Hamrick Mills Records
Collection
Identifier: Mss-0125
The majority of the collection is the financial records of the mills, but the collection also includes insurance forms, leasing agreements, a charter granted by the state of South Carolina for Limestone Mills and correspondence. The only personal documents of the Hamrick Family are a copy of the family tree and the autobiography of Wiley C. Hamrick, Life Values in the New South.
Legislative documents (1929-1930) include editorials and articles on night work for women and children and workers' compensation, advertisements about labor legislation and samples of state labor legislation. The correspondence in the collection (1900-1901, 1931) concerns Limestone Mills and the Limestone Mills Store. Also in the collection are letters to Dr. Hamrick (1929-1930) in his role as a South Carolina State Senator. The financial records (1900-1955) include bank statements and the accompanying letters (1900-1904), cancelled promissory notes (1900-1904), credit slips (1923), mill ledgers (1913-1955) and tax materials (1936-1937). Legal documents (1900-1940) include insurance forms and policies (1900-1904), leasing agreements (1902), Incorporation Charter and certificates from the state of South Carolina (1900-1940), and a Partnership petition. The family history (1930, 1963) consists of The Family Tree, created from a September 8, 1963 family reunion. The book contains accounts and photographs of Hamrick family members, including Wiley Cicero Hamrick. The collection is a good documentary source for researching the financial workings of early twentieth century textile mills. The collection is not a good source for personal papers of the Hamrick family.
There are no restrictions on the use of the collection.
The history of Hamrick Mills starts in North Carolina with the family of Cameron Street Hamrick. The South Carolina branch of the Hamrick family began when Cameron Hamrick's son Wiley Cicero Hamrick (1860-1935) moved from Cleveland County, North Carolina, to Gaffney, South Carolina. Wiley Hamrick was the youngest of six sons in a family of farmers. He himself plied many trades from doctor to druggist and general store owner. Hamrick was also involved in state politics in both North and South Carolina, and in 1900 became a mill owner for the first time. Since Hamrick became a partner in the construction of Limestone Mill at Gaffney in 1900, he and his descendants have been deeply involved in the Southern textile industry. Hamrick was instrumental in financing and running four other South Carolina textile mills in Gaffney and Blacksburg: Hamrick Mill (originally Merrimack Mill), Broadriver Mill (originally Witaker), Musgrove Mill and Alma Mill (originally Cash).
24 Cubic Feet
English
The Hamrick Mills Records were donated by the Hamrick family and Wayne Tull of the M. Lowenstein Corporation, accession numbers 87-94 and 87-97.
24 cubic feet (2 document boxes and 24 oversize volumes)
The collection was processed by Anne Ward with the assistance of Dorrie Wood.
Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository