Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Robert Lee Hubbard and John Roth Papers #05056, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Received from Nancy Roberts and Martha Harris of Greensboro, N.C., and Elizabeth Clary of McLean, Va., in May 2001 (Acc. 98927).

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Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

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• Elkin (N.C.)--Commerce.
• Elkin times.
• Hardware stores--North Carolina.
• Hubbard, Robert Lee, b. 1862.
• Merchants--North Carolina.
• Newspaper publishing--North Carolina.
• North Carolina--Newspapers--History.
• Roth, John, fl. 1887-1934.

Robert Lee Hubbard was born at Moravian Falls, Wilkes County, N.C., on 9 December 1862. His parents were William Henry and Jane Elizabeth Saner Hubbard. Robert Lee Hubbard married Mary E. Roth (also called Mamie). After losing his left arm in a woolen mill accident, Hubbard went into business with his brother-in-law, John Roth. Hubbard and Roth operated a hardware store in Elkin, N.C., that also provided repair services for bicycles, guns, and other machinery. Robert Lee Hubbard was also president of the Elkin Veneer and Manufacturing Company and manager of the Elkin Furniture Company.

In addition to operating a hardware store, Robert Lee Hubbard and John Roth published the Elkin Times, a weekly local newspaper. The newspaper began publication in 1892 and seems to have ceased publication around 1899. The partners also ran a commercial printing shop in conjunction with the newspaper press.

Chiefly financial records, 1887-1934, documenting businesses operated in Elkin, N.C., by Robert Lee Hubbard and his partner and brother-in-law, John Roth. Included are business letters, invoices, receipts, credit statements, and other financial records. Two account ledgers for the Hubbard & Roth Hardware store contain customer transactions, 1890-1893, and an inventory of a store called Odds & Ends.

Business records, 1893-1900, of the Elkin Times, a weekly local newspaper published by Hubbard and Roth, include letters to the editor, freight and postage statements for the paper's distribution, subscription information, and correspondence with the American Press Association and Southern Newspapers Union. An account book, 1896-1897, documents customer transactions, including payments for advertisements in the newspaper and printing orders.