Hopkins & Bros., 1838–1964
A Guide to the Hopkins & Bros., Onancock, Va., Records, 1838-1964
Call Number Mss3H7777a
Abstract
Main Entry: Hopkins & Bros., Onancock, Va. Title: Records, 1838-1964 Size: 454 items Scope Note: Includes correspondence, accounts, day books, ledgers, cash books, invoice books, inventory books, money letterbooks, and freight books concerning the general merchandise operations (i.e., hardware, lumber, fertilizer, and grain) of Hopkins & Bro. and Stephen Hopkins & Son, Onancock, Va., and T. S. Hopkins & Company, Tasley, Va.
Also, includes the log, 1839, of the ship, "Patrick Henry"; barrel books, 1879-1921, and day book, 1904-1907, of the Eastern Shore Barrel Company, Onancock, Va.; and an account book, 1915-1921, of Thomas S. Hopkins concerning the estate of John Parker Lee Hopkins.
Provenance: Gift of Addison Finney Hopkins, Onancock, Va., in 1966 and 1967. Restrictions: None.
Collection Description
On January 1, 1842, Captain Stephen Hopkins (1793?-1868) opened a store, wharf and warehouse in Onancock, Va. Operating first under the name Stephen Hopkins & Son and later as Hopkins & Bro., the store was a center for commercial activity on the Eastern Shore for 125 years, run successively by William H. A. Hopkins and John P. L. Hopkins, Edward W. Hopkins, Robert S. Hopkins, William S. Hopkins, Thomas S. Hopkins, and Addison F. Hopkins.
The store was located on Onancock Creek, one of the two deep water creeks on the Eastern Shore. At first the store’s chief business was to purchase and transport by water grains and other agricultural products grown on the Eastern Shore to the ports of Baltimore, New York, and Charleston, and to import for sale the necessities of daily life not locally available. Also available for purchase were coal and other fuels, fertilizers, hardware and agricultural tools. In addition, the company loaned money and served as the community’s first bank. The company owned its own fleet of cargo ships until it signed an agreement with the Eastern Shore Steamboat Company in 1878, leasing the wharf to and serving as an agent of the steamboat company and its successor, the Baltimore and Virginia Steamboat Company, until service was discontinued in 1935.
Also included are records of T. S. Hopkins & Co., a branch store established in Tasley, Va., by Thomas S. Hopkins (1866?-1942), grandson of Stephen Hopkins; and of the Eastern Shore Barrel Company, 1879-1921. The Tasley store was dissolved ca. 1923.
Hopkins & Bro. ceased operation in 1966, and with the death in 1970 of the last owner of the property, it was given to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. The company’s records were in turn given to the Virginia Historical Society for preservation.
Guide
The records of Hopkins & Bro. begin with correspondence, 1858-1948 (40 items) and loose accounts, 1852-1950 (64 items). However, the bulk of the collection consists of account books as follows:
Day books:
- n.d.
- 1870-1871
- 1876
- 1877-1879
- 1879
- 1879-1881
- 1881-1882
- 1881-1883
- 1882-1883
- 1883-1884
- 1884-1886
- 1886-1888
- 1888
- 1888-1889
- 1889
- 1889-1890
- 1890-1891
- 1891-1893
- 1894-1895
- 1895-1897
- 1897-1898
- 1898-1900
- 1900-1902
- 1900-1906
- 1902-1903
- 1903-1904
- 1903-1906
- 1904-1905
- 1906-1907
- 1907-1909
- 1907-1911
- 1909-1911
- 1911-1913
- 1912-1916
- 1913-1914
- 1914-1916
- 1916-1918
- 1916-1922
- 1917-1922
- 1918-1920
- 1920-1922
- 1920-1922
- 1922-1923
- 1923-1925
- 1923-1933
- 1925-1927
- 1927-1928
- 1928-1930
- 1930-1931
- 1931-1934
- 1934-1936
- 1934-1945
- 1936-1939
- 1939-1940
- 1940-1942
- 1942-1945
- 1945-1947
- 1947-1949
- 1949-1952
- 1952-1953
- 1953-1955
- 1955-1957
- 1957-1959
- 1959-1961
- 1961-1964
Cash books:
- 1881-1889
- 1888-1889
- 1889-1899
- 1895-1897
- 1897-1899
- 1900
- 1902-1903
- 1903-1906
- 1906-1908
- 1906-1909
- 1908-1912
- 1909-1911
- 1911-1914
- 1913-1915
- 1914-1916
- 1916-1919
- 1916-1922
- 1916-1923
- 1919-1921
- 1921-1924
- 1924-1927
- 1927-1929
- 1929-1932
- 1932-1935
- 1935-1938
- 1938-1940
- 1940-1941
- 1945-1955
Ledger books:
- n.d. (1 of 2)
- n.d. (2 of 2)
- 1862-1863
- 1864-1877
- 1867-1875 (includes Cash book)
- 1868-1869
- 1870-1871
- 1871-1872
- 1871-1873
- 1872-1878
- 1872-1875
- 1873-1876
- 1874-1877
- 1874-1886
- 1875
- 1875-1877
- 1875-1882
- 1877
- 1878-1881
- 1879
- 1879-1880
- 1879-1913
- 1882-1884
- 1884-1885
- 1886
- 1888
- 1889-1893
- 1893-1896
- 1897-1903
- 1900
- 1903-1905
- 1905-1907
- 1906-1910
- 1906-1911
- 1908-1911
- 1912-1913
- 1920-1921
- 1936-1937
Invoice books:
- 1872-1873
- 1873-1876
- 1882-1884
- 1884-1887
- 1887-1889
- 1891-1893
- 1893-1896
- 1896-1897
- 1897-1899
- 1900-1903
- 1904-1906
- 1907-1909
Money letterbooks:
- 1854-1864
- 1866-1870
- 1870-1871
- 1872-1874
- 1874-1876
- 1876-1893
- 1878-1879
- 1879-1880
- 1880-1881
- 1881
- 1881-1882
- 1882-1883
- 1883
- 1883-1884
- 1884-1885
- 1885-1886
- 1886-1887
- 1887
- 1887-1889
- 1889
- 1889-1893
- 1890
- 1890-1893
- 1893
- 1893-1894
- 1893-1908
- 1895-1896
- 1896-1898
- 1898-1900
- 1901-1912
Accounts receivable book, 1937-1944
Accounts payable books:
- 1890-1895
- 1896-1899
- 1900-1904
- 1905-1911
- 1912-1920
- 1920-1930
- 1930-1942
Notes due books:
- 1859-1860
- 1866-1870
- 1870-1881
- 1871-1878
- 1873-1879
- 1876-1893
- 1912-1913
- 1915-1926
Inventory books:
- n.d. (1 of 4)
- n.d. (2 of 4)
- n.d. (3 of 4)
- n.d. (4 of 4)
- 1861
- 1861-1862
- 1866-1872
- 1875
- 1875-1876
- 1878-1879
- 1879-1884
- 1881-1882
- 1891-1895
- 1900-1903
- 1905
- 1918
- 1919
- 1920
- 1926
- 1928
- 1932
- 1933
- 1934
- 1935
- 1936
- 1937
- 1938
- 1939
- 1940
- 1941
- 1943
- 1944
- 1945
Fertilizer books:
- 1924-1932
- 1931-1933
- 1933-1937
- 1936-1937
- 1938
- 1939
- 1940
- 1941
- 1942 (1 of 3)
- 1942 (2 of 3)
- 1942 (3 of 3)
- 1943
- 1944-1948
- 1946-1950
Guano books:
- 1875 February 25-March 15
- 1875 March 17-March 27
- 1880
- 1887
- 1888
- 1889
- 1890
Beer book, 1880-1884
Beer & Pop book, 1884-1885
Beer book, 1884-1886
Ice books:
- 1886-1890
- 1890-1893
Sweet Potato books:
- n.d. (1 of 2)
- n.d. (2 of 2)
- 1865
- 1872
- 1876
- 1877-1879
- 1878
- 1888
- 1890-1895
Oil book, 1895-1904
Freight books:
- 1838-1850 (includes log book, 1839, for the ship, “Patrick Henry”)
- 1874
- 1875-1878
- 1877-1882
- 1912-1929
Register of Interstate Shipments of Ardent Spirits, 1916-1917
Coal Delivery book, 1945
Truck Mileage & Hauling book, 1938
Farm Rental book, 1883-1896
Index books, n.d. (4 v.)
Stephen Hopkins & Son, Onancock, Va.
Day book, 1853-1869
Cash book, 1857-1863
Ledger books:
- 1842-1849
- 1848-1852
- 1850-1855
- 1852-1857
- 1855-1857
- 1855-1861
- 1856-1860
- 1857-1860
- 1859
- 1859-1863
- 1859-1871
- 1860-1862
- 1861-1863
- 1863-1866
- 1866-1869
- 1868-1873
- 1869-1876
Notes due book, 1848-1867
Money letterbooks:
- 1880-1884
- 1884-1887
- 1887-1889
Grain books:
- 1850-1855
- 1853-1862
- 1863-1866
- 1866-1873
Register of Wharf Rents and Freight Rates with Steamboat Companies, 1873-1928
T.S. Hopkins & Company, Tasley, Va.
Day books:
- 1893-1894
- 1898-1900
- 1900-1901
- 1902-1903
- 1906-1908
- 1908-1909
- 1909-1910
- 1910-1912
- 1912-1913
- 1913-1914
- 1914-1915
- 1915-1916
- 1916-1917
- 1917-1918
- 1918-1919
- 1919
- 1919-1920
- 1920
- 1921
- 1921-1922
Cash books:
- 1910-1912
- 1922-1915
- 1914-1915
- 1917-1918
- 1918-1920
- 1920-1923
Ledger books:
- 1898-1902
- 1901-1904
- 1905-1907
- 1908-1909
- 1911-1912
Accounts Payable book, 1913-1923
Inventory books:
- 1897
- 1919-1921
Account book, 1915-1921, of Thomas S. Hopkins concerning the estate of John Parker Lee Hopkins (1830-1913).
Eastern Shore Barrel Company, Onancock, Va.
Day book, 1904-1907
Barrel books:
- 1879-1880
- 1913
- 1913-1915
- 1913-1916
- 1916
- 1916-1918
- 1917-1919
- 1919
- 1919-1920
- 1920-1921
- 1921
Last updated: July 13, 2001