Kramer Family Manuscript

1871-1961
Manuscript Collection #347
Portions of this collection are digitized (1 item)
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Creator(s)
Kramer family
Physical description
0.163 Cubic Feet, Copy of 82-page typescript, including photographs and a map, entitled "Kramers: 90 Years in the Lumber Business in Elizabeth City, North Carolina,'' by F.K. Kramer.
Preferred Citation
Kramer Family Manuscript (#347), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Manuscript (1871-1961) including photographs, map, statements, records, lumber business.

Biographical/historical information

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.

Scope and arrangement

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).

Administrative information
Custodial History

October 30, 1977, 82-page typescript; History of the Kramer Lumber Company of Elizabeth City, NC. Gift of Miss Jane Thompson, Elizabeth City, NC.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Miss Jane Thompson

Processing information

Processed by M. York, April 1981

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.

Metadata Rights Declaration
Key terms
Personal Names
Wright, Orville, 1871-1948
Wright, Wilbur, 1867-1912
Family Names
Kramer family
Topical
Lumber trade--North Carolina--Elizabeth City
Private schools--North Carolina--Elizabeth City--History
Public schools--North Carolina--Elizabeth City--History
Wright Flyer (Airplane)--History
Places
Elizabeth City (N.C.)--Buildings, structures, etc.