| Scope and content |
The bulk of the collection relates to Grainger's activities as a truck farmer in Lenoir County and as an agent for various agricultural products and equipment companies. Correspondence largely concerns Grainger's orders, sales, and accounts and reflects his dealings with a variety of commission merchants to sell his truck products. Other correspondence concerns territorial conflicts between Grainger and other guano agents, the impact of cotton prices on the wagon business, and the status of cotton crops across the South. Correspondence with P. M. Pearsall, lawyer for the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, concerns the leasing of the Atlantic and North Carolina railroad and the move of the Norfolk and Southern Railroad into the Goldsboro, N.C., station. Correspondence after Grainger's death reflects on his vice presidency of the Norfolk and Southern Realty Company, his purchase of several lots in Virginia, and the settlement of his estate. Collection also includes a copy of a letter from M. J. Westbrook to Gov. Robert B. Glenn urging that the East Carolina Teachers Training School be located in Kinston. Ledgers list accounts for Vernon Farm, Grainger's purchases from the various companies he dealt with as an agent, sales of these goods as well as his truck farm sales, lumber accounts, accounts for houses and buildings he built, salaries, and Grainger's personal and business expenses. Estate records contain a valuation of land holdings and list insurance on property and equipment. |
| Access restriction | No access restrictions. |
| Cite as |
Jesse W. Grainger Papers (#352), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. |
| Terms of use | Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Miss Pat Crawford. |
| Biographical note | Jesse Willis Grainger (1845-1910) was a tobacconist and businessman in Kinston, Lenoir County, N.C. He was a member of the Lenoir County Finance Committee, president of the Kinston Board of Trade, president of the Chamber of Commerce, vice president of banks in Kinston and New Bern, president of the State Mutual Life Insurance Company, president of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, and owner of the Kinston Free Press. Grainger was also the Lenoir County representative to the General Assembly in 1885, chairman of the Lenoir County Democratic Executive Committee, and a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee. |
