LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation

A Guide to the Records of the LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation, 1834–1998
Call Number Mss3 L5673 a FA2

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Virginia Historical Society
P.O. Box 7311
Richmond, Virginia 23221-0311
USA
Phone: (804) 342-9677
Fax: (804) 355-2399
Email: reference@vahistorical.org
URL: http://www.vahistorical.org

c 2011 By Virginia Historical Society. All rights reserved

Processed under the auspices of a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)

 

 

 

 

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access
Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation
LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation Records, 1834–1998 (Mss3 L5673 a FA2), Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va. USA

Acquisition Information
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Rose, Jr., of Arvonia, Va., in 2008. Accessioned December 29, 2011.

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Virginia Historical Society.

Collection number: Mss3 L5673 a FA2

Title: LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation Records, 1834–1998

Size: 21 linear feet.

Language: English

Abstract: Historical and administrative materials relating to LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation. This company evolved from numerous other slate companies that operated contemporaneously over approximately 160 years and were gradually merged into or acquired by LeSueur–Richmond. These companies included the Old Dominion Slate and Mining Co., Monticello Slate Company, Williams Slate Corporation, Buckingham Slate Quarries, Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Corporation, and Buckingham–Virginia Slate Corporation. The companies operated quarries and/or produced or sold slate products mainly in Buckingham County, Virginia, but also in Albemarle County. LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation continues to conduct operations in Buckingham County but also maintains corporate offices in Richmond, Virginia.

Scope and Content Information

This collection not only includes loose papers but also a large number of financial and other record volumes, all related to slate mining, sale of slate and slate products, and disposal of scrap slate, as well as providing a company store for employees. The surviving records in this collection consist of correspondence, loose minutes and bylaws, other legal and financial papers, insurance documents, income tax returns, audit reports, deeds and tract maps, and photographs. The volumes include minute books, stock certificate books, wage and time data records, and numerous financial journals, ledgers, cash books, and check registers. Also significant are a roofing and flooring jobs book, advertising and related scrapbooks, and a samples book.

Organization

The records of the LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation are divided into eight series that reflect the history of the eight slate companies that eventually merged together. In each series description, there are notes about when that specific company was formed and what relationship it had to the other companies. In general, the companies are presented in chronological order by the date of incorporation. The collection primarily consists of bound volumes (or volumes dis–bound for preservation purposes) and some few boxes of loose papers, the volumes generally preceding the papers in order of presentation, but all designated by folder numbers.

Biographical/Historical Information

LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation was formed in 1924 from the merger of a family owned business, LeSueur Slate Company, and the Richmond Slate Company, both established in the later nineteenth century. Its primary operations occurred in Buckingham County, where a series of companies engaged in quarrying and slate production. A comparison of owners reveals that many of these companies had similar ownership and leadership, and many of the officers of these companies had an affiliation with the Richmond investment banking firm of Branch & Company. Officers of Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Corporation, incorporated in 1913, included James Turner Sloan, Thomas Aubrey Yancey, Robert Gamble Cabell III, Owen R. Jeffrey, Charles E. Wingo III, and James Read Branch. In 1926, James Turner Sloan was also a director of Williams Slate Corporation, which had been founded after the Civil War by two Williams brothers from Wales, Evan and John. Sixteen years after the incorporation of the Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Corporation, this company joined forces with the LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation and the Williams Slate Company to form the Buckingham–Virginia Slate Corporation, which became the marketing and sales arm for all three companies. In 1929 the chief officers of this new corporation included William A. LeSueur, James Turner Sloan, Robert Gamble Cabell III, and John R. Williams. Ultimately, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, Arvonia–Buckingham and LeSueur–Richmond remained the two surviving corporations, LeSueur–Richmond ultimately securing the quarries and other assets of Arvonia–Buckingham in 1985.

Index Terms

Advertising – Virginia – History – 20th century.
Albemarle County (Va.) – Economic conditions – 19th century.
Albemarle County (Va.) – Economic conditions –20th century.
Arvonia (Va.) – Commerce – History – 19th century.
Arvonia (Va.) – Commerce – History – 20th century.
Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Company, Inc.
Branch, James Read, 1919–
Buckingham County (Va.) – Economic conditions – 19th century.
Buckingham County (Va.) – Economic conditions – 20th century.
Buckingham Slate Products Company, Inc.
Buckingham Slate Quarries Corporation.
Buckingham–Virginia Slate Corporation.
Cabell, Robert Gamble, 1881–1968.
Chambers, Walter A.
Corporations – Taxation – Accounting.
J. R. Williams & Co.
Jeffrey, Owen Robert, 1878–1954.
Labor unions – Virginia – History – 20th century.
LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation.
Monticello Slate Corporation.
Nicholas Quarry (Buckingham County, Va.)
Old Dominion Slate and Mining Company of New York.
Quarries and quarrying – Virginia – Albemarle County – History.
Quarries and quarrying – Virginia – Buckingham County – History.
Slate industry – Virginia – History – 19th century.
Slate industry – Virginia – History – 20th century.
Sloan, James Turner, d. 1934.
Taxation – Virginia – History – 20th century.
Williams Slate Company, Inc.
Williams, Evan R.
Williams, John R., d. 1901.
Williams–Arvonia Slate Corporation.
Wingo, Charles Evans, 1917–2005.
Yancey, Thomas Aubrey.

Contents List

Series 1. Old Dominion Slate and Mining Company of New York.

Slate production in Virginia, which had commenced in Buckingham County region in the early nineteenth century, virtually stopped at the beginning of the Civil War. Old Dominion Slate and Mining Company resumed mining operations after the war. Specifically, in November 1868, it was formed from 4 different companies: Virginia Slate Company, Virginia Mills Slate and Manufacturing Company, Buckingham Slate Company, and Old Dominion Slate Company. This company operated slate quarries in Fork Union and Palmyra, Virginia, along the Arvonia line in Fluvanna County. The company was later acquired by the Williams Slate Company, Inc.

This series consists of stock certificate stubs noting the number of shares issued to individuals and some returned stock certificates pasted to the corresponding stubs showing additional stock sales. Also included are several deeds secured to the original certificates further explaining stock trades; one such agreement is dated 26 November 1868 and concerns the transfer of 250 shares of stock from the company to John Humphreys of Buckingham County, Virginia. Major stockholders were Owen R. Jeffrey, of a family of immigrant Welsh miners, and James Turner Sloan.

Folder 
1Stock Certificate Book, 1868–1870, 1913

 

Series 2. Monticello Slate Company

 

In 1925, the Monticello Slate Company was incorporated. Specializing in roofing slate, this company operated quarries acquired from James Turner Sloan in Albemarle County, Virginia, and focused on the mining and production of roofing slate. The company was primarily operated by James Turner Sloan and Owen R. Jeffrey and it later merged with the Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Company, Inc., in 1960. Records of this company cover mining and production operations, employees and wages, acquisition of land and resources, and tax liabilities.

Bound volumes
Folder 
2Journal (2 November 1925–15 February 1960)
3Ledger (6 November 1925–15 February 1960)

 

Loose papers (Box 1)

 

Folder 
4Balance sheet, 1946
5Asset reviews, 1946–1959
6Final tax return, 1960
7Deeds and plats, 1925–1939

 

Series 3. Williams Slate Company, Inc.

 

Originally commissioned as the Big Quarry Slate Company by act of the Virginia General Assembly in February 1882, this venture was re–christened the Williams Slate Company, Inc., by order of the Richmond City Circuit Court in August 1901, at which time its headquarters moved to Arvonia, Virginia. It had been founded by Evan R. Williams and John R. Williams, brothers who had emigrated from Wales in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The Williams brothers purchased significant amounts of land and resources in Buckingham County and began operating slate quarries. Their first and most significant purchase was of the Nicholas Quarry, acquired from members of the Nicholas family. John R. Williams, son of the company=s founder, served as treasurer of the company at least into the 1930s, but by then Walter A. Chambers had become its president. The firm continued operations until it merged with the Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Company, Inc., in 1956.

The records of this company are extensive and complex and are divided below into several records sub–series. While generally concerning operations and finance, they include a variety of information, some of which is noted in detail in the folder listings.

Bound volumes
Minute books
Folder 
8June 13, 1917–January 15, 1943 (includes by–laws)
9January 15, 1943–February 8, 1958 (includes revised by–laws)
10February 14, 1958–June 25, 1959 (includes revised by–laws)

 

General journals

 

Folder 
11December 31, 1954–[January] 1958
12February 28, 1958–June 30, 1959

 

Ledgers

 

Folder 
13January 31, 1901–January 1, 1908
14January 1, 1908–September 30, 1915
15June 17, 1917–January 1, 1927
16January 1, 1927–January 1, 1946
17January 1, 1946–December 31, 1957 [Special Ledger]
18January 28, 1958–June 30, 1959

 

Cash books

 

Folder 
19General, January 1, 1951–August 31, 1957
20General, September 1, 1957–January 31, 1958
21Disbursements, May 1956 B January 1958
22Disbursements, February 2, 1958–June 30, 1959
23Receipts, February 14, 1958–June 30, 1959

 

Miscellaneous volumes

 

Folder 
24Quarry Cash Book, October 2, 1944–September 27, 1947
25Store Journal, January 1, 1917–January 3, 1958 (includes memorandum of accounts of Arvonia Drug Store, Jan. 1, 1923–Feb. 9, 1924)
26Store Cash Book, January 1949–January 1958
27Stock Certificates, January 1, 1904–February 14, 1958 (including information on purchase, sale, cancellation, etc.)

 

Loose papers (Box 2)

 

Folder 
28General correspondence, 1917–1957
29Loose accounts, 1925–1958
30Certificates, 1942–1943 (concerning financial operations and stock)
31Check registers, 1957–1958

 

Land title records (some of which also concern Buckingham Mining & Development Company)

 

Folder 
32Buckingham Slate Tract, 1889
33LeSueur Tract, 1882
34Nicholas Slate Quarry Tract, 1882–1889
35Ordway Tract, 1882
36Perrow Tract, 1870–1886
37Rosney Plantation, 1874–1881
38Rough & Ready Gold Mine Property, 1879–1882
39Scruggs Property, 1882
40Snoddy Slate Property, 1882–1883
41Miscellaneous title records, 1834–1900
42Deeds to or by Williams Slate Company, Inc., 1918–1929 (includes deed to Chestnut Grove Baptist Church)
43Abstracts of titles to land (includes John R. Williams and the estates of John R. Williams and Evan R. Williams)
44Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad file, 1897–1937 (Concerns a side track to the J. R. Williams & Co. plant in Buckingham County (later the Williams Slate Company, Inc., plant, and includes contracts, deeds, and plats)
45Agreements, 1929–1939 (Includes agreements with Buckingham–Virginia Slate Corporation regarding the furnishing of quarry output; with Perkins–Barnes Construction Company, Inc., of Blackstone, Virginia, concerning the removal of overburden (quarry refuse); and with the Virginia Public Service Company as electric service provider

 

(Box 3)

 

Folder 
46Insurance Policies, 1958–1965, covering vehicles, workers= compensation and employee liability, fire loss, and equipment (shared with Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Corporation)
47Rental Payment Records, 1957 (charges to workers for company housing)
48Records, 1881–1925, of J. R. Williams & Co. (the initial partnership of J. R. Williams and E. R. Williams) Primarily consist of deeds to land in Buckingham County (including conveyances from Thomas Staples Martin and the Whispering Valley Company); stock in the Central Land Company of Buckingham, Virginia; a proposal for contract work on the Buckingham Railroad; and an agreement (unexecuted) of the Richmond & Alleghany Railroad concerning that work
49Records, 1922–1926, of the Williams–Arvonia Slate Corporation (acted as sales agent for Williams Slate Company and Arvonia–Buckingham Company, Inc., and included J. R. Williams, Robert G. Cabell, James T. Sloan, and Walter A. Chambers as officers). Consist of minutes, November 1922 and February 1924; and reports to stockholders, 1925–1926
50The Nicholas Family of England and Virginia (photocopy, 1989)
51Miscellaneous Materials (vehicle titles; purchase certificate; list of company board members, 1954; excerpt from minutes, 1956, of Arvonia–Buckigham Slate Company, Inc., concerning an entry into the polished slate products field)

 

Series 4. Buckingham Slate Quarries Corporation

 

This was a short–lived venture incorporated in 1913 and technically dissolved by 1919 when the Arvonia–Buckingham State Company, Inc., acquired all of its stock, although assets remained on the books until the 1930s. The firm was involved in the mining of slate from quarries around Arvonia, Virginia.

Folder 
52Ledger, September 22, 1913–December 31, 1931

 

Series 5. Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Company, Inc.

 

The bulk of this collection consists of records of the Arvonia–Buckingham venture, which focused on slate quarrying and manufacture of slate products. Also incorporated in 1913, it operated quarries throughout Buckingham County, Virginia. Its officers, who included at various times James Turner Sloan, Thomas Aubrey Yancey, Robert Gamble Cabell, III, Owen R. Jeffrey, Charles E. Wingo, III, and James Read Branch, expanded operations and created numerous subsidiary or related companies until the firm was absorbed by LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation in the 1980s. Minute books of the company through 1985 and some directors= papers are found in other collections at the Virginia Historical Society.

Bound Volumes
Journals (daily financial record of operations)
Folder 
53#1 September 23, 1913–October 31, 1917
54#2 October 2, 1917–November 29, 1919
55#3 November 28, 1919–September 28, 1923
56#4 October 12, 1923–May 31, 1927
57#5 June 1, 1927–May 12, 1931
58A May 7, 1931–August 16, 1934
59B August 2, 1934–October 16, 1936
60C October 1, 1936–May 31, 1940
61D June 1, 1940–April 30, 1944
62E May 1, 1944–March 14, 1949
63F May 9, 1949–March 31, 1952
64G April 1, 1952–March 31, 1953(Journal G is later continued for dates April 1, 1953–December 31, 1954)
65H January 1, 1955–December 31, 1961
66January 1, 1962–December 31, 1967; [December 1968]
67January 1, 1968–December 31, 1973
68January 1, 1974–February 28, 1981
69March 31, 1981–December 31, 1985

 

Ledgers

 

Folder 
70September 23, 1913–December 31, 1923
71December 31, 1923–December 31, 1947
72January 1, 1948–March 31, 1953 [General Ledger]
73March 31, 1953–December 31, 1967
74December 31, 1968–September 30, 1985

 

Cash books (include lists of employees and wages)

 

Folder 
75February 1, 1950–January 31, 1953
76February 6, 1953–April 30, 1957
77May 1, 1957–January 31, 1958

 

Cash receipts journals

 

Folder 
78April 1, 1953–November 28, 1958
79January 3, 1969–December 22, 1978
80January 17, 1979–December 20, 1985

 

Cash disbursements journals

 

Folder 
81July 11, 1951–March 31, 1953
82April 1, 1953–December 31, 1956
83December 15, 1983–January 31, 1985
84February 1, 1985–March 25, 1986
85March 26, 1986–December 31, 1986

 

Miscellaneous volumes

 

Folder 
86Check Register, July 3, 1964–September 30, 1965
87Rent Ledger, January 4, 1971–April 15, 1986
88Stockholders Ledger, 1946–1965
89Stock Certificates Book, September 23, 1913–March 22, 1961 (Primarily including cancelled certificates and supporting documentation)
90Stock Certificates Book, January 8, 1945–March 15, 1965
91Rock Crusher Ledger, August 25, 1932–June 1, 1938 (Includes wages and compensation for work–related injuries)
92Shipping Journal, January 3, 1959–December 30, 1965
93Wage/Time Book, 1958–1959 (Includes employee listings providing racial and other personal data)
94Purchase Journal/Quarry Operations, September 1951–May 1956
95Register of Roofing and Flooring/Structural Jobs, 1930–1962

 

Loose Papers (Box 4)

 

Folder 
96Agreements, 1926–1959 (Include agreements with Williams Slate and LeSueur–Richmond Slate regarding waste materials and toppings [loose slate]; and the conveyance of the Williams–Martin tract to Kent Brothers Lumber Co. [188 acres])
97Deeds, 1955–1965, of purchase, sale and exchange
98Financial statements of condition, 1936–1947
99Tax review file, 1953
100Certificates, 1961–1968, regarding the 5% sinking fund bonds
101Chart of accounts, 1968 (two copies)
102Trial balances, 1981–1985
103Labor relations file, 1947–1949 (Concerns a potential labor dispute and the membership of quarry and production workers in the International Association of Marble, Stone & Slate Workers and the Slate Workers Local Union No. 160 of the American Federation of Labor)
104Insurance policies, 1955–1960
105Insurance policies, 1961–1965
106Survey of insurance coverage, 1958 (includes Arvonia–Buckingham Slate, Williams Slate, and Buckingham Slate Products Company, Inc.)
107Brief, 1928, prepared by the Pennsylvania Blue Grey Roofing Slate Association relative to government specifications for roofing slate
108Semi–trailer licenses, 1958
109Purchase of vehicle from the U.S. War Assets Administration, 1946
110Robert G. Cabell and Priscilla Harriss Cabell power of attorney, 1978

 

Series 6. Buckingham Slate Products Company, Inc.

 

Another short–lived venture formed by officers of Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Company, Williams Slate Company, and LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation in 1956 to quarry and manufacture slate products. The acquisition of Williams Slate by Arvonia–Buckingham through off the balance of control of the company, and poor performance brought about the termination of operations in 1965.

Loose papers (Box 4)
Folder 
111Agreements, 1956–1959 (Concern formation of the company, ownership of stock in the venture after the Williams merger with Arvonia–Buckingham, and leasing of land by LeSueur–Richmond to Buckingham Slate Products Company)
112Insurance policies, 1958–1962

 

Bound volumes

 

Folder 
113Minute Book, 1956–1964
114Journal, October 31, 1956–April 30, 1965
115Cash Receipts Journal, September 20, 1956–March 3, 1965
116Cash Disbursements Journal, September 19, 1956–April 30, 1964
117Cash Disbursements Journal, May 1, 1964–April 30, 1965
118Special Ledger (with Chart of Accounts), October 31, 1956–April 30, 1965
119Stock Certificates Book, 1956–1959

 

Series 7. Buckingham–Virginia Slate Corporation.

 

Incorporated June 20, 1929, Buckingham–Virginia Slate was organized to serve as the marketing and sales arm of the Williams Slate Company, Inc., Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Company, Inc., and LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation. Its records focus on advertising and sales and are maintained through its dissolution in 1985 at the time the assets of Arvonia–Buckingham were acquired by the newly formed Buckingham Slate Company, Inc.

Folder 
120Minute Book, January 25, 1929–February 19, 1947
12Minute Book, June 11, 1947–December 19, 1960
122Minute Book, March 28, 1963–January 28, 1985
123Ledger, January 1, 1968–December 31, 1985
124Samples Order Book, 1977–1995 (dis–bound)
125Stock Certificates Book, 1929–1961

 

Loose papers (Box 5)

 

Folder 
126By–laws
127Loose minutes, 1957–1962
128Correspondence of officers, 1929–1940
129Notes on slate stock on hand and distribution of products, 1929
130Sales and expenses, 1962–1963
131Accounts past due, 1962
132Dividends and interest payments, 1988–1991
133Audit reports, 1986–1987
134Applications for employment, 1961
135Roofing slate price lists, 1950–1983
136Structural slate price list, 1960
137Advertising brochures
138Presentation book (dis–bound)
139Architectural drawing/Thomas N. Downing house

 

(Box 6)

 

Folder 
140–41Project files: Domestic Marble & Stone Corp. (contractor)/ Mashantucket Pequot Museum Project (2 folders) (quotes, notes, design drawings, orders, etc., 1996–1997)
142Project files: B & B Cut Stone Co., Inc, Shreveport, La. (contractor)/ Ledbetter Revenue Building, Little Rock, Ark. (1997–1998)
143Photograph files: Advertising/promotional materials
144Photograph files: Office/Building exteriors
145Photograph files: Office/Building interiors

 

(Box 7)

 

Folder 
146Photograph files: Church exteriors
147Photograph files: Church interiors
148Photograph files: Residential exteriors
149Photograph files: Residential interiors
150–51Photograph files: Miscellaneous (2 folders)
152Dissolution of Buckingham–Virginia Slate Corporation, 1985–1986
153Miscellaneous corporate records

 

(Box 8)

 

Folder 
154Scrapbook: advertisements, 1950–1952 (dis–bound)
155Loose items from scrapbook, 1950–1952
156Scrapbook: presentations (dis–bound; undated)
157–59Photographs (oversize and mounted) (3 folders)

 

Series 8. LeSueur–Richmond Slate Corporation.

 

The LeSueur Slate Quarries Company was founded as a family business prior to the turn of the twentieth century and merged with the Richmond Slate Company in 1924. The company has primarily operated slate quarries and fashioned slate products, though in recent years it has expanded more generally into the rock and stone products mining and production fields. The records in this collection focus on the company=s history in the second half of the twentieth century.

Bound volumes
Cash receipts
Folder 
160January 1, 1962–August 31, 1970
161September 1, 1970–September 24, 1973
162October 1, 1973–September 27, 1976
163October 1, 1976–July 26, 1979
164July 30, 1979–December 29, 1982
165January 1, 1983–August 29, 1986

 

Accounts payable

 

Folder 
166December 5, 1958–June 29, 1964
167July 15, 1964–December 30, 1968
168September 1, 1988–June 30, 1992

 

Loose papers (Box 9)

 

Folder 
169Plats, agreements, circuit court orders, 1915–1954, concerning property owned by the LeSeuer–Richmond Slate Corporation (previously LeSeuer Slate Quarries Company) and property lines contested with Buckingham Slate Quarries Corp. and Arvonia–Buckingham Slate Company, Inc.
170Tax files (federal, state income, personal property), 1988–1990
171Tax files, 1991–1992
172Tax files, 1993
173Tax files 1993–1994
174Audits, 1985, 1987–1988

c 2011 By Virginia Historical Society. All rights reserved