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Manuscript Group 377
Papers, 1901-1989
82 cubic feet
The records of Grangeville lawyer Paul G. Eimers were transferred to the University of Idaho Library by Mrs. Dorothy Eimers in September 1989. They were processed by Judith Nielsen between August 1995 and March 1996. Portions of these files are restricted until the year 2037, see Provisions of Access below.
Grangeville lawyer Paul George Eimers was born July 7, 1908 to Jacob Garth and Rose Hurley Eimers. After graduating from Grangeville high school, he studied at the Coyne Electric School in Chicago. He then attended the University of Idaho where he obtained his BA in 1932 and his LLB in 1934.
Eimers had a law practice in Lewiston, Idaho from 1934 to 1939 when he returned to Grangeville, purchasing the library and equipment of the late Asa S. Hardy.
He was commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve and served from 1943 to 1946. After his discharge he returned to his Grangeville practice where he remained active until his death from an abdominal aneurysm on May 19, 1989.
He married Dorothy Fay Wilson on May 31, 1931; they had two sons, Garth and Kirk.
Eimers was active in public service throughout his life. He served on the governor's commission for school reorganization in 1948, was a past president of the Grangeville Chamber of Commerce, and served as advisor to several community organizations. He was a charter member of the Grangeville Elks Lodge and an original member of the Grangeville Lions Club. He was a member of the Mt. Idaho Lodge No.9, A.F. & A.M., and belonged to the Calam Temple of the Shrine. Professionally he belonged to the American Bar Association, Idaho Bar Association, and Clearwater Bar Association. He was a member of the board of editors of the University of Idaho law journal in 1932.
Asa S. Hardy was born in Cleveland, Ohio, October 9, 1871. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1896, and came to Idaho in 1899, spending the first year at a mining camp in Dixie. In 1900 he moved to Grangeville and entered the law office of James Ailshie; he was admitted to the Idaho Bar in 1903. He also served as Idaho County prosecuting attorney.
He married May McGuire in 1904; they had two sons, John and Robert. Hardy died from heart failure due to a blood clot on January 3, 1939.
Berchmans Auger was born August 9, 1880 in Ridgetown, Ontario. The family moved to Bathgate, North Dakota in 1882. where he attended public schools. After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 1904 he worked in attorney general's office for two years. In 1906 he was associated with Bismark lawyer Asa T. Patterson, and from 1907 to 1911 he was attorney for the Great Northern Railroad.
He moved to Grangeville in 1911 and practiced law there until his death in 1968, with the exception of the years 1943 to 1950 when he served on the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.
He married Clara Bennett on August 6, 1919; they had three children.
He was a member of the Scottish Rite and Knights Templar Masonic Order, Order of Eastern Star, Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows.
He died January 13, 1968 when his automobile went out of control and crashed into a hill on highway 55. At the time of his death at age 87 he was Idaho's oldest practicing attorney.
The papers of Paul G. Eimers also include those of lawyers A.S. Hardy and Berchmans Auger, and span the years 1901 to 1989, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1940 to 1987.
The papers include client case files and personal papers of the three lawyers. Included in the client files are legal and court documents, correspondence, and manuscript notes.
Other collections of legal papers in the University of Idaho Special Collections Department include the case files of district court judge J. Blaine Anderson, district court judge Harold L. Ryan, and Moscow lawyer Weldon Schimke.
The papers in this record group were in labeled folders when received. Upon receipt the folder headings were entered into a data base and an alphabetical list was created to facilitate access prior to processing. When the papers were processed this list was used to aid in the arrangement, but the files were separated by lawyer, creating three distinct series.
The papers of Paul Eimers were separated into two subseries - client files and other files. The client files are in alphabetical order, except for the generic A, B, C, etc. files which are chronological, and include estates, divorces, adoptions, business incorporations, guardianships of both minors and incompetent adults, and mining patent applications; there are very few criminal cases. Occasionally large or complicated or contested estates required many folders divided by subject. During processing the subjects were retained on the folder heading, but the inventory lists only the inclusive folder numbers. Some client files were cases A.S. Hardy was working on at the time of his death, and Eimers completed the work.
The Other Files include such items as abstracts of title, certificates, records of collections, day books, plat maps, and wills. This section is also in alphabetical order.
The client files of A.S. Hardy were turned over to Eimers when he took over Hardy's office after his death. These files are also in alphabetical order.
The papers of Berchmans Auger are also in a single alphabetical sequence and include client files and personal papers. Among the personal material are membership cards, marriage certificate and wedding announcement, pamphlets and other memorabilia from organizations to which he belonged, financial records of his farm, and a few legal documents from his years in North Dakota. In addition to the usual types of legal documents found in the Eimers and Hardy papers, there are income tax returns which Auger prepared for clients. Auger's files were originally in a numerical sequence and two alphabetical indexes which reflect this order are included with the papers.
Among the materials discarded were duplicates of typed or printed documents, blank legal forms (except for one copy of each which were kept as samples), paid checks and bank statements. Some of the material was in transfer boxes or, in a couple of cases, a small suitcase. These materials were placed in file folders during processing. In all the collection was reduced by 58 cubic feet.
Those who use this material are required to protect and preserve the privacy of living individuals mentioned therein. The University of Idaho and the University of Idaho Library are not responsible for the improper or illegal use of any copies of materials in their collections. Researchers agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Regents of the University of Idaho, and the State of Idaho, their officers, employees, and agents, from and against all claims, losses, damages, injuries, liabilities, and costs including attorney fees, court costs and expenses arising out of use or misuse of the documents, or publication of information from the documents including but not limited to claims involving invasion of privacy, defamation, infliction of emotional harm, and false light. In any event, the client case files in this group will not be available for public viewing for a period of fifty (50) years after the last dated document in the file.
I. Client Files - Eimers, 1938-1987 1-59
II. Other Papers - Eimers, 1937-1989 59-65
III. Asa S. Hardy, 1909-1942 65-70
IV. Berchmans Auger, 1901-1968 70-82
To examine the folder inventory of the Paul G. Eimers papers, apply in person at Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho.
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