Papers (1885-1930, undated) including correspondence, financial papers, clippings, photographs, pamphlets, newspapers, a letterpress book, etc., relating to Fechtig's role as purchasing agent for the Washington, Ohio and Western Railroad Company and other companies.
Frederick Hart Fechtig (1865-1951) came to Wilmington, N.C., in 1894 as purchasing agent for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. He was previously in Richmond, Virginia, as secretary to the president of the ACL Lines, and prior to that he had been connected in various capacities with the Washington, Ohio & Western, Norfolk and Western, Richmond and Danville, and Pennsylvania railroads. Mr. Fechtig, who was married to Allie Crutchfield Allen, retired from railway activities in 1945 at the age of eighty.
Correspondence available is largely of a business nature, and concerns Mr. Fechtig's managerial efforts for the various lines with which he was associated. The letterpress book (1885-1894) is of particular interest due to the detailed reports of rail operation that it contains. Included are copies of weekly and monthly reports of traffic, expenses, earnings, payrolls, etc., for the Washington, Ohio and Western Railroad Company. Copies of correspondence in the letterpress book contain descriptions of promotional activities, probing of competitive rates, requisitions of supplies, and other matters. Also in the book is a roster of public school teachers for Baltimore, Md.
Financial papers involve largely personal expenditures for clothing, household, and other supplies in Wilmington, N.C., and Richmond, Va., for the period 1889-1895.
The newspaper clippings (undated) are of a personal nature and are concerned with religion, art, homeopathy and recipes.
Of interest among the miscellaneous items is a health certificate (1901) issued by the Wilmington, N.C., Board of Health. The certificate, like others of the period, permitted persons to travel in times of epidemics without being detained by watchful authorities in other localities. Other miscellaneous items include a poem, dance invitation, list of fire alarm numbers for Richmond, Va. (1893), various advertisements, and a collection of religious "chromo"and Sunday School cards.
Several photographs are included, and an unidentified tintype is among the papers. The photographs are of the Richmond, Va., area, the Joseph H. Allen homeplace, and Sarah G. Yarnall, age 106.
Pamphlets in the papers consist of a history of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, two slide rule instruction booklets, and "The Great Adventure," a religious tract.
Newspapers are from Wilmington, N.C., and include The Morning Star, 29 June 1894 and 13 March 1916, and The Daily Review and Messenger, both 29 June 1894.
Gift of Miss Allie Morris Fechtig
Processed by T. Sloan, January 1969
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.