Information Sheet

 

 

R1266
Campbell, Love and Company.
Ledger, 1868-1869.
One volume.

 

 

This is “Petty Ledger B” of Campbell, Love & Company, a general merchandise firm at Rolla in Phelps County, Missouri.  Joseph Campbell and Robert A. Love were the principals.  The entries show the accounts of various individuals for groceries, tobacco, spirits, dry goods, hardware, and lumber, circa July 1868-August 1869.

 

Campbell, Love and Company was formed in 1868 by Joseph Campbell and Robert A. Love, two of the most prominent businessmen at Rolla following the Civil War.  Campbell (1829-1912), a native of Ireland, came to Missouri before the Civil War as a subcontractor working on the South West Branch of the Pacific Railroad.  When the railroad business played out before the war, Campbell and Patrick Long formed Campbell and Company to engage in the mercantile business.  The firm had located in Rolla by the time railroad reached that point in late 1861.  The firm did well during the war.  Patrick Long died in 1865, leaving Campbell to continue alone until 1867-1868, when he formed Campbell, Love and Company with Robert A. Love.  The partners organized and operated Rolla Mills, with Campbell serving as president of the milling company.  Campbell also helped organize the National Bank of Rolla and served as trustee and president.

 

Robert A. Love (1832-1912) was a native of Indiana who came to Maries County, Missouri with his family.  He located in Rolla in 1860 and during the war served as a militia officer and county sheriff.  He became a partner in Campbell, Love and Company in 1868.  Campbell sold his mercantile interest after Rolla Mills was organized, but remained associated with the mill until about 1879.  He opened his own store, styled Love, Smith and Company, about 1870.  Later his son joined him in a firm styled R. A. Love & Son.  He was a member of the Rolla city council and served two terms on the school board.     

 

“Petty Ledger B” is a standard account ledger listing individuals and their purchases.  Pages 1-69 of the volume have been used as a scrapbook for newspaper clippings pasted on the original pages.  The original pages may be seen beginning on page 70. 

 

The accounts represent many of Rolla’s most prominent citizens, including Edmund Ward Bishop (the town’s founder), Richard P. Bland (attorney and legislator), Joseph G. Hutcheson (former county judge), Solomon King (hotel keeper), Lea Prigmore (physician),  Edward A. Seay (attorney), Aaron Vanwarmer (attorney), and Samuel G. Williams (attorney), as well as other business concerns (probably wholesale customers) such as Emory & Bowman, Hyer & Flora, Livesay & Son, Morse & Delisle, and Love, Miller & Co.  The close relationship of the firm with Rolla Mills is also evident.  Along with customers and their accounts, the entries show that Campbell, Love & Company accepted labor, firewood, lumber, and pelts in payment.   References to Aunt Cissy, Uncle Joe, and “negro Dick” (the fireman at Rolla Mills) reflect Rolla’s historic black community.

 

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