A. Business, 1814-1961
- Extent:
- 641 folder(s)
- Scope and content:
-
Business correspondence from the 1920s contains political material from Peterson's work in the Georgia General Assembly during this period although he kept the majority of his business and political correspondence separate during and after his time in Congress.
Alphabetical subject files from 1947 through 1961 contain correspondence and notes. Although Peterson kept separate sets of alphabetical files dating from the late 1940s through the early 1960s, each set is no different from the others and was not separated by date. Original order has been maintained in these sets, hence the sets are designated by a number within the sub series.
Material includes information about Peterson's ownership of the Monitor Publishing Company (publisher of the Montgomery Monitor and the Thomasville Press) including correspondence with Herman McBride, who ran the Monitor while Peterson was away in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Material also pertains to Peterson's early legal work, which consisted of law suits, divorces, collections, and parole cases, including those of local African-Americans. His business ventures also included an insurance agency that he owned from 1919 through 1935, which represented Fidelity, Hartford, and New York Life. While many of Peterson's local business interests were in the form of traditional agricultural pursuits such as the Ailey Gin Company and the Vidalia Gum and Turpentine Company (now VNS Corporation), he spent much time and effort helping to establish and run the Ailey Shirt Company, Southland Securities, the Montgomery County Bank and the Mt. Vernon Bank. Outside of Montgomery County, Peterson's development activities involved creating a radio and television station based in Savannah, Georgia. After World War II, he worked to revive the Ocean Steamship Company of Savannah, which had lost its fleet in the war although the company finally liquidated in 1951. From the 1950s until his death in 1961, Peterson concentrated on a mining interest in Sylva, North Carolina.
Contents
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- Parent terms of access:
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