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James Madison University Libraries Special Collections
880 Madison DrivePhillip Wong
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[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Account Booklets with John W. Crist, 1895-1909, SC 0285, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.
The account booklets were acquired at Jeffrey S. Evans and Associates' Winter Americana and Variety Auction on February 16, 2019.
John W. Crist was born on February 27, 1841 in Virginia. He married Mary E. (1844-1903) and had a son named Edwin Geary Crist (1866-1922) and a daughter named Hattie Belle Crist (1874-1959), later Hattie Belle Myers. After serving with the Confederate Army as a Lieutenant, he served as postmaster of Sangerville, Virginia until as late as 1890. During his time as postmaster he also managed a store until his death on October 2, 1913.
The telephone company mentioned in the Kiracofe account booklet is potentially the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company, created February 16, 1903, with the principal office being located in Sangerville, Virginia to serve Augusta County. At the time of creation, the executive office was as follows: A. Senger, President; S. L. Hess, Vice-President; L. V. Miller, Secretary; and A. J. Miller, Treasurer. In 1960, the company service was re-named the Shenandoah Telephone Company, and became a subsidiary of the Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel), which still is in operation today.
The Account Booklets with John W. Crist, 1895-1909, comprise two receipt booklets that document purchases made at John W. Crist's store in Sangerville, Virginia. One booklet was kept by Rebecca Jane Michael Kiracofe (written as Mrs. William Kiracofe on the booklet) and the other was kept by an unidentified person. Both follow the same basic format, with the month and the year at the top of the page, and all the items they bought from John W. Crist with corresponding prices. Both accounts take up no more than half the pages in the booklet.
In the booklet owned by Mrs. Kiracofe, there are multiple pages with the constitution and written by-laws of the Telephone Company Line No. 26 and 2. There are twelve articles in all. They cover the duties of the company's executive board, the duties of the shareholders, and the duties of all employed by the company (as noted in Article 10, Section 3: "Business must always have preference to mere pleasure or amusement). There are three names listed at the end of the articles: A. J. Kiracofe, Dr. George S. Fultz, and T. J. Argenbright (1860-1937), a teacher. It is speculated that these three were put in charge of Lines 26 and 2 of the then-developing Farmers Mutual Telephone Company.
Both booklets are housed in a single letter folder.
J. W. Crist & Company Records, Mss. 39.2 C87, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary. Crist & Blakemore Records, 39.2 C875, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.