Hartwell Company
At various times during its history, The Augustan Society, Inc., contracted with The Hartwell Company for the provision of services.
The Hartwell Company was the sole prorpietorship of our Founder, Rodney Hartwell. It is believed that he employed his wife and daughters in the enterprise, and perhaps others.
The purpose of this legal fiction was to prevent the Society from becoming an employer, as that involves much additional work and governmental fees that both the Society and Hartwell wished to avoid. Considering the number of attorneys on the Board at that time, one expects that all was above board.
Upon his death, ownership of the Hartwell Company passed to his daughter and sole heir, Jessica Hartwell. She has subsequently gifted the Company and all its assets to the Society. These assets include copyrights to some issues of our magazines, and the business records (now held in storage). Enough time has passed that these records are no longer needed for tax purposes, but they are being kept until a deliberate decision to destroy them is made.
While a review of the Company and its records will be necessary to write a complete history of the Society or our Founder, one suspects that the records are strictly financial, and that much information has either been lost or never recorded. Perhaps some day a business scholar will find it an interesting study.
