Warley Bascom Sons business records
Collection 2030A
1860-1970, undated(1.3 Linear feet ; 1 box, 11 volumes )
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Creator
- Warley Bascom Sons (firm).
- Title
- Warley Bascom Sons business records
- ID
- 2030A
- Date
- 1860-1970, undated
- Extent
- 1.3 Linear feet ; 1 box, 11 volumes
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Lindsey Schwartz.
- Sponsor
- Care of this collection was supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and by the Young Friends of HSP.
- Language
- English
Preferred citation
Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Warley Bascom Sons business records (Collection 2030A), Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Abstract
Warley Bascom Sons, specializing in general upholstering, interior decorations, and cabinet work, became one of the oldest and longest lived businesses owned and run by Black Philadelphians. Mattress-maker Warley Bascom, a freeman from Charleston, South Carolina, began the business sometime around 1861. It continued under family management until 1974, managed successively by Warley Bascom, Jr., his wife, Josephine Davis Bascom, and their children William, Edgar, and Ethel Bascom Serjeant. Included in the records are: order books, 1902-1923; customer list, 1907-1908; list of rental properties, 1898-1901, with lists of accounts receivable, 1897-1904; cashbook, 1944, 1953; payroll book, 1917-1922; bank books, 1889-1906; loose receipts, 1881-1882. There are in addition a few miscellaneous family papers, including estate records.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2020.
1300 Locust StreetPhiladelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200
Access restrictions
None. The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Gift of Julia Sarjeant Mitchell, 1974.
Related Materials
Related materials
At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:
Warley Bascom Sons ledger, 1903-1910 (Collection 2030B)
“The Bascoms” by Elizabeth Powers (call number CS 71 .B37)
Controlled Access Headings
Personal Name(s)
- Mitchell, Julia Sarjeant
Subject(s)
- African American business enterprises--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.
- African American businesspeople--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.
- African American--Businesses.
- Business--History--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--19th century.
- Business--History--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--20th century.
- Furniture industry and trade--Philadelphia--19th century.
- Home furnishings--19th century.
- Home furnishings--20th century.
Collection Inventory
| Volume | ||||
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Prayer book (1860) |
1 | |||
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Bible (1863) |
2 | |||
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Prayer book (undated) |
3 | |||
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Account book (circa 1876) |
4 | |||
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Account of Rental Properties with List of Bills Receivable (1897-1904) |
5 | |||
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Customer list (1907-1908) |
6 | |||
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Payroll and expenses, includes partial list of militia from 1896 (1917-1922) |
7 | |||
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Order book (1902-1916) |
8 | |||
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Order book (1920-1922) |
9 | |||
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Order book (1922-1923) |
10 | |||
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Cash book (1944, 1953) |
11 | |||
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Bank books - Warley Bascom accounts (1889-1906) |
Box 1 |
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Commonwealth National Bank (1889-1891) |
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Seventh National Bank (formerly Commonwealth Bank) (1891-1896) |
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Girard Life Insurance Annuity and Trust Company (1894-1903) |
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Fourth Street National Bank (1898-1906) |
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| Box | Folder | |||
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Bascom family history (undated) |
1 | 1 | ||
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Xeroxes of newspaper clippings (1943-1970) |
1 | 2 | ||
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Bills and receipts (1881) |
1 | 3 | ||
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Bills and receipts (1882) |
1 | 4 | ||
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Bills and receipts (1915-1922) |
1 | 5 | ||
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Warley Bascom will (1909) |
1 | 6 | ||
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Warley Bascom estate inventory (1910) |
1 | 7 | ||
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Josephine Bascom estate papers (1922-1926) |
1 | 8 | ||
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Financial statements (1930, 1931) |
1 | 9 | ||
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Miscellaneous (undated) |
1 | 10 | ||
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Miscellaneous stationary, billheads, cards, etc. (undated) |
1 | 11 | ||
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Photographs: Bascom family; Charleston, 1861 South Carolina store of Warley Bascom, Sr.; Edgar LeCount Bascom, grandson of Warley Bascom (undated) |
1 | 12 | ||
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