William C. Kost Farm Records
name: label: Creator
content: Kost, William Elvidge
label: Creator
content: Kost, William Cassell, 1917-1989 (farmer)
label: Former owner
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
place: label: Place
content: Illinois -- 1940-1990
label: Place
content: Vermont (Ill.) -- 1940-1990
topic: label: Topic
content: Farms -- 1940-1990 -- Illinois
label: Topic
content: Hay
label: Topic
content: Work and family -- 1940-1990
label: Topic
content: Wheat
label: Topic
content: Soybean
label: Topic
content: Swine
label: Topic
content: Rural families -- 1940-1990
label: Topic
content: Agriculture -- 1940-1990 -- Illinois
label: Topic
content: Livestock
label: Topic
content: Corn
label: Topic
content: Beef cattle
label: Topic
content: Family records -- 1940-1990
label: Topic
content: Family farms -- 1940-1990
label: Topic
content: Farm equipment -- 1940-1990
label: Topic
content: Farm buildings -- 1940-1990
label: Topic
content: Farmers -- 1940-1990
label: Topic
content: Farm management -- 1940-1990
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated to the National Museum of American History, Archives Center by William E. Kost in 1993.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kost, William Elvidge
label: Creator
content: Kost, William Cassell, 1917-1989 (farmer)
setName: label: See more items in
content: William C. Kost Farm Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The records of the Kost family farm, Vermont, Illinois. The farm consisted of 120 acres where small grains, hay, and cattle were raised.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: William Cassel Kost (1917-1989) acquired land and began farming in Vermont, Illinois in 1946. The farm consisted of 120 acres where Kost raised small grains, hay, and cattle. Prior to this time, Kost had been a bookkeeper for local taverns and a tenant farmer. Over the next fifty-three years, Kost worked his own farm as well as occasionally renting land, the Maryland Farm and others. In the 1950s, Kost secured a position with Hemp & Company, later known as the King-Sealey Thermos Factory, first in a part-time capacity then as a full-time employee, retiring on disability in 1975. He continued to farm until his death in August 1989. He was married to Maxine Elvidge (1916-1987) and had one son, William Elvidge Kost (1941-).
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 17.66 Cubic feet (53 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1939-1989
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0481
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Housebooks
label: Type
content: Receipts
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is organized into three series.

Series 1, Tavern Accounts, 1939-1945

Series 2, Maryland Farm, 1946

Series 3, William C. Kost Farm, 1946-1989
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., volunteer, 1994; supervised by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist.  Finding aid revised in June 2014.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Housebooks -- 1940-1990
label: Genre/Form
content: Receipts -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The William C. Kost Farm Records is an exhaustive collection of bills, receipts, pay-stubs, and other financial records relating to the business of a small, mid-western family farm. Beginning with Kost's employment as a bookkeeper in 1942 for local Vermont, Illinois area taverns, the financial records intensely cover the period until the year before his death in 1989. The collection is a complete financial picture of a typical mid-western farm during the post WWII period, through the agricultural boom days of the 1950s and 1960s, and into the trying agricultural times of the late 1970s and 1980s. These financial records reconstruct a day to day, week to week, and month to month, financial portrait of the Kost farm. The limited amount of correspondence found in this collection complements the financial record. Tax returns, medical, and personal expense records are all included within the collection. Kost and his wife ran the farm operation with occasional hired help. Kost also took a job off the farm to supplement the farm income.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Division of Work and Industry and the Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds artifacts related to this collection.