Historical Information: Although chartered in 1849, construction on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad did not commence until the 1850s. Construction began in January 1850, but the 204 mile line would not be completed until October 1856. The eastern end of the railroad began in Lynchburg, Virginia and extended through southwestern Virginia to the Tennessee state line at Bristol. In Lynchburg, the line connected with other railroads heading east through Petersburg and Richmond.

During the Civil War, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad served as a vital link between Richmond and the Confederate armies. The railroad hauled troops, weapons, and supplies throughout Virginia to Tennessee. Supplies such as food, livestock, salt, copper, and iron ore were shipped on the line. After several attempts, the Union army finally destroyed parts of the railroad in late 1864.

The railroad was soon rebuilt after the end of the Civil War and came under the control of former Confederate general William Mahone, who was named president of the line in 1867. In 1870, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad became part of the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad along with the South Side Railroad and the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. In 1882 the name of the line was changed to the Norfolk and Western. Today, much of the original railroad line remains in service to the Norfolk Southern Corporation.

Scope and content: The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company Monthly Estimates Ledgers, 1850-1855, were used by the railroad's engineering department to record the work performed by various contractors hired to perform grading and masonry work on specific sections of the railroad during its construction. Accounts were recorded for each contractor and include the contractor's name and the section and division of the railroad worked on. Each account entry includes a detailed list of the worked performed and the amounts paid for the service. Work performed by these railroad workers included earth excavation, rock excavation, and the building of culverts.

Monthly Estimates Ledger, 1850-1852, contains a small account book that details the numbers of employees and equipment provided by the contractors. Accounts were kept for the number of overseers, mechanics, men, boys, hand carts, and teams used by each contractor. The number of workers who became sick during the construction was also noted.

Monthly Estimates Ledger, 1853-1855, includes an article of agreement composed specifically for the work performed by contractors. The document provides a detailed description of the standards and quality expectations of the grading and masonry work.

Also see: Pulaski County Chancery Cause, Pryde and Jones vs Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company. It can be found in the Local Records Collection at the Library of Virginia. The index number is 1859-006. Available Digitally through the Chancery Records Index.

Historical Information: J. Farmer was most likely Jerry Farmer who was born about 1836 in Virginia and was a physician in Dublin, Va., during the nineteenth century.

Scope and Content: J. Farmer Physician Ledger, records the accounts of individual patients. Entries are arranged in chronological order under the individual account name. Each entry includes the date, type of transaction, and the monies debited and credited. Each entry documents the name of the patient treated by listing self for the account holder, wife, child, or the patient's first name. Transactions include services rendered such as examinations, extraction of teeth, dressing wounds, and setting broken bones. Medicine purchases are also recorded and include such items as alcohol, castor oil, pills, cod liver oil, whiskey, iodine, pepsin, liniment, carbolic acid, and laudanum. There are also purchases for items not related to medicine -- corn, hay, lard, and butter. Also included in the ledger is a loose letter from J. B. Jordan dated 7 January 1883 and addressed to Dr. Farmer. Jordan, most probably James B. Jordan (born about 1850) another physician in nearby Newbern, Virginia, requests that Farmer visit a sick patient while he is away attending to an obstetrical case.

Also see: Pulaski County Chancery Cause, Jerry Farmer vs Heirs of Elbert S. Trinkle. It can be found in the Local Records Collection at the Library of Virginia. The index number is 1884-027. Available Digitally through the Chancery Records Index.

Hisotrical Information: Lee L. Summers and Company operated in Pulaski County, Va., during the nineteenth century and were dealers in hay, corn, oats, chop, and mill-feed.

Scope and Content: Lee L. Summers and Company records consist of two daybooks and two ledgers. Daybooks, 1889-1890 and 1892-1893, record transactions on a daily basis as they occurred. Information found in each entry includes date, customer name, merchandise purchased, and monies debited and credited. Items purchased include hay, straw, meal, chop, and oats. Account information was transferred to the corresponding ledgers and listed under the customer's name. Employee accounts were often recorded in the daybooks and note the wages paid for tasks such as hauling hay. Also recorded in the Daybook are entries for the company's incidental expenses such as postage and the costs of sending telegrams. Ledgers, 1889-1891 and 1891-1896, record the accounts of individual customers. Entries are organized in chronological order under the individual account name. Each entry includes the date the transaction occurred, items purchased, and monies debited and credited. Also included in the ledgers are lists of bills receivable and a record of deposits and withdrawals from the Pulaski National Bank.

Also see: Pulaski County Chancery Cause, L. L. Summers vs James Gemmell, etc. It can be found in the Local Records Collection at the Library of Virginia. The index number is 1905-035. Available Digitally through the Chancery Records Index.

Historical Information: Fizer and Hall was a butcher and meat shop operating in Pulaski County, Virginia, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of the partners was James K. Polk Fizer (born about 1851), a merchant and butcher in Pulaski County.

Scope and Content: Fizer and Hall Ledgers, 1899-1904, 1901-1905, and 1902-1907,1912 record the accounts of individual customers at the butcher shop. Each account lists transactions in chronological order as they occurred. Entries document date, items purchased, quantity of items purchased, and monies debited and credited to the accounts. Items purchased include various types and cuts of meat such as beef, pork, chicken, turkey, sausage, veal, mutton, bacon, and oysters. Other items sold include butter, lard, potatoes, cabbage, beans, onions, and eggs.

Ledger, 1899-1904, also includes several loose papers dated 1905 and 1906. Most of these are James K. Polk Fizer's account receipts with area merchants for clothing and advertising. There are also several freight bills for Fizer and Hall. In addition, there is a letter addressed to James K. Polk Fizer, 27 August 1906, written by his aunt and uncle, M. N. and C. O. Carper, who were living in Greenwood, Indiana. The letter seeks advice on how to divide land inherited after the death of a distant relative, Virginia Carper Wright.

Historical Information: The Hygienic Ice and Cold Storage Company, based in Pulaski County (Va.), was incorporated in December 1906. Early officers of the company included R. L. Gardner, J. W. Miller, and George D. Peters. The purpose of the company was to manufacture, buy, and sell ice at wholesale and retail and to preserve in cold storage all kinds of food products of a perishable nature. The company bought, sold, stored, imported, and exported fruits, fish, butter, milk, poultry, eggs, etc. The company also bottled and sold table, mineral, and soda waters. On 29 February 1928, a special meeting of the stockholders was held to approve an agreement that sold the storage plant and all real estate to the New York based company the Jervian Corporation.

Scope and Content: The Hygienic Ice and Cold Storage Company Minute Book, 1906-1928, records the meetings of the company's board of directors and stockholders. Early meetings, beginning in December 1906, concern the formation of the company and include such business as the election of officers and board members, drafting by-laws, hiring employees, fixing salary rates, selling stock, and raising money to construct the storage plant. The majority of meetings concern the state of the company, the election of officers, the selling of stock, and the hiring of employees. Annual statements were provided at meetings of the stockholders. These statements documented the resources (real estate, machinery, bills receivable, cash) and liabilities of the company. Reports of receipts (stock sold, storage fees) and disbursements (rent, labor, fuel) were also provided. The final meeting of the stockholders, 29 February 1928, details the sell-out of the company to the Jervian Corporation.