M86‑03

VESTAL NURSERY RECORDS

7 cubic ft.

1892‑1986.

Donated by Buddy Vestal

 

 

     This collection contains the financial records and many catalogs of the Joseph W. Vestal Co., a retail and wholesale florist and nursery business of North Little Rock.

 

     Joseph Wysong Vestal was born at Harveyburg, Ohio on November 9, 1833.  He married Miss Josephine C. Lonbarger of Philadelphia in 1856, and they had five children, Charles, Elizabeth, Ellen, George and Frank.

 

     In 1860 Mr. Vestal established a florist business at Cambridge City, Indiana.  After hard work he built his business into a success.

 

     In 1880 he decided to seek a warmer climate and purchased one hundred thirty acres of land from the Iron Mountain Railroad Company for $4,000.  The land was located on the Arkansas River.  He established his business and saw it grow until his death in 1917.

 

     His son, Charles, took over the business in the early nineteen hundreds.  He married Charlie Walters of Tennessee, and they had four children, Joseph Walter, Charles Howell, Ruth and Mildred.  Charles died in 1928.

 

     Joseph Walter, Sr. married Bess Thompson of Wynne, Arkansas, and they had three children. Their names were Joseph Walter, Jr. (Buddy) and Josephine Wanda, who were twins, and Joyce.

 

     Charles Howell Vestal married Marguerite Greer of Little Rock, they had three children, Charles Howell, who was killed in World War II, Shirley and Kent.

 

     Joseph Walter (Buddy), Jr. married Micky Ann Hanks of Stuttgart.  Their children were Mickey Ann, Becky and William Edward.

 

     The Vestal Nursery was one of the more prominent businesses in the state.  It shipped plants and flowers all over the country.  Today it is primarily a wholesale company.

 

     In the Retail Catalogs are many helpful gardening hints.  Some examples are:  How to grow roses, How to plant and care for evergreens, How to build a back yard lilly pool, etc.

 

     NOTE:  When requesting material, please specify collection number (M86‑3), series number, box number, and file number.

 

 

Arrangement

 

     The records are divided in two series including (1) Financial Records and Catalogs (2) Oversize.

 

     Series 1 ‑ Financial Records and Catalogs.  This series contains the few surviving loose financial records, whole- sale price lists, catalogs and other miscellaneous material from the Joseph W. Vestal and Sons Co.

 

     Series 2 ‑ Oversize.  The oversize series contains accounting books, journals and sales receipt books from 1929‑ 1967.

 

 

Tracings

 

Business and Industry

Cities and Towns ‑ North Little Rock

Horticulture

Joseph W. Vestal and Son Nursery

Trees

Vestal, Charles

Vestal, Walter (Buddy), Jr.

Vestal, Joseph Walter, Sr.

Vestal, Jospeh Wysong

Vestal, William Edward

 

 

 

SERIES I ‑ Financial Records and Catalogs

 

Box 1

 

  File 1A - Financial Records, 1927-1928

 

     File 1B ‑ Financial Records, 1936‑39

 

     File 2 ‑ Financial Records, 1940‑1944

 

     File 3 ‑ Financial Records, 1945‑1954

 

     File 4 ‑ Financial Records, 1955‑January 1960

 

     File 5 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1903

 

     File 6 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1904

 

     File 7 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Spring 1905

 

     File 8 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1906

 

     File 9 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Spring 1907

 

     File 10 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Spring 1908

 

     File 11 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1908

 

     File 12 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Spring 1924

 

     File 13 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Spring 1934

 

     File 14 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1948‑Spring 1949

 

     File 15 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1951‑Spring 1952

 

     File 16 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1952‑Spring 1953

 

     File 17 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1953‑Spring 1954

 

     File 18 ‑ Wholesale Price List, Fall 1955‑Spring 1956

   

     File 19A - Copy of Book, Directions for Sprouting, Raising ands Keeping Sweet Potatoes by Aaron H. Vestal (1854)

 

     File 19B ‑ Retail Catalog, 1892

 

     File 20 ‑ Retail Catalog, 1892 (Bound Zerox copy)

 

     File 21 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1905

 

     File 22 ‑ Retail Catalog, 1910

 

     File 23 ‑ Retail Catalog, 1911

 

     File 24 ‑ Retail Catalog, 1912

 

     File 25 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1922

 

     File 26 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1922

 

     File 27 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1924

 

     File 28 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1924

 

     File 29 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1925

 

     File 30 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1926

 

     File 31 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1927

 

     File 32 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1928

 

     File 33 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1928

 

     File 34 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1929

 

     File 35 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1929

 

     File 36 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1930

 

     File 37 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1930

 

     File 38 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1931

 

     File 39 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1931

 

     File 40 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1932

 

     File 41 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1932

 

     File 42 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1933

 

     File 43 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1933

 

     File 44 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1934

 

     File 45 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1934

 

     File 46 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1936

 

     File 47 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1937

 

     File 48 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1938

 

     File 49 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1938

 

     File 50 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1939

 

     File 51 ‑ Retail Catalog, Fall 1939

 

     File 52 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1940

 

     File 53 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1941

 

     File 54 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1943

 

     File 55 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1945

 

     File 56 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1946

 

     File 57 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1948

 

     File 58 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1949

 

     File 59 ‑ Retail Catalog, Spring 1950

 

     File 60 ‑ Letter‑Victory Tax, 1942; Letter‑Thanksgiving 1948

 

    File 61 ‑ Copy of Act 116 of 1959 signed by Governor Orval E. Faubus; Permit, Seventh consecutive day‑1959 (Permits women to work seven consecutive days)

 

     File 62 ‑ Newspaper article on Vestal home being leveled. (copy)

 

     File 63 ‑ Statement with notice of "Vestal's Program of Entertainment" (A radio program), 1939; Samples of order sheets and return envelopes; Postcard 1912; Photograph of Vestal Nursery  c.1930; Figures for cubic feet of various nursery buildings; Sheet on flower dyeing;  Formula to prevent mildew; How to care for white Callas.

 

     File 64 ‑ Vestal family biography by Amelia (Chudy) Vestal

 

     File 65 ‑ Yearbook containing utility records (coal,  electricity and water) 1932‑1950; information about catalogs and plants.

 

     File 66 - Misc. Nursery/Family Materials

 

 

SERIES II ‑ Oversize

 

     Item  1 ‑ Trial Balance, January 1, 1929‑February 1934

 

     Item  2 ‑ Journal, November 1, 1928‑February 9, 1929

 

     Item  3 ‑ Journal, February 10, 1929‑April 20, 1929

 

     Item  4 ‑ Journal, April 19, 1929‑October 5, 1929

 

     Item  5 ‑ Journal, October 18, 1937‑August 18, 1938

 

     Item  6 ‑ Journal, August 19, 1938‑June 16, 1939

 

     Item  7 ‑ Journal, June 17, 1939‑March 15, 1940

    

     Item  8 ‑ Journal, March 16, 1940‑June 29, 1941

 

     Item  9 ‑ Journal, July 1, 1941‑May 11, 1943

 

     Item 10 ‑ Journal, May 15, 1943‑September 27, 1945

 

     Item 11 ‑ Sales Book, Vestal Greenhouse, September 26, 1945‑July 31, 1946

 

     Item 12 ‑ Sales Book, Vestal Greenhouse, August 1, 1946‑ February 9, 1949

 

     Item 13 ‑ Sales Register, November 1, 1928‑May 14, 1929

 

     Item 14 ‑ Sales Register, May 16, 1929‑February 28, 1930

 

     Item 15 ‑ Sales Register, March 1, 1930‑October 31, 1930

 

     Item 16 ‑ Sales Register, November 1, 1930‑April 12, 1932

 

     Item 17 ‑ Sales Register, April 12, 1932‑March 31, 1934

 

     Item 18 ‑ Journal, July 1, 1931‑June 30, 1932

 

     Item 19 ‑ Journal, July 1, 1932‑December 30, 1932  (front pp. 1‑56) Sales Register, April 1, 1934‑April 17, 1935 (back pp. 57‑149)

 

     Item 20 ‑ Sales Register, April 19, 1935‑August 31, 1936

 

     Item 21 ‑ Sales Register, September 1, 1936‑September 22, 1937        

 

     Item 22 ‑ Sales Register, September 23, 1937‑September 14, 1938

 

     Item 23 ‑ Sales Register, September 15, 1938‑June 10, 1939

 

     Item 24 ‑ Sales Register, June 11, 1939‑March 28, 1940

 

     Item 25 ‑ Sales Register, March 29, 1940‑December 25, 1940

 

     Item 26 ‑ Sales Register, December 25, 1940‑June 30, 1941

 

     Item 27 ‑ Sales Register, July 1, 1941‑February 10, 1942

 

     Item 28 ‑ Sales Register, February 11, 1943‑August 13, 1942

 

     Item 29 ‑ Sales Register, August 12, 1942‑March 20, 1943

 

     Item 30 ‑ Sales Register, March 20, 1943‑November 19, 1943

 

     Item 31 ‑ Sales Register, November 19, 1943‑June 12, 1944

 

     Item 32 ‑ Sales Register, June 12, 1944‑February 17, 1945

 

     Item 33 ‑ Sales Register, February 16, 1945‑September 26, 1945

 

     Item 34 ‑ Sales Register, March 9, 1946‑November 7, 1946

 

     Item 35 ‑ Sales Register, November 7, 1946‑May 9, 1947

 

     Item 36 ‑ Sales Register, May 9, 1947‑January 5, 1948

 

     Item 37 ‑ Sales Register, January 5, 1948‑June 22, 1948

 

     Item 38 ‑ Sales Register, June 23, 1948‑January 10, 1949

 

     Item 39 ‑ Sales Register, January 10, 1949‑February 7, 1949

 

     Item 40 ‑ Journal, January 1, 1954‑September 30, 1956

    

     Item 41 ‑ Journal, October 1, 1956‑June 30, 1958

 

     Item 42 ‑ Journal, July 1, 1958‑February 29, 1960

 

     Item 43 ‑ Journal, September 1, 1961‑February 28, 1963

 

     Item 44 ‑ Journal, March 1, 1963‑January 30, 1964

 

     Item 45 ‑ Journal, January 2, 1964‑July 30, 1965

 

     Item 46 ‑ Journal, August 1, 1965‑January 28, 1967

 

     Item 47 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, October 18, 1937‑June 30, 1939

 

     Item 48 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, July 1, 1939 ‑ November 14, 1940

 

     Item 49 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, November 15, 1940‑December 21, 1941

 

     Item 50 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, December 22, 1941‑December 31, 1942

 

     Item 51 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, December 31, 1943‑November 30, 1943

 

     Item 52 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, December 1, 1943‑October 31, 1944

 

     Item 53 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, November 1, 1944‑August 25, 1945

 

     Item 54 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, August 27, 1945‑June 17, 1946

 

     Item 55 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, February 19, 1948‑December 22, 1948

 

     Item 56 ‑ Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, December 22, 1948‑February 26, 1949

 

     Item 57 ‑ Register of Plants and Flowers bought and sold, September 1, 1943‑April 13, 1944

 

                                                                       

 

End of Collection

 

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