Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Robert Craig Wallace Papers, 1872-1928
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Wallace, Robert C., 1837-1928
- Title
- Robert Craig Wallace Papers
- Dates
- 1872-1928 (inclusive)18721928
- Quantity
- 3 linear feet of shelf space
- Collection Number
- MC 221
- Summary
- Robert Wallace (1837-1928) was a Helena, Montana, grocery store owner, and partner in the Elkhorn Queen Mining Company. Collection consists primarily of records (1884-1892) of the Davis and Wallace and the R.C. Wallace Company grocery businesses, including ledgers, invoices, and inventories. There are also subgroups for the Dearborn Land and Livestock Company, Elkhorn Queen Mining Company and the W.C. Gillette Company, and for the personal papers of Robert Wallace and his partner James L. Davis.
- Repository
-
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov - Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Robert Craig Wallace was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on February 26, 1837, the son of John and Agnes (Craig) Wallace. When Robert was seven, the family emigrated to the United States, settling in Detroit. Robert left school at age fifteen and went to work for a grocery where he worked for seven years. In 1860 he opened his own grocery, but when the Civil War began the following year Wallace enlisted. He served two terms of enlistment in the First Michigan Volunteer Infantry and the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, participating in the battles of Bull Run, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Appomattox, and others. He was captured at Hawkhurst Mills in 1863, and exchanged after a few months in Libby Prison near Richmond. He was discharged with the rank of major. After the war Wallace worked briefly as a traveling salesman for a tobacco company and as a clerk for a steamer line, and then in 1869 moved to Helena, Montana Territory. After working as a clerk in several stores Wallace opened his own grocery in 1871. In 1872 he took in as a partner James L. Davis. The grocery operated as Davis and Wallace until Robert Wallace bought out his partner's interest in 1883. The grocery continued as R.C. Wallace and as the R.C. Wallace Company. After Wallace died in 1928, the store was operated by his son David until it closed in 1940. In addition to his grocery business, Wallace was involved in the Union Bank and Trust Company, the Elkhorn Queen Mining Company, and numerous ranching and mining interests. Robert Wallace was active in the Republican Party, serving in the 1883 territorial legislature, and as Helena's first city treasurer and a city alderman. He was a member of the Masons, the Grand Army of the Republic, the United Workmen, the Loyal Legion, and the Caledonia Club. In 1875 Robert C. Wallace married Ellen M. Shaw. They had a son David and a daughter Margaret. Ellen Shaw died in 1890. Robert Craig Wallace died October 21, 1928.
James L. Davis was born in New Jersey around 1838. After the Civil War he lived for a period in Nebraska and moved to Helena by 1870. After selling his interest in Davis and Wallace, he became partners with Charles Jefferis in another grocery business. During 1889-1890 he returned to the R.C. Wallace grocery as a clerk. In 1890 he married Annie Cassidy. They had two children.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Robert Craig Wallace Papers contain six subgroups. Robert Craig Wallace's personal papers include financial records (1873-1916), legal documents (1873-1911) and miscellany (1884-1892), including items relating to his son David's education at Michigan Military Academy. James L. Davis' personal papers consist primarily of invoices (1873-1911) for purchases he made. The bulk of the collection consists of financial records (1873-1899) for the Davis and Wallace/R.C. Wallace Company grocery business, including account ledgers, invoices, and inventories. There are also incoming correspondence (1873-1881) dealing with orders, legal documents (1876-1877), minutes (1897-1928), of the board of directors, and miscellany. The Dearborn Land and Livestock Company records consist of incoming correspondence (1911-1920) and financial records (1920-1915) The Elkhorn Queen Mining Company records consist of minor financial records and legal documents (1905-1921) and a stock transfer journal (1886-1907). The W.C. Gillette Company records consist of financial records (1910-n.d.) and legal documents (1910).
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
ROBERT CRAIG WALLACE Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Biographical Material |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 1-2 | Autobiography of Robert Craig Wallace |
1917 |
General Correspondence |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 3 | Miscellaneous (includes Conrad-Stanford Co., Union Bank
and Trust Co. |
1866-1924 |
Financial Records |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 4 | Damages, costs, etc. of Wallace vs. Arthur foreclosure |
1891 |
1 / 5 | Invoices |
1873-1916 |
1 / 6 | Promissory notes |
1877-1920 |
1 / 7 | Receipts and cancelled checks |
1877-1908 |
1 / 8 | Tax receipts |
1885-1922, undated |
1 / 9 | Tax receipts: Luck Jim Lode |
1897-1908 |
Legal Documents |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 10 | Agreements (re Theodore H. Kleinschmidt, Robert C. Wallace,
Reinhold H. Kleinschmidt, and Edward W. Beattie) |
1890-1907 |
1 / 11 | Deeds (includes property in Great Falls and Helena) |
1873-1911 |
1 / 12 | Miscellaneous |
1898-1914 |
Printed Material |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 13 | Miscellaneous (includes California Military Order of the
Loyal Legion War Paper No. 9; House Bill No. 220 re State Militia; President Wilson's message
re World War I; Complimentary Dinner to Major Albert J. Galen; the National Tribune Repository) |
1892-1928, undated |
Miscellany |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 14 | List of property transfers from James L. Davis to Robert C. Wallace
|
1881, undated |
1 / 15 | Michigan Military Acadmeny (includes invoices, receipts, report cards
for David Wallace) |
1891-1892 |
Clippings |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 16 | Charter of the City of Helena |
1881 |
JAMES L. DAVIS Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Financial Records |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 17-18 | Invoices |
1872-1880, undated |
1 / 19 | Tax receipts |
1874-1877 |
DAVIS AND WALLACE / R. C. WALLACE / R. C. WALLACE COMPANY Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Incoming Correspondence |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 20 | Miscellaneous |
1873-1874 |
1 / 21 | Miscellaneous (includes T. C. Power and Bro., First
National Bank, A. Lamme and Co.) |
1875 |
1 / 22 | Miscellaneous (includes T. C. Power and Bro., I. G. Baker and
Co., McCormick and Hardenbrook) |
1876-1877 |
1 / 23 | Miscellaneous |
1878-1980 |
2 / 1 | Miscellaneous (includes Fish Brothers Racine Wagons, Alta Montana
Company, John W. Lowell) |
1881 |
2 / 2 | Miscellaneous |
undated |
Outgoing Correspondence |
||
Box/Folder | ||
2 / 3 | Letterpress book |
1879-1898 |
Financial Records |
||
Box/Folder | ||
2 / 4 | Account ledger |
1872-1893 |
2 / 5 | Balance sheets |
1872-1893 |
2 / 6 | Cancelled checks |
1873-1878 |
2 / 7 | Freight invoices (includes Fred J. Kiesel and Co.,
E. J. Maclay and Co., McCormick and Hardenbrook, T. C. Power and Bro., E. H. Wilson) |
1874-1879 |
3 / 1-4 | Inventories |
1874-1894 |
4 / 1-5 | Inventories |
1895-1899 |
4 / 6 | Invoices: A-C (includes L. Auerbach and Bro.; J. R. Boyce
and Co.; Cannon Bros; Clarke, Conrad and Curtin; et al.) |
1873-1877 |
4 / 7 | Invoices: D-H (includes A. J. Davidson, John Denn, Gans
and Klein, T. C. Groshon, S. M. Hall, Hoyt and Bro., et al.) |
1873-1879 |
4 / 8 | Invoices: I-L (includes Jefferis and Gibson, Charles M.
Jefferis, Kinna and Jack, Kleinschmidt and Bro., Charles Lehman, Fred Lehman, et al.) |
1873-1879 |
4 / 9 | Invoices: M (includes Charles Mayn; Mayn and Heitman;
McLeod and Jack; J. H. Ming and Co.; Morris Bros.; Murphy, Neel and Co.; et al.) |
1873-1879 |
4 / 10 | Invoices: N-R (includes H. M. Parchen and Co.; Paynter,
Brown and Weisenhorn, T. C. Power and Co., W. G. Petvitt and Co., M. Reinig Vegetable Depot;
et al.) |
1873-1879 |
4 / 11 | Invoices: S-T (includes Sands Bros., Sanford and Evans,
J. Switzer, et al.) |
1873-1879 |
4 / 12 | Invoices: V-W (includes Vawter and Co., John R. Watson,
Weir and Pope, E. H. Wilson Estate, et al.) |
1873-1879 |
4 / 13 | List of accounts |
1884, undated |
4 / 14 | Receipts |
1873-1879 |
4 / 15 | Sight drafts |
1873-1874, 1877 |
4 / 16 | Tax receipts |
1873-1877 |
Legal Documents |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 17 | Business licenses |
1876-1877 |
Minutes |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 18 | Board of directors |
1897-1928 |
Miscellany |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 19 | Business card |
undated |
DEARBORN LAND AND LIVESTOCK COMPANY Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Incoming Correspondence |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 20 | Union Bank and Trust Co. |
1911-1920 |
Financial Records |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 21 | Balance sheets |
1910-1915 |
ELKHORN QUEEN MINING COMPANY Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Financial Records |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 22 | Receipts |
1905-1919 |
4 / 23 | Tax receipts |
1908-1921 |
Legal Documents |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 24 | Agreements |
1920 |
4 / 25 | Certificate of redemption of property sold for taxes |
1914 |
Organization |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 26 | Stock transfer journal |
1986-1907 |
W. C. GILLETTE COMPANY Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Financial Records |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 27 | Assets and sales |
1910, undated |
Legal Documents |
||
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 28 | Memoranda of agreement |
1910 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Grocery trade--Montana
- Land companies--Montana
- Mines and mineral resources--Montana--Jefferson County
- Scottish Americans--Montana
Geographical Names
- Elkhorn (Mont.)--industries
- Helena (Mont.)--commerce--grocery trade