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Hersey, Staples and Company, 1854 – 1860: Eastern Managers and Capital in Frontier Business1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Lucile M. Kane
Lucile M. Kane
Affiliation:
Minnesota Historical Society
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Extract

Hersey, Staples and Company was organized by eastern men in 1854 to carry on a business in Stillwater, leading lumber town in Minnesota Territory. Bringing to this business venture on the energy, experience lumbering acquired in Maine, knowledge of the mercantile trade, and capital from Maine and Massachusetts, the four partners of Hersey, Staples and Company initiated an enterprise that gained the attention of businessmen throughout the Territory. The firm became the largest owner of pinelands in the St. Croix Delta, a leading producer of logs and lumber in an area that ranked first in lumber exportation in Minnesota, operator of the finest mill in the Territory, wholesaler and retailer of logs and lumber, part owner in boom companies, dam companies, and a general store, and later, promoter of railroads and banks. Although only one partner became a resident of Minnesota, the others were favorably known in the community in which their business was located. Few of the records of the company are extant, but the history of operations that can be discovered illuminate the general problems of running a lumber business in the West in the 'fifties.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , December 1952 , pp. 199 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1952

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References

2 Larson, Agnes, History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota (Minneapolis, 1949), pp. 19–23Google Scholar; Kanabec County Times, June 28, 1934.

3 “A Medford Business Incident,” The Medford Historical Register, vol. xvi, p. 26; Ruth Dame Coolidge, “Simon Tufts the Third, Merchant of India,” The Medford Historical Register, vol. xli, p. 35; Boston Almanac for 1856, p. 153.

4 Durant, Edward W., “Lumbering and Steamboating on the St. Croix River,” Minnesota Historical Collections, vol. 10, pt. 2, pp. 645–648Google Scholar.

5 St. Croix Union, Oct. 23, 1854.

6 Census Schedules, Stillwater, 1857. Minnesota Historical Society.

7 Durant, op. cit., pp. 648–657; St. Croix Union, Aug. 11, 1855; Stillwater Messenger, Dec. 2, 1854.

8 Hersey to Staples, July 26, 1856. Hersey, Staples & Co. Papers in the Minnesota Historical Society. All manuscripts referred to in the rest of this article are a part of the papers of the company.

9 Hall to Hersey, Apr. 12, 1858; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Nov. 20, 1856; Hall to Hersey, Apr. 17, 1858; Hall to Staples, May 26, 1856.

10 A Schedule of the Property of Hersey, Staples & Co., Sept., 1858; St. Croix Union, Nov. 3, 1854; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., May 4, 1856; Hersey to Staples, June 1, 1856; Hall to Staples, Dec. 22, 1856; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 21, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Aug. 16, 1854.

11 Schedule of logs sold, 1857.

12 Hall to Staples, Aug. 27, 1856; Hersey to Hersey, Staples & Co., Dec. 10, 1856.

13 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Aug. 16, 1854; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Whitney, Fenno, Shaw & Co., Aug. 8, 1854; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, Jan. 28, 1856; Hersey to Staples, June 1, 1856; Hersey to Hersey, Staples & Co., June 14, 1856; Hall to Hersey, Apr. 6, 1856; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., May 4, 1856; Hall to Staples, June 12, 1856.

14 Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Nov. 9, 1856; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 21, 1856; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 11, 1856; Hersey to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 3, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Jan. 16, 1856; Abstract of Title to Lands, Nov. 12, 1870.

15 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, June 19, 1855; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 7, 1856; Hersey to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 3, 1856; St. Croix Union, June 23, 1855. Stillwater Messenger, May, 1860, cited in Larson, History of the White Pine Industry, p. 20.

16 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Whitney, Fenno & Co., Dec. 2, 1854; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Oct. 26, 1856; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 15, 1856; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 8, 1856; Hall to Staples, June 20, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, June 5, 1855.

17 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Whitney, Fenno & Co., June 26, 1855; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Asa Davis, Nov. 6, 1854; Hall to Hersey, May 4, 1858; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, Feb. 14, 1855; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, May 31, 1855; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, Dec. 7, 1854; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Aug. 31, 1854; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Mar. 24, 1856.

18 Hall to Staples, May 26, 1856.

19 Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Dec. 23, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, Oct. 28, 1855; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, Dec. 7, 1854; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Apr. 19, 1858; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Whitney, Fenno & Co., Mar. 20, 1855; Hersey to [n.n.] Apr. 12, 1856.

20 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, July 11, 1855; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, May 15, 1855.

21 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, July 11, 1855; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Mar. 17, 1858; Charter, Apple River Dam Co., 1856.

22 Staples to Hersey, Dec. 2, 1854; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, Feb. 14, 1855; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Schulenburg, Boeckler & Co., Jan. 1, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Jan. 11, 1856; Staples to Hersey, Apr. 2, 1859.

23 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Sept. 3, 1855; Hall to Staples, June 5, 1856.

24 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, July 11, 1855; Kanabec County Times, Golden Anniversary Edition, June 28, 1934; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, Aug. 6, 1855.

25 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Apr. 7, 1858; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Aug. 30, 1856; Hersey to Staples, July 4, 1856; Hersey to Hersey, Staples & Co., June 14, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Whitney, Fenno & Co., Aug. 18, 1855.

26 Account of Hersey, Staples & Co. Property, Sept., 1858; Agreement, W. D. Smith with Hersey, Staples & Co., Nov. 5, 1858; Agreement, Hatch, White & Co., with Hersey, Staples & Co., Nov. 11, 1858; Hersey to Staples, Nov. 7, 1856; Agreement with Baldwin & Averill, 1862.

27 Smith to Hersey, Oct. 4, 1859; Smith to Hersey, Oct. 31, 1859; Report on Sales at Keithsburg Yard, 1859.

28 Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, July 11, 1855; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Sept. 3, 1855; Hall to Hersey, Staples & Co., Oct. 12, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Charles Boynton, July 23, 1855; Hersey to Hersey, Staples & Co., May 18, 1857.

29 Hall to Hersey, Apr. 5, 1858; Hall to Hersey, Oct. 28, 1856; Hall to Staples, July 22, 1856; Statement of Logs Purchased by the Laird, Norton Co., 1857.

30 st. Croix Union, Nov. 25, 1854; Stillwater Messenger, Feb. 7, 1860; Hersey to Staples, June 3, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, June 14, 1856; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Martin Bates, Oct. 24, 1854; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hersey, Dec. 5, 1854; Hersey, Staples & Co. to Hall, Aug. 6, 1855; Hersey to Hersey, Staples & Co., May 21, 1856.