Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Records of the Mitchell and McClure Lumber Company of Saginaw, Michigan and Duluth, Minnesota. Correspondence and financial papers concerning company land and lumbering enterprises, and later activities in home building, silo construction, and silage production; records of A.J. Stevens & Co. and McClure-Stevens Land Company of Gladwin, Michigan also business files and diaries of company co-founder, William C. McClure.

The record group is divided into the following series: Mitchell and McClure Lumber Company; William C. McClure materials; Other Business Enterprises; and Financial records. In addition to the records of the company, the record group includes documentation of other enterprises, such as home building and silo construction and silage production. There are also some records of the A.J. Stevens Land Company of Gladwin, Michigan. The William C. McClure series is important for the run of personal diaries maintained by McClure in the period of 1872-1903.

Records of railroad companies, mainly Michigan lines, absorbed with the merger of the New York Central Railroad Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company into the Penn Central Transportation Company.

The nature of the records of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad reflects the recent history of the two companies. When the Penn Central Transportation Company was formed in 1968, the offices of New York Central--the junior merger partner--were dismantled and only a small percentage of records retained. Therefore, the extant New York Central records consist almost entirely of minutes and account books of a routine nature. By contrast, records of the Pennsylvania Railroad were relatively undisturbed by the merger and are today richer and more varied than those of the New York Central. The Penn Central records are most useful for their documentation of the growth of the railroad industry. They depict an industry in constant flux due to the opportunities for success offered by a burgeoning industry and the intense competition among railroads that resulted. A single volume of records often contains minutes of two or more railroads, reflecting either the failure of the original company or its takeover by or merger with another company.

Besides documenting the history of individual railroads and of the railroad industry as a whole, the Penn Central records are a good source on the economic and commercial development of Michigan and neighboring states, and provide insight into the rise and decline of various towns along the railroad. Minutes of New York Central subsidiaries, for example, contain discussions of negotiations with town officials over the proposed construction of tracks, bridges, depots, and the like. Similarly, the locality files in the Superintendent--Toledo Division series of the Pennsylvania Railroad records consist of correspondence and memoranda regarding improvements to, or the abandonment of, stations in small towns in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. This series also contains substantial correspondence files on Toledo, Detroit, and Grand Rapids.

Labor and social historians will find the Penn Central records useful in illuminating the lives of workers and in documenting relations between management and workers. More than 40 feet of labor relations files of the Ann Arbor Railroad include agreements between the company and unions, grievances, petitions concerning work rules and pay, wage and hour schedules, and circular letters. There are small series of labor relations files of other companies scattered throughout the collection. Researchers will also find information on the workplace and working conditions in the locality files of the Superintendent--Toledo Division series of the Pennsylvania Railroad; these files contain, for example, memoranda concerning clubrooms and sleeping quarters for workers in city depots.

There is very little technical material in the Penn Central records; photographs are likewise scarce. The most notable exceptions are in the car ferry files, found in three subseries of the Pennsylvania Railroad records: General Manager--Western Region, Vice-President and General Counsel, and Subsidiaries: Mackinac Transportation Company. The car ferry files include maps, plans, specifications, blueprints, and some photographs.

A large portion of the collection consists of records of small railroads that ran through Michigan or were based in Michigan. Records of these companies are brief, often including nothing more than articles of incorporation, a few pages or a volume or two of minutes, and perhaps some annual reports and financial records. Although many of these railroads were subsidiaries of either the Michigan Central Railroad, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, or the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, they have been filed under the parent company of which the sub-system was a part (New York Central, Pennsylvania, or Ann Arbor Railroad) to promote ease of access. Thus, for example, records of the Canada Southern Bridge Company, a subsidiary of Michigan Central Railroad, are filed under New York Central Railroad, the parent company of Michigan Central. Researchers uncertain of the parentage of a particular railroad should look in the subsidiaries section of the contents list under Ann Arbor, New York Central, and Pennsylvania Railroads. The railroads in each of these subsidiaries sections are arranged in alphabetical order.

Brief histories of individual railroads can be found in the "Green Books"--the annual reports of the New York Central Railroad Company and its subsidiaries. There are several published histories of the Pennsylvania Railroad in boxes 183 and boxes 155-157 and on microfilm in box 60.

A card file giving the date of incorporation, name changes, and parentage of subsidiaries of the Michigan Central Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad has been photocopied and can be found in box 1 of the collection. This folder also contains a list of records in the Public Archives of Canada of Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway system properties in the United States. Finally, there is a section of Aids, Gifts, Grants and Donations to Railroads Including Outline of Development and Successions in Titles to Railroads in Michigan by the Michigan Railroads Commission (1919).

Information in this finding aid concerning the histories of the various railroads was drawn from the collection itself, from sources compiled by the project archivists, and from the following published sources: William Frederick Dunbar All Aboard! A History of Railroads in Michigan (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969) and Henry E. Riggs, The Ann Arbor Railroad Fifty Years Ago (Ann Arbor Railroad Company, 1947?)

State representative from Chippewa County, Michigan. Correspondence and business papers dealing with mining, fishing, shipping, fur trading, lumbering and other businesses in the Northern Peninsula, particularly in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; also maritime papers, ships' manifests from Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, miscellaneous American Fur Company papers, and papers on lighthouse administration, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and Republican politics.

This collection of eight microfilm rolls divides into two series: Correspondence and business papers, and Maritime papers. Although titled the Peter Barbeau collection, the papers are of Barbeau and others Northern Michigan businessmen. The papers detail business activities, particularly in Sault Ste. Marie area and concern mining, fishing, shipping, fur trading, lumbering, and other businesses. Also included are maritime papers consisting of customs papers and ships manifest from Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie. Found within the collection as well are miscellaneous American Fur Company papers, papers on lighthouse administration, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and some Republican politics.

Records of the retail business activities of the Phelps family of Manton, Michigan in Wexford County.

This record group covers the years 1890 to 1964 and consists of the diaries and a biographical sketch of Charles D. Phelps, a history of the business written by D. Maynard Phelps, and various business records. The business records series consists of income tax returns, papers pertaining to the sale of the business, and miscellaneous inventories, journals and a ledger.

Records, 1895-1931, of the Postum Cereal Company of Battle Creek, founded by Charles W. Post; include time books, payrolls, invoice and voucher records, trial balances, cash receipts registers, and sales and advertising material.

The Postum Company records are an incomplete set of employment and financial records covering the period 1895-1931. The records have been described in two series: Payroll and Employee Records and financial and Miscellaneous Records. The records include employee time books, payrolls, invoice and voucher records, trial balances, cash receipts registers, and sales and advertising material.

The collection includes 164 outsize volumes. A unique sequential number (1-166, there is no vol. no. 91 or 92) has been assigned to each volume to aid in identification and location of the volumes. This number is given at the beginning of descriptive entry in the contents list. Some volumes had a number or letter stamped on the spine. This number is listed in square brackets at the end of the item entry.

Papers and photographs collected by Robert D. Aldrich relating to the history, people and institutions of Concord village in Jackson County, Michigan; include correspondence, diaries, account books and other papers of Concord residents; records of Concord social organizations, businesses, schools, and church and governmental bodies.

The Robert D. Aldrich collection consists of materials--manuscript, printed, and photographic--documenting the history of Concord, Michigan, in western Jackson County. The collection spans the period from the arrival of the first settlers in 1831 to the 1980s. There are a few items dating back into the eighteenth century (as early as 1783) since the papers of some pioneer families predate their arrival in Concord. The bulk of the collection, though, falls in the period since the Civil War.

The collection documents every facet of life in Concord. Included are the papers of numerous Concord citizens consisting of personal correspondence, diaries, account books and newspaper clippings about them. In addition, Aldrich collected the records of various Concord businesses and organizations, as well as some church, school, and governmental records.

The collection has been divided into two series: Manuscript and Printed Materials, and Visual Materials. Both series are arranged alphabetically either by personal name or name of organization, or by general subject area, such as Circus, Underground Railroad, etc.

Mining company superintendent; correspondence, reports, background information, and financial miscellanea.

The collection consists of business correspondence relating to mining activities. There is some correspondence with members of the Hayes family, including California Congressman, Everis A. Hayes, and newspaper publisher and fruit raiser, J.O. Hayes. In addition, the collection includes reports of mining developments and disasters in the 1880's and 1890's, documentation of the Germania Mine, information about Hurley Wisconsin, travel diaries, and miscellaneous ledgers.

Residents of Highland Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Civil War reminiscences and other papers of James D. Rowe, soldier in the 1st Michigan Cavalry; Civil War letters of Spencer D. Lee, related family member, also in the 1st Michigan Cavalry; business records of Grant and Carrie Jackson Rowe, publishers of the Milford Times; sermons of Samuel Simpson Marquis as transcribed by Mrs. G. S. Rowe; collected materials largely concerning Milford and Highland Township history; and miscellaneous photographs and Civil War print.

The collection is divided into three series: Rowe Family Papers, Milford Historical Materials, and Milford Times Records. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, genealogical material and reminiscences relating to the Rowe family. The Civil War years are particularly well documented in letters written by in-laws: William Putnam, brother of Helen; the wife of James Rowe; and Spencer Lee, who married Helen's sister, Sarah. The Milford Times Records series contains business correspondence and records of the Milford Times, a newspaper published and edited by members of the Rowe family from 1890 to 1950. Carrie Jackson Rowe, who ran the Times for 46 years with her husband, Grant, was interested in Highland County local history; her writings on historical topics, as well as the historical documents she collected, form the Milford Historical Materials series.

Records of the Ruggles & Rademaker of Manistee, Michigan, and of the predecessor land and lumber enterprises of Charles Ruggles and Edward Buckley, including the Buckley and Douglas Lumber Co., the Manistee and Northeastern Railroad, and the Emeline Bath Co. of Chicago, Ill. Financial records and business correspondence of Edward Buckley, Charles Ruggles, and John Rademaker; also files concerning lawsuit between Ruggles and Buckley.

This record group, although named for the salt company owned and operated by Charles F. Ruggles and John Henry Rademaker from 1920 to its sale in 1931, is also an accumulation of records of the business enterprises and land dealings of Charles Ruggles beginning in 1866 and of the partnership operations of Ruggles and Edward Buckley. Included are business correspondence, financial records, organizational materials, and litigation files. Many of the financial records have been microfilmed.

The Salling, Hanson and Company Records are the business records of the lumber company Salling, Hanson and Company based in Grayling Michigan from 1881-1928. The records include financial data, annual reports, daily activity information as well as some records from other Grayling businesses.

The Salling and Hanson records on microfilm begin with a series of ledger books, complete from 1881 to 1923, except for one volume which was missing. All of the company's financial transactions were transferred to the ledgers (which are arranged by accounts), making them the most complete records of company business. The journals and lumber journals (arranged chronologically) provide records of daily operations. Since these transactions were eventually recorded in the ledgers, only sample years of the journals and lumber journals were preserved. For both series, all records of even numbered years were microfilmed, including records for 1881, the earliest year for which Salling, Hanson records exist. The lumber journals may be of particular interest, since they indicate the amounts of various types of lumber produced and sold. An entire series of time books (1891-1907) was filmed, giving payroll accounts of Salling, Hanson employees. One petty accounts ledger (1917-1927) and one tax record book (1881-1891) complete the Selling, Hanson Company microfilm edition. Records preserved in the original form include 5 index volumes for the time books, trial balances, records of total lumber shipped, and annual reports of two subsidiary companies. In addition, two color-coded surveyor's books and three volumes of daily operations records (containing the only narrative material in the collection) have been preserved in the original.

More than half of the Salling, Hanson records were discarded. In addition to alternate years of the journals and lumber journals, several series of records were entirely discarded. Day books and cash books were discarded because information recorded in them was duplicated in the journals and ledgers. Merchandise ledgers and cash books for the Salling, Hanson Company store were discarded, along with lumber order books and a few miscellaneous volumes.

The Salling, Hanson microfilm series concludes with records of several companies with which Rasmus Hanson was affiliated. Hanson Lumber Company records (1901-1907) consist of one ledger and one journal. R. Hanson and Sons records (1909-1912) consist of a record of cars received. Hanson Land Company records (1914-1927) consist of ledgers, journals, and log records. Grayling Box Company records (1918-1943) consist of journals, sales journals, and payroll books. Finally, Grayling Hotel records (1916-1936) consist of ledger and journal books.