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Manuscript Group 114
Papers, 1907-1963
1.5 cubic feet
The papers of George Frederick Jewett, Sr., were donated to the University of Idaho Library by the Forest History Society following an evaluation of their collections in December 1983. They were processed by Judith Nielsen in December 1989.
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE FREDERICK JEWETT
George Frederick "Fritz" Jewett, a prominent lumberman, was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, August 22, 1896, the son of James Richard and Margaret (Weyerhaeuser) Jewett. He received his early education at Brown and Nichols School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. He continued his studies at Harvard University where he received his B.A. in 1919 and M.B.A. in 1922. In 1937 he did postgraduate work in forestry in Germany on a Carl Schurz Memorial Fellowship. In 1949 he received an honorary LL.D degree from Washington State College, and in 1954 an honorary L.H.D. degree from Pacific University.
In 1917 he entered naval training at Newport, Rhode Island and served as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve aboard the USS Oklahoma, on convoy duty in the Mediterranean Sea, during the First World War.
Fritz Jewett married Mary Pelton Cooper in Ogdensburg, New York, September 12, 1925. They had two children, George Frederick and Margaret Weyerhaeuser.
In 1922 Jewett joined the accounting department of the General Timber Service in Saint Paul as an auditor's apprentice. In 1925 he became office manager of the Clearwater Timber Company, Lewiston, Idaho, and three years later he joined the Edward Rutledge Timber Company, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, as general manager, a position he held until 1931. He served in an executive capacity in several timber companies until 1937 when he moved to Spokane, Washington to become president of Potlatch Yards, Inc. In 1946 he was elected president of Potlatch Forests, Inc., which was formed by the merger of the Edward Rutledge, Clearwater, and Potlatch timber concerns; from 1949 until his death he was board chairman of Potlatch Forests, Inc.
He was well known in the timber industry for his progressive ideas in forest conservation. In addition to his principal business interest, he was a director of Boise Payette Lumber Co., Weyerhaeuser Sales Co., the Columbia Electric & Manufacturing Co., and the Northern Pacific Railway Co. At one time he served on the advisory board of the Spokane and Eastern branch of the Seattle First National Bank.
Known for his local philanthropic activities, Jewett made substantial gifts to St. John's Cathedral and other Spokane institutions. He financed the Donald Kirk David Fellowships at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, donated the James Richard Jewett Observatory at Washington State College, and made a substantial contribution to the music department of the University of Idaho.
He was a member of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, serving as chairman of its conservation committee during 1931-1935. He was also a member of the Society of American Foresters, Western Forestry and Conservation Association (president, 1936-1943), North Idaho Forestry Association, North Idaho Conservation Association, and the Society of American Foresters. Locally he belonged to the Rotary, Country, and City clubs of Spokane. He was lay reader at St. John's Cathedral in Spokane, and director of the National Episcopal Church Foundation.
George Frederick Jewett died in Spokane, Washington, November 23, 1956. He is buried in Coeur d'Alene.
The papers of George Frederick Jewett span the years 1907-1963, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1936 to 1945. The papers include personal business correspondence of Jewett, and financial statements of companies with which Jewett was associated, especially the St. Joe Boom Company. There are also some typescripts of speeches given by Jewett. Several Potlatch Forest reports from the 1960s do not belong with the papers, but were among the material received from the Forest History Society, and have therefore been retained in the collection.
Many of the financial records may be duplicated in other manuscript collections in the University of Idaho Library: the George Frederick Jewett papers, MG 43; Potlatch Forests, Inc. records, MG 96; or Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway Company records, MG 139.
The papers of G.F. Jewett were in no apparent order when received, therefore a series order was imposed during processing.
The correspondence in series one tends to relate to his personal business interests; it is in chronological order. Most of the speeches relate to the lumber industry, but one is political in nature, endorsing the candidacy of Wendell Wilkie and Stephen Chadwick. Also included is one article about Jewett.
The second series contains correspondence and annual reports of several forestry associations with which Jewett was associated. The items are separated by organization and are in chronological order within folders.
The third series contains annual reports and other financial statements for several Weyerhaeuser companies, most numerous among these are materials for the St. Joe Boom Company. All items are separated by company, then placed in chronological order within each folder. Although the dates in the following inventory are inclusive, in reality there are many gaps in the holdings.
The final series contains materials which do not relate to Jewett. The articles deal with forestry issues, as does one item in the legislative folder, a forestry bill introduced in the Montana Legislature. The other legislative item is a summary of legislation enacted by the 26th session (1941) of the Idaho Legislature. The James Fesler material includes a letter from a 6 year old German girl, a war orphan, dated 1948, and a list of Fesler's wartime activities.
I. Correspondence and Speeches, 1936-1952 1 II. Organizations with which Jewett was Associated, 1936-1947 1 III. Companies with which Jewett was Associated, 1970-1963 1-2 IV. Other Papers, 1929-1948 2
1 1-2 Correspondence, 1936-1943 86 3 Correspondence, Rock Island Lumber, 1936-1937 6 4 Correspondence, Training Program, 1949-1952 16 5 Speeches by George Frederick Jewett, 1938-1941 6
6 American Forest Products Industries, 1941-1942 2 7 American Forestry Association, 1947 1 8 National Lumber Manufacturers Association, 1938-1942 45 9 Western Forestry and Conservation Association, 1936-1941 5
St. Joe Boom Company 10 Correspondence, 1920 3 11-13 Annual Statements, 1914-1932 19 14 Audit Reports, 1932-1949 6 15-16 Income Tax Accounting, Worksheets, and Correspondence, 1902-1925 41 17 Financial Worksheets, 1909-1925 5 18 Inventory of Supplies, 1924-1929 5 19 Trial Balances, 1932-1951 23 20 Miscellaneous Financial Records, 1907-1926 3 21 Bonners Ferry Lumber Company. Financial Statement, 1937 1 22 Clearwater Timber Company. Annual Report, 1935-1947 9 23 Northwest paper Company. Annual Report to Stockholders, 1948-1949 2 Potlatch Forests, Inc. 24 Annual Statement, 1931 1 25 Annual Report to Stockholders, 1934-1948 9 26 Arkansas Project, Engineering Study, 1961 1 27 Expansion Program, 1963 1 2 28 Potlatch Forests, Production Recommendations, 1938-1943 6 29 Potlatch Yards. Annual Reports, 1941-1943 3 30 Red Collar Line. Audit Reports, 1937-1942 5 31 Edward Rutledge Timber Co. Balance Sheet, December 9, 1940 1 32 Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway. Annual Financial Statements, 1935-1939 3 33 Wood Briquettes, Inc. Annual Report to Board of Directors, 1943-1947 5 34 Yakima Valley Lumber Co., Audit Report, 1939 1
35 Articles, 1937-1948 16 36 James Fesler, 1948 2 37 Financial Reports, 1929-1943 4 38 Legislation, 1941 2
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