Amalgamated Sugar Company-Lewiston Sugar Company records, 1905-1921

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Amalgamated Sugar Company
Title
Amalgamated Sugar Company-Lewiston Sugar Company records
Dates
1905-1921 (inclusive)
Quantity
36 boxes and 34 ledgers, (24 linear ft.)
Collection Number
UUS_COLL MSS 278
Summary
This collection consists of thirty-six boxes and thirty-three oversized record books containing documentation relating to the Lewiston Sugar Company and its merger with the Amalgamated Sugar Company, dating from 1905 to 1921.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions
Restrictions

Open to public research.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

The Lewiston sugar beet plant operated from 1905 to 1971. With significant encouragement and influence from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, David Eccles, Charles W. Nibley, and others combined to finance factories in Ogden (1898), Logan (1901), and Lewiston (1905). The plant in Lewiston was named the Lewiston Sugar Company until it–along with the Ogden and Logan plants–merged into the Amalgamated Sugar Company in 1915. The peak year for production at the Lewiston plant was 1920. During its operation the company purchased substantial amounts of stock in the Oneida Irrigation District to obtain influence over the area’s water rights. Beet Contracts–between the factory and the farmer–could be viewed as ‘binding contracts of serfdom,’ which possibly pushed farmers to abandon the beet farming industry for more profitable crops. (Powell John L.) The factory operated until its abandonment 1971. Within one year after its closing, the building was purchased by Presto Products, which manufactures plastic goods. The building is located at 1200 East 200 South, Lewiston Utah.

Sources for further information:

Arrington, Leonard J., Beet Sugar in the West; A History of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 1891-1966, University of Washington Press. 1966 (Special Collections call # 338.17633 Ar69)

Arrington, Leonard J., David Eccles; Pioneer Western Industrialist, Utah State University Press. 1975 (Special Collections call # 920 Ec27)

Powell, John L. ‘The Role of Beet Growers in Cache Valley; Sugar Beet Industry 1898-1981.' Thesis. 1995 (Special Collections–Thesis)

Shaw, Joan. ‘Sugar Beets' Lewiston-North Cache Valley Historical Board, July 1996. Report # 4 (Special Collections call # 979.27 L589L no. 4).

Bernhisel, John M. III., History of Lewiston (Special Collections call # 979.27 B457).

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection consists of thirty-six boxes and thirty-three oversized record books containing documentation relating to the Lewiston Sugar Company and its merger with the Amalgamated Sugar Company. Along with the thirty-three oversized books, many smaller sized record books are contained inside the thirty-six box collection. The voucher (receipts and invoices) and returned checks collections consist of a ten percent sample from the original donation. The voucher collection also contains other special interest invoices, such as payroll, beets hauled, and tax records. Although the box and book collections appear together in the inventory list, they are physically stored separately. The records span from 1905 to 1921. This collection is organized into two series.

Series I contains records relating to the financial aspect of the business and the interaction of the company with farmers. For a financial assessment of the company consult the monthly financial reports, returned checks, invoice books & vouchers, payroll, letters of correspondence, and sugar sales. The oversized record books provide a useful view of how the business functioned, but they only provide data from 1905-10. Boxes labeled as financial records along with boxes containing vouchers and returned checks contain information that continue where the oversized books leave off. Payroll is covered from 1905-07 and 1913-18 in oversized books, vouchers, and payroll booklets. Sugar sale and production information is found in oversized books and sugar account receipt booklets. For an assessment of company-farmer relations examine beet contracts, voucher records on beet haulers and farmers, field books, receipt booklets of seeds furnished, the ledger book, and letters of correspondence.

Series II contains shipping records of beets deliveries and sugar exportation. The Monthly Shipping Reports (boxes 28 & 29) give a good overview of shipping during the years of 1905-16. For information pertaining to sugar exports, view oversized book 34 (Sugar Shipment) and Straight Bills of Landing (railroad records for car arrivals). Beet deliveries records are contained in boxes 30-34 and books 24-33. Straight Bills of Landing from 1915-17 also contain information on beet deliveries.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Utah State University Libraries, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Permission to publish material from the Amalgamated Sugar Company-Lewiston Sugar Company records must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Preferred Citation

Amalgamated Sugar Company-Lewiston Sugar Company records, 1905-1921. (COLL MSS 278) Utah State University. Special Collections and Archives Department.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated on December 17, 1999 by W. Chip Anderson, Acting Plant Manager of Presto Products. The collection was discovered in the attic of the Presto Products (home of the former sugar beet plant) in Lewiston. Presto representatives contacted Special Collections and offered to donate the materials for historical study.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I:  Financial/Business RecordsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Book
1
Month Ending Reports
1905-1908
Box Folder
1 1
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1911 February
1 2
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1911 March
1 3
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1911 April
1 4
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1911 May
1 5
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1911 June
1 6
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1911 July
1 7
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1912 March-December
1 8
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1913 January-April
1 9
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1913 May-December
1 10
Monthly Financial Statement/Reports
1914 January - February
2 1
Letters of Correspondence
1909
2 2
Letters of Correspondence
1910
2 3
Letters of Correspondence
1911
2 4
Letters of Correspondence
1911
2 5
Letters of Correspondence
1912
2 6
Letter from German Company
1914 December
2 7
Letters from Sec. of State
1909-1910
2 8
Written Contracts
1910
2 9
Letters from Attorneys
undated
2 10
Special letters (various dates)
undated
3 1
Financial Records - Card Catalog
1914
3 2
Financial Records - Card Catalog
1915
3 3
Financial Records - Card Catalog
1916
3 4
Financial Records - Card Catalog
1918
3 5
Financial Records - Sugar Order Booklets
1914
3 6
Financial Records - Sugar Order Booklets
1914
3 7
Financial Records - Stubs, Record of Sugar Shipped
1905-1906
3 8
Financial Records - Stubs, Invoices
1915
4 1
Warehouse Report
1907
4 2
Warehouse Report
1908 February-May
4 3
Warehouse Report
1908 June - July
4 4
Warehouse Report
1909
4 5
Warehouse Report
1909
4 6
Weather Booklet
1918
4 7
Sugar Notice Cards
undated
4 8
Pulp Cards
undated
Book
2
Accounts Payable Book
1905-1907
3
Accounts Payable Book
1907-1908
4
Sugar Accounts
undated
5
Sugar Accounts
undated
6
Sugar Sales Record
1906-1907
7
Sugar Production Record
1906
Box Folder
5 1
Sugar Account Purchases/Shipments - Symms Grocer
1914
5 2
Sugar Account Purchases/Shipments - ZCMI
1912
5 3
Sugar Account Purchases/Shipments - ZCMI
1914 - 1915
5 4
Sugar Account Purchases/Shipments - Joseph Geoghegan
1913 - 1914
5 5
Sugar Account Purchases/Shipments - Account
1915
5 6
Sugar Account Purchases/Shipments - Account
1916
Book
8
Field Record
1906
9
Field Record
1907
10
Field Record
1908
11
Field Book
1909
12
Field Record
1910
13
Field Book
1911
14
Field Book
1912
15
Field Book
1913
16
Field Book
1914
Box Folder
6 1
Seeds Furnished Records - Smithfield
1913
6 2
Seeds Furnished Records - Smithfield & Hyde Park
1913
6 3
Seeds Furnished Records - Lewiston & Preston
1913
6 4
Seeds Furnished Records - Lewiston
1913
6 5
Seeds Furnished Records - Misc towns
undated
6 6
Seeds Furnished Records - Lewiston
1917
6 7
Seeds Furnished Records - Smithfield
1917
6 8
Seeds Furnished Records - Smithfield & Hyde Park
1917
6 9
Seeds Furnished Records - Hyde Park
1917
6 10
Seeds Furnished Records - Misc towns
undated
7
Ledger Book (Record of farmers & beets delivered)-
undated
Folder
8 1
Beet Contracts
1911
8 2
Beet Contracts - Richmond
1917
8 3
Beet Contracts - Lewiston (A-C)
1917
8 4
Beet Contracts - Lewiston (D-I)
1917
8 5
Beet Contracts - Lewiston (J-P)
1917
8 6
Beet Contracts - Lewiston (R-Z)
1917
9 1
Beet Contracts - Nashville
1917
9 2
Beet Contracts - Franklin
1917
9 3
Beet Contracts - Whitney
1917
9 4
Beet Contracts - Fairview
1917
9 5
Beet Contracts - Beckstead
1917
9 6
Beet Contracts - Preston
1917
10 1
Fulfilment Contract
1918
10 2
Preston, (A-G)
1918
10 3
Preston, (H-M)
1918
10 4
Preston, (N-Z)
1918
10 5
Whitney
1918
10 6
Fairview
1918
10 7
Richmond
1918
10 8
Misc towns
1918
11 1
Beet Contracts - Lewiston, (A-G)
1918
11 2
Beet Contracts - Lewiston, (H-N)
1918
11 3
Beet Contracts - Lewiston, (O-Z)
1918
11 4
Beet Contracts - Hyde Park
1918
11 5
Beet Contracts - Smithfield, (A-G)
1918
11 6
Beet Contracts - Smithfield, (H-P)
1918
11 7
Beet Contracts - Smithfield, (R-Z)
1918
Book
17
Monthly Payroll
1905
18
Monthly Payroll
1906
19
Monthly Payroll
1907
Box Folder
12 1
Payroll Booklets
1913 February
12 2
Payroll Booklets
1913 March
12 3
Payroll Booklets
1913 April
12 4
Payroll Booklets
1913 May
12 5
Payroll Booklets
1913 June
12 6
Payroll Booklets
1913 July
13 1
Payroll Booklets
1913 August
13 2
Payroll Booklets
1913 September
13 3
Payroll Booklets part I
1913 October
13 4
Payroll Booklets part II
1913 October
13 5
Payroll Booklets part I
1913 November
13 6
Payroll Booklets part II
1913 November
14 1
Payroll Booklets part II
1913 December
14 2
Payroll Booklets part I
1914 January
14 3
Payroll Booklets part II
1914 January
14 4
Payroll Booklets
1914 February
14 5
Payroll Booklets
1914 March
14 6
Payroll Booklets
1914 April
15 1
Payroll Booklets
1914 May
15 2
Payroll Booklets
1914 June
15 3
Payroll Booklets
1914 July
15 4
Payroll Booklets
1914 August
15 5
Payroll Booklets
1914 September
15 6
Payroll Booklets part I
1914 October
16 1
Payroll Booklets part II
1914 October
16 2
Payroll Booklets part I
1914 November
16 3
Payroll Booklets part II
1914 November
16 4
Payroll Booklets part I
1914 December
16 5
Payroll Booklets part II
1914 December
16 6
Payroll Booklets part I
1915 January
16 7
Payroll Booklets part II
1915 January
16 8
Payroll Booklets
1915 March
17 1
Payroll Booklets
1915 April
17 2
Payroll Booklets
1915 May
17 3
Payroll Booklets
1915 July
17 4
Payroll Booklets part I
1915 December
17 5
Paychecks Issued Booklet
1914-1915
17 6
Timecards
1915 - 1916
18 1
Time Book
undated
18 2
Voucher Record Booklet
1911
Book
20
Invoice Book
1903-1906
21
Invoice Book
1906-1907
22
Invoice Book
1907
23
Invoice Book
1907-1908
Box Folder
19 1
Payments to Farmers Vouchers
(10% sample)
undated
19 2
Payroll Vouchers
(10% sample)
undated
19 3
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1915 March-July
19 4
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1915 August-October
19 5
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1915 November-December
19 6
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1915 October-December
20 1
Payroll Vouchers
(10% sample)
1916
20 2
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1916 January-June
20 3
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1916 July-October
20 4
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1916 November-December
21 1
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1917 January-February
21 2
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1917 March-June
21 3
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1917 July-August
21 4
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1917 September-December
21 5
Payroll Vouchers
(10% sample)
1917
21 6
Tax Vouchers
(10% sample)
1917
21 7
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1918 January-February
21 8
Beet Hauler Vouchers
(10% sample)
undated
22 1
Beet Hauler Vouchers
(10% sample)
1917
22 2
Payments to Farmers Vouchers
(10% sample)
undated
22 3
Vouchers
(10% sample)
1917
22 4
Payroll and Finance Vouchers
(10% sample)
undated
23 1
Check Books
(10% sample)
1915
23 2
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1917
23 3
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1917
23 4
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1918
23 5
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1918
24 1
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1918
24 2
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1918
24 3
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1919 January-February
24 4
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1919 January-September
24 5
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1919 September-December
25 1
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1919 December
25 2
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1920 January-February
25 3
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1920 May-August
25 4
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1920 August-September
25 5
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1920 September-November
26 1
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1920 November
26 2
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1920 November-December
26 3
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1920 December
26 4
Returned Checks
(10% sample)
1921 January
27 1
Financial Records
1905
27 2
Financial Records
1906
27 3
Financial Records
1907
27 4
Financial Records
1908

Series II:  Shipping Records, undatedReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
28 1
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1905-1907
28 2
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1907-1908
28 3
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1908-1909
28 4
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1909-1910
28 5
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1910
29 1
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1911
29 2
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1912-1913
29 3
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1913-1914
29 4
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1914-1915
29 5
Receiving & Shipping Daily Report Books
1915-1916
Book
24
Beet Record: Factory
1905
25
Beet Record: Cars
1906
26
Beet Record: Cars
1907
27
Beet Record: Factory
1907
28
Beet Record: Car Deliveries
1908
29
Beet Record: Car Deliveries
1908
30
Beet Record: Factory Deliveries
1908
31
Beet Record: Factory Deliveries
1908
32
Beet Record: Wagon Deliveries
1909
33
Beet Record: Car Deliveries
1909
Box Folder
30 1
Railroad Record Books - Car Register
1909
30 2
Railroad Record Books - Car Register
1913
30 3
Railroad Record Books - Car Register
1915
30 4
Railroad Record Books - Car Record: Beets
1908
30 5
Railroad Record Books - Car Record: Lime Rock & Coke
undated
30 6
Railroad Record Books - Car Record: Coal
1908-1911
31 1
Railroad Record Books - Car Record
1909-1911
31 2
Railroad Record Books - Car Report Book-Lewiston
1909
32 1
Beet Records - Beet Delivery Invoices
1909 October-November
32 1
Beet Records - Beet Delivery Invoices
1909 October-December
32 1
Beet Records - Invoice Booklet
1909-1910
32 1
Beet Records - Invoice Booklet
1912
32 1
Beet Records
undated
Book
34
Sugar Shipments
1907-1914
Box Folder
33 1
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1905
33 2
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1907
33 3
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1908
33 4
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1908-1909
33 5
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1910
34 1
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1911
34 2
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1910-1913
34 3
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1912
34 4
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1912
34 5
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1912
35 1
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1913
35 2
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1913
35 3
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1913
35 4
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1914
35 5
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1914
35 6
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1915
36 1
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1916
36 2
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1916 September
36 3
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1916 October
36 4
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1916 November
36 5
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1916 December
36 6
Straight Bill of Landing Booklets
1917

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Agriculture--Cache Valley (Utah and Idaho)--History--20th century.
  • Sugar beet industry--Utah--Lewiston--History--20th century.
  • Sugar beet industry--Cache Valley (Utah and Idaho)--History--20th century.

Corporate Names

  • Amalgamated Sugar Company.
  • Lewiston Sugar Company.
  • Lewiston Sugar Company. (contributor)

Geographical Names

  • Lewiston (Utah)--History.