This collection contains information and materials relating to Milton Thomas Garvin, his department store and the Garvin Lecture Series. The scrapbooks were complied by him through the years of 1899-1936. Other items in this collection include letters to family and business partners, several pamphlets from the Garvin Lecture Series, M. T. Garvin & Co. store information, receipts, invoices, banquet programs, and a sampling of financial records from the store.
Admin/Biographical History
Milton Thomas Garvin was born in Fulton Township around 1860. In 1874, at the age of fourteen, Garvin quit school and moved to Lancaster City. He worked various odd jobs before he was hired to work as an errand boy for R. E. Fahnestock's dry goods store in December of 1874.
At the age of sixteen, Fahnestock promoted Garvin to a salesman for the store. He continued to work there through his adolescent years and was promoted to manager at the age of twenty-one, when Fahnestock was in failing health. Garvin assumed that responsibility for twelve years and then bought the store when Fahnestock was ready to retire. Garvin renamed the store M. T. Garvin & Co.
Over the next ten years, Garvin bought the rest of the building and several surrounding buildings to expand his store to a four story and three lot property. He prospered in business and was a philanthropist throughout Lancaster County.
Other than a prominent businessman, Garvin served as a board member, trustee, director or president of the following organizations: The Shippen School for Girls, Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Meadville Theological Seminary, A. Herr Smith and Mechanics' Libraries, Lancaster Charity Society, Joseph Priestly Conference, and People's Octoraro Meeting House.
Joel and Thomas Smedley’s Prospect Mills account book B
Description
Joel and Thomas Smedley’s Prospect Mills account book B contains an index of clients and what pages they appear on, an itemized list of their profits and expenses, an index of sales and where they are found, and the employees of the mill and what they were being compensated for.. The profits list ranges from selling corn, wheat, bran, oats, and flour, as well as sawing boards and planks. The recorded expenses include purchases from a brickyard (pg. 102), Susquehanna Canal Company (122), and Deer Creek Iron Works Company (125). Other mill expenses include employee wages, lumber, and potatoes.
Admin/Biographical History
Joel Smedley was born in 1799 to parents Joseph Smedley and Rebecca Lewis Smedley. Joel married Martha Wildman and fathered six children including Charles, Mary, John, Lewis, Anne, and Ellwood. Joel inherited the mill from his father in 1833 and expanded it by building a sorghum factory. Joel died in 1872.
Preferred citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org for permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Smedley & Son Prospect Mills Day Book C contains an index of clients and what pages they appear on, an itemized list of their profits and expenses, an index of sales and where they are found, and the employees of the mill and what they were being compensated for. The profits list ranges from selling corn, wheat, bran, oats, and flour, as well as sawing boards, turning trundle posts, and rejoining carriage shafts. The recorded expenses for the mill include employee wages and transportation costs.
Admin/Biographical History
Joel Smedley was born in 1799 to parents Joseph Smedley and Rebecca Lewis Smedley. Joel married Martha Wildman and fathered six children including Charles, Mary, John, Lewis, Anne, and Ellwood. Joel inherited the mill from his father in 1833 and expanded it by building a sorghum factory. Joel died in 1872.
Preferred citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org for permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Prospect Mills Daybook from (1850-1852) contains an index of clients and what pages they appear on, an itemized list of their profits and expenses, an index of sales and where they are found, the employees of the mill and what they were being compensated for, and lists of how much cider was made. The profits list ranges from selling molasses, corn, wheat, bran, oats, and flour, as well as sawing boards, turning trundle posts, and rejoining carriage shafts. The recorded expenses for the mill include employee wages and transportation costs. The daybook also contained a note tucked into page 141 about an employee ruining wheat by storing something in the wheat barn. It mentions needing the damaged wheat to be paid for and the possibility of the employee working off the debt.
Admin/Biographical History
Joel Smedley was born in 1799 to parents Joseph Smedley and Rebecca Lewis Smedley. Joel married Martha Wildman and fathered six children including Charles, Mary, John, Lewis, Anne, and Ellwood. Joel inherited the mill from his father in 1833 and expanded it by building a sorghum factory. Joel died in 1872.
Preferred citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org for permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Smedley & Kirk Prospect Mills Daybook D contains an itemized list of their profits and expenses and the employees of the mill and what they were being compensated for. The profits list ranges from selling corn, wheat, bran, oats, and flour, as well as sawing boards and planks. The recorded expenses for the mill include employee wages, and transportation costs. The daybook also contains a lock of hair with root attached (pg. 86-87). The hair is a brown with red highlights and is wryly; the source is unknown.
Admin/Biographical History
Joel Smedley was born in 1799 to parents Joseph Smedley and Rebecca Lewis Smedley. Joel married Martha Wildman and fathered six children including Charles, Mary, John, Lewis, Anne, and Ellwood. Joel inherited the mill from his father in 1833 and expanded it by building a sorghum factory. Joel died in 1872.
Preferred citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org for permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Smedley & Clark Prospect Mills Daybook D contains an itemized list of their profits, a list of client names, and expenses and the employees of the mill and what they were being compensated for. The profits list ranges from selling corn, wheat, bran, oats, and flour, as well as sawing boards and planks. The recorded expenses for the mill include employee wages and transportation costs.
Admin/Biographical History
Joel Smedley was born in 1799 to parents Joseph Smedley and Rebecca Lewis Smedley. Joel married Martha Wildman and fathered six children including Charles, Mary, John, Lewis, Anne, and Ellwood. Joel inherited the mill from his father in 1833 and expanded it by building a sorghum factory. Joel died in 1872.
Preferred citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org for permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Smedley & Clark Prospect Mills Daybook contains an itemized list of their profits and expenses and the employees of the mill and what they were being compensated for as well as an account of the money borrowed for the mill. The profits list ranges from selling corn, wheat, bran, oats, and flour, as well as sawing boards and planks. The recorded expenses for the mill include employee wages and transportation costs.
Admin/Biographical History
Joel Smedley was born in 1799 to parents Joseph Smedley and Rebecca Lewis Smedley. Joel married Martha Wildman and fathered six children including Charles, Mary, John, Lewis, Anne, and Ellwood. Joel inherited the mill from his father in 1833 and expanded it by building a sorghum factory. Joel died in 1872.
Preferred citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org for permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
