby and Hill Company","General Acoustic Company","George Tiemann and Company","Miller and Cleghorn","E. A. Myers and Sons","Sonotone Corporation","Auratone Incorporated","William F. Murphy's Sons","Mercantile Printing Company","The Dreka Company","Cann Brothers and Kinding Incorporated","Hughes and Muller Tailoring","Mann and Dilks","Buckeye Shirt Company","Gene-Vall Cigar Company, Incorporated","Jung Arch Brace Company","Rand McNally and Company","H. W. Fisher and Company","J.E. Caldwell \u0026 Co","Waltham Watch Company","Wall and Ochs ","Bonschur and Holmes","Franklin Simon \u0026 Co","Boué Soeurs","Grande Maison de Blanc","Faultless Manufacturing Company","George L. Starks and Company","National Association of Retail Clothiers and Furnishers","New Process Company","John Morrell \u0026 Co","Pathéscope (Firm)","Bell \u0026 Howell Co","Montana State Prison","Unexcelled Manufacturing Company","Ritz-Carlton Hotels (Firm)","Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (U.S.)","United States. Post Office Department","National Horse Show Association of America","United States Lines Company","Social Register Association (U.S.)","Du Pont Bridge Club","G. Schirmer, Inc","Kny-Scheerer Company","Robinson Electric Manufacturing Company","Westchester Country Club (Rye, N.Y.)","Bankers Club of America","Beaver Lake Club","Congressional Country Club","Winchester Repeating Arms Company","Remington Arms Company","National Rifle Association of America","Jonas Bros. Taxidermy","Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company","A.G. Spalding \u0026 Bros","Abercrombie \u0026 Fitch","Graybar Electric Company inc","Pinkerton's National Detective Agency","League of Nations","United States Naval Academy","Delaware Automobile Association","International Harvester Company","Foss-Hughes Company","Rushmore Dynamo Works","Ford Motor Company","New York Edison Company","E. Rosenfeld and Company","Miniature Breaker Company","Packard Motor Car Company","Rolls-Royce of America","New York (State). Bureau of Motor Vehicles","Fortune Magazine","Toppan Boat Manufacturing Company","Shelton Electric Company","General Electric Company","Consilidated Gas and Gasoline Engine Company","Automatic Electrical Devices Company","New York Yacht Club","Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping (Firm)","Schenck and Schenck Insurance Agents and Brokers","United States. Hydrographic Office","Cox and Stevens","New London Ship and Engine Company","Wilmington Sunday Star","Western Pump Company","American Car and Foundry Company","Kelvinator","William J. Highfield General Insurance","Fire Association of Philadelphia","Marine Basin Company","Scott \u0026 Fowles (Firm)","Marine Construction Company","Yorktown Yacht Club","Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation","Cooper-Bessemer Corporation","Henry J. Gielow, Incorporated","Mathis Yacht Building Company","Earl H. Croft, Incorporated","Broward County Port Authority","Keil Motor Company","Huckins Yacht Corporation","The Universal Horticultural Establishment, Incorporated","Winslow Bros. Company","Booth, Garrett and Blair","Otis Elevator Company","J.L. Mott Iron Works","Wilmington (Del.). Water Department","The Spur","James Boyd and Brothers","Ajax Fire Engine Works","Saks \u0026 Company (New York, N.Y.)","Remington Machine Company","Polar Water Still Company","Vacuum Engineering Company","Spencer Turbine Cleaner Company","Diamond Ice and Coal Company","Huyler's (Firm)","Robinson and Payne","Pitt and Scott","Armstrong Seatag Corporation","J. L. Kraft and Brothers Company","G. Washington Coffee Refining Company","James Rowland and Company","C. V. Floyd Fruit Company","Henry R. Hallowell and Son","Belle Meade Farm","Hearn Brothers","Mouquin, incorporated","Walter Hawkins Fruit","Maerose Fruit Corporation of Texas","Chappel Brothers Incorporated","Magasins du Louvre","E. Gimpel and Wildenstein","Steinway \u0026 Sons","W. \u0026 J. Sloane","E.F. Hodgson Co","Tiffany and Company","Theodore B. Starr","George F. Barnes, Incorporated","Gilman Collamore and Company","William T. Stuart, Incorporated","Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)","Museum of Fine Arts, Boston","Seth Thomas Clock Company","Litchfield and Company","Aero Service Corporation","Rau Studios, Incorporated","Lewis \u0026 Conger","Samuel Kirk and Son","Davis Collamore and Company","Edmondson Warrin","Universal Appraisal Company","C. J. Benson and Company, Incorporated","S. P. Sulo Furniture Company","Bryant and Heffernan, Incorporated","Port Clinton Fish Company","Henry F. Michell Co","William H. Moon Company","Pierson U-Bar Company","Hitchings \u0026 Co","Wadley and Smythe","Skinner Irrigation Company","Ideal Power Lawn Mower Company","Coldwell Lawn Mower Company","Philadelphia Lawn Mower Company","Campbell Irrigation Company","John Polachek Bronze and Iron Works Company","Glen Brothers, Incorporated","Munson Whitaker Company","United States. Bureau of Forestry","Du Pont Gun Club","B. Ridgway and Son","Architectural Decorating Company","Johnson Service Company","Frigidaire Corporation","Tirrill Gas Machine Lighting Company","Manning Manufacturing Company","Oliver Oil Gas Burner and Machine Company","George W. McCaulley and Son Company","American Ironing Machine Co","Geyser Electric Washing Machine Company","Savage firearms","Church Art Work Company","Aladdin Company","Permutit Company","Smyth Construction Company","E. T. Burrowes","Wolfe and Adams","The Master Company","Bliss Exterminator Company","Verm-O-Spray","United Cork Flooring Company","Loomis-Manning Filter Distributing Company","Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company","Blue Ball Farm (Wilmington, DE)","Andover Ambulance Corps.","Ward, Gray, and Neary","Young Men's Christian Association (Wilmington, De.)","Cambridge Maternity Hospital","National Organization for Public Health Nursing (U.S.)","St. John's Rectory (Milford, DE)","University of Delaware","Staunton Military Academy","Wharton Grove Camp Ground","College of William \u0026 Mary","Kent General Hospital (Dover, DE)","Cathedral School of St. John the Divine","American Association for Old Age Security","Delaware Old Age Welfare Commission","Delaware Old Age Pension Fund","Delaware. Department of Public Instruction","Alfred I. Du Pont School (Talleyville, DE)","Delaware. State Board of Education","Industrial Trust Company","Delaware State Aid Society","Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation","Florida National Bank","First National Bank (Panama City, FL)","Du Pont Family","La Motte","Ball family","Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935","Du Pont, Jessie Ball, 1884-1970","Jakes, T. W. (Thomas Webber) (Thomas Webber Jakes ), 1867-1945","Gentieu, Frederick, 1872-1951","Gentieu, Celeste, 1879-1971","Bakewell-Green, Estelle, 1870-1956","Spooner, W. W. (Walter Whipple), 1861-1922","Du Pont, T. Coleman (Thomas Coleman), 1863-1930","Du Pont, Ernest, 1880-1944","Maxwell, George T. (Gee Tee), 1895-1965","Du Pont, Samuel Francis, 1803-1865","Heitmuller, Anton H. F. (Anton Henry F.), 1859-1943","Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826","de Morant, V. G. (Victor Georges), 1878-1961","Archibald, S. G., fl. 1912-1920","Du Pont, Pauline Foster, 1849-1902","Conrad, Henry C. (Henry Clay), 1852-1930","Johnson, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1856-1921","Ingersoll, Ralph (Ralph McAllister), 1900-1985","Du Pont, Pierre S. (Pierre Samuel), 1870-1954","Du Pont, E. Paul (Eleuthère Paul), 1887-1950","Stetser, Albert, 1886-1968","Du Pont, Eleuthère Irénée, 1771-1834","Du Pont, Mary Van Dyke, 1826-1909","Parker, E. W. (Eben Walter)","Lee, Maurice du Pont, 1885-1974","Ruoff, Madeleine Mary Du Pont, 1887-1965","Macomber, Susan G.","MacGregor, Mary Alicia Maddox Du Pont, 1903-1975","Goldsborough, Edith","Du Pont, Mary Alicia Heyward Bradford, 1875-1920","Du Pont, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1900-1970","Hilles, Charles Dewey, 1867-1949","Huidekoper, Bessie Cazenove Du Pont, 1889-1973","Huidekoper, Reginald Shippen, 1876-1943","Du Pont, Victorine Elise, 1903-1965","Du Pont, Margaret (Margery) May Fitz Gerald, 1866-1951","Gray, R. A. (Robert Andrew), 1882-1975","Martinez, Joseph D.","Du Pont, Marcella Miller (1903-09-09-1985-09)","Mathewson, S. Frank","Connor, Ellen","James, Marquis, 1891-1955","Massey, Anne","Maxwell, T. J.","Chabannes, Jean-Pierre, Comte de Chabannes, 1862-1928","Du Pont, B. G. (Bessie Gardner), 1864-1949","Du Pont, Elizabeth Gardner, 1864-1949","Copeland, Charles, 1867-1944","Mann, Harrington, 1864-1937","Dent, Victorine Elise Du Pont, 1903-1965","Davidson, C. Frank","Du Pont, Samuel, 1910","Du Pont, Eluthera Paulina, 1912","Shears, W. C., Rev., d. ca. 1928","Shears, Ethel","Hastings, Thomas, 1860-1929","Dent, Elbert, 1895-1965","von Frantzius, Ida","Tripp, Marie A.","Glendening, Harold Sanford, 1896-1990","Glendening, Alan Sanford, 1923-1979","Zapffe, Adelaide Camille Du Pont, 1915-2000","Hiebler, Max, 1887-1957","Hiebler, Benno Lorenz, 1914-1980","Ruoff, Hermann","Hiebler, Alfred Friedrich, 1915-1991","Hiebler, Bayard Wilson \"Max\", 1911-1945","Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945","Lee, Marguerite Du Pont, 1862-1936","Du Pont, Charlotte Louise, 1893-1972","Massena, Gabriel Francois, 1902-1945","Crane, Clara Isabel (Claris), 1880-1968","Crane, Sarah (Sadie) D., 1891-1970","Du Pont, Francis I. (Francis Irénée), 1873-1942","Du Pont, H. A. (Henry Algernon), 1838-1926","Du Pont, Nesta Pamela, 1903-1973","Duvall, Maria C. L. (Cumming Lamar), 1869-1957","Ellett, Katherine Gresham Tyler, 1909-2003","Francis, Olga M. (Olga Mary), 1904-2011","Gravely, Julian S. (\"Gin Gin\"), Mrs.","Gresham, Hattie Bell (\"de Blub\"), 1880-1964","Haile, Ella Grisham, 1845-1938","Jesse, Eoline C. (Eoline Carter) Ball, 1890-1989","La Motte, Arthur, 1871-1947","Eaton, George \"Pap\" Thomas, 1856-1937","La Motte, Ellen N. (Ellen Newbold), 1873-1961","La Motte, Ferdinand, Jr., 1879-1961","La Motte, Theodore R. (\"Cap\"), 1863-ca. 1931","Du Pont, Lammot, 1880-1952","Lee, Cazenove Gardner, 1882-1945","Lee, Dorothy Vandegrift, 1886-1972","Lee, Richard H. (Richard Henry), 1918-1940","Lee, Geraldine \"Gerry\" Shaw, b. 1889","Du Pont Lee, Marguerite, 1914-2004","Lee, Katherine, 1885-1968","Lee, Charlotte, 1921-2014","Du Pont Lee, Maurice, Jr., 1925-2020","Du Pont, Maurice (1866-1941)","Taylor, Archibald H., b. ca. 1851-d. 1928","Tyler, Frances Beale, 1911-2003","Wright, Thomas Ball Winston, 1909-1964","Adams, Floride Harding, 1887-1965","Harding, Rebecca W., 1882-1982","Ball, Isabella Louise, 1882-1971","Baker, N. Addison (Nehemiah Addison), 1882-1973","Baker, Jessie Gresham, 1918-1995","Ball, Maria Louisa, 1846-1932","Ball, Thomas , Jr., 1879-1960","Jesse, James D. (James DeJarnette), 1885-1962","Ball, A. L. C. (Addison Lombard Carter), 1876-1934","Bowley, Elsie Ball Wright, 1886-1972","Wright, Bayard W. (Bayard Winston), 1886-1940","Quigley, James P., Rev., 1862-1925","Troubetzkoy, Pierre, 1864-1936","Kirkus, Frederick M. (Frederick Maurice), Rev., 1862-1939","Brereton, Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1887-1964","Bayard Angell, Louisa Lee, 1870-1944","Bowley, Albert Jesse, 1875-1945","Dashiell, J. L. (James \"Jimmy\" Lambert), 1870-1950","DeShields, Henry C. (Henry Carrington), 1870-1937","Dubell, Charles Bratten, Rev., 1871-1952","Dunn, B. W. (Beverly Wyly), Colonel, 1860-1936","Francis, Lucy Elphinstone Smith Maitland, b. ca. 1865","Glasgow, William A., Mrs.","Hackett, James Keteltas, 1869-1926","Hanby, Charles M., Dr., 1874-1944","Kyle, Margaret B. Hanby, 1904-1966","Seagle, Oscar","Harding, Frances (Fanny) Jane Ball, 1858-1924","Joyner, Sterling J., b. 1874","Lee, Baker P. (Baker Perkins), Rev., 1870-1942","Lee, Lulu Skinner, 1870-1946","Vaughn, Bertha Hayes, 1884-1932","Young, Emily Riddle Hill, 1862-1959","Pizek, Stanley R., b. ca. 1885","Goldsborough, Phillips Lee, 1865-1946","Reybold, F. K. (Frederick K.), 1874-1969","Allee, J. Frank (James Frank), 1857-1938","Buck, Clayton Douglass, 1890-1965","Griffenberg, E. B. (Elwood Bryan), Senator, 1875-1963","Bradford, E. G. (Edward Green), Jr., Representative, 1878-1927","Hilles, Florence Bayard, 1866-1954","Pennewill, Simeon S. (Simeon Selby), Governor, 1867-1935","Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919","Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945","Davis, E. M. (Edward Milford), b.1887","Layton, Daniel J. (Daniel John), 1879-1960","Short, I. D. (Isaac Dolphus), 1875-1953","Hurley, Patrick J. (Patrick Jay), 1883-1963","Coolidge, Calvin (John Calvin), 1872-1933","Walls, J. E.","Black, George, 1868-1942","Horwitz, George Q. (George Quintard), 1868-1916","Beardslee, L. R. (Lisle Rhodes), 1879-1963","Connable, Frank L. (Frank Lee), 1871-1947","Du Pont, Alexis I. (Alexis Irénée), 1869-1921","Dunham, R. H. (Russell Harry), 1870-1958","Du Pont, Irénée, 1876-1963","Reese, Charles L. (Charles Lee), 1862-1940","Darling, Philip G. (Philip Greenville), 1878-1948","Stirling, Thomas J., 1848-1926","Gentieu, Pierre A. (Pierre Auguste), 10215","Cazenove, Louis A. (Louis Albert), 1851-1925","Jones, Frank Cazenove, Jr., 1887-1949","Raskob, John J. (John Jakob), 1879-1950","Scott, William L. (William Levi), 1857-1934","Prickett, C. D. (Clifford Denslow), 1863-1949","Ramsay, William G. (William Gouverneur), 1866-1916","Cauffiel, Daniel, 1867-1930","Gregory, Thomas Watt, 1861-1933","Du Pont, William, 1855-1928","Crosby, H. T. (Howard T.), 1880-1928","Ross, Howard D. (Howard DeHaven), b. 1872","Miller, Robert W., 1890-1943","Hassan, A. A. (Addison A.), b. ca.1857- d.1935","Eckersley, J. H. (James H.), b. ca. 1857- d.1921","Browne, Hugh C.","Harrison, D. B. (Duncan B.), Major","Scott, Temple, b. 1864","Glasgow, William A. (William Anderson), Jr., 1865-1930","Jones, Frank Cazenove, Sr., 1857-1918","Loos, Henry B. (Henry Beatty), 1892-1918","Rogers, James H. (James Hague), 1848-1919","Thompson, J. Clayton (John Clayton), b. 1874","Bielaski, A. Bruce (Alexander Bruce), 1851-1926","Du Pont Perot, Eleanor Ball, 1875-1934","Cate, Isaac M., 1838-1923","Lewis, Howard Benton, 1867-1946","Penington, Robert, b. 1874","Miles, Joshua W. (Joshua Weldon), 1858-1929","Vale, Ruby Ross, 1874-1961","Harriman, J. W. (Joseph Wright), 1867-1949","Eyre, James K. (James Kline), 1882-1956","Cochran, Thomas, 1871-1936","Archibald, S. G. (Samuel G.), Judge, b. 1875","Harvey, Holstein, 1847-1920","Price, Francis A., 1857-1937","Price, Frederick Somers, b. 1886","Dennison, Ethan Allen, 1881-1954","Davis, Curtis E., 1866-1935","Ball, Edward G. (Edward Gresham), 1888-1981","Phillips, H. R. (Henry Rodney), 1858-1929","Duveen, C. J. (Charles Joel), 1871-1940","Frishmuth, Harriet Whitney, 1880-1980","Novack, David Robert","Stow, Marcellus Henry","Hibbard, Harriet H., 1868-1941","Thomson, Arthur","Campbell, Donald, 1879-1948","Curtis, Chas. (Charles) M., b. 1860","Oliver, Howard T. (Howard Taylor), 1887-1969","McLean, Colin, 1844-1916","Mathewson, S. 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L.","McCurdy, William T.","Hutchison, Miller Reese, Sr., 1876-1944","Carroll, Edward R. (Edward Rotchford), 1887-1952","Carroll, Cosette M., b. 1910","Hoover, Herbert (Herbert Clark), 1874-1964","Shakespeare, Frank H. (Franklin Heverin), 1879-1950","Preston, Lelia Harrison Dew, 1893-1984","Montague, James J. (James Jackson), 1873-1941","Gravely, J. Bland (Judith Bland), 1918-1998","Doty, William Kavanaugh, 1886-1956","Hull, George H. (George Henry), Jr., b. 1867","Brandenberger, Clarence R. (Clarence Richard), 1892-1976","Bowman, Sidney B., b. ca. 1867","Glendinning, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1867-1936","Carey, James L. (James Lucius), b. 1881","Kummerlowe, O. W. (Oscar Waldemar), 1884-1946","Songdahl, Peder Pedersen, Captain, b. 1873","C., McKnight-Smith","Smith, Jesse, Jr., Captain","Bowes, Thomas D. (Thomas David), Jr., 1883-1965","Kaighn, Herbert E. (Herbert Eugene), 1875-1934","Moody, Edmund P., 1857-1931","Smith, Harry A., 1878-1960","Harton, J. Howard (John Howard), 1887-1935","Smyth, James M. (James McKane), 1860-1943","Mack, Edward R. (Edward Resolved), 1876-1944","Horncastle, Thomas, b. ca. 1871","Perry, Roland Hinton, 1870-1941","Tartoue, Pierre, 1888-1974","Salvatore, Victor, 1884-1965","Danton, V. E. (Van Eaton), Dr.","Linding, H. M. (Herman Magnuson), b. 1880","Arthur Edwin, Bye, Dr., 1885-1968","Maugans, J. C. (John Clifford), 1878-1969","Glynn, Elizabeth Frances, 1895-1954","Keller, Ferdinand Hyskull, b. ca. 1870","Schmauk, B. T. (Benjamin Tyson), b. 1853","Judd, Joseph A., 1889-1937","Edwards, Anne C. F.","Potamkin, Barney, b. 1878","Horty, William H., 1861-1931","Manda, W. A. (William A.), b. 1862","McClure, R. L.","Mackensen, William J.","Conwell, H. Ernest (Henry), 1887-1964","Bateman, St. Elmo, 1877-1959","Fullarton, Andrew D. (Anderew Darling), 1878-1939","Roemer, Louise Frances Schenkel, 1894-1985","De Garis, F.","Du Pont Swift, Charles, 1875-1917","Levett, Edith E., b. ca. 1881","Simmonds, Helena Linck, 1882-1954","Goldsborough, Brice W. (Brice Worthington), Dr., 1859-1929","Chinn, J. W. (Joseph W.), Jr., Judge, 1866-1936","Earll, Irene B., b. 1888","Seiss, Ralph W. (Ralph William), Dr., 1861-1926","Wharton, H. M. (Henry Marvin), Rev., 1848-1928","Combs, L.R. (Laurence Rosseau), Rev., 1858-1937","Kay, H. Tyler, b. 1889","Tucker, Beverly R. (Beverly Randolph), Dr., 1874-1945","Robbins, Howard C. (Howard Chandler), 1876-1952","Schulz, Otto","Rossell, John S., 1856-1934","Walls, Laura J. C. (Laura J. Calhoun), 1882-1967","Hill, Jacob V. (Jacob Vincent), 1893-1942","Wickes, James C., Col., b. 1868","Wilson, D. Mifflin (Daniel Mifflin), 1856-1948","Zimmerman, B. John (Bernard John), 1901-1955","Payne, A. A. (Alvin Annon), 1889-1937","Bright, James C., d. 1947","Ottenstein, M. Z. (Morris Zachary), 1898-1993","Linares-Rivas, Jose M."],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1443,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-20T21:30:16.538Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vilxw_repositories_5_resources_572_c01_c01"}},{"id":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02_c05","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"\"Blacks in Comic Search (updating) to Aquire Research: Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Animation, Comic Books\"","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02_c05#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eArrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02_c05#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02_c05","ref_ssm":["viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02_c05"],"id":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02_c05","ead_ssi":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853","_root_":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853","_nest_parent_":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02","parent_ssi":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02","parent_ssim":["viw_repositories_2_resources_9853","viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01","viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viw_repositories_2_resources_9853","viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01","viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Richard Wright collection","Series 1: Research files","Research notes"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Richard Wright collection","Series 1: Research files","Research notes"],"text":["Richard Wright collection","Series 1: Research files","Research notes","\"Blacks in Comic Search (updating) to Aquire Research: Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Animation, Comic Books\"","Arrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright."],"title_filing_ssi":"\"Blacks in Comic Search (updating) to Aquire Research: Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Animation, Comic Books\"","title_ssm":["\"Blacks in Comic Search (updating) to Aquire Research: Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Animation, Comic Books\""],"title_tesim":["\"Blacks in Comic Search (updating) to Aquire Research: Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Animation, Comic Books\""],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1899-2017"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1899/2017"],"normalized_title_ssm":["\"Blacks in Comic Search (updating) to Aquire Research: Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Animation, Comic Books\""],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["College of William and Mary"],"collection_ssim":["Richard Wright collection"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":18,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":161,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library."],"date_range_isim":[1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Arrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright."],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#1/components#4","timestamp":"2026-06-11T20:05:03.693Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853","ead_ssi":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853","_root_":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853","_nest_parent_":"viw_repositories_2_resources_9853","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/WM/repositories_2_resources_9853.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Richard Wright collection","title_ssm":["Richard Wright collection"],"title_tesim":["Richard Wright collection"],"unitdate_ssm":["1806-2017"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1806-2017"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MS 00317","/repositories/2/resources/9853"],"text":["MS 00317","/repositories/2/resources/9853","Richard Wright collection","Comic books, strips, etc","African Americans--Caricatures and cartoons","Racism in popular culture","Drawings (visual works)","Motion pictures (visual work)","Sheet music","Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.","This collection is arranged into nine series: Research files, Collecting records, Minstrel shows, Scrapbooks and portfolios, Original artwork, Print and poster reproductions, Newspapers, Printed materials, and Audiovisual materials. ","Published books and comics can be found in our Rare Books collection.","Richard Wright (1946-2019) grew up in New York and attended college at Bradley University in Peoria, IL on an academic scholarship. He originally planned to study chemistry but graduated with a Bachelor of Political Science instead. ","\nWright moved to Stamford, Connecticut, where he met and married Minister Deborah V. P. Wright (1953-2012). They had three children together: Aaron Person, Joslynn S. Hamlet, and Porchia M. W. Smith.","\nWright spent the bulk of his career working as a court officer in the social services Department of Child Support in Connecticut until his retirement in 2013. He then moved to Williamsburg, Virgina, where he lived until his passing in 2019.","\nHe was an active member of Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Stamford, Connecticut. He served as a member of the trustee board, and sang in the Male Chorus and Inspirational Choir. Upon relocating to Williamsburg, VA, he joined Colossian Baptist Church in Newport News, and once again served as a choir member. ","\nOutside of the church, Wright also served as the president of the Stamford Chapter of the NAACP, was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., and worked as a volunteer and mentor for a substance abuse rehabilitation program called Liberation House.","\nWhile living in Stamford, Wright began collecting Black comic books in 1986 because \"he wanted to have a hobby.\" His collection eventually grew beyond comics to include books, art works, photographs, and audio visual materials on the same topic. He saw the images that he collected over the years as a way to better tell the story of the depiction of Black Americans in visual media. In 2019, Wright donated his collection to William \u0026 Mary so that it might be \"a helpful resource to students\" in the future.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","Comic book volumes and other published materials included with this collection have been transfered to Rare Books and cataloged individually.","The Richard Wright collection, compiled by Richard Wright, focuses on the evolution of the Black American image in print media, cartoons and comics. Wright organized his own historical timeline titled \"Good Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics,\" also referred to as \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics,\" in a series of binders with artist biographies and time period summaries. Item titles have been retained from the original labels.","Materials in this collection include: books, comic books, magazines, prints, reference books, slides, photographs, CDs, DVDs, sheet music, newspaper strips, lithographs, and artwork. ","Research notes, biographies and timelines compiled or authored by Richard Wright. The original binder names have been retained.","A series of binders compiled by Richard Wright on the history of Black American depictions in comic art.","Part one of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"","Part two of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"","Part three of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"","Part four of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"","Arrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.","Arrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.","Arrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.","Records pertaining to Wright's collecting process, such as purchase documentation and comic research. Retains Wright's original titles and organization.","This series retains original titles and organization.","Scrapbooks and porfolios compiled by Richard Wright. Original order and names retained.","An album with a red cover and a title note taped to the front by Richard Wright that reads \"1890's Black Newspaper Cartoons: Howarth, Hamilton, et. al.\"","A portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of cartoons with Black protagonists from a variety of artists and publishers between the 19th and 20th century.","A spiral bound book with a green cover. The words \"Scrap Book\" are on the front in black, the \"o\"s in \"book\" form the handles of a pair of scissors in the design. The contents of the book are comic clipping of \"Henry\" and \"Lulu\" from various newspapers.","A portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of Currier \u0026 Ives caricature cartoon prints featuring Black protagonists from the late 1800s.","A portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of Currier \u0026 Ives' \"Darktown\" print series.","A scrapbook with a red cover with gold lettering. A sticker on the spine reads \"1872.\" The contents of the book are illustration clippings from issues of Harper's Weekly.","Newspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist with handwritten note.","Newspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist.","Newspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist.","A grey, tan, and gold covered scrapbook. The words \"Scrap Book\" are embossed on the cover along with two peony flowers. The contents are newspaper cartoon clippings from unmarked sources.","Arranged alphabetically by title.","Orginal four panel comic layout with edits, pasted text bubbles and handdrawn images.","A two part series, there are two versions of the print titled \"A Crack Trotter - A little off\" and one print of \"A Crack Trotter - Coming Around.\"","A print on board.","This cel has five characters standing side by side in the asile of a store.","This cel has three characters on a city street corner at night.","A character bust sketch in pencil. The figure is wearing glasses and a button up shirt. There is a scale measurement in the bottom right corner, and notes along the edges.","A multilayer animation cel with three sheets of film introductory text.","Two pen and pencil sketches on paper, the second is titled \"Fast Black\" and is signed A.L.S.","Original Black Panther comic panel in pen and ink with blue sketch lines, pencil notes, and corrections visible.","Handpainted animation cel signed by the artist and producer.","Two versions of the same cartoon: showing edits in color and design between the first and second editions.","Original comic panel with edits and the artist's signature in pen and ink.","Two original comic panels in pen and ink with edits, visible blue lines, and pencil notes. Signed by the artist.","A colored pencil and graphite character sketch for the film \"Coal Black and De Sebban Dwarfs.\" Signed by the artist and accompanied by the sales paperwork from when it was acquired by Richard Wright.","A handpainted animation cel for the movie \"Coonskin.\" Features a bust of one of the characters with a few background lines, and the identifier \"1H56, 5\" in the bottom right corner.","A series of animation character sketches on translucent paper.","An original comic panel signed by E. Simms Campbell. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits and commentary.","An original comic panel signed by Chester Gould. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits.","An original comic panel signed by Paul Smith. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits and commentary.","A handpainted animation cel featuring four characters from \"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.\" The cel is labeled \"FA STK 2027A B-5.\"","A handpainted animation cel featuring seven characters from \"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.\" The cel is labeled \"copyright 1981 - William H. Cosby Jr. - Film Assoc.\"","Sketch in colored pencil and graphite with animation notes and the identifier \"Se. 142, STK BG 1909, FA-79\" in the bottom right corner.","A sketch of a man holding a basketball in blue pencil and graphite. The label \"PB4\" is featured multiple times around the image, and the bottom of the page is stamped with \"50-2, 3.\"","A multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.","A multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.","A multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.","A numbered limited edition Heavy Traffic poster. 73/260","Handpainted animation cel of \"Carol\" from \"Heavy Traffic\" with certificate of authenticity and sales information.","A cartoon drawn in pencil and signed by Henry Jackson. In red marker along the bottom of the work, someone has written \" Examiner Art Staff 1960s - (now deceased)\"","A political poster featuring a white and a Black solider shaking hands across from Uncle Sam. Produced by M.A.Stern Chicago.","Original comic panel done in pen and graphite, signed and dated by the artist. Title and trademark information are pasted onto the work, and writing along the bottom edge reads \"to Bill Glasgow.\"","Original animation model sketch of \"Inky\" from Warner Bros Studios. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.","Signed by the artist. Original panel on cardboard in ink and graphite. A caption at the bottom reads \"The high cost of foods done me more good than my [acolicing?] salon.\"","An animation cel featuring all three main characters from \"Josie and the Pussy Cats\" playing instruments on a stage. Their names written underneath their images, \"Josie, Melody, and Valerie.\" Words in the top left read \"Prod # 51, (standard size). The bottom right is copyrighted by Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., and dated 1970.","An animation cel featuring all three main characters from \"Josie and the Pussy Cats\" with a street scene background.","Sketch in colored pencil, graphite, and watercolor of a Fish in a bowler hat smoking a cigar.","An original comic panel in ink and graphite with visible edits, signed by the artist.","Handpainted animation cel of Uhura in uniform.","Character sketch in colored pencil and graphite with notes.","Character sketch in colored pencil and graphite. Accompanied by certificate of authenticity.","Original drawing in ink, titled in the bottom left and numbered in the bottom right.","Original comic panel in ink, graphite, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes.","Original comic panel in ink and graphite, signed by the artist. Water damage along the bottom edge.","Two different print versions of the same image, showing varied color and tint choices.","Original comic panel in ink, graphite, blue pencil, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes. Blue pencil notes at the top left corner read \" Page #13, Annual #94, Mn 7. \u0026 7. Force.\"","Original comic panel in ink with caption edits, accompanited by a handwritten letters by the artist, and the dealer information. The letters are addressed to Rev. E.F. Strickland, dated 1883 September 12 and 1883 October 20, and regard a request for a drawing.","An original comic panel in graphite and ink that appears to have been cut off from a larger comic strip. The artist signature in the bottom left is cut in half. Dated \"Fri May 1,\" 1959. And titled \"Capt. Easy\".","An untitled drawing of a boy facing away from the viewer. He is dressed in overalls with one strap, holding a bag in his left hand, and a stick in his right. Writing beneath the image reads \"SC. 28A\".","An untitled drawing of a man holding a boomerang. The number \"146\" is in the bottom right corner.","An untitled drawing of a female torso clad in an apron and wearing slippers. Writing beneath the drawing read \" Prod89 SC54, 269.\"","An untitled drawing of a female torso wearing an apron and slippers balancing on a tipping kitchen stool. There are notes written all over the image with measurements and accompanying arrows.","An untitled female figure wearing a headscarf and dressed in an apron over a polka-dot dress. Writing along the bottom of the image read \"AJ\" and \"542.\"","A series of motion sketches of a baby accompanied by a female figure.","A sketch of the centaur \"Otika\" from Disney's Fantasia.","Bust sketches of two women discussing laundry.","A drawing of Jerry wearing a napkin around his neck as he walks away to the right with a scowl on his face. The number \"50\" is in the bottom right.","A hand painted animation cel of Tom behind a person on stilts.","A drawing of Tom pouncing around the corner of a wall with paws outstretched. Notes on the drawing read \"to reg. see #129\", and the number \"133\" is in the bottom right corner.","An original comic panel for \"Outdoor Sports\" in ink, graphite, and blue pencil. Signed and dated by the artist.","A painting on paper of a donkey and three birds in a fenced field with a farm house in the background. Signed and titled in the bottom left.","An original comic panel in ink, paint, and graphite for a political cartoon.","Original comic panel in ink, graphite, red pen, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes. Signed by the artist.","An original comic panel in ink and graphite of a man plucking petals off a flower. The title is written in pencil along the bottom edge.","A multi-layer, hand painted, animation cel. Signed by both artists. Numbered \"59/100\" in the bottom right corner.","A still life print on board that has been painted over.","An original comic panel in ink, graphite, and white-out on board. It features a man trying to fix a soda vending machine.","An original comic panel in in and graphite titled \"Walnuts\" from \"Sunflower Street.\" Signed by the arts and dated.","Two different printings of the same cartoon with color variances.","A handpainted animation cel of two character in clown make-up and costumes. The one on the left is labeled as \"Buckwheat as a clown,\" and the one on the right is labeled \"Porky as a clown.\" The cel is titled along the top edge and numbered \"0132-8207.\" Notes cover the entire cel in pencil and pen, the majority appear to be color identifcation numbers.","A drawing in ink and graphite of three men playing cards at a table. The title of the work is in pencil along the bottom edge, along with the artist's signature.","A print of \"Little Eva,\" and \"Uncle Tom\" sitting in the shade of a tree with a shack in the background. \"Eva\" has a book on her lap and gestures off in the distance.","A sketch in graphite of a old man wearing suspenders, oversized shoes, a tiny bowler hat, and carrying a crooked cane. The number \"143\" is written in the bottom right corner, and a the words \" PROD 1 52SC 1 6\" are stamped next to it.","A painted animation cel bust drawing of a bird in a hat. The hat is a purple tricorne with an oversized safety pin stuck through the front. The bird is white with yellow eyes and an orange beak and appears to be a seagull. The cel is accompaied by an information tag and a scan of a He-Man scene.","A print of seven men dressed in red and yellow shirts and caps with blue pinstriped pants and red shoes with yellow and red stockings. The men have axes and are working with trimmed sticks which are piled up behind them. One man has cut himself in half instead of the stick he is holding.","A sketch of a man in a top hat and coattails hanging on the back of a bucking horse. Signed \"FC\" in the bottom right corner.","A print of a woman walking beside a man holding a baby. Both are dressed in formal wear, and rendered in shades of tan, brown, and pink. Signed by the artist in the bottom right corner, with the letters difficult to make out.","Two prints, each a bust of a Black child. One in a three-quarters pose, the other looking directly at the viewer.","A woodblock print of a man, woman, and child in formal wear, their features are rendered in blocky forms akin to stylized masks.","A matted painted animation cel of Valerie Brown in her Pussy Cat costume holding two tambourines.","A bust sketch of Valerie Brown in blue pencil and graphite. Notes at the bottom right corner read \"7FC SC.31 6e-2 bq.31.\"","A multi-layer painted animation cel. Features a man with his hands clasped triumphantly above his head standing against a background of a junk pile and wooden wall. Text along the top edge reads \"Fa01 BGS4\" and text along the bottom edge reads \"FA STG 2027A WH5.\"","Arranged alphabetically by title.","From the series \"Negro Drawings,\" plate 42.","From the series \"Negro Drawings,\" plate 42.","Three prints; the two by Walker are published by Currier \u0026 Ives.","Two different print versions.","Oversized poster.","Two versions of the same print.","Print on canvas.","Two rolled posters.","A printout of a man in a bowler hat carrying a cane while wearing a suit.","Pixelated photographs of a comic showing two Black children sitting beside a shotgun.","Two different scenes of a man and woman in fancy dress.","This cover shows a white man with one hand on a revolver standing over a Black man laying on the ground.","Primarily \"Mickey Finn\" and \"Don Winslow of the Navy.\"","Omaha World Herald","Reproduction.","Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.","Special Collections Research Center","English"],"unitid_tesim":["MS 00317","/repositories/2/resources/9853"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Richard Wright collection"],"collection_title_tesim":["Richard Wright collection"],"collection_ssim":["Richard Wright collection"],"repository_ssm":["College of William and Mary"],"repository_ssim":["College of William and Mary"],"access_terms_ssm":["Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Richard Wright."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Comic books, strips, etc","African Americans--Caricatures and cartoons","Racism in popular culture","Drawings (visual works)","Motion pictures (visual work)","Sheet music"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Comic books, strips, etc","African Americans--Caricatures and cartoons","Racism in popular culture","Drawings (visual works)","Motion pictures (visual work)","Sheet music"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["21.68 Linear Feet 52 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["21.68 Linear Feet 52 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Drawings (visual works)","Motion pictures (visual work)","Sheet music"],"date_range_isim":[1806,1807,1808,1809,1810,1811,1812,1813,1814,1815,1816,1817,1818,1819,1820,1821,1822,1823,1824,1825,1826,1827,1828,1829,1830,1831,1832,1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847,1848,1849,1850,1851,1852,1853,1854,1855,1856,1857,1858,1859,1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into nine series: Research files, Collecting records, Minstrel shows, Scrapbooks and portfolios, Original artwork, Print and poster reproductions, Newspapers, Printed materials, and Audiovisual materials. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003ePublished books and comics can be found in our Rare Books collection.\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into nine series: Research files, Collecting records, Minstrel shows, Scrapbooks and portfolios, Original artwork, Print and poster reproductions, Newspapers, Printed materials, and Audiovisual materials. ","Published books and comics can be found in our Rare Books collection."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRichard Wright (1946-2019) grew up in New York and attended college at Bradley University in Peoria, IL on an academic scholarship. He originally planned to study chemistry but graduated with a Bachelor of Political Science instead. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\nWright moved to Stamford, Connecticut, where he met and married Minister Deborah V. P. Wright (1953-2012). They had three children together: Aaron Person, Joslynn S. Hamlet, and Porchia M. W. Smith.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\nWright spent the bulk of his career working as a court officer in the social services Department of Child Support in Connecticut until his retirement in 2013. He then moved to Williamsburg, Virgina, where he lived until his passing in 2019.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\nHe was an active member of Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Stamford, Connecticut. He served as a member of the trustee board, and sang in the Male Chorus and Inspirational Choir. Upon relocating to Williamsburg, VA, he joined Colossian Baptist Church in Newport News, and once again served as a choir member. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\nOutside of the church, Wright also served as the president of the Stamford Chapter of the NAACP, was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., and worked as a volunteer and mentor for a substance abuse rehabilitation program called Liberation House.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\nWhile living in Stamford, Wright began collecting Black comic books in 1986 because \"he wanted to have a hobby.\" His collection eventually grew beyond comics to include books, art works, photographs, and audio visual materials on the same topic. He saw the images that he collected over the years as a way to better tell the story of the depiction of Black Americans in visual media. In 2019, Wright donated his collection to William \u0026amp; Mary so that it might be \"a helpful resource to students\" in the future.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical / Historical"],"bioghist_tesim":["Richard Wright (1946-2019) grew up in New York and attended college at Bradley University in Peoria, IL on an academic scholarship. He originally planned to study chemistry but graduated with a Bachelor of Political Science instead. ","\nWright moved to Stamford, Connecticut, where he met and married Minister Deborah V. P. Wright (1953-2012). They had three children together: Aaron Person, Joslynn S. Hamlet, and Porchia M. W. Smith.","\nWright spent the bulk of his career working as a court officer in the social services Department of Child Support in Connecticut until his retirement in 2013. He then moved to Williamsburg, Virgina, where he lived until his passing in 2019.","\nHe was an active member of Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Stamford, Connecticut. He served as a member of the trustee board, and sang in the Male Chorus and Inspirational Choir. Upon relocating to Williamsburg, VA, he joined Colossian Baptist Church in Newport News, and once again served as a choir member. ","\nOutside of the church, Wright also served as the president of the Stamford Chapter of the NAACP, was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., and worked as a volunteer and mentor for a substance abuse rehabilitation program called Liberation House.","\nWhile living in Stamford, Wright began collecting Black comic books in 1986 because \"he wanted to have a hobby.\" His collection eventually grew beyond comics to include books, art works, photographs, and audio visual materials on the same topic. He saw the images that he collected over the years as a way to better tell the story of the depiction of Black Americans in visual media. In 2019, Wright donated his collection to William \u0026 Mary so that it might be \"a helpful resource to students\" in the future."],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWilliam \u0026amp; Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.\u003c/p\u003e"],"odd_heading_ssm":["General","General","General","General","General","General","General","General","General","General"],"odd_tesim":["William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.","William \u0026 Mary Libraries' perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRichard Wright collection, Special Collections Research Center, William \u0026amp; Mary Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Richard Wright collection, Special Collections Research Center, William \u0026 Mary Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eComic book volumes and other published materials included with this collection have been transfered to Rare Books and cataloged individually.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Comic book volumes and other published materials included with this collection have been transfered to Rare Books and cataloged individually."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Richard Wright collection, compiled by Richard Wright, focuses on the evolution of the Black American image in print media, cartoons and comics. Wright organized his own historical timeline titled \"Good Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics,\" also referred to as \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics,\" in a series of binders with artist biographies and time period summaries. Item titles have been retained from the original labels.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMaterials in this collection include: books, comic books, magazines, prints, reference books, slides, photographs, CDs, DVDs, sheet music, newspaper strips, lithographs, and artwork. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eResearch notes, biographies and timelines compiled or authored by Richard Wright. The original binder names have been retained.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA series of binders compiled by Richard Wright on the history of Black American depictions in comic art.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePart one of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePart two of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePart three of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePart four of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eRecords pertaining to Wright's collecting process, such as purchase documentation and comic research. Retains Wright's original titles and organization.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis series retains original titles and organization.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eScrapbooks and porfolios compiled by Richard Wright. Original order and names retained.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn album with a red cover and a title note taped to the front by Richard Wright that reads \"1890's Black Newspaper Cartoons: Howarth, Hamilton, et. al.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of cartoons with Black protagonists from a variety of artists and publishers between the 19th and 20th century.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA spiral bound book with a green cover. The words \"Scrap Book\" are on the front in black, the \"o\"s in \"book\" form the handles of a pair of scissors in the design. The contents of the book are comic clipping of \"Henry\" and \"Lulu\" from various newspapers.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of Currier \u0026amp; Ives caricature cartoon prints featuring Black protagonists from the late 1800s.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of Currier \u0026amp; Ives' \"Darktown\" print series.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA scrapbook with a red cover with gold lettering. A sticker on the spine reads \"1872.\" The contents of the book are illustration clippings from issues of Harper's Weekly.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNewspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist with handwritten note.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNewspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNewspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA grey, tan, and gold covered scrapbook. The words \"Scrap Book\" are embossed on the cover along with two peony flowers. The contents are newspaper cartoon clippings from unmarked sources.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArranged alphabetically by title.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOrginal four panel comic layout with edits, pasted text bubbles and handdrawn images.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA two part series, there are two versions of the print titled \"A Crack Trotter - A little off\" and one print of \"A Crack Trotter - Coming Around.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA print on board.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis cel has five characters standing side by side in the asile of a store.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis cel has three characters on a city street corner at night.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA character bust sketch in pencil. The figure is wearing glasses and a button up shirt. There is a scale measurement in the bottom right corner, and notes along the edges.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA multilayer animation cel with three sheets of film introductory text.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo pen and pencil sketches on paper, the second is titled \"Fast Black\" and is signed A.L.S.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal Black Panther comic panel in pen and ink with blue sketch lines, pencil notes, and corrections visible.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eHandpainted animation cel signed by the artist and producer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo versions of the same cartoon: showing edits in color and design between the first and second editions.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal comic panel with edits and the artist's signature in pen and ink.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo original comic panels in pen and ink with edits, visible blue lines, and pencil notes. Signed by the artist.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA colored pencil and graphite character sketch for the film \"Coal Black and De Sebban Dwarfs.\" Signed by the artist and accompanied by the sales paperwork from when it was acquired by Richard Wright.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA handpainted animation cel for the movie \"Coonskin.\" Features a bust of one of the characters with a few background lines, and the identifier \"1H56, 5\" in the bottom right corner.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA series of animation character sketches on translucent paper.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel signed by E. Simms Campbell. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits and commentary.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel signed by Chester Gould. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel signed by Paul Smith. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits and commentary.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA handpainted animation cel featuring four characters from \"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.\" The cel is labeled \"FA STK 2027A B-5.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA handpainted animation cel featuring seven characters from \"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.\" The cel is labeled \"copyright 1981 - William H. Cosby Jr. - Film Assoc.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSketch in colored pencil and graphite with animation notes and the identifier \"Se. 142, STK BG 1909, FA-79\" in the bottom right corner.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA sketch of a man holding a basketball in blue pencil and graphite. The label \"PB4\" is featured multiple times around the image, and the bottom of the page is stamped with \"50-2, 3.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA numbered limited edition Heavy Traffic poster. 73/260\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eHandpainted animation cel of \"Carol\" from \"Heavy Traffic\" with certificate of authenticity and sales information.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA cartoon drawn in pencil and signed by Henry Jackson. In red marker along the bottom of the work, someone has written \" Examiner Art Staff 1960s - (now deceased)\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA political poster featuring a white and a Black solider shaking hands across from Uncle Sam. Produced by M.A.Stern Chicago.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal comic panel done in pen and graphite, signed and dated by the artist. Title and trademark information are pasted onto the work, and writing along the bottom edge reads \"to Bill Glasgow.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal animation model sketch of \"Inky\" from Warner Bros Studios. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSigned by the artist. Original panel on cardboard in ink and graphite. A caption at the bottom reads \"The high cost of foods done me more good than my [acolicing?] salon.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn animation cel featuring all three main characters from \"Josie and the Pussy Cats\" playing instruments on a stage. Their names written underneath their images, \"Josie, Melody, and Valerie.\" Words in the top left read \"Prod # 51, (standard size). The bottom right is copyrighted by Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., and dated 1970.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn animation cel featuring all three main characters from \"Josie and the Pussy Cats\" with a street scene background.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSketch in colored pencil, graphite, and watercolor of a Fish in a bowler hat smoking a cigar.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel in ink and graphite with visible edits, signed by the artist.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eHandpainted animation cel of Uhura in uniform.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eCharacter sketch in colored pencil and graphite with notes.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eCharacter sketch in colored pencil and graphite. Accompanied by certificate of authenticity.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal drawing in ink, titled in the bottom left and numbered in the bottom right.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal comic panel in ink, graphite, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal comic panel in ink and graphite, signed by the artist. Water damage along the bottom edge.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo different print versions of the same image, showing varied color and tint choices.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal comic panel in ink, graphite, blue pencil, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes. Blue pencil notes at the top left corner read \" Page #13, Annual #94, Mn 7. \u0026amp; 7. Force.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal comic panel in ink with caption edits, accompanited by a handwritten letters by the artist, and the dealer information. The letters are addressed to Rev. E.F. Strickland, dated 1883 September 12 and 1883 October 20, and regard a request for a drawing.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel in graphite and ink that appears to have been cut off from a larger comic strip. The artist signature in the bottom left is cut in half. Dated \"Fri May 1,\" 1959. And titled \"Capt. Easy\".\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn untitled drawing of a boy facing away from the viewer. He is dressed in overalls with one strap, holding a bag in his left hand, and a stick in his right. Writing beneath the image reads \"SC. 28A\".\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn untitled drawing of a man holding a boomerang. The number \"146\" is in the bottom right corner.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn untitled drawing of a female torso clad in an apron and wearing slippers. Writing beneath the drawing read \" Prod89 SC54, 269.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn untitled drawing of a female torso wearing an apron and slippers balancing on a tipping kitchen stool. There are notes written all over the image with measurements and accompanying arrows.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn untitled female figure wearing a headscarf and dressed in an apron over a polka-dot dress. Writing along the bottom of the image read \"AJ\" and \"542.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA series of motion sketches of a baby accompanied by a female figure.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA sketch of the centaur \"Otika\" from Disney's Fantasia.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBust sketches of two women discussing laundry.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA drawing of Jerry wearing a napkin around his neck as he walks away to the right with a scowl on his face. The number \"50\" is in the bottom right.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA hand painted animation cel of Tom behind a person on stilts.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA drawing of Tom pouncing around the corner of a wall with paws outstretched. Notes on the drawing read \"to reg. see #129\", and the number \"133\" is in the bottom right corner.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel for \"Outdoor Sports\" in ink, graphite, and blue pencil. Signed and dated by the artist.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA painting on paper of a donkey and three birds in a fenced field with a farm house in the background. Signed and titled in the bottom left.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel in ink, paint, and graphite for a political cartoon.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOriginal comic panel in ink, graphite, red pen, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes. Signed by the artist.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel in ink and graphite of a man plucking petals off a flower. The title is written in pencil along the bottom edge.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA multi-layer, hand painted, animation cel. Signed by both artists. Numbered \"59/100\" in the bottom right corner.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA still life print on board that has been painted over.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel in ink, graphite, and white-out on board. It features a man trying to fix a soda vending machine.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAn original comic panel in in and graphite titled \"Walnuts\" from \"Sunflower Street.\" Signed by the arts and dated.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo different printings of the same cartoon with color variances.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA handpainted animation cel of two character in clown make-up and costumes. The one on the left is labeled as \"Buckwheat as a clown,\" and the one on the right is labeled \"Porky as a clown.\" The cel is titled along the top edge and numbered \"0132-8207.\" Notes cover the entire cel in pencil and pen, the majority appear to be color identifcation numbers.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA drawing in ink and graphite of three men playing cards at a table. The title of the work is in pencil along the bottom edge, along with the artist's signature.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA print of \"Little Eva,\" and \"Uncle Tom\" sitting in the shade of a tree with a shack in the background. \"Eva\" has a book on her lap and gestures off in the distance.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA sketch in graphite of a old man wearing suspenders, oversized shoes, a tiny bowler hat, and carrying a crooked cane. The number \"143\" is written in the bottom right corner, and a the words \" PROD 1 52SC 1 6\" are stamped next to it.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA painted animation cel bust drawing of a bird in a hat. The hat is a purple tricorne with an oversized safety pin stuck through the front. The bird is white with yellow eyes and an orange beak and appears to be a seagull. The cel is accompaied by an information tag and a scan of a He-Man scene.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA print of seven men dressed in red and yellow shirts and caps with blue pinstriped pants and red shoes with yellow and red stockings. The men have axes and are working with trimmed sticks which are piled up behind them. One man has cut himself in half instead of the stick he is holding.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA sketch of a man in a top hat and coattails hanging on the back of a bucking horse. Signed \"FC\" in the bottom right corner.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA print of a woman walking beside a man holding a baby. Both are dressed in formal wear, and rendered in shades of tan, brown, and pink. Signed by the artist in the bottom right corner, with the letters difficult to make out.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo prints, each a bust of a Black child. One in a three-quarters pose, the other looking directly at the viewer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA woodblock print of a man, woman, and child in formal wear, their features are rendered in blocky forms akin to stylized masks.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA matted painted animation cel of Valerie Brown in her Pussy Cat costume holding two tambourines.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA bust sketch of Valerie Brown in blue pencil and graphite. Notes at the bottom right corner read \"7FC SC.31 6e-2 bq.31.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA multi-layer painted animation cel. Features a man with his hands clasped triumphantly above his head standing against a background of a junk pile and wooden wall. Text along the top edge reads \"Fa01 BGS4\" and text along the bottom edge reads \"FA STG 2027A WH5.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArranged alphabetically by title.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFrom the series \"Negro Drawings,\" plate 42.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFrom the series \"Negro Drawings,\" plate 42.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThree prints; the two by Walker are published by Currier \u0026amp; Ives.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo different print versions.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOversized poster.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo versions of the same print.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrint on canvas.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo rolled posters.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eA printout of a man in a bowler hat carrying a cane while wearing a suit.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePixelated photographs of a comic showing two Black children sitting beside a shotgun.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTwo different scenes of a man and woman in fancy dress.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThis cover shows a white man with one hand on a revolver standing over a Black man laying on the ground.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrimarily \"Mickey Finn\" and \"Don Winslow of the Navy.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOmaha World Herald\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eReproduction.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Content Description","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","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","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","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","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","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 Richard Wright collection, compiled by Richard Wright, focuses on the evolution of the Black American image in print media, cartoons and comics. Wright organized his own historical timeline titled \"Good Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics,\" also referred to as \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics,\" in a series of binders with artist biographies and time period summaries. Item titles have been retained from the original labels.","Materials in this collection include: books, comic books, magazines, prints, reference books, slides, photographs, CDs, DVDs, sheet music, newspaper strips, lithographs, and artwork. ","Research notes, biographies and timelines compiled or authored by Richard Wright. The original binder names have been retained.","A series of binders compiled by Richard Wright on the history of Black American depictions in comic art.","Part one of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"","Part two of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"","Part three of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"","Part four of four. The full orginial title for the binder that housed these materials was \"Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics, African American Artists in the Mainstream: Jules Lion; Geo Herriman; E. Simms Campbell; Matt Baker; Morrie Turner; Brandon Brumsic; Ted Shearer; Black Images for Black People; Ebony; Golden Legacy; Aimed at Afro Market; Negro Romances; Negro Heroes; Hep/Sepia/Jive; In the Black Press; Ollie Harrington; Jackie Ormes; Tom Feelings; Current Artists; Denys Cowans; Ray Billingsley.\"","Arrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.","Arrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.","Arrangement and titles of folders are retained from Wright.","Records pertaining to Wright's collecting process, such as purchase documentation and comic research. Retains Wright's original titles and organization.","This series retains original titles and organization.","Scrapbooks and porfolios compiled by Richard Wright. Original order and names retained.","An album with a red cover and a title note taped to the front by Richard Wright that reads \"1890's Black Newspaper Cartoons: Howarth, Hamilton, et. al.\"","A portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of cartoons with Black protagonists from a variety of artists and publishers between the 19th and 20th century.","A spiral bound book with a green cover. The words \"Scrap Book\" are on the front in black, the \"o\"s in \"book\" form the handles of a pair of scissors in the design. The contents of the book are comic clipping of \"Henry\" and \"Lulu\" from various newspapers.","A portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of Currier \u0026 Ives caricature cartoon prints featuring Black protagonists from the late 1800s.","A portfolio compiled by Richard Wright of Currier \u0026 Ives' \"Darktown\" print series.","A scrapbook with a red cover with gold lettering. A sticker on the spine reads \"1872.\" The contents of the book are illustration clippings from issues of Harper's Weekly.","Newspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist with handwritten note.","Newspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist.","Newspaper clippings of \"The Gumps\" by Sidney Smith from The Cleveland News. Signed by the artist.","A grey, tan, and gold covered scrapbook. The words \"Scrap Book\" are embossed on the cover along with two peony flowers. The contents are newspaper cartoon clippings from unmarked sources.","Arranged alphabetically by title.","Orginal four panel comic layout with edits, pasted text bubbles and handdrawn images.","A two part series, there are two versions of the print titled \"A Crack Trotter - A little off\" and one print of \"A Crack Trotter - Coming Around.\"","A print on board.","This cel has five characters standing side by side in the asile of a store.","This cel has three characters on a city street corner at night.","A character bust sketch in pencil. The figure is wearing glasses and a button up shirt. There is a scale measurement in the bottom right corner, and notes along the edges.","A multilayer animation cel with three sheets of film introductory text.","Two pen and pencil sketches on paper, the second is titled \"Fast Black\" and is signed A.L.S.","Original Black Panther comic panel in pen and ink with blue sketch lines, pencil notes, and corrections visible.","Handpainted animation cel signed by the artist and producer.","Two versions of the same cartoon: showing edits in color and design between the first and second editions.","Original comic panel with edits and the artist's signature in pen and ink.","Two original comic panels in pen and ink with edits, visible blue lines, and pencil notes. Signed by the artist.","A colored pencil and graphite character sketch for the film \"Coal Black and De Sebban Dwarfs.\" Signed by the artist and accompanied by the sales paperwork from when it was acquired by Richard Wright.","A handpainted animation cel for the movie \"Coonskin.\" Features a bust of one of the characters with a few background lines, and the identifier \"1H56, 5\" in the bottom right corner.","A series of animation character sketches on translucent paper.","An original comic panel signed by E. Simms Campbell. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits and commentary.","An original comic panel signed by Chester Gould. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits.","An original comic panel signed by Paul Smith. Done in pencil and ink with visible edits and commentary.","A handpainted animation cel featuring four characters from \"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.\" The cel is labeled \"FA STK 2027A B-5.\"","A handpainted animation cel featuring seven characters from \"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.\" The cel is labeled \"copyright 1981 - William H. Cosby Jr. - Film Assoc.\"","Sketch in colored pencil and graphite with animation notes and the identifier \"Se. 142, STK BG 1909, FA-79\" in the bottom right corner.","A sketch of a man holding a basketball in blue pencil and graphite. The label \"PB4\" is featured multiple times around the image, and the bottom of the page is stamped with \"50-2, 3.\"","A multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.","A multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.","A multi-layer hand-painted animation cel with a background, a foreground, and a figure layer.","A numbered limited edition Heavy Traffic poster. 73/260","Handpainted animation cel of \"Carol\" from \"Heavy Traffic\" with certificate of authenticity and sales information.","A cartoon drawn in pencil and signed by Henry Jackson. In red marker along the bottom of the work, someone has written \" Examiner Art Staff 1960s - (now deceased)\"","A political poster featuring a white and a Black solider shaking hands across from Uncle Sam. Produced by M.A.Stern Chicago.","Original comic panel done in pen and graphite, signed and dated by the artist. Title and trademark information are pasted onto the work, and writing along the bottom edge reads \"to Bill Glasgow.\"","Original animation model sketch of \"Inky\" from Warner Bros Studios. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.","Signed by the artist. Original panel on cardboard in ink and graphite. A caption at the bottom reads \"The high cost of foods done me more good than my [acolicing?] salon.\"","An animation cel featuring all three main characters from \"Josie and the Pussy Cats\" playing instruments on a stage. Their names written underneath their images, \"Josie, Melody, and Valerie.\" Words in the top left read \"Prod # 51, (standard size). The bottom right is copyrighted by Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., and dated 1970.","An animation cel featuring all three main characters from \"Josie and the Pussy Cats\" with a street scene background.","Sketch in colored pencil, graphite, and watercolor of a Fish in a bowler hat smoking a cigar.","An original comic panel in ink and graphite with visible edits, signed by the artist.","Handpainted animation cel of Uhura in uniform.","Character sketch in colored pencil and graphite with notes.","Character sketch in colored pencil and graphite. Accompanied by certificate of authenticity.","Original drawing in ink, titled in the bottom left and numbered in the bottom right.","Original comic panel in ink, graphite, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes.","Original comic panel in ink and graphite, signed by the artist. Water damage along the bottom edge.","Two different print versions of the same image, showing varied color and tint choices.","Original comic panel in ink, graphite, blue pencil, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes. Blue pencil notes at the top left corner read \" Page #13, Annual #94, Mn 7. \u0026 7. Force.\"","Original comic panel in ink with caption edits, accompanited by a handwritten letters by the artist, and the dealer information. The letters are addressed to Rev. E.F. Strickland, dated 1883 September 12 and 1883 October 20, and regard a request for a drawing.","An original comic panel in graphite and ink that appears to have been cut off from a larger comic strip. The artist signature in the bottom left is cut in half. Dated \"Fri May 1,\" 1959. And titled \"Capt. Easy\".","An untitled drawing of a boy facing away from the viewer. He is dressed in overalls with one strap, holding a bag in his left hand, and a stick in his right. Writing beneath the image reads \"SC. 28A\".","An untitled drawing of a man holding a boomerang. The number \"146\" is in the bottom right corner.","An untitled drawing of a female torso clad in an apron and wearing slippers. Writing beneath the drawing read \" Prod89 SC54, 269.\"","An untitled drawing of a female torso wearing an apron and slippers balancing on a tipping kitchen stool. There are notes written all over the image with measurements and accompanying arrows.","An untitled female figure wearing a headscarf and dressed in an apron over a polka-dot dress. Writing along the bottom of the image read \"AJ\" and \"542.\"","A series of motion sketches of a baby accompanied by a female figure.","A sketch of the centaur \"Otika\" from Disney's Fantasia.","Bust sketches of two women discussing laundry.","A drawing of Jerry wearing a napkin around his neck as he walks away to the right with a scowl on his face. The number \"50\" is in the bottom right.","A hand painted animation cel of Tom behind a person on stilts.","A drawing of Tom pouncing around the corner of a wall with paws outstretched. Notes on the drawing read \"to reg. see #129\", and the number \"133\" is in the bottom right corner.","An original comic panel for \"Outdoor Sports\" in ink, graphite, and blue pencil. Signed and dated by the artist.","A painting on paper of a donkey and three birds in a fenced field with a farm house in the background. Signed and titled in the bottom left.","An original comic panel in ink, paint, and graphite for a political cartoon.","Original comic panel in ink, graphite, red pen, and gouache paint with visible edits, and notes. Signed by the artist.","An original comic panel in ink and graphite of a man plucking petals off a flower. The title is written in pencil along the bottom edge.","A multi-layer, hand painted, animation cel. Signed by both artists. Numbered \"59/100\" in the bottom right corner.","A still life print on board that has been painted over.","An original comic panel in ink, graphite, and white-out on board. It features a man trying to fix a soda vending machine.","An original comic panel in in and graphite titled \"Walnuts\" from \"Sunflower Street.\" Signed by the arts and dated.","Two different printings of the same cartoon with color variances.","A handpainted animation cel of two character in clown make-up and costumes. The one on the left is labeled as \"Buckwheat as a clown,\" and the one on the right is labeled \"Porky as a clown.\" The cel is titled along the top edge and numbered \"0132-8207.\" Notes cover the entire cel in pencil and pen, the majority appear to be color identifcation numbers.","A drawing in ink and graphite of three men playing cards at a table. The title of the work is in pencil along the bottom edge, along with the artist's signature.","A print of \"Little Eva,\" and \"Uncle Tom\" sitting in the shade of a tree with a shack in the background. \"Eva\" has a book on her lap and gestures off in the distance.","A sketch in graphite of a old man wearing suspenders, oversized shoes, a tiny bowler hat, and carrying a crooked cane. The number \"143\" is written in the bottom right corner, and a the words \" PROD 1 52SC 1 6\" are stamped next to it.","A painted animation cel bust drawing of a bird in a hat. The hat is a purple tricorne with an oversized safety pin stuck through the front. The bird is white with yellow eyes and an orange beak and appears to be a seagull. The cel is accompaied by an information tag and a scan of a He-Man scene.","A print of seven men dressed in red and yellow shirts and caps with blue pinstriped pants and red shoes with yellow and red stockings. The men have axes and are working with trimmed sticks which are piled up behind them. One man has cut himself in half instead of the stick he is holding.","A sketch of a man in a top hat and coattails hanging on the back of a bucking horse. Signed \"FC\" in the bottom right corner.","A print of a woman walking beside a man holding a baby. Both are dressed in formal wear, and rendered in shades of tan, brown, and pink. Signed by the artist in the bottom right corner, with the letters difficult to make out.","Two prints, each a bust of a Black child. One in a three-quarters pose, the other looking directly at the viewer.","A woodblock print of a man, woman, and child in formal wear, their features are rendered in blocky forms akin to stylized masks.","A matted painted animation cel of Valerie Brown in her Pussy Cat costume holding two tambourines.","A bust sketch of Valerie Brown in blue pencil and graphite. Notes at the bottom right corner read \"7FC SC.31 6e-2 bq.31.\"","A multi-layer painted animation cel. Features a man with his hands clasped triumphantly above his head standing against a background of a junk pile and wooden wall. Text along the top edge reads \"Fa01 BGS4\" and text along the bottom edge reads \"FA STG 2027A WH5.\"","Arranged alphabetically by title.","From the series \"Negro Drawings,\" plate 42.","From the series \"Negro Drawings,\" plate 42.","Three prints; the two by Walker are published by Currier \u0026 Ives.","Two different print versions.","Oversized poster.","Two versions of the same print.","Print on canvas.","Two rolled posters.","A printout of a man in a bowler hat carrying a cane while wearing a suit.","Pixelated photographs of a comic showing two Black children sitting beside a shotgun.","Two different scenes of a man and woman in fancy dress.","This cover shows a white man with one hand on a revolver standing over a Black man laying on the ground.","Primarily \"Mickey Finn\" and \"Don Winslow of the Navy.\"","Omaha World Herald","Reproduction."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBefore publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library."],"names_ssim":["Special Collections Research Center"],"corpname_ssim":["Special Collections Research Center"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":987,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-06-11T20:05:03.693Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viw_repositories_2_resources_9853_c01_c02_c05"}},{"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"B. Miscellaneous; includes an iron\n weight book; ore hauled; ore on hand,\n etc.","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c02","ref_ssm":["viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c02"],"id":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12_c02","ead_ssi":"viu_viu00917","_root_":"viu_viu00917","_nest_parent_":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12","parent_ssi":"viu_viu00917_c01_c12","parent_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c12"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viu_viu00917","viu_viu00917_c01","viu_viu00917_c01_c12"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Iron, Ore \u0026 Pig"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Iron, Ore \u0026 Pig"],"text":["Papers of the Low Moor Iron Company \n 1873-1927","Bound Volumes","Iron, Ore \u0026 Pig","B. Miscellaneous; includes an iron\n weight book; ore hauled; ore on hand,\n etc.","6 volumes"],"title_filing_ssi":"B. Miscellaneous; includes an iron\n weight book; ore hauled; ore on hand,\n etc.","title_ssm":["B. Miscellaneous; includes an iron\n weight book; ore hauled; ore on hand,\n etc."],"title_tesim":["B. Miscellaneous; includes an iron\n weight book; ore hauled; ore on hand,\n etc."],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1888-1899"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1888/1899"],"normalized_title_ssm":["B. Miscellaneous; includes an iron\n weight book; ore hauled; ore on hand,\n etc."],"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":52,"date_range_isim":[1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#11/components#1","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_c12_c02"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"repository_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Repository","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Alexandria Library","value":"Alexandria Library","hits":5},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1899\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":114},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1899\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=1899\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=1899\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=James+Madison+University"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Longwood University","value":"Longwood University","hits":23},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1899\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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