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Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Browning Mercantile Company records, 1907-1927
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Browning Mercantile Company (Browning, Mont.)
- Title
- Browning Mercantile Company records
- Dates
- 1907-1927 (inclusive)19071927
- Quantity
- 5.5 linear feet of shelf space
- Collection Number
- MC 230 (collection)
- Summary
- The Browning Mercantile Company was a Browning, Montana, general mercantile firm founded by Thaddeus E. Scriver and Horace C. Willits. Records (1907-1927) include general correspondence (1914-1927), cash books, daybooks, trial balance books, ledgers, and miscellany.
- 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 - Access Restrictions
-
Collection open for research.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
The Browning Mercantile Company was founded in 1907 by Thaddeus E. Scriver and Horace C. Willits under the name Willits and Scriver. In December 1913 the company was incorporated as the Browning Mercantile Company. Thaddeus Emery Scriver was born in Clarenceville, in the province of Quebec, Canada, on November 17, 1879, the son of James and Mary Scriver. He attended the Royal Military Academy in Toronto and Stanstead Commercial College. He then enlisted as a bugler in the Sixth Hussars under Major George H. MacFie. Following his military service, he began working for the Minneapolis Journal. There he met J.H. Sherburne who invited him to work for his newly established Sherburne Mercantile Company at the Blackfeet Indian Agency in Browning, Montana. In 1907 Scriver opened his own store with Horace C. Willits. The store served as the official trader for the Blackfeet Reservation and as a general mercantile. Thaddeus Scriver married Ellison Westgarth MacFie, daughter of his former regimental commander, in 1911. They had two sons Harold Scriver and Robert Scriver. Thaddeus was a mason and an active sportsman. He died August 14, 1971. Horace C. Willits was partner with Thaddeus E. Scriver in their mercantile business from 1907 to 1925 and was vice president of the Stockmen's State Bank in Browning. Around 1925 he moved to South Bay, Florida, where he worked for two years for the South Shore Transportation Company before setting up his own business.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Records include general correspondence (1914-1916, 1919-1927) with a variety of wholesalers, fur traders, automobile supply houses, and customers. Many of the suppliers' letters enclose brochures, price lists, and other materials documenting fashions and products of the period. In addition there are financial records including orders (1915, 1927) for goods, mostly scribbled on small scraps of paper; cash books (1909-1924), and ledgers (1907-1917). legal documents (1916-1926); court papers (1914-1927); and miscellany.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Preferred Citation
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
Financial Records Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | ||
| 1 | Cash book |
1919 July- 1920 December |
General Correspondence Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1 / 1 | W.M. Adams |
1920-1926 |
| 1 / 2 | E. Albrecht and Son (St. Paul fur dealers) |
1920-1924 |
| 1 / 3 | A |
1914-1927 |
| 1 / 4 | Baker, Heyne and Company (Chicago livestock
commission) |
1927 |
| 1 / 5 | Blackfeet Agency (mostly re merchandise orders) |
1914-1927 |
| 1 / 6 | Blackfeet Irrigation Project |
1927 |
| 1 / 7 | George Blinn (Washoe, Bear Creek, and Lochray coal
dealer) |
1916-1923 |
| 1 / 8 | Browning School District #9 |
1916-1927 |
| 1 / 9 | M.S. Bush (Cut Bank jeweler) |
1915-1916, 1926 |
| 1 / 10 | Ba-Bj |
1914-1927 |
| 1 / 11 | Bl-By |
1914-1927 |
| 1 / 12 | Cascade Milling and Elevator Company |
1916-1926 |
| 1 / 13 | E.C. Clapper Garage (Cut Bank Ford dealer) |
1920-1925 |
| 1 / 14 | Collins Brokerage Company (Salt Lake City, Utah) |
1919 |
| 1 / 15 | J.B. Colt Company (New York City carbide lamp and
generator manufacturer) |
1922 |
| 1 / 16 | Columbia Graphophone Company / Columbia Phonograph
Company |
1915-1916 |
| 1 / 17 | Continental Oil Company |
1913-1927 |
| 1 / 18 | Crosley Radio Corporation (Cincinnati, Ohio) |
1926-1927 |
| 1 / 19 | Curtis 1000 St. Paul, Inc. (office stationery) |
1920-1927 |
| 1 / 20 | Ca-Cl |
1914-1927 |
| 1 / 21 | Co-Cu |
1914-1927 |
| 1 / 22 | D |
1914-1927 |
| 1 / 23 | Eddy's Steam Bakery / Eddy's Bakery (Great Falls) |
1920-1927 |
| 1 / 24 | E |
1914-1927 |
| 1 / 25 | John V. Farwell Company (Chicago fur and merchandise
dealer); Farwell, Ozmun, Kirk and Company, St. Paul (wholesale hardware dealer) |
1915-1927 |
| 1 / 26 | First National Bank of Harlem (enclosing checks for
credit) |
1914 |
| 2 / 1-2 | First National Bank of Harlem (enclosing checks for
credit) |
1915-1916 |
| 2 / 3 | First National Bank of Kalispell |
1915-1927 |
| 2 / 4 | Flathead Commercial Company; Flathead Merchants'
Association; Flathead Wholesale Company |
1914-1927 |
| 2 / 5 | Foley Bros. and Kelly / Foley Bros. and Quinlan /
Foley Bros. Grocery Company, St. Paul and Great Falls |
1914-1922 |
| 2 / 6 | Foot and Foot, Kalispell attorneys C.H. Foot and E.B.
Foot |
1923-1926 |
| 2 / 7 | F |
1914-1927 |
| 2 / 8 | Glacier County government |
1920-1927 |
| 2 / 9 | Glacier County Abstract Company / Van Demark Abstract
Company |
1920-1927 |
| 2 / 10 | Glacier Park Hotel Company (includes R.D. Choquette,
H.A. Noble, Charles Mankenberg, Mrs. Barney McDermott, Mrs. J.C. Graves, and
"Margaret") |
1916-1925, undated |
| 2 / 11 | Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company / Goodyear Rubber
Company |
1914-1927 |
| 2 / 12 | Gordon and Furguson (St. Paul fur and skin dealers) |
1914-1927 |
| 2 / 13 | Great Falls Drug Company; Great Falls Meat Company;
Great Falls Paper Company; Great Falls Tribune, et al. |
1914-1927 |
| 2 / 14 | Great Northern Express Company; Great Northern
Railway Company |
1914-1923 |
| 2 / 15 | Great Western Monument and Granite Works (Miles City
tombstone manufacturer) |
1916 |
| 2 / 16 | G |
1914-1927 |
| 2 / 17 | Hackett, Gates, Hurty Company (St. Paul wholesale
hardware dealer) |
1920-1927 |
| 2 / 18 | Hamilton-Brown Shoe Company (St. Louis and Boston) |
1915-1927 |
| 2 / 19 | Hardware Dealers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of
Wisconsin / Hardware Mutual Casualty Company |
1924-1926 |
| 2 / 20 | Mark G. Harris and Company (Chicago tailors) |
1914-1923 |
| 2 / 21 | W.R. Hogsed |
1923 |
| 2 / 22 | Holy Family Mission / Ursaline Convent (includes
Alexander A. Anderson, Thomas Grant, James G. Old, and Sister M. Eulaline) |
1916-1926 |
| 3 / 1 | H |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 2 | I |
1916-1927 |
| 3 / 3 | Jackson and Neff (Shelbyville, Missouri, horse
dealers) |
1921-1922 |
| 3 / 4 | Janney, Semple, Hill and Company (Minneapolis
wholesale hardware dealers) |
1920-1923 |
| 3 / 5 | J |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 6 | Kalispell Flour Mills Company |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 7 | Kalispell Mercantile Company |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 8 | Kelly-How-Thomson Company (Duluth wholesale hardware
dealer) |
1915-1926 |
| 3 / 9 | Kirk Brothers (Gallup, N. M., Navaho rug dealers) |
1921-1926 |
| 3 / 10 | Kranz, the House of Flowers (Great Falls) |
1920-1923 |
| 3 / 11 | K |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 12 | Lindsay Fruit Company / Lindsay Great Falls Company /
Lindsay-Kalispell Company |
1915-1926 |
| 3 / 13 | L |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 14 | Marshall-Wells Hardware Company / Marshall-Wells
Company (Duluth) |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 15 | McCaull-Dinsmore Company (Minneapolis wholesale grain
dealer) |
1920-1921 |
| 3 / 16 | Miller and Holmes (St. Paul wholesale produce dealer) |
1916-1926 |
| 3 / 17 | Mitchell Lewis Motor Company (Racine, Wisc.) |
1914-1916 |
| 3 / 18 | Montana Development Association (includes minutes of
organizational meeting, preamble, newsletters, membership card) |
1919-1920 |
| 3 / 19 | Montana Flour Mills Company |
1924-1927 |
| 3 / 20 | Montana State Highway Commission |
1923-1926 |
| 3 / 21 | Montana (other state agencies) |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 22 | Ma-Mi |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 23 | Mo-My |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 24 | Nash Spokane Company (wholesale produce dealer) |
1920-1923 |
| 3 / 25 | Neustadter Brothers (Portland mens' furnishings
dealer) |
1914-1927 |
| 3 / 26 | Northern Montana Association of Credit Men |
1921, 1925 |
| 3 / 27 | Northern Montana Development Association (re
Roosevelt Highway guide book) |
1920 |
| 4 / 1 | N |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 2 | Oskamp Nolting Company (Cincinnati jewelers) |
1915-1925 |
| 4 / 3 | O |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 4 | Pacific Bone, Coal and Fertilizing Company (re
shipment of bones) |
1915-1916 |
| 4 / 5 | F.A. Patrick and Company (Duluth wholesale dry goods
dealer) |
1914-1924 |
| 4 / 6 | P.A. Peterson (includes 1925 Legislature, Troy
Chamber of Commerce, Troy Commercial Company, H.C. Willits) |
1920-1927 |
| 4 / 7 | P-Q |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 8 | Racine Woolen Manufacturing Company |
1915-1923 |
| 4 / 9 | Radio-Auto Supply, Inc. (Great Falls and Havre) |
1925-1927 |
| 4 / 10 | Retail Merchants Association of Montana |
1920-1923, undated |
| 4 / 11 | D. Claude Roberts (re Indian moccasins) |
1916 |
| 4 / 12 | Roberts, Johnson and Rand (St. Louis shoe dealers) |
1920-1923 |
| 4 / 13 | Ryan Fruit Company / Ryan-Havre Company (wholesale
grocers) |
1923-1927 |
| 4 / 14 | R |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 15 | P.H. Schaefer (Great Falls jeweler) |
1914 |
| 4 / 16 | A. Schilling and Company (San Francisco coffee and
tea dealer) |
1914-1926 |
| 4 / 17 | H.J. Shinn and Company (Spokane fruit and produce
dealer) |
1914-1916 |
| 4 / 18 | Roy H. Smith (Ft. Defiance, Ariz.) |
1921 |
| 4 / 19 | H.P. Stanford (Kalispell taxidermist) |
1915-1917, 1924 |
| 4 / 20 | James Stone; J.M. Stone; J.W. Stone |
1925-1927 |
| 4 / 21 | Stone-Ordean-Wells Company (Great Falls importers and
jobbers) |
1915-1926 |
| 4 / 22 | Suhr Fruit Company (Great Falls) |
1921-1927 |
| 4 / 23 | Sa-Sh |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 24 | Si-Sw |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 25 | J.L. Taylor (Chicago merchant tailors) |
1924-1926 |
| 4 / 26 | Terrell's Aquatic Farm, "Natural Foods for Attracting
Wild Ducks" (Oshkosh, Wisc.) |
1923 |
| 4 / 27 | Mary V. Telstad; Merton Telstad |
1926 |
| 4 / 28 | Teton County government |
1914-1916 |
| 4 / 29 | Tobacco By-Products and Chemical Corporation (re
cattle dipping) |
1920 |
| 4 / 30 | T |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 31 | U.S. Forest Service (re supplies for fire fighters) |
1924 |
| 4 / 32 | U.S. Indian Service / Office of Indian Affairs (see
also Blackfeet Agency) |
1921-1926 |
| 4 / 33 | U.S. Internal Revenue Service / Collector of Internal
Revenue |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 34 | United States Rubber Company (St. Paul) |
1920-1925 |
| 4 / 35 | U-V |
1914-1927 |
| 4 / 36 | Western Union Telegraph Company (re baseball results
by telegraph) |
1926 |
| 5 / 1 | H.C. Willits |
1925-1927 |
| 5 / 2 | Wyman, Partridge and Company (Minneapolis wholesale
dry goods dealer) |
1923-1927 |
| 5 / 3 | W-Z |
1914-1927 |
Miscellaneous Correspondence Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 5 / 4 | Charles R. Ellis to Sherburne Mercantile Company (re
Federal Food Conservation Division |
1917 November |
| 5 / 5 | Robert J. Hamilton to Wolf Plume, White Antelope,
Curley Bear, and Black Weasel (re A.E. McFatridge, allotment, and Blackfeet Indian
Jurisdiction Act) |
1914 |
| 5 / 6 | U.S. Office of Indian Affairs circular to
superintendents and supervisors of Indian schools (re exhibition of products of native
industries) |
1916 |
| 5 / 7 | A-W |
1914-1924 |
Court Papers Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 5 / 8 | Affidavits and depositions |
1914-1923 |
| 5 / 9 | Bankruptcy proceedings (re Otto Van Sanden; Harvey
Leiphart) |
1922-1927 |
| 5 / 10 | Merchants Association, Inc. vs. Ernest Cut Finger |
1920-1922 |
Financial Records Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 5 / 11 | Advertisements for bids (U.S. Indian Service,
Blackfeet Agency) |
1921-1927 |
| 5 / 12-14 | Cash books |
1909 September-1915 August |
| 6 / 1-2 | Cash books |
1915 August-1918 August |
| 6 / 3-4 | Cash books |
1921 January-1924 December |
| 7 / 1 | Corporate income tax: Montana RESTRICTED
|
1917-1920 |
| 7 / 2 | Corporate income tax: U.S. RESTRICTED
|
1915-1920 |
| 7 / 3 | Daybook |
1920 November-1922 August |
| 7 / 4 | Financial statements |
1914-1926 |
| 7 / 5 | Freight and express book |
1922-1925 |
| 7 / 6 | General ledger |
1907-1917 |
| 7 / 7 | Great Northern Railway claim register for lost and
damaged merchandise |
1919-1925 |
| 7 / 8 | Individual income tax: T.E. Scriver RESTRICTED
|
1918-1919 |
| 7 / 9 | Order book |
1920-1921 |
| 7 / 10 | Orders for goods: Cut Bank School mess |
1915 |
| 7 / 11 | Orders for goods: hay account |
1915 |
| 7 / 12-13 | Orders for goods: A-W |
1915 |
| 8 / 1 | Orders for goods: Blackfeet Agency |
1921 |
| 8 / 2 | Orders for goods: Browning School District #9 |
1923 |
| 8 / 3 | Orders for goods: U.S. Indian Service for Blackfeet
Agency, school, and hospital |
1923 |
| 8 / 4 | Orders for goods: A-W |
1923 |
| 8 / 5 | Orders for goods: U.S. Indian Service for Blackfeet
Agency, school, and hospital |
1927 |
| 8 / 6 | Orders for goods: Browning School District #9 |
1927 |
| 8 / 7 | Orders for goods: Glacier County poor fund and road
fund |
1927 |
| 8 / 8 | Orders for goods: Montana State Highway Commission |
1927 |
| 8 / 9 | Orders for goods: W.D. Strang for Blackfeet tribal
members |
1927 |
| 8 / 10-11 | Orders for goods: A-Y |
1927 |
| 8 / 12 | Pawn ticket of Joe Bird for a war bonnet |
1927 |
| 8 / 13-14 | Petty ledger sheets: A-B |
1907-1917 |
| 9 / 1-5 | Petty ledger sheets: C-K |
1907-1917 |
| 10 / 1-6 | Petty ledger sheets: L-V |
1907-1917 |
| 11 / 1 | Petty ledger sheets: W-Y |
1907-1917 |
| 11 / 2 | Proposal and acceptance: U.S. General Land Office |
1925 |
| 11 / 3 | Recapitulation |
1912-1921 |
| 11 / 4-5 | Receipt books |
1927 Feburary-November |
| 11 / 6 | Tax assessments: Glacier County RESTRICTED
|
1922-1926 |
| 11 / 7-8 | Trial balances |
1912-1922 |
| 11 / 9 | Miscellaneous |
1915-1916 |
Legal Documents Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 11 / 10 | Agreements with Great Western Marble and Granite
Works, Miles City (re orders for tombstones) |
1916 |
| 11 / 11 | Agreements with wholesalers |
1916-1926 |
Miscellany Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 11 / 12 | List of land owned by George and Katie Croff |
circa 1927 |
| 11 / 13 | Mailing list |
undated |
| 11 / 14 | Oil barrel record |
1920-1922 |
| 11 / 15 | R.G. Dun and Company and Bradstreet Company reports
on Browning businesses |
1921 |
| 11 / 16 | Referendum Measure No. 13 (re primary elections) |
1907 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Baseball--Montana
- Blackfeet Indians--Montana
- General stores--Montana
- Public welfare--Montana
- Retail trade--Montana
Corporate Names
- Browning Mercantile Company (Browning, Mont.) (creator)
Geographical Names
- Browning (Mont.)--commerce
- Glacier County (Mont.)--commerce
Finding aid prepared by Ellie Arguimbau, 1992
2005
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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