Wood County Monumental Works records

This collection consists primarily of business contracts and correspondence between the Wood County Monumental Works, previously Frank E. Smith's Granite and Marble Monuments, and their customers and suppliers. Until December 1928, the collection consists of contracts and correspondence of Frank E. Smith's Granite and Marble Monuments. After 1928, and the merger with Wood County Monumental Works, the records are of both companies.

The bulk of the material covers the period between October 1907 and December 1928. There are scattered materials for the years 1929 and 1930, then complete coverage for the period between January 1931 and December 1938. After this, the material is incomplete. There are some noticeable gaps in the collection in both the earlier and later records. The gaps include the following: in the contracts and correspondence between January 26,1911 and November 30, 1914; between January 23, 1915 and June 16, 1915; between July 3, 1915 and December 6, 1919; and between January 19, 1916 and December 21, 1917. Gaps in the financial documents series are more serious as the purchase and check records and the cash book and sales records cover only January through December 1953.

This collection has numerous uses. The information given on the contracts such as birth and death dates and cemetery positions provides useful statistics for population and demographic studies, local historians, genealogists, and social scientists. It is of special use to genealogists investigating family or community histories because often groups of stones are ordered for whole families. It is also of architectural importance. The contracts provide drawings showing the design of the monuments to be built, the type of lettering, and the markers used. Occasionally photographs of the stones appear in the correspondence. It is also of literary use in that studies are being done on the phrases engraved on monuments throughout different periods in history. The cost of monuments also are given on the contracts, and this would be useful in determining the social and economic status of the customers.

In 2008, CAC staff developed and printed an alphabetical index of over 600 pages for the benefit of researchers. The index provides contract dates, names, birth and death dates, cemetery names and locations, notes, and links back to the location of the original entry.