Manuscript (1871-1961) including photographs, map, statements, records, lumber business.
The Kramer family of Watsontown, Pennsylvania, moved to Elizabeth City in 1871 to engage in the lumber business. Daniel S. Kramer, the founder of the D. S. Kramer lumber company, arrived in January, 1871, with his wife, Rachel, and their six children. The firm had five names before it was liquidated in 1961: D. S. Kramer (1871-1884); D. S. Kramer & Sons (1884-1887); and Kramer Bros. Co. (1917-1961). R. O. Preyer, grandfather of Congressman Richardson Preyer, joined the firm as a partner in 1891.
The manuscript, which includes statements by elderly persons familiar with the firm, quotations from company records, photographs of the lumber mill and other sites in Elizabeth City and a map of the firm's property (1884), discusses the lumber business and other aspects of the town.
Of particular interest are references to materials the Wright Brothers bought from Kramer Brothers and Co. (pp. 35, 46-48), the buildings in Elizabeth City built with lumber supplied by Kramer (p. 53), photographs depicting the tugboat of G. F. Derrickson (p. 43) and the removal of logs from the forest (pp. 71-72) and the organization of Elizabeth City Academy and a graded school (pp. 16-17).
Gift of Miss Jane Thompson
Processed by M. York, April 1981
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.