Lawrence-Gulley General Store Records

1903-1954
Manuscript Collection #5
Portions of this collection are digitized (2 items)
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Creator(s)
Lawrence-Gulley General Store
Physical description
17.35 Cubic Feet, 1,200 items, 120 volumes, consisting of correspondence, mortgages, bank notes, promissory notes, invoices, statements of account, checks, ledgers, daybooks, stock inventory books, cash books, and catalogues.
Preferred Citation
Lawrence-Gulley General Store Records (#5), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
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Records (1903-1954, undated) of the Leggett (NC) general store.

Biographical/historical information

The Leggett General Store was a store in the small town of Leggett in Edgecombe County, N.C., operated during the first half of the 20th Century by members of the Lawrence family. Joshua Thomas "J.T." Lawrence, Sr., was born on August 8, 1883, in Martin County, NC. He later relocated to Edgecombe County, NC, and married Mary Lillian Fountain in June of 1908. Lawrence had at least five children: two boys and three girls. J.T. Lawrence, Sr., was the owner of the Leggett General Store from 1919 to 1945 and was succeeded by various members of the Lawrence and Fountain families. By 1941, Lawrence was a member of the County Board of Education in Edgecomb County. Lawrence also worked with Fountain and Fountain, an Edgecombe County company which provided mortgage loans. J. T. Lawrence, Sr., died in May of 1949 in Leggett, NC.

Written March 2024

Scope and arrangement

The correspondence deals exclusively with the years between 1940 and 1945. Letters of importance include one concerned with tax requirements on cigarettes and several concerned primarily with business transactions. Also included is a report on the major repairs needed for Leggett School in Edgecombe County (1941).

There are numerous mortgages which were written between 1904 and 1911. The majority of these mortgages are held by Fountain-Fountain against their tenant farmers. Such personal property as sows, ponies, cotton, horses, and Singer sewing machines are given as collateral for needed supplies.

The bulk of the financial papers include invoices and statements of account dealing with the years 1915 and 1918. Such things as clothes, fertilizers, tobacco twine, seed, fish, axle grease, oil, peanut bags, cooking utensils, furniture, and other items to be found in a general store constitute the bulk of these transactions.

There are several promissory notes held by W. S. Clark and Fountain-Fountain against their tenant farmers for small sums of money. There are numerous account sheets(1940-1941) taken from the store records of L. T. Lawrence giving the accounts of his tenants and other customers.

Other records include safe records or cash books (1951-1954), inventory books (undated), daybooks (1904-1934), ledgers (1902-1944), and charge records (1908-1920). Numerous memo pads and catalogues are also included.

Administrative information
Custodial History

September 20, 1967, ca. 1,200 items and 120 volumes; Store records of the firm owned successively by C. L. Fountain and L. E. Fountain (1903-1908), C. L. Fountain and J. Tommie Lawrence (1909-1915), C.L. Fountain (1915-1918), and J. Tommie Lawrence (1919-1945), consisting of correspondence (1940-1945), mortgages, bank notes, promissory notes, invoices, statements of account, checks, ledger, daybooks, stock inventory books, cash books, and catalogues. Gift of Oscar G. Gulley III, Leggett, North Carolina.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Oscar G. Gulley III

Processing information

Processed by D. Lennon

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Key terms
Corporate Names
Lawrence-Gulley General Store
Topical
Agriculture--North Carolina--Edgecombe County--History
Cigarettes--Taxation--North Carolina
Commercial catalogs
Farm tenancy--North Carolina--History--20th century
General stores--North Carolina--Edgecombe County
Public schools--North Carolina--Edgecombe County
Places
Edgecombe County (N.C.)--History
Container list
Box 1 Correspondence, Mortgages, Financial Papers
Box 2 Financial Papers
Box 3 Financial Papers
Box 4 Financial Papers
Box 5 Inventories, 1905-1918
Box 6 Inventories, 1919-1928
Box 7 Inventories, 1945 & undated
Box 8 Safe Books, 1949-1955
Box 9 Day Books, 1904
Box 10 Day Books, 1904-1905
Box 11 Day Books, 1905
Box 12 Day Books, 1905
Box 13 Day Books, 1907-1909
Box 14 Day Book, 1910
Box 15 Day Book, 1911
Box 16 Day Book, 1910
Box 17 Day Book, 1913-1914
Box 18 Day Book, 1913 July - December
Box 19 Day Book, 1914 August - December
Box 20 Day Book, 1915 March - September
Box 21 Day Book, 1916 January - February
Box 22 Day Book, 1917 January - September
Box 23 Day Book, 1917 February - October
Box 24 Day Book, 1917 September - 1918 March
Box 25 Day Book, 1918 July
Box 26 Day Book, 1919-1921
Box 27 Day Book, March - July, 1920
Box 28 Day Book, August 1920 , February 1921
Box 29 Day Book, July 1923 , March 1924
Box 30 Day Book, April 1924 , August 1924
Box 31 Day Book, September 1924 , February 1925
Box 32 Day Book, March 1925 , August 1925
Box 33 Day Book, September 1925 , January 1926
Box 34 Day Book, January , July 1926
Box 35 Day Book, July 1926 , July 1927
Box 36 Day Book, August 1927 , September 1928
Box 37 Day Book, 1926-1929
Box 38 Day Book, 1931-1934
Box 39 Day Book, September 1930 , June 1931
Box 40 Day Book, undated
Box 41 Day Book, undated
Box 42 Day Book, undated
Box 43 Day Book, undated
Box 44 Day Book, undated
Box 45 Day Book, undated
Box 46 Day Book, undated
Box 47 Day Book, undated
Box 48 Day Book, undated
Box 49 Day Book, undated
Box 50 Ledger, 1898-1903
Box 51 Ledger, 1902
Box 52 Ledger, 1902
Box 53 Ledger, 1904
Box 54 Ledger, 1905
Box 55 Ledger, 1905-1906
Box 56 Ledger, 1906
Box 57 Ledger, 1907
Box 58 Ledger, January 1906 , February 1908
Box 59 Ledger, March 1907 , August 1908
Box 60 Ledger, 1907-1909
Box 61 Ledger, March , October 1908
Box 62 Ledger, 1908-1909
Box 63 Ledger, September 1908 , August 1909
Box 64 Journal, October 1908 , March 1909
Box 65 Ledger, 1909
Box 66 Ledger, October , May 1909
Box 67 Ledger, 1909
Box 68 Ledger, 1911
Box 69 Ledger, 1911
Box 70 Ledger, October 1911 , June 1912
Box 71 Ledger, July , December 1912
Box 72 Ledger, January 1911 , November 1912
Box 73 Ledger, 1912-1913
Box 74 Ledger, 1914
Box 75 Ledger, 1914
Box 76 Ledger, 1915
Box 77 Ledger, 1915
Box 78 Ledger, 1916
Box 79 Ledger, 1916
Box 80 Ledger, 1917
Box 81 Ledger, 1918
Box 82 Ledger, 1918
Box 83 Ledger, 1918
Box 84 Ledger, 1918
Box 85 Ledger, 1919
Box 86 Cash Book, 1919
Box 87 Cash Book, 1919
Box 88 Ledger, 1920
Box 89 Ledger, 1920
Box 90 Ledger, 1920
Box 91 Ledger, 1920
Box 92 Cash Book, 1920
Box 93 Ledger, 1920-1922
Box 94 Ledger, 1912
Box 95 Ledger, 1913-1914
Box 96 Ledger, 1920-1948
Box 97 Cash Book, 1924
Box 98 Cash Book, 1925
Box 99 Day Book, 1925
Box 100 Ledger, 1925
Box 101 Ledger, 1931
Box 102 Ledger, 1933
Box 103 Sales Book, 1933-1934
Box 104 Journal, 1934
Box 105 Ledger, 1938
Box 106 Ledger, 1944
Box 107 Ledger, undated
Box 108 Ledger, undated
Box 109 Ledger, undated
Box 110 Ledger, undated
Box 111 Ledger, undated
Box 112 Ledger, undated
Box 113 Ledger, undated
Box 114 Charge Record, 1908-1919
Box 115 Charge Record, 1920
Box 116 Cotton Book, 1925
Box 117 Account Book, undated
Box 119 Coffin and Casket Hardware Sales Catalogue
Box 120 Hardware Catalogue (1905)
Box 121 Credit Ratings for N.C. persons (1917)
Box 122 Ledger, (letterhead bills and receipts)
Box 123 Ledger, (letterhead bills and receipts)
Box 124 Ledger (1916)
Box 125 Memo and Ledger Books (1908, 1909)
Box 126 Memo Books (1908), Catalogue of Ladies Shirtwaists (1909)
Box 127 General Merchandise Catalogues (1909-1913)
Box 128 Order Books and Catalogues (1907-1914)