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F.W. Heitmann Company business ledgers

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0070
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

The collection is primarily composed of large bound volumes dating from 1873 to 1959. It also contains some papers removed from their binding and stored in folders and boxes. It contains daybooks, journals, monthly reports, business ledgers, account books, registers, balance sheets, invoices, inventories, catalogs, city sales records, and lists of shipments received.

Dates

  • 1873-1959

Creator

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish material from the F.W. Heitmann Business Ledgers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

Biographical Note

Frederick William Heitmann was born in Potsdam, Germany, in 1828, but lived most of his life in Houston, Texas, as did his wife Mary Mathilde (Erhard). In 1865, Mr. Heitmann opened a heavy metal and hardware store in Houston, Texas, at 113 Main Street, where it stayed for 81 years. Mr. Heitmann died in 1889. In the early 1870s, Mr. H.S. Fox, then president of the Houston National Bank, became a partner in Houston’s oldest hardware store and its name changed to Fox and Heitmann. In 1903 the firm was incorporated under the name F.W. Heitmann and Company.. At that time the founder’s son, Frederick A. Heitmann became president of the company. Originally hardware establishment, the firm soon became a major post-Civil War importer of all lines of heavy hardware, tools, bar iron, tin plates, etc. from England and Germany. As the company grew it added major lines of domestically manufactured heavy machinery and became a major provider of products for rice growing and cotton ginning in the Southwest. It also furnished heavy equipment to the railroads and to the city of Houston.

Extent

53 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract:

The F. W. Heitmann Company business ledgers contains business materials from the F. W. Heitmann Company. It includes assorted business information and records, including daybooks, journals, monthly reports, business ledgers, account books, registers, balance sheets, invoices, inventories, catalogs, city sales records, and lists of shipments received. Most of the collection is still in its original bindings, in large ledgers. Much of the information is hand-written.

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Harris County Heritage Society, 2005.
Title
Guide to the F. W. Heitmann Company business ledgers, 1873-1959
Status
Completed
Author
Emily Prehn
Date
2008
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA