S. P. Hite Company Daybook
Scope and Content
This collection consists of a single daybook maintained by S. P. Hite Company, a patent drug manufacturer and distributor operating in Roanoke, Virginia during the early 20th century. The entries, spanning October 31, 1905 to July 31, 1909, record sales of the company's various products, including Hite's Pain Cure (abbreviated in the daybook as "HPC"), cough syrup, liver pills, asthma and catarrh powders, and others. Among the customers named are grocers and druggists throughout Virginia and the greater mid-Atlantic region.
Dates
- Creation: 1905 - 1909
Creator
- S. P. Hite Company (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish material from the S. P. Hite Company Daybook must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Biographical / Historical
Samuel P. Hite was born in Augusta County, Virginia in 1843. In 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company D, 5th Virginia Infantry. Hite was wounded in the battles of Malvern Hill and Chancellorsville; on February 6, 1864, he was captured at Morton's Ford. Six weeks later, upon taking the oath of allegiance, Hite was sent to New York.
By 1871, Hite was manufacturing patent medicines on Moffatt's Creek (Augusta County), Virginia. His business a success, Hite in 1887 moved his laboratory to nearby Staunton, where he and his workers manufactured a number of products, with Hite's Pain Cure apparently being the most successful of these.
As Hite's business continued to expand, it was incorporated as the S. P. Hite Company in 1905, with $100,000 in stocks sold to several Roanoke investors. Hite was retained as president and remained in Staunton, but the company's headquarters relocated to Roanoke. Hite himself remained in Staunton, however. Hite died in Radford on March 10, 1917. Unmarried, he bequeathed the bulk of his estate to the Children's Home in Richmond.
Full Extent
0.6 Cubic Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Daybook maintained by S. P. Hite Company, a manufacturer and distributor of patent medicines operating in Roanoke, Virginia during the early 20th century.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The S. P. Hite Company Daybook was acquired by Special Collections prior to 1987.
Processing Information
The processing and description of the S. P. Hite Company Daybook commenced and was completed in NovemberOctober, 2017.
- Title
- A Guide to the S. P. Hite Company Daybook, 1905-1909
- Subtitle
- A collection in Special Collections.
- Author
- John M. Jackson
- Date
- ©2017 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All rights reserved.
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu