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Virginia Hisey Myers Collection of Shenandoah County Ledgers

 Collection
Identifier: SC 0100
  • Not requestable

  • Staff Only

Scope and Content

This collection consists of ten business ledgers from L. M Hisey & Co. and Wightman, Hisey & Co. from 1894 – 1900. The ledgers document sales of and orders for agricultural and forestry items, especially phosphate, coal, wheat, bark, and lumber, as well as corn and various tools. Some ledgers also contain financial information about the companies, such as lists of notes due and bank deposit slips. Receipts and bills, inserted in a few of the ledgers, further document the businesses.

Dates

  • 1894-1900

Creator

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk. (library-special@jmu.edu).

Biographical/Historical Information

Wightman, Hisey & Co., later called L. M. Hisey & Co., was a hardware store for farm related products and implements that operated in two locations in Edinburg and Woodstock Virginia in the 1890s. In an 1892 edition of the Shenandoah Herald, partners trading as Wightman, Hisey & Co. were listed as James Staunton, C. P. Wightman, Lemuel Hisey, and M. H. Hottel. Beginning around 1898, in local newspapers as well as in the business ledgers, the store is referred to as L. M. Hisey & Co. Advertisements for the two stores published in local Shenandoah Valley newspapers from 1891 - 1900 market a variety of goods, including corn and oat phosphate, coal and coal oil, wagons, plows, and various seed, among other goods.

Lemuel. M. Hisey, proprietor of L. M. Hisey & Co., was born in 1844 and died in 1900. He served as a Confederate soldier in Captain H. H. Riddleberger’s company of the 23rd Va. Calvary, Imboden’s Brigade. In his obituaries, he is noted as a prominent and successful businessman, and the firm of L. M. Hisey & Co. is described as “among the leading and best known business establishments in the county.”

Extent

0.4 cubic feet (2 boxes, 10 ledgers)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

This collection consists of ten business ledgers from 1894-1900 for L. M. Hisey & Co. and Wightman, Hisey & Co., stores in Edinburg and Woodstock, Virginia, that list accounts and document business transactions for farm related products and implements. 

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in 2 boxes of 10 folders.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Virginia Hisey Myers, through Mr. Douglas Dellinger, in November 1989.

Bibliography

  • "Commissioner’s Office.” Shenandoah Herald, [Woodstock, VA] 13 May 1892: Vol. 72 No. 12.
  • “Death in Shenandoah.” Richmond Times Dispatch, 1 November 1900: Whole Number 15,455, pg. 3.
  • “Death of Mr. L. M. Hisey.” Shenandoah Herald, [Woodstock, VA] 2 November 1900: Vol. 83 No. 44.

Processing Information

In May 2017, this collection was renamed Virginia Hisey Myers Collection of Shenandoah County Ledgers, a change from Virginia Hisey Myers Collection. In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017. This collection was previously cataloged as SC 2068.

Title
A Guide to the Virginia Hisey Myers Collection of Shenandoah County Ledgers, 1894-1900
Status
Completed
Author
Chris Bolgiano, Kate Morris
Date
December 1989, June 2013
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the James Madison University Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
820 Madison Drive
MSC 1706
Harrisonburg Virginia 22807
(540) 568-3612