W. W. Gavitt Papers

Abstract: The collection consists of business records from William W. Gavitt's companies in Topeka, mostly regarding the W.W. Gavitt Medical Company, a successful patent medicine company. The records include correspondence with agreements, notices, price listings, report and application forms, and other such materials; letters from Compagnie Morana; a Wells Fargo receipt book for W.W. Gavitt & Co. for the years 1898-1915, noting such information as dates, articles received and their valuation (almost invariably medicine), and address and destination to which articles were being sent; advertisements, sample packaging materials, and other such miscellaneous materials. The bulk of the correspondence dates from 1895-1900. Gavitt operated a number of businesses in Topeka, including the Kansas Department of the Western Mutual Protection & Relief Association, a banking and brokerage institution, and other such entrepreneurial endeavors.