The bulk of this collection consists of business ledger books and invoices. There is a single letter written to John Reagan Harris in the collection. This collection is a great resource for researchers looking information on 1950s businesses in Shelby County businesses in the 1950s, many of whom purchased products from the Harris hardware store branches. Researchers might also be interested to look at the geographic diversity of products being sold by a hardware store in 1950s East Texas.

A collection of ledgers showing day-to-day activity in this former Shelby County hardware and furniture store founded by W. W. Payne and his son R. J. Payne. This collection includes customer accounts, inventories and invoices from Payne and Payne's suppliers. These records give a detailed picture of the type of merchandise sold by Payne and Payne from 1915 through 1950 and 1987-1991.