Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Thomas Wood and Company Freight Records must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Thomas Wood and Company Freight Records, Ms2009-045 - Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Acquisition Information

The Thomas Wood and Company Freight Records were purchased by Special Collections in 2009. The documents had been part of a larger group of railroad-related materials compiled by a collector (see "separated material" section).

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement and description of the Thomas Wood and Company Freight Records commenced and was completed in March 2009.

Biographical/Historical Information

Thomas Wood and Company served the community of Max Meadows, Virginia as a general mercantile business during the latter nineteenth century. The firm dealt largely in foodstuffs, clothing, alcohol, common household items, hardware, and agricultural equipment. Wood and Company seems to have succeeded an earlier business, Wood, Kasey and Wood, a general store that also shipped locally mined zinc ore to works in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Thomas Wood, proprietor of Thomas Wood and Company, appears in the 1880 Wythe County, Virginia census as a 67-year-old merchant, placing his birth year around 1813. Born in England, Wood immigrated to Virginia and married Margaret Elizabeth Crockett in November 26, 1841. This union produced many children: William, Robert, Grafton, Bamford, Mary Agnes, Margaret Louise, Elizabeth Graham, John, Ann, and Josie Wood.

Scope and Content

This collection contains records relating to freight shipments made to Thomas Wood and Company of Max Meadows, Virginia. The collection consists largely of freight bills from the Norfolk & Western Railroad for goods shipped to the company at Max Meadows. The bills list the date of receipt and the goods shipped, including such items as foodstuffs, hardware, clothing, agricultural equipment, furniture and other household goods. While most of the goods were shipped from Baltimore, Maryland; Bristol, Virginia; and Lynchburg, Virginia, frequent shipments of salt and plaster from Saltville, Virginia are also noted, as are periodic shipments from Wytheville and other Southwest Virginia locales. Appearing on some of the bills are the names R. R. Wood and G. C. Wood. The collection also includes five pieces of correspondence relating to freight shipments.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by document type, then chronologically.

Related Material

Wood, Kasey, and Wood Account Books, 1864-1891 (Ms2008-035)

The Thomas Wood and Company Freight Records were acquired as part of a larger collection of railway-related material that had been compiled by a collector, then sold to a dealer. In the course of processing, the Thomas Wood and Company materials were removed to a separate collection. The acquisition of which these records were a part also included:

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Related Material

Wood, Kasey, and Wood Account Books, 1864-1891 (Ms2008-035)

Separated Material

The Thomas Wood and Company Freight Records were acquired as part of a larger collection of railway-related material that had been compiled by a collector, then sold to a dealer. In the course of processing, the Thomas Wood and Company materials were removed to a separate collection. The acquisition of which these records were a part also included: