What is the best way to request business records?

I found in a World War II Draft card that a relative worked for Standard Oil Co in New Jersey. I believe Standard Oil of New Jersey eventually became what is now ExxonMobil.

My question is, what is the best way to go about asking if a company has any records on an ancestor? Would it be to write them a letter with the information I know about the ancestor and politely request any data they may have on them?

Anyone have any tips here?

Tags: business, businessrecords

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Permalink Reply by Paul Drake on July 14, 2009 at 1:56pm

Try the headquarters and ask for the corporate historian; quite usually huge corporations have a person appointed to handl;e such questions. Go to Google and search these words "Exxon corporate headquarters history".

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Garnett Cox on July 14, 2009 at 6:59pm

Thanks Paul, you actually led me to a link at the University of Texas. It appears they have a wealth of information on ExxonMobil/Standard Oil history.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Grant on July 14, 2009 at 6:36pm

Standard Oil may not keep employees records for long periods of time - only historically important information on the company. I would try your newspapers of the period and location depending on what your relative did for the company - iof he was an officer, you may find mentione of him in the newspapers of the time, or was he might have been on the "line" or owned a gas station, worked off-shore, etc. You can try finding him directly with a City Directory in that location, or your Historical Society may have information on hiim and his family. Check the Social Security Death Index to see if he's deceased (only since 1962 I believe - and not all information is on the site), When you write/call the company be prepared that their attitude may not be what you are expecting. If that contact turns out to be disappointing, don't quit. There are hundreds of way around this. Look for associations about Standard Oil, gas stations (yes. They did have gas station associations - my husband had his own station following WW II). Look on-line for any "buzz words" you can think of. There is a website about draft cards - you can search for this on-line. These ideas should get you started. Sometimes, going through a wall isn't allowed. We have to find away around or over it. This should help you get started. Best wishes and happy hunting. BTW - I have COX in my line, too. Any relatives in New York or Arkansas?

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Garnett Cox on July 14, 2009 at 7:02pm

Thanks Julie! Great suggestions. As I mentioned to Paul, I discovered that the University of Texas was donated a large amount of historical data on ExxonMobil. I am contacting the history department there to see what is available in that data. I will check the other sources you mentioned.

My Cox line is mostly from the southeast corner of Virginia (Norfolk/Chesapeake areas) and eastern South Carolina (Marion/Johnsonville/Florence/Georgetown). None that I know of in NY or Arkansas.