Page Milling Company daybooks

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Collection open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box#, folder #], Page Milling Company daybooks, 1955-1960, SC 0416, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Summary

Extent:
0.47 cubic feet 1 box
Creator:
Page Milling Company (Luray, Va.) and Tim Abbott Americana
Abstract:
Two daybooks documenting the business activities of Page Milling Company in Luray, Virginia.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box#, folder #], Page Milling Company daybooks, 1955-1960, SC 0416, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

Two daybooks documenting the business activities of Page Milling Company in Luray, Virginia. The daybooks detail the daily financial transactions of the company and include wheat and cornmeal sales, selling and delivery expenses, and other operating expenses.

While the name of the business is not documented in the daybooks, internal evidence (e.g. accounts at Page Valley National Bank and National Bank of Manassas; columns for wheat, cornmeal, mixed feed, truck drivers, and selling and delivery expenses; common Page County surnames and local business names listed) suggests the daybooks are from Page Milling Company. Furthermore, the names of people known to have worked at Page Milling Company, per their obituaries, are listed in the account entries as employees - Nelson Gochenour, J. Kenneth Campbell, and H. H. Price.

Biographical / historical:

Located in Luray, Virginia, Page Milling Company was founded in 1902 and in operation until at least 1962. Originally known as Luray Mill and Elevator Company, the business was established by C. W. Carter in 1895 and sold to E. C. Harnsberger (1868-1939) in 1898. Harnsberger reincorporated the business as Page Milling Company in 1902. The mill had a 50-barrel daily capacity which increased to over 200 barrels per day. In 1929, after a three-month closure and renovation, the milling company's daily capacity increased to 300 barrels.

M. E. Roudabush (1892-1957) succeeded Harnsberger as president of Page Milling Company in 1938. H. H. Price (1915-2003) took over as company president in 1955, when the mill became a Federal Bonded Warehouse under the U. S. Warehouse Act. As of 1962, Page Milling Company employed fourteen employees and had a storage capacity of 187,000 bushels.

Robert Harnsberger (1906-2001), son of E. C. Harnsberger, is alleged to have invented the quick rising biscuit mix now known as Bisquick. Harnsberger purportedly sold his recipe to the Washburn-Crosby Company (later General Mills) in 1930 for an outright fee of $15,000. However, the origin story of Bisquick, according to General Mills, attributes the product to Carl Smith, a General Mills salesman, who was introduced to a quick biscuit in 1930 while on a train ride to San Francisco.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Tim Abbott Americana in August 2025.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard