| Scope and content |
The Richard C. Stokes papers include business records of American Suppliers Inc., personal and business correspondence, financial and legal records, and biographical and genealogical data concerning the Stokes family. Also consists of correspondence of the Stokes family's relations and in-laws, notably the Laughinghouse family of Greenville, N.C. Early correspondence concerns transactions for the sale of wheat, corn, brandy, whiskey, bacon, and fertilizer. Letters from a Civil War soldier in Huntersville, Va., discuss hard times, the scarcity of writing paper and tobacco, and his indignation with those who did not enlist. Later correspondence includes personal correspondence of the three R. C. Stokes, Mrs. R. C. Stokes II, and Dr. and Mrs. Charles O'Hagan Laughinghouse. Also noteworthy is a copy of a letter to R. C. Stokes III and others from Luis A. Somoza concerning the use of land for growing tobacco in Nicaragua. Also includes courtship letters written to Charles L. Stokes from Ruby Moore, who wrote of her experiences as a high school senior in Greenville, N.C. Business records contain mainly memos, letters, reports, and receipts of the American Suppliers Inc. (originally the American Tobacco Company). Also includes buying slates, which list buyers in the South, and an eastern Carolina buying instruction summary. Financial/court records include receipts; promissory notes; petitions; and Lunenburg County, Va., deeds. Also includes photographs; newspaper clippings; genealogical materials; and a biographical sketch of Col. Wm. R. Carther, a University of Virginia professor and one of the first soldiers captured in the Civil War. |
| Biographical note | Richard Carter Stokes I, II, and III were Southern tobacconists whose employment with George W. Helme Co. (Lynchburg, Va.), American Suppliers Inc. (Greenville, N.C.), and a group that did business with Nicaragua spanned nearly a century. Their ancestry included Lt. Col. William Richard Carter, a 19th century educator and soldier. |
