Z 1845.000 Chicago Mill and Lumber Company Records, Accretion

Z 1845.000
CHICAGO MILL AND LUMBER COMPANY RECORDS, ACCRETION

The Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, formerly known as the Paepcke-Leicht Lumber Company, was established in Chicago, Illinois, in 1881. Herman Paepcke was the president; William Wilms was the vice-president; and E. A. Leicht was the treasurer. The name was changed to the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company in the 1920s. The Mississippi facility, located on Lake Ferguson near Greenville, was one of the company's three band-saw mills. The primary timber interests of the Greenville mill were in hardwoods such as ash, cottonwood, cypress, hackberry, hickory, maple, oak, pecan, sycamore, and willow, and a variety of gum trees.

This collection contains correspondence and other records of the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company of Greenville, Mississippi. It documents the lumber industry in the Mississippi Delta at a time when lumbering was becoming a viable alternative to the cotton industry. The records include the business correspondence of the Greenville mill and the main office in Helena, Arkansas, from 1925 to 1927. There are contracts between the company and various Delta landowners who wanted to sell their timber from 1917 to 1922. There are also miscellaneous agreements concerning the sale of oxen, fishing privileges, and timber leases. Included are two types of business forms: invoices and sales orders from 1924 to 1925. The invoices contain customer data, while the sales-order forms were for the internal use of the company. There are three folders of price lists, along with lumber-sawing instructions and one folder of miscellaneous items.

1. Correspondence. 1925-1927. 13 folders.

This series contains business correspondence of the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company in Greenville. Principal correspondents include T. M. Calvert and H. R. Engel. It primarily consists of carbon copies of internal correspondence between the Greenville mill and the main office. The correspondence includes details on pricing, shipping, lumber storage, and purchase orders of clients.

Box 1

2. Contracts. 1914; 1917-1922. 29 folders.

This series contains contracts made between the Greenville mill and local timbermen or private landowners interested in selling a portion of their timber. There is also correspondence concerning the transporting of logs on the various railroads and waterways serving the different areas of operation in Washington and Sharkey counties in Mississippi. This series also includes a bill of sale with a local hoop company and a land deed. The logging contracts contain information on the terms and conditions of the agreement, the logging and hauling of timber, and the associated costs. A detailed contract made by J. T. Worthington is typical of the remainder of the logging contracts within the series. It describes the various aspects of a logging operation in 1920.

Boxes 2-3

3. Leases. 1916; 1918-1922. 4 folders.

This series contains lease agreements between the Greenville mill and various landowners. There are also some carbon copies of correspondence between the parties involved in the lease agreements.

Box 4

4. Invoices. 1924-1925. 4 folders.

This series contains copies of invoices of the Greenville mill. Entries include the client's name and address, shipping instructions, terms of sale, and type of lumber sold.

Boxes 4-5

5. Sales Orders. 1924-1925. 1 folder.

This series contains lists of sales orders billed to clients. They are listed numerically by invoice number and contain information on the quantity of lumber sold, invoice amount, freight liability, and net sales.

Box 5

6. Price Lists. 1925-1926. 3 folders.

This series contains price lists of various types of lumber.

Box 5

7. Miscellany. 1925-1927; n.d. 2 folders.

This series contains printed material relating to the lumber industry, including forms and trade brochures. There are also some lumber-sawing instructions from 1926 to 1927.

Box 5