A Ledger, a Letter, and a Lesson in Lumber

We dont want Lumber as the cooperage Co will not take lumber for their part.

Pull up a chair, friends, because I’ve just unearthed a little slice of our shared past that’s as crisp as an October morning in the mountains. This week, I’ve been leafing through a letter dated all the way back to 1883, written on some beautifully aged, yellowed paper. You can almost feel the weight of the years in its creases. It carries the elegant letterhead of the Doan Cooperage Co., with its offices stretching from our own West Virginia hills all the way to Cleveland. It’s a humble piece of history, handwritten in ink that has softened over the last century and a half, but the story it tells is one we can all relate to.

The letter is addressed to a man named Laban Guinn from the Hinton Manufacturing Company. Now, poor Laban seems to have found himself in a bit of a pickle over some money he owed. The writer, with a very firm but polite hand, is correcting Laban’s math on some interest rates. It turns out Laban owed about 432 dollars—quite a sum back then! What really caught my eye, though, was the rejection of his offer to pay in lumber. The company was very clear: the Cooperage folks wanted cash or a new note, not wood. It just goes to show you that even in the 1880s, the struggle to balance the books was a very real part of daily life.

When we look at this fragile document today, we aren’t just looking at a business transaction. We’re looking at the growing pains of a young West Virginia as it moved from the old ways of bartering and trade toward a more formal economy. It’s a reminder that behind every grand history book about industries and factories, there were individual people like Laban and the folks at Hinton Mfg Co, just trying to make ends meet and keep their word. It makes me think about how, even as our world changes, the value of a clear account and a handwritten message never really goes out of style.

Original Transcription

Hinton, W. Va., Oct 5th 1883

Laban Guinn
Richmont WVa

Dear Sir your letter with Maxwells recived you Must Make some mistake in your figuring I figured the interest from the time the notes was due till the time the 62 56 cts credit was placed on the note. but to take it your way there is More interest than that I will give you a Statement your way.
one note of 200 was due aug 26th 1881 on that note there would be 2 years & one Month interest which at 6% would be $25.00 then the other note is due Six Months later which would be Febury 26th 1882. on that note one hundred dollars of it the interest for 19 Month would be $9.50 This would Make 34.50 cts interest to the 26th of Sept 1883. The principal of the note is $337.50 add to that 34.50 & 60.00 and you find it amts to $432.00 for which I enclose you another note We dont want Lumber as the cooperage Co will not take lumber for their part. either send the note by return mail or if you can raise the mony you can get a good discount on your paper let us hear from you at once & oblige

Yours Truly
Hinton Mfg Co