Information Sheet

 

 

R         D. B. Axtell & Company.

442                  Ledger, 1878.

                                    One volume.

 

OVERSIZE

 

 

 

This is an indexed account ledger of a grocery, general store, and tie-buying firm in south­eastern Missouri.  D. B. Axtell and J. P. Gabriel were the proprietors, based in Poplar Bluff and doing business in Butler and Stoddard counties in Missouri.  The volume includes accounts re­ceiv­able, lists of payments for ties, and expense accounts, and collections.

 

The ledger of D. B. Axtell & Company was found among Madison County records at Fre­d­ericktown, Missouri, but any historical connection with that county is not apparent.  Axtell & Com­pany is listed under the grocery line in business directories for Butler County, 1879‑1880.  The partners are not listed individually, but the ledger indicates that D. B. Axtell and J. D. Gab­riel were the operators.  It is possible that “Benton D.” Axtell, noted in the 1880 Missouri Soun­dex as a tim­ber contractor at Poplar Bluff, is the same individual as “D. B.” Axtell.  En­tries in the ac­count book make reference to earlier records which are not known to be extant.

 

The surviving record book of Axtell & Company is a standard business ledger primarily containing accounts receivable.  Most of the trans­actions were for groceries, and the entries list the names of the cus­tomers, dates and descriptions of purchases, and settlements of ac­counts.  Much of the trade was with railroadmen on the “Iron Mountain” line, and with loggers in Butler and Stoddard counties.  Some of the accounts bear notes on occupations, such as conductor, car in­spector, and section hand, and locations, such as Ash Hills, Blum’s Section, Dudley, Poplar Bluff, “roundhouse,” and “tie camp.”

 

In August‑September 1878, Axtell & Company advanced a quantity of cash and goods to loggers in an unidentified tie camp.  The lumbermen are clearly identified, and there are sepa­rate records of advances made for ties, expenses, and net proceeds in September‑December 1878.  The re­cords also indicate that J. P. Gabriel assumed a more active role in the firm.  He seems to have handled most of the daily business after the beginning of September.

 

The ledger of Axtell & Company, even though it is only a single ledger from a larger group of records, offers a view of the operations of a small mercantile firm in southeastern Missouri.  The ledger indicates the importance of Poplar Bluff as a regional center and the economic impor­tance of the Iron Mountain railroad and logging to the local area.  A micro­film copy of the ledger is also available.

 

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