Finding-Aid for the H. Weston Lumber Company/Lumber Archives (MUM00474) The Department of Archives and Special Collections. The University of Mississippi Libraries

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Finding-Aid for the H. Weston Lumber Company/Lumber Archives (MUM00474)

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Table of Contents

Descriptive Summary

Historical Note

Scope and Contents Note

Restrictions

Bibliography

Container List

Descriptive Summary

PURL:

http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00474/

Creator:

H. Weston Lumber Company

Title:

H. Weston Lumber Company/Lumber Archives.

Inclusive Dates:

1841-1956

Materials in:

English

Abstract:

Collection contains letterbooks, correspondence, account and time books, various financial records, various legal and administrative records, deeds, and contracts related to the business of the H. Weston Lumber Company. Items were created 1841-1956.

Quantity:

116 boxes + ledgers.

Number:

MUM00474

Location:

JJ15 - JJ19; KK4 - KK7; wall beside KK10 (3 oversized boxes+ 3 ledgers).

Repository :

The University of Mississippi
J.D. Williams Library
Department of Archives and Special Collections
P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848, USA
Phone: 662.915.7408
Fax: 662.915.5734
E-Mail: archive@olemiss.edu
URL: http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/general_library/archives/

Cite as:

H. Weston Lumber Company/Lumber Archives (MUM00474). The Department of Archives and Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, The University of Mississippi.

Historical Note

Corporate History

The H. Weston Lumber Company grew out of a sawmill operation purchased by Henry Weston, Henry Carre and W. W. Carre in 1856, based in Logtown and operating along the Pearl River basin. Weston bought out his partners in 1874, and began to invest in timber lands. The H. Weston Lumber Company was officially incorporated in 1889. The company was active especially in the later decades of the nineteenth century and in the early decades of the twentieth century. Most of the Weston's lumber produced seems to have been sold to buyers in South America. Subsidiary companies like the Weston Sand and Gravel Company and the Riviera Land and Improvement Company were founded in the 1920's. Their establishment was an attempt by the company to diversify operations as company timber holdings became depleted. In the 1920's and 1930's the H. Weston Lumber Company also pioneered in the reforestation of cutover lands.

Other subsidiary companies, the Louisiana-Mexican Timber and Investment Company and the J. H. Weston Timber Company were formed to exploit the company's timber holdings in Mexico, and in Oregon and in British Columbia. The Westons owned, as well, an interest in the Union Lumber Company, a firm based in New Orleans which also owned timber lands in Oregon and the Northwest. Records of the subsidiary companies and a few records of the Union Lumber Company are present in the papers of the H. Weston Lumber Company.

Throughout its history the H. Weston Lumber Company was a family operation, headed first by Henry Weston, later by his son Horatio S. Weston, and then by H. S. Weston's son Harold B. Weston. The fortunes of the family were closely connected with the company's financial condition, especially during the hard times of the 1930's, and during and after World War II. Many of the so-called personal or family papers in the collection are concerned with business conditions. By the late 1940's the company's operations virtually had ceased. In the early 1950's the company holdings were sold to the International Paper Company.

Scope and Contents Note

The papers of the H. Weston Lumber Company cover the later period of the company's operations, and document its decline despite attempts at diversification. There are only a few family letters and scattered financial papers and deeds from before 1900. Evidently a fire in 1913 destroyed most earlier company records. From 1912 on, the company' financial records appear to be quite complete. The boxed financial records include incoming invoices, receipts, monthly statements and trial balances, and miscellaneous financial papers. The bound volumes encompass the primary series of financial records. Journals from 1912 to 1951 are present, although there appears to have been a change in bookkeeping methods sometime around 1933. Ledgers date from 1911 to 1930. In 1919 a system of looseleaf ledgers was adopted, and the dates of later volumes occasionally overlap. Cash books from 1919 to 1933 are present. The greatest gap in the financial records is in the outgoing invoices.

There are no minute books for the H. Weston Lumber Company itself. They do exist for the main subsidiary companies. Unbound minutes for the Lumber Company are not complete. Records kept in the minutes of all the companies are uninformative concerning company policies. These minutes detail elections of officers and resolutions enabling the sale of lands.

Outgoing correspondence, especially in the letterbooks, is fairly complete from the early 1920's on. Incoming correspondence is sparse until the late 1920's. Incoming correspondence for the B series of letterbooks, concerning the company's overseas trade, is completely lacking. After the letterbooks end, carbons of outgoing letters are interfiled in the boxed correspondence.

Some separate series of correspondence are of special interest. The personal letters of Horatio S. Weston in the A series of letterbooks are often business-related, and reflect his interest in state and local politics as they affect business conditions. Weston's occasional com ments in his letters are virtually the only references to labor relations in the company's papers. Letters he received during his tenure as the president of the Mississippi State Development Board are boxed separately. His responses are in the A series of letterbooks. H. S. Weston also attempted to expand the company's markets in the late 1920's by commis- sioning research on newsprint paper manufactured from southern pulpwood. The boxed correspondence and the A series of letterbooks contain detailed letters between Weston and representatives of the Arthur D. Little Company about this project. Of note for their sparsity are records documenting black participation in the business, labor in particular.

Another series of correspondence kept as a separate series is the forestry correspondence of J. Roland Weston. This series includes both incoming and outgoing letters, and concerns his activities as professional forester and a member of the Society of American Foresters. Several letters include his reminiscences about the early reforestation activities of the H. Weston Lumber Company.

Records of the Weston subsidiary companies are often included in the bound volumes of financial records along with those of the parent company. Correspondence and other unbound items are filed in separate series for each subsidiary company. Carbons are interfiled, except for early letters to the agents of the Louisiana-Mexican Timber and Invest- ment Company, which are usually in the A series of letterbooks. Letters from company agents in Mexico and the Northwest frequently describe conditions in these areas.

The company's legal records include land and timber deeds, con- tracts, and administrative, tax and insurance records. Information about litigation involving Weston companies is quite scattered. Personnel records include time books and time sheets, as well as the journals (which include payroll records) and ledgers. Tally books and sawmill records record the work activities of the employees, though there are gaps in these records. A fairly complete set of timber estimates for different years, plat maps, and land records exist, which could be used to trace the depletion of timber and alternative uses of the land. A number of blueprints of logging and dredging equipment are also present. A few Weston family papers, including a family history and financial papers, complete the collection. Unfortunately, the manuscript history of the company by Henry Weston cited by Hickman is missing from the collection. There is a history of the company to 1865 based on the early family letters, possibly written by J. Roland Weston.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open.

Use Restriction

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Bibliography

"The History of the H. Weston Lumber Company [to 1865]." Typescript, H. Weston Lumber Company Papers, Box 69.

Hickman, Nollie W. Mississippi Harvest: Lumbering in the Longleaf Pine Belt, 1840-1915. University, Miss.: University of Mississippi, 9

Thigpen, S. G. Pearl River: Highway to Glory Land . [n.p.] 1965.

Container List

H Weston Lumber Co. Correspondence Boxed series
(Bound volumes listed first by series)

BOX [FOLDERS]
1 [1-1] - [1-43] Feb. 1846 - Dec. 1918
2 [2-1] - [2-25] Jan. 1919 - Dec. 1920
3 [3-1] - [3-25] Jan. 1921 - Dec. 1922
4 [4-1] - [4-13] Jan. - Dec. 1923
5 [5-1] - [5-13] Jan. - Dec. 1924
6 [6-1] - [6-12] Jan. - Dec. 1925
7 [7-1] - [7-30] Jan. 1926 - July 1927
8 [8-1] - [8-30] Aug. 1927 - Dec. 1928
9 [9-1] - [9-6] Jan. - March 1929
10 [10-1] - [10-6] April - June 1929
11 [11-1] - [11-6] July - Sept. 1929
12 [12-1] - [12-7] Oct. - Dec. 1929
13 [13-1] - [13-8] Jan. - April 1930
14 [14-1] - [14-5] May - Aug. 1930
15 [15-1] - [15-5] Sept. - Dec. 1930
16 [16-1] - [16-6] Jan. - June 1931
17 [17-1] - [17-7] July - Dec. 1931
18 [18-1] - [18-5] Jan. - May 1932
19 [19-1] - [19-6] June - Sept. 1932
20 [20-1] - [20-5] Oct. - Dec. 1932
21 [21-1] - [21-6] Jan. - June 1933
22 [22-1] - [22-7] July - Dec. 1933
23 [23-1] - [23-13] Jan. - Dec. 1934
24 [24-1] - [24-13] Jan. - Dec. 1935
25 [25-1] - [25-24] Jan. 1936 - Dec. 1937
26 [26-1] - [26-18] Jan. 1938 - 1949 & undated

Personal correspondence of H. S. Weston pertaining to activities on Mississippi State Development Board:

27 [27-1] - [27-16] Jan. 1921 - Dec. 1923
28 [28-1] - [28-7] Jan. 1923 - Dec. 1927

Financial Records

29 [29-1] Auditor's reports: Jan. 31, 1918
[29-2] Jan. 31, 1920
[29-3] Jan. 31, 1921
[29-4] Jan. 31, 1922
[29-5] Jan. 31, 1923

[29-6] - [29-7] Jan. 31, 1925
[29-8] Jan. 31, 1926
[29-9] Jan. 31, 1927
[29-10] Jan. 31, 1928
[29-11] Jan. 31, 1930
[29-12] (Balance sheets:Union L Co.&HWL Co.) March 6, 1931
[29-13] (Consolidated Balance Sheet-HWL Rw. Land&Imp. Co., W&G) May 21, 1931
[29-14] Aug. 31, 1937
[29-15] July 31. 1938
[29-16] Comparison of Accounts 1920

[29-17] Preliminary Report of the Present Condition and Future Possibilities of the Holdings fo the HWL Co. June 12, 1923
[29-18] - [29-22] Financial Records 1893-1919

62 vols. - Papers concerning city and county bonds owned by HWL Co.
[29-23] [ca. 1920]

30 [30-1] - [30-15] 1920 - 1928 Financial Papers
31 [31-1] - [31-8] 1929-1930
32 [32-1] - [32-7] 1931 - 1933
33 [33-1] - [33-5] 1934 - 1935
34 [34-1] - [34-7] 1936 - 1937
35 [35-1] - [35-5] 1938 - 1940
36 [36-4] Logs Scaled by E.M. Walker Jan. - Dec. 1940
[36-5] Goodyear Yellow Pine Co. Payments on Logging Contract, incl.records of logs scaled Dec. 1940-
[36-3] Financial Papers Jan. - July 1941
37 |37-1] Financial Papers August - Dec. 1941

[37-2] - [37-3] Logs scaled by E.M. Walker. Jan. - Dec. 1941
[37-4] Goodyear Yellow Pine Co. on logging contract, including records of logs scaled, 1941
38 [38-1] - [38-2] Financial Records 1942
[38-3] Logs scaled by E.M. Walker Jan. - June 1942
[38-4] - [38-7] Goodyear Yellow Pine Co. payments on logging contract, including records of logs scaled Jan. 1942 - Jan. 1943

[38-8] - [38-11] Financial records 1943 - 1952
[38-12] Financial records - general undated
[38-13] Financial records-Riviera Land & Improvement Co .
39 [39-1] - [39-22] Cancelled notes & drafts 1880 - 1929
40 [40-1] - [40-10] Cancelled notes & drafts 1932 - 1943
[40-11] Cancelled notes & drafts: Riviera Land &Improvement Co.
41 [41-1] - [41-10] Freight bills 1929 - 1931

Legal and Admimistrative Records

42 [42-1] - [42-3] Board of Directors Meetings 1900 - 1944
[42-4] Stockholders' Meetings 1931 - 1933 & Undated
[42-5] Notices of Stockholders' Meetings
[42-6] List of Stockholders
[42-7] Miscellaneous papers concerning stock
[42-8] Riviera Land & Improvement Co.: Board of Directors meetings

[42-9] Stockholders meetings

[42-10] Minutes of other lumber companies and associates
43 [43-1] Stock Certificates; HWL Co.
[43-2] Riviera Land & Improvement Co.
[43-3] Miscellaneous

43 [43-4] - [43-8] Proxies:HWL Co. 1923 - 1924
43 [43-9] - [43-10] Riviera Land & Improvement Co.
44 [44-1] - [44-35] Land & Timber Deeds 1841 - 1889
45 [45-1] - [45-5] 1900 - 1904
46 [46-1] - [46-5] 1905 - 1909
47 [47-1] - [47-5] 1910 - 1914
48 [48-1] - [48-10] 1915 - 1924
49 [49-1] - [49-7] 1925 -1929
50 [50-1] - [50-10] 1930 - 1939
51 [51-1] - [51-18] Land & Timber Deeds 1940 - 1956 & Undated
52 [52-1] - [52-36] Contracts 1895 - 1929
53 [53-1] - [53-10] 1930 - 1939
54 [54-1] - [54-11] 1940 - 1956 & Undated
[54-12] - [54-14] Papers concerning court cases
[54-15] Accident claims
[54-16] Miscellaneous legal papers
55 [55-1] - [55-18] Tax Records 1907 - 1924
56 [56-1] - [56-8] 1925 - 1932
57 [57-1] - [57-6] 1933 - 1938
58 [58-1] - [58-18] 1939 - 1944
59 [59-1] - [59-6] 1918 - 1925
60 [60-1] - [60-6] 1926 -1932
61 [61-1] - [61-3] 1937 - 1939
62 [62-1] - [62-4] 1940 - 1943
63 [63-1] - [63-5] 1944 - 1950
64 [64-1] - [64-19] Insurance Records 1910 - 1946

Miscellaneous Records

65 Mississippi Southwestern R.R. Co. Switch lists 1930 (on cards)
65 HWL Co. Store no. 2 coupon books
66 [66-1] - [66-3] Papers relating to ships owned by HWL Co.
[66-4] - [66-5] Papers relating to land owned by HWL Co.
[66-6] Small plat maps
[66-7] Miscellaneous time sheets & payroll records
67 Plats of land and timber in Hancock County owned by the HWL Co.
68 [68-1] - [68-8] Timber estimates (see also bound volumes )1911 -1928 & Undated
[68-9] Timber inventories
[68-10] Log marks & miscellaneous papers relating to timber
[68-11] Price & Pierce schedules
[68-12] Arthur D. Little Co. Report on newsprint manufacture. 1927
69 [69-1] Undated fragments undated
[69-2] History of HWL Co. to 1865 [by J. Roland Weston?]
[69-3] Weston family genealogies and biographical information
[69-4] - [69-7] Weston family financial papers
70 [70-1] - [70-7] J. Roland Weston Forestry Correspondence 1923 - 1954

WESTON SAND & GRAVEL CO.

71 Correspondence 11 items 1924 - 1926
72 Correspondence 13 items 1927
73 Correspondence 13 items 1928
74 Correspondence 21 items Jan. 1929-July1932
75 Correspondence 11 items Aub. 1932-May 1933
76 Correspondence 12 items June 1933-Nov. 1935
77 [77-1] Auditor's reports 9587
[77-2] Auditor's reports Sept. 30, 1926
[77-3] Auditor's reports Sept. 30, 1927
[77-4] Auditor's reports Sept. 30, 1928
{77-5] Auditor's reports Sept. 30, 1931
[77-6] Auditor's reports Sept. 30, 1932
[77-7] - [77-11] Financial records 1924-1926
78 Financial Records 15 items 1927
79 Financial Records 13 items 1928
80 Financial Records 14 items 1929
81 Reports of lab tests on gravel 9 items 1930-1940, Undated
82 Shipping orders 6 items 1932
83 [83-1]-[83-13] Contracts, court papers and other legal docs. 1924-1939
[83-14] Minutes of Board of Directors & Stockholders 1931,1932, 1939, Undated
[83-15] Stock certificates
[83-16] - [83-17] Proxies 1925-1940
[83-18] Tax records
LOUISIANA-MEXICAN TIMBER & INVESTMENT CO.
84 Correspondence 5 items 1908-1925
85 Correspondence 12 items 1926-1937
86 Correspondence 1938-1940
[86-5] Financial records (11 folders) 1915-1940
[86-6] Expense accounts 1921-1940
[86-7] 'Alien land title in Mexico' - typescript
[86-8] Tax records and receipts
[86-9] Minutes of Board & Stockholders Meetings 1933-1938, Undated
[86-10] Proxies

87 [87-1] Stock certificates

[87-2] - [87-26] Legal documents & Contracts 1907 - 1942

J. H. WESTON TIMBER CO.

88 88 [88-1] - [88-7] Correspondence 1925-1930 & Undated
[88-8] - [88-14] Financial records 1925 - 1930 & Undated
[88-15] Ledger 1926 - 1929
[88-16] Statements of accounts 1927 - 1929
[88-17] - [88-18] Cancelled notes 1925 - 1929
[88-19] Tax records 1925 - 1929

89 [89-1] Henry Bay Logging Co. financial statements 1925 - 1930
[89-2] - [89-7] Henry Bay Logging Co. Scale & royalty accounts 1925 - 1930

UNION LUMBER CO.

90 [90-1] - [90-6] Correspondence 1904 - 1933 & Undated
[90-7| - [90-24] Outgoing invoices (La Dee Logging Co.?) May 1927 - Dec. 1928
91 [91-1] Financial Records (misc.) 1914-1933 & Undated
[91-2] Balance sheets 1919 - 1930
[91-3] Auditor's reports: La Dee Logging Co. Oct. 31, 1928
[91-4] Auditor's reports: La Dee Logging Co. July 31, 1929
[91-5] Minutes of Board of Directors' Meetings 1909, 1922
[91-6] Stock certificates
[91-7] - [91-9] Proxies & papers relating to stock 1924 - 1934
[91-10] Legal documents: charters 1929, 1931; court case 1913 1929, 1931, 1913
[91-11] Contracts
[91-12] Tax receipts - Oregon 1909 - 1926
[91-13] Tax receipts - British Columbia 1913 -1935
[91-14] - [91-15] Deeds 1891 - 1913. 1926
92 [92-l] Abstracts of Title
[92-2] Timber cruise reports: Oregon 1909, 1916
[92-3] - [92-7] Log scale reports: Porter-Carstens Logging Co. (includes daily summaries 1923-1924, [92-3]) 1923-1925
[92-8] - [92-11] Logging reports: Cazadero Pond March-June 1928
[92-12] Misc. Logging Records
[92-13] Lists of land & timber holdings 1917-1930
93 Bills of Lading: La Dee Logging Co. Apr.-Dec. 1928
Publications by or concerning:
[94-2] Arthur D. Little. Inc.
[94-2] Louisiana Highway Commission
[94-3] Miss. Sand & Gravel Assn.
[94-4] Miss. State Board of Development
[94-5] National Assn. for the Protection of American Rights in Mexico
[94-6] National Industrial Recovery Act
[94-7] National Sand & Gravel Assoc.
[94-8] New Orleans Livestock Exchange
[94-9] Equipment Catalogs
[94-10] Blueprints (small)
[94-11] Realia
95 [95-1] Miscellaneous publications: Bid Specifications
[95-2] Economic Conditions
[95-3] Federal programs
[95-4] Forestry & Conservation
[95-5] Harbors & Rivers
[95-6] Insurance Companies
[95-7] Investment Reports
[95-8] Legislation (State & Federal)
95 [95-9] Lumber Organizations

[95-10] Lumber & pulpwood Industries
[95-11] Politics
[95-12] General Misc. publications
[95-13] Blank forms and stationery
[95-14] - [95-17] Photographs
96 Newspapers & Clippings (unsorted)

Outsize Box 1 - Folder 1
Register of drafts drawn on
Hibernia Bank

Timber Estimates (see also bound
vols, boxed papers)

Tax lands purchased
Lumber inventories
Economic Summary

Riviera Land & Improvement Co.-
Land tax records

Folder 2 Reports of Logging Expenses
Folder 3 Shipping Records
Folder 4 Railroad Dept. accounts

Outsize Box 2 - Blueprints

Outsize Box 3 - Maps, Blueprints, Printed Materials
1920 - 1949 & Undated

lgafi

1929, 1931
1928 - 1931

[n.d.]
1918-1924
1929 & Undated
July 1924 - Jan. 1926

Letterbooks - General series

Aug. 15 - Oct. 27, 1921
Dec. 26, 1922 - Feb. 5, 1923
Feb. 5 - March 7, 1923
Mar. 7 - Apr. 9, 1923
Apr. 9 - May 10, 1923
May 10 - June 12, 1923
June 12 - July 16, 1923
July 16 - Aug. 20, 1923
Aug. 21 - Sep. 27, 1923
Sep. 27 - Oct 31, 1923
Oct. 31 - Dec. 7, 1923
Dec. 8, 1923 - Jan. 14, 1924
Jan. 14 - Feb. 18, 1924
Feb. 18 - Mar 24, 1924
Mar 24 - Apr. 29, 1924
Apr. 29 - June 6, 1924
June 6 - July 18, 1924
July 18 - Aug. 21, 1924
Aug. 21 - Oct. 4, 1924
Oct. 4 - Nov. 10, 1924
Nov 10 - Dec. 15, 1924
Dec. 15, 1924 - Jan. 29, 1925
Jan. 30 - Mar. 12, 1925
Mar. 12 - Apr. 17, 1925
Apr. 17 - May 25, 1925
May 25 - June 29, 1925
June 29 - Aug 5, 1925
Aug. 5 - Sep. 11, 1925
Sep. 11 - Oct. 20, 1925
Oct. 20 - Nov. 28, 1925
Nov. 28, 1925 - Jan. 8, 1926
Jan. 9 - Feb. 17, 1926
Feb. 17 - Mar 31, 1926
Mar 31 - May 5, 1926
May 5 - June 11, 1926
June 11 - July 22, 1926
July 22 - Aug 31, 1926
Aug 31 - Oct 14, 1926
Oct 14 - Nov. 22, 1926
Nov 22 - Dec 30, 1926
Dec. 30, 1926 - Jan 27, 1927
Jan. 27, 1927 - Mar 14, 1927
Mar 14 - Apr. 26, 1927
Apr 27 - June 6, 1927
June 6 - July 13, 1927
July 14 - Aug 26, 1927
Aug 26 - Oct 10, 1927
Oct 10 - Nov 19, 1927
Nov 19 - Jan 10, 1928
Jan 10 - Feb 18, 1928
Feb 18 - Apr 2, 1928
Apr 2 - May 23, 1928
May 23 - July 6, 1928
July s - Aug 15, 1928

Aug 15 - Sep 22, 1928
Sept. 22 - Nov 2 1928
Nov 3 - Dec 17, 1928
Dec 17, 1928 - Feb 11, 1929
Feb 11 - Apr 15, 1929
Apr 15 - June 21, 1929
June 22 - Aug 6, 1929
Aug 7 - Sep 13, 1929
Sep 13 - Nov 1, 1929
Nov 1 - Dec 27, 1929
Dec 28, 1929 - Feb 13, 1930
Feb 13 - Apr 11, 1930
Apr 11 - June 16, 1930
June 16 - Aug 25, 1930
Aug 25 - Nov 14, 1930
Nov 14, 1930 - Jan 30, 1931
Jan 30 - May 19, 1931
May 20, 1931 - Feb 24, 1932

LETTERBOOKS: A Series (H. S. Weston personal correspondence)

Apr 17, 1914 - Jan 7, 1916
Jan 7, 1916 - Mar 26, 1917
Mar 26, 1917 - May 10, 1918
May 10, 1918 - May 2, 1919
May 5 - Aug 27, 1919
Aug 30, 1919 - July 15, 1920
July 15, 1920 - Aug 13, 1921
Aug 20, 1921 - May 13, 1922
May 17, 1922 - March 10, 1923
March 12, 1923 - Jan 8, 1924
Jan 8 - Nov 17, 1924