Introduction | Agency History | Scope and Content | Series Description | Inventory

Introduction

The Graves Hardware Store records, spanning 26 years (1910-1936), includes account books, financial journals, and ledgers of the Graves Hardware Store and its predecessor, Graves & Meyer, in Oak Harbor, Ohio.

The records were donated and transferred to the Center for Archival Collections in September 1983 through the cooperation of Elizabeth Milbrodt of Oak Harbor, Ohio. There are no restrictions in the use of this collection. The register was prepared by Marilyn Levinson, Curator of Manuscripts, February 1992.

Agency History

The Graves Hardware Store was operated by William E. Graves at 125 East Main Street in Oak Harbor, Ohio. While it is unknown when the store was first established, the predecessor operation, Graves & Meyer, was in business by 1906. The shop was still listed in a 1934 Ottawa County directory, but business was by that time in a decline. It is not certain when operations ceased.

Scope and Content

The Graves Hardware Store collection consists of ten volumes of financial records (two account books, four journals, and four ledgers) covering operations of the store, and its predecessor, Graves & Meyer, in Oak Harbor, Ohio from 1910 to 1936.

The series of account books is continuous from 1910 through 1921, providing a picture of people in the economic community of Oak Harbor. The journals, which give information on the commodities bought at the store between 1910 and 1926, have one gap from August 1913 through August 1916. The cross references from the journals to the corresponding entry in the account books provides access to information on the purchasing history of each customer. The ledgers provide more comprehensive financial information, starting in 1912 and extending well into the Depression era in 1936, with one gap between 1916 and 1918. These volumes, too, have cross references to the account books.

While the collection does not include any correspondence or other background material on Graves Hardware, the coordinating relationship between the volumes does give some view of the local economy of Oak Harbor during the first third of the 20th century.

Series Description

FINANCIAL RECORDS

ACCOUNT BOOKS
Jan 1910-Oct 1921
Arranged chronologically
Record books with sections for amounts in merchandise, bills payable, bills receivable, expenses, and individual accounts, with a name index in the front of each volume.

JOURNALS
July 1910-July 1913; August 1916-June 1926
Arranged chronologically
Daily record of transactions, with amount and description of goods or service provided. Cross reference given to page number in the corresponding account book volume.

LEDGERS
1912-1916; 1918-1936
Arranged chronologically
Financial ledger with daily entries giving accounts, with columns for debit, credit, expenses & ledger. Cross reference given to page number in the corresponding account book volume.

Inventory

Box 1

1. Account book, Jan 1910-Dec 1915
2. Account book, Jan 1916-Oct 1921
3. Journal, July 1910-July 1913
4. Journal, Aug 1916-Jan 1920
5. Journal, Jan 1920-Mar 1923

Box 2

1. Journal, Mar 1923-June 1926
2. Ledger, 1912-1916
3. Ledger, 1918-1925
4. Ledger, 1925-1929
5. Ledger, 1927-1936

Manuscripts by Subject | Business & Commerce