Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

An appointment for research is required. The collection is open for research. No interlibrary loan.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Gwinn Brothers Store Ledger, Appalachian Collection, McConnell Library, Radford University, Radford, VA. Gwinn Brothers Store Ledger: Meadow Creek, West Virginia, Accession # AC 023, University Archives, McConnell Library, Radford University

Acquisition Information

Donated by Lorne Bair, Fall 2012.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Custodial History

Donated by Lorne Bair, Fall 2012.

Processing Information

Research on ledger and processing by Katherine Okie, Winter 2013.

Biographical Information

The following information about Meadow Creek and the Gwinns was published by the Summers County Historical Society:

The King of England gave a Land Grant to the Gwinn Family that included the Meadow Creek Valley in the State of West Virginia. This document is recorded in the Monroe Co. Court House. Moses Gwinn was the original owner and later, William Gwinn bought the Western half of the Meadow Creek Valley. With the building of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in 1875, the town of Meadow Creek became a railroad Terminal. J. M. Raines was responsible in building the Sewell Valley Railroad to supply the largest hardwood lumber mill. As the town grew, a general store was built and owned by J. E. and William Abraham Gwinn. Later, the passenger trains and local freight trains made schedule stops and the Sewell Valley passenger train also had a regular, daily schedule stop at Meadow Creek. New businesses such as the Sewell Valley Bank, Withrow Furniture and Funeral Parlor, Tom Mosley's Restaurant, and the United States Post Office served the growing town of Meadow Creek. On the South side of New River in Raleigh County, which was across the river from Meadow Creek, small settlements that were named New, Pear, and Abraham sprang up. The sawmill and mining towns were located along the Sewell Valley Railroad.

Source: Summers Co. Historical Society, The History of Summers County West Virginia 1984, (Marceline, M.O.: 1984), 33.

Scope and Content

This ledger from 1901-1909 appears to have been the property of Gwinn Bros., General Merchandise and Lumber in Meadow Creek, West Virginia, owned by J.E. and William Abraham Gwinn. Besides the individual customers listed, the ledger also includes pages for the First National Bank of Alderson, the C and O Railroad, the Alaska Coal Co., the Meadow River Lumber Co, and other businesses. There is also a page from 14 March 1903 for the United Mine Workers of America that lists the names of thirty-three people, and a subsequent page for a Union Supply Company.

Among the products listed in the ledger are groceries such as flour, yeast, sugar, eggs, and candy; personal items such as shaving brushes, boots, and overcoats; farming supplies and hardware, including horseshoe nails, harness leather, feed, and stove pipes; large quantities of railroad ties; and a few odd items, including guitar strings, a telescope, and a coffin. Frequent customers include W. H. Bowles, Charley Bowles, W. A. Gwinn, J. E. Gwinn, C. B. Gwinn, Cosby Jimisin, Walter Kalor, Will Matthews, Robert Pankey, and James Roy.

Arrangement

Box 1. Gwinn Brothers Store Ledger