xt7vx05x716b https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vx05x716b/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vx05x716b/data/56m301.dao.xml unknown 1849-1954 17.2 Cubic Feet 15 boxes, 49 volumes, 3 case files collections 56m301 English University of Kentucky Copyright has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Means family papers Coal mines and mining -- Kentucky. World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, American. United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865. Railroad companies -- United States. River steamers -- United States. Banks and banking -- Kentucky. Iron industry and trade -- Kentucky. Means family papers text Means family papers 1849 1849-1954 2016 true xt7vx05x716b collection true 56m301 56m301 Means family papers, 1849-1954  56M301 University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center 2005 Special Collections Research Center Margaret I. King Building, North Lexington 40506-0039 SCLREF@LSV.UKY.EDU URL:  This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on  2016-06-10 14:12:30 -0400 . Description is in English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard 
   
     
       English 
     
     
       University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center 
     
     Means family papers 
     56M301 
     
       17.2 Cubic Feet 
       15 boxes, 49 volumes, 3 case files 
     
     1849-1954 
     The Means family played a dominant role in the development of the iron industry in the Hanging Fork region of southern Ohio and in eastern Kentucky. They also played a prominent part in the development of both river and rail transportation in the area and in the formation of Ashland, Kentucky as an industrial city. These papers include both personal and business-related correspondence, financial records, legal documents, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, journals, scrapbooks, and photographs. 
   
   
     Conditions Governing Access 
 Collection is open for research.    
   
     Conditions Governing Use 
 Copyright has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky.    
   
     Preferred Citation 
 56M301 : [Identification of item], Means family papers, 1849-1954, University of Kentucky Special Collections.    
   
     Biographical / Historical 
 The Means family played a dominant role in the development of the iron industry in the Hanging Fork region of southern Ohio and in eastern Kentucky. They also played a prominent part in the development of both river and rail transportation in the area and in the formation of Ashland, Kentucky as an industrial city.  John Means' grandfather, Colonel John Means, was a wealthy South Carolina upcountry planter, who migrated from Bucks County, Pennsylvania and settled in the Union District of South Carolina (Spartanburg). Though a slaveholder, Means had little sympathy for the institution and in 1819 he migrated to Manchester, Adams County, in southern Ohio, where he granted freedom to his twenty-five slaves. In Ohio, he engaged in farming and was a land agent of Albert Gallatin. He also built and operated of one of the first iron furnaces in the Hanging Rock region. His son, Thomas W. Means, after a brief apprenticeship as a store keeper at Union Furnace, Ohio, formed a partnership in 1837 with David Sinton and took over operation of the furnace. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Means and Sinton came into control of several furnaces in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. The Ohio Furnace, purchased in 1847, was reportedly the first charcoal furnace in the country to produce as much as tens tons of iron a day. Hugh Means joined his brother Thomas in 1831 at Union Furnace, first as store manager and then assisting in the sale of iron. After spending a short time in Alabama on a merchandizing project, he returned in 1837 to Ohio to settle his father's estate. Together with Thomas Means and William Culbertson, he built the Buena Vista Furnace in 1847 in what is now Boyd County, Kentucky. Throughout his life, he maintained a close personal and financial relationship with Thomas and with his nephew John Means. John Means was born at West Union, Adams County, Ohio in 1829. After leaving Marietta College in 1848 because of poor health, he began his apprenticeship as a store keeper at the Ohio Furnace. In 1851 he went to Buena Vista Furnace which was then under the control of his father. There he served in various capacities until 1861 when the furnace was shut down due to the Civil War. In 1854, acting as his father's agent, he purchased the land upon which the city of Ashland, Kentucky now stands. In 1856, John, along with his father Thomas, uncle Hugh, and several other businessmen, formed the Kentucky Iron, Coal and Manufacturing Company to develop the town of Ashland. In the same year, the Meanses formed the Cincinnati and Big Sandy Packet Company, a river line made up of big iron freighters. They also bought up the bankrupt eastern division of the Lexington and Big Sandy Railway and, organizing the Ashland Coal and Iron Railway, extended its lines to their vast timber and coal lands to aid in the development of the area. Aside from the role in which the Means family played in the development of the iron industry, the development of transportation, and the establishment of the industrial city of Ashland, they also founded several banking institutions and personally supported various civic and religious organizations. John Means married Mrs. Harriet Hildreth Perkins on October 25, 1854. She was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Prescott Hildreth, of Marietta, Ohio, a member of the state legislature, assistant State Geologist, and local historian. Together, John and Harriet had six children: Thomas Hildreth, Eliza Isabella, Lillian, Rosalie, Harold, and Ellison Cooke (E.C.). Inheriting a vast industrial and financial empire from his father, E.C. Means, after attending Marietta College andthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating from the latter in 1887. He began his career as assistant to the manager of the Low Moor Iron Company which his father had helped form in 1873 in western Virginia. He also served as superintendent of the Ashland Coal and Iron Railway from 1891 to 1901, when he then became general manager of Low Moor. In 1916 he returned to Ashland to accept the position of president of the Means Realty Company. He also held various executive positions with the Yellowstone Poplar Lumber Company, the Ashland Steel Company, Norton Iron Works, and the Clinton Fire Brick Works. Aside from his business associations, Means was also active in civic affairs of the community, the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, and served as chairman of the Ashland Water Works from 1921-1931.    
   
     Scope and Contents 
 These papers are primarily those of John Means (1821-1910); his wife, Harriet Hildreth Perkins Means (1826-1895); their son E.C. (Ellison Cooke) Means (1864-1956); his brother William (d. 1837); his uncle Hugh Means; his grandfather, Colonel John Means (1770-1837); and his aunt, Margaret A. Means. Materials include both personal and business-related correspondence, financial records, legal documents, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, journals, scrapbooks, and photographs.    
   
     Arrangement 
 Organized by type of material; arranged chronologically thereunder.    
   
     Related Materials 
 Photographs from this collection can be found under accession number 56PA301. Please see also the Seaton Family Papers (56MS307, 56PA307) for additional materials pertaining to the Means and Seaton families.    
   
     Separated Materials 
 Some genealogical materials have been returned to the Means family. A microfilm copy of this material can be found under microfilm number M-191.    
   
     Related Materials 
 Collection 56M307, Seaton Family papers, University of Kentucky Special Collections.    
   
     Coal mines and mining -- Kentucky. 
     Kentucky -- Genealogy. 
     Ledgers (account books) 
     Europe -- Description and travel. 
     Marietta (Ohio) -- History. 
     World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, American. 
     Ashland (Ky.) -- History 
     United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865. 
     Journals. 
     Railroad companies -- United States. 
     River steamers -- United States. 
     Banks and banking -- Kentucky. 
     Kentucky -- History. 
     Iron industry and trade -- Kentucky. 
     Buena Vista Furnace (Boyd County, Ky.) 
     Cincinnati and Big Sandy Packet Company 
     Ashland Iron and Mining Company (Ky.) 
     Low Moor Iron Company (Alleghany County, Va.) 
     Means family. 
     Means, Archibald 
     Kentucky Iron, Coal and Manufacturing Company 
     Ashland Coal and Iron Railway (Ky.) 
     Seaton, William Biggs 
     Seaton, Eliza Isabella Means 
     Means, Harriet Hildreth Perkins 
     Means, E.C. (Ellison Cooke) 
     Means, Kyle and Company 
     Means, John 
     Means, William 
     Means, Margaret A. 
     Seaton family. 
     Norton Iron Works 
   
   FAMILY AND BUSINESS PAPERS I 1840-1954, undated 1840-1849 i Scope and Contents note Papers from this period include Harriet Hildreth's school essays and personal correspondence; programs for events at Marietta College; a certificate showing the appointment of John Means as Postmaster of LaBelle, Greenup County, Kentucky; land indentures of Hugh and Thomas W. Means, and various business papers and financial records. 1840-1849 1 1 1850-1859 ii Scope and Contents note Included here is more personal correspondence of Harriet Means; business correspondence of John Means concerning work at Buena Vista Furnace and the formation of the Kentucky Iron, Coal and Manufacturing Company; and miscellaneous financial records. 1850 1 2 1851 1 3 1852 1 4 1853 1 5 1854 1 6 1855 1 7 1856 1 8 1857 1 9 1858 1 10 1859 2 1 1860-1869 iii 1860-1865 Scope and Contents note Papers from the Civil War period include several letters from Archibald Means, an officer in the Union forces of eastern Kentucky. His letters relate in detail the fighting around Prestonsburg, Kentucky in January 1862 and the flight of rebel forces south through the Cumberland Gap into Tennessee. Correspondence between Harriet Means and her mother mentions local attitudes toward the war and news of war-related events occurring near Ashland, KY and Marietta, OH. 1860 2 2 1861 1861 2 3 1862 January-April 2 4 1862 May-December 2 5 1863 January-June 2 6 1863 July-December 2 7 1864 2 8 1865 2 9 1866-1869 Scope and Contents note Along with a few miscellaneous personal letters, this period mostly consists of financial, legal, and business papers relating to the formation of the Means, Kyle and Company, a Hanging Rock Region Iron and Coal Corporation, of which Thomas W. Means was president. 1866 2 10 1867 2 11 1868 3 1 1869 1869 3 2 1870-1879 iv Scope and Contents note Included here are more business letters and financial statements of the Means, Kyle and Company. There is both business and personal correspondence from William Means, John Means' brother, who was a bank president and whose letters comment on the effects of the Panic of 1873. Also included are an offer of the nomination for U.S. Representative from southern Ohio to Thomas W. Means and letters to John Means from John G. Peebles of Portsmouth, advising Means on a campaign for U.S. Representative from eastern Kentucky. There are more papers of the Kentucky Iron, Coal and Manufacturing Company as well as other business correspondence and financial reports concerning the Means family's various business ventures. The personal papers of Harriet Means include accounts of a trip she took to Europe late in the decade. 1870 January-June 3 3 1870 July-December 3 4 1871 3 5 1872 3 6 1873 February-June 3 7 1873 July-December 3 8 1874 4 1 1875 4 2 1876 4 3 1877 4 4 1878 4 5 1879 4 6 1880-1889 v Scope and Contents note This period includes correspondence from E.C. Cooke while in school at Marietta College and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in which he comments on college life in the 1880s. Included in these letters is a description of his participation in the funeral of President Garfield, a former member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity at Marietta, of which E.C. was also a member. Other correspondence includes mention of the Ashland Massacre of 1881; the Marietta Flood of 1884; and description of the family's various travels throughout the United States and Europe. After 1887, letters from E.C. to John Means comment on the condition of the Low Moor Iron Company. There are also a few papers concerning the financial irregularities of William Means. 1880 1880 4 7 1881 January-April 4 8 1881 May-December 4 9 1882 January-May 5 1 1882 June-December 5 2 1883 January-June 5 3 1883 July-December 5 4 1884 January-May 5 5 1884 June-December 5 6 1885 January-May 5 7 1885 July-December 5 8 1886 5 9 1887 January-June 6 1 1887 June-December 6 2 1888 January-July 6 3 1888 August-December 6 4 1889 January-July 6 5 1889 August-September 6 6 1889 October-December 6 7 circa 1880-1889 6 8 1890-1899 vi Scope and Contents note Many of the materials in this period concern the estate of Thomas W. Means, who died in 1892. Included are papers relating to the long litigation which resulted from William Means's wife's attempt to recover his share of the estate after he assigned it to the executors to cover debts owed to his father. Other papers deal with the business concerns of the Low Moor Iron Company and Means, Kyle and Company; the election of 1896; local opinion of the Maine Incident; a request from William Howard Taft asking Means to serve as an appraiser; and the financial affairs of Margaret A. Means. This period also includes the death of Harriet Hildreth Means in 1895 and John's subsequent marriage to Mary Peck Seaton in 1896. 1890 1890 7 1 1891 7 2 1892 7 3 1893 7 4 1894 7 5 1895 7 6 1896 7 7 1897 January-May 7 8 1897 June-December 7 9 1898 1898 8 1 1899 January-June 8 2 1899 July-December 8 3 1900-1909 vii Scope and Contents note Correspondence from this period concerns Margaret A. Means's financial affairs; E.C. Means's brief association with the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company; the liquidation of Means, Kyle and Company; an unfavorable decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the suit rising out of the settlement of the Thomas W. Means estate; and the formation of the Ashland Iron and Mining Company. There are several letters from U.S. Vice President Charles G. Dawes, a friend of E.C. Means from Marietta College, and a letter from Booker T. Washington, dated March 28, 1901, concerning the establishment of an endowment and scholarship at Tuskegee University by Margaret A. Means. 1900 January-June 8 4 1900 July-December 8 5 1901 January-June 8 6 1901 July-December 8 7 1902 8 8 1903 9 1 1904 9 2 1905 9 3 1906 9 4 1907 9 5 1908 9 6 1909 9 7 1910-1919 viii Scope and Contents note Many of these papers deal with the estate of John Means who died in 1910. There are several letters of E.C. Means, particularly to his aunt, commenting on the Democratic reduction of the tariff, the income tax, and the poor condition of the iron industry. There are also a few letters from a young woman working for the YMCA in France during World War I commenting on the troops and the war in general. Other letters concern E.C. Means's participation in the war effort. Also included are more miscellaneous business and financial papers. 1910 9 8 1911 9 9 1912 9 10 1913 9 11 1914 9 12 1915 10 1 1916 10 2 1917 10 3 1918 10 4 1919 10 5 1920-1929 ix Scope and Contents note These papers are largely bills and business receipts. There are also papers relating to the estate of Margaret A. Means as well as financial statements of Norton Iron Works and papers relating to its proposed consolidation with American Rolling Mills. There is some description of conditions at Low Moor Iron Company, including information for stockholders. 1920 10 6 1921 10 7 1922 10 8 1923 10 9 1924 10 10 1925 10 11 1926 10 12 1927 10 13 1928 11 1 1929 11 2 circa 1920-1929 11 3 1930-1954 x Scope and Contents note These papers relate to the dissolution of Low Moor Iron Company, the closing of the Second National Bank of Ashland, and the estate of Thomas H. Means. There are a few more personal letters from Charles G. Dawes. 1930 11 4 1931 11 5 1932-1933 11 6 1934-1938 11 7 1940-1946 11 8 1951-1954 11 9 undated 11 10 undated 11 11 MEMORABILIA II undated 11 12 NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS III 1888-1952, undated 1888-1952, undated 11 13 GENEALOGY MATERIALS IV 1907-1949, undated 1907-1939 12 1 1940 12 2 1941 12 3 1942-1949, undated 12 4 Genealogical and Biographical Sketches of the Hildreth Family from the year 1652 down to the year 1840 Circa 1900 12 5 Scope and Contents note [Note: Some information actually dates into the early 1900's.] Report: Identify descendents of Harriet Means Witt 2007 Phyllis Vannoy Spiker, volunteer genealogical specialist, was asked in 2007 by William Marshall, curator of manuscripts (since retired), to produce a report identifying the descendants of Harriet Means Witt who donated Mss. 56M301 Means Family Papers to the University of Kentucky Library.  12a 1-3 RECORD BOOKS AND JOURNALS, PHOTOGRAPHS V 1849-1955, undated Miscellaneous i 1848-1955 Daybook: Ohio Furnace and Buena Vista 1849-1854 13 1 Scope and Contents Ohio Furnace, 1849-1850 and Buena Vista, 1851-1854 (recorded by John Means) Record books: Buena Vista and Bellefonte Furnace 1852-1854, undated 13 2 Scope and Contents (2 items) (recorded by John Means) Record book: Personal record book of E.C. Means 1881-1886 13 3 Record books: Iron analysis book, Furnace Manager's and Hamilton Furnace 1883-1906 13 4 Scope and Contents Iron analysis book, 1883-1906; Furnace Manager's, 1892-1900; and Hamilton Furnace, 1894-1906 (3 items) (recorded by E.C. Means) Journal: Ohio Furnace and Buena Vista 1849-1854 13 5 Scope and Contents (recorded by John Means) Journal: E.C. Means, Trial Balance 1889-1917 13 6 Commission Sales Book: R.M.B. & Co. 1848 January-November  13 7 Bank Books: Margaret A. Means, Ashland National Bankand Citizen's National Bank 1891-1898 13 8 Scope and Contents Ashland National Bank, 1891-1897 and Citizen's National Bank, 1891-1898 (2 items) Bank Books: Margaret A. Means, Central Trust and Safe Deposit Company and Ashland National Bank 1909-1915 13 9 Scope and Contents Central Trust and Safe Deposit Company, 1909-1916 and Ashland National Bank, 1911-1915 (2 items) 1884 Flood: Ohio River at Ashland 1884 13 10 Scope and Contents note [Includes notes on rainfall, water levels and related events of February 8-13, 1884 as well as a few loose documents (clippings, telegraph message, etc.) on the relief effort.] Motor trip logs: E.C. Means 1913-1942 13 11 Scope and Contents 1913-1928; 1928-1932; 1934-1942 (3 items) Motor trip logs: E.C. Means 1937-1955  13 12 Scope and Contents 1937-1940; 1940-1942; 1942-1947; 1948-1955 (4 items) Photographs 1870-1897 13 13 Scope and Contents Annie Seaton and Margaret A. Means portrait, 1870 tintype; unidentified house, exterior, 1897 April, gelatin printing-out paper; unidentified infant, 1886 September, albumen carte de visite; unidentified man, five portraits on a single strip, undated, gelatin silver print (4 items) Cashbooks ii 1861-1940 John Means 1861-1880 50 John Means 1881-1890 51 Means Family 1887-1940 16 Chapbooks 1921 Poems by Cotton Noe 1921, undated 14 9 Daybooks iii 1881-1940 E.C. Means 1923-1940 17 Means family  1881 January-March 14 8 Record Books iv 1881-1931 Iron and Coal Mine Record Book 1883-1913 18 Scope and Contents (Recorded by John Means and Ellison Cooke Means) Thomas Williamson Means, Securities Record 1926-1931 19 Letterbooks v John Means, business correspondence, indexed 1878-1881 20 John Means, mostly business correspondence, indexed 1881-1887 21 Business correspondence, indexed 1887-1900 22 Family business correspondence 1888-1895 23 E.C. Means, personal and family business, iron manufacturing 1895-1899 24 E.C. Means, personal and family business, iron manufacturing 1900-1906 25 E.C. Means, iron manufacturing 1904-1914 26 E.C. Means, personal and family business 1906-1912 27 Journals vi Union Furnace Landing and Hanging Rock, Ohio 1855-1873  28 John Means 1855-1878 29 Harriet Means 1872-1895 30 Harriet Means 1872-1895 31 Thomas Williamson Means 1873-1890 32 E.C. Means 1887-1923 33 E.C. Means 1893-1911 49 Margaret Means 1911-1921 34 Ledgers vii John Means 1849-1854 35 Thomas Williamson Means, indexed 1855-1890 36 Harriet Means 1872-1895 37 John Means 1874-1900 38 E.C. Means 1887-1940 39 index to unidentified ledger undated 40 Scrapbooks viii John Means 1857-1873 41 John Means 1870-1909 42 John Means 1871-1900 43 John Means 1894-1900 44 E.C. Means 1868-1885 45 E.C. Means 1880-1885 46 E.C. Means circa 1882 47 Guest Books ix From cover: "Winlyme Lodge, Christmas 1904"  1905-1915 48 E. C. Means Diaries  1881-1955 1881 14 1 1 1889 14 1 2 1890 14 1 3 1909 14 1 4 1912 14 1 5 1913-1917 14 2 6 1918-1922 14 2 7 1923-1927 14 3 9 1928-1932 14 2 8 1933-1937 14 3 10 1938-1942 14 3 11 1943-1947 14 4 12 1948-1952 14 4 13 1952-1955 14 4 14 Clippings removed from diary 1928-1932 1928-1932 14 5 Postcard removed from diary 1943-1947 1943-1947 14 6 Clippings and photograph removed from diary 1952-1955 1952-1955 14 7 MAPS 1895-1905, undated Plot of the Means and Russell Iron Company 1895 September  15 1 Plot of the Means and Russell Iron Company 1897 April  15 2 A Great Tri-state City,  Ohio River Rail road map including Ironton, KY, Ashland, KY, Catlettsburg, KY and Huntington, WV 1905 4 9 1 A Great Tri-state City , Ohio River Rail road map including Ironton, KY, Ashland, KY, Catlettsburg, KY and Huntington, WV (5 copies) 1905 4 9 2 Amanda Furnace Lands, Means, Russell and Means, Surveyed 1870 undated 4 9 3a Map of Russell, KY 1905 4 9 3b