Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Houff & Holler Business Records, 1904-1908. Local government records collection, Augusta County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Augusta County under the accession number 43658.

Historical Information

Houff & Holler, conducted a general mercantile business in Roman, Augusta County, Virginia. The managing partners of the business were J. W. Houff and Michael Holler. The business operated for only a few years until their entire stock was consumed by fire on 6 November 1908.

Scope and Content

Houff & Holler Business Records, 1904-1908, consists of a ledger, inventory and stock book, account book, correspondence, and receipts that record the general store's business dealings in Augusta County, Va.

Ledger, 1904-1907, records the accounts of individual customers. Each account lists transactions in chronological order. Entries include date, type of transactions, and monies debited and credited. Since most of their sales were nearly all for cash, Houff & Holler did not keep records of daily sales. The mercantile sold a variety of goods including clothing, shoes, cloth, soap, candy, eggs, sugar, coffee, beef, cigarettes, peanuts, liniment, morphine, and hardware items.

Inventory and Stock Book, 1907, records the amount of goods in stock. The book includes a single entry dated 7 January 1907, which records the inventories of items such as shoes, hats, gloves, dry goods and notions, groceries, tobacco, produce, and eggs.

Account Book, 1907, is a record of Houff & Holler's account with Planters Bank located in Bridgewater, Virginia. The book only documents deposits into the company's bank account.

Correspondence, 1907-1908, documents Houff & Holler's business dealings with other companies. The correspondence consists primarily of solicitations from other businesses such as Sumter Telephones and Peerless Buggy Company. The businesses offer free or discounted merchandise in exchange for promotion of their items in the general store. Included in this correspondence is information from Sumter Telephones on purchasing, installing, and using their telephones. In order to promote the organization of new lines, Sumter Telephones offered their No. 356-B Mammoth 5-Bar phone complete with installation equipment for $11.25.

Receipts, 1907, record the general store's accounts with other companies in Virginia. Items purchased included paint, dry goods, glassware, lamps, shoes, hardware items, and produce.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Houff & Holler.

Subjects:

• Consumer goods--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Dry-goods--Virginia--Augusta County.
• General stores--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Merchants--Virginia--Augusta County.

Geographical Names:

• Augusta County (Va.)--History--20th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Accounts.
• Business records--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Ledgers (account books)--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Letters (correspondence).
• Local government records--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Merchandise inventories.
• Receipts (financial records).

Added Entry - Personal Name:

• Holler, Michael.
• Houff, J. W.