Guelph Mining and Milling Company, Limited

Records, 1900-1929
2.5 cubic feet

The records of the Guelph Mining and Milling Company are part of the records of Day Mines, Inc., donated to the University of Idaho by Henry Day in 1984 and 1985. Initial processing of this manuscript group was done by Judith Nielsen in November 1988. Processing was completed by Michael Tarabulski in June 1991. Funds for processing were provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the U.S. Department of Education HEA Title II-C "Strengthening Research Library Resources" program, the Library Associates of the University of Idaho and other donors.

COMPANY HISTORY

The first meeting of the Guelph Mining and Milling Company was held in Wardner, Idaho, April 5, 1906. Present were John Corby, William Boyle, Elmer E. Brooks, John W. Brooks, and John Yarbrough. The certificate of incorporation was filed in the Shoshone County Recorder's office on March 22, 1906, and in the office of the Idaho Secretary of State on March 27. The lode claims included Syruna, Guelph, Battle of Waterloo, Waterloo, and New Jersey, located in the Placer Center Mining District of Shoshone County. Claims added around 1915 were the Arab, Ute, Piute, Ridge, and Coyle Fractions.

The incorporators voted that shares not allocated to the locators of the mine were to be withheld from the market for five years. Jerry Culbertson of Kansas City was named official broker for the company.

In 1907 the offices of the company were changed from Wardner to Kellogg and the following directors were elected: William Boyle, H.W. Hatfield, P. Albinola, A.E. Hemphill, and J.B. Yarbrough. In May Elmer Brooks resigned as secretary-treasurer and was replaced by Green Cline who resigned in December and was in turn replaced by John Steffes.

In 1909 a new board of directors consisting of Horace Banza, W.C. Boyle, J.F. Horsley, Gus Granberg, Ralph Smith, and John B. Yarbrough was elected. The capital stock was increased from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 shares with a par value of $1.00. In 1912 the decision was made to patent the five original claims.

By 1924 the board consisted of J.B. Steffes, S.D. Lemieux, Alfred Coneybeare, B. Coyle, and William Voightlander. In 1925 they voted that all work at the mine be discontinued, the pump and motors be taken out, and a watchman posted. They also discussed Hercules Mining Company's offer to lease, with option to purchase, the Guelph property. The stockholders, meeting on March 16, voted to reject the $100,000 offer.

In the fall of 1928 the directors discussed a proposal by Frank M. Rothrock to organize a corporation to be known as Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company, which would consist of the property of the Ambergris, Honolulu, and Guelph companies. The directors accepted the offer and the shareholders approved the deal. Records for the shareholders meeting show that Rothrock held about 42% of the represented shares.

In May 1929 the directors voted to dissolve the company, and in June the shareholders agreed. The cash balance on hand to be distributed was $1700.84.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The records of the Guelph Mining and Milling Company span the years 1900 to 1929. Included are minutes of meetings, correspondence with suppliers and stockholders, stock ledgers and journals, cancelled stock certificates, assessment records, lists of stockholders, financial ledgers and journals, and check registers.

Related materials can be found in the records of the Ambergris Mining Company and the Hercules Mining Company.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

There are five series in the records of the Guelph Mining and Milling Company: Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, 1906-1929; General Correspondence and Related Records, 1900-1928; Capital Stock Records, 1906-1928; Personnel Records, 1916-1924; and Financial Records, 1909-1929.

The first series contains a minute book, and a folder of records relating to meetings. There is no coverage prior to 1906. The minute book ends in 1923, but minutes of meetings from 1924 to 1929 are contained in the folder, organized chronologically.

The second series includes a folder of lode claims and other property records, 1900-1926, and a separate, slim, folder of correspondence regarding a boundary dispute with the Hercules Mining Company over the Anna and Syruna lode claims, 1902-1924. Another folder contains general correspondence, 1902-1929, arranged chronologically, and a final folder contains form letters -- meeting, proxy, assessment, and delinquent notices -- 1918-1929, also organized chronologically.

The third series, Capital Stock Records, includes two stock ledgers and one combination ledger/journal. Together these records cover activity 1906-1928. Volumes of cancelled stock certificates were kept for years not covered by a stock journal. There is a folder containing several lists of stockholders, undated but probably from the 1920s. Other lists of stockholders can be found in the four folders of assessment records, which, together with an assessment journal here and a combination cash book/assessment journal in the final series, cover activity 1918-1926. Finally, there are two folders of records relating to a stock pooling agreement 1923-1925: one of correspondence and signed pooling agreements; the other a small notebook, unbound, which lists, alphabetically by stockholder, stock pooled and unpooled.

The fourth series contains only an oversized volume, a payroll journal, dating 1916-1924. There are entries on only about 40 of its 150 pages.

The final series, Financial Records, includes a ledger, a journal, and a combination cashbook/assessment journal. The latter two items are oversized volumes. All of these items date between 1916 and 1929, but coverage overlaps only 1921-1926. With a few items extending into the period covered by the volumes, earlier financial records exist in the form of promissory notes, paid checks and check registers, bank books, and invoices.

Removal of blank and cancelled stock certificates, returned assessment notices, assessment receipt books, vouchers, paid checks, bank statements, and duplicate materials reduced the size of this collection by 1.5 cubic feet.

SERIES LIST

							Container
I.	Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, 1906-1929	1
II.	General Correspondence and Related Records, 1900-1928	1
III.	Capital Stock Records, 1906-1928	1-2
IV.	Personnel Records, 1916-1924	1
V.	Financial Records, 1909-1929	1-2

GUELPH MINING AND MILLING COMPANY, LTD.
INVENTORY

Box	Folder	Description

I. Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, 1906-1929

1	1	Minutes, 1906-1923
1	2	Records relating to meetings, 1906-1929

II. General Correspondence and Related Records, 1900-1928

1	3	Lode claims and property records, 1900-1926
1	4	General correspondence, 1902-1929
1	5	Correspondence regarding Hercules dispute, 1902-1924
1	6	Form letters to stockholders, 1918-1929

III. Capital Stock Records, 1906-1928

1	7	List of stockholders and shares owned, 192?
1	8	Stock ledger, 1906-1915
1	9	Cancelled stock certificates, 1906-1909
2	10	Stock Ledger, 1909-1928
2	11	Stock journal/ledger, 1909-1924
2	12-14	Cancelled stock certificates, 1914-1928
1	15	Assessment journal, 1918-1919
1	16-19	Assessment records, 1918-1926
1	20-21	Records relating to pooled stock, 1923-1925

IV. Personnel Records, 1916-1929

os	22	Payroll, 1916-1929

V. Financial Records, 1909-1929

2	23	Ledger, 1911-1925
os	24	Journal, 1919-1929
os	25	Cash Book/assessment journal, 1921-1929
1	26	Promissory notes, 1909-1918
1	27-28	Paid checks, registers, and bank books, 1912-1929
1	29	Invoices, 1914-1926

mg243.htm / February 1995

Special Collections & Archives