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Charles Herbert McLeod Papers, 1865-1953

Overview of the Collection

Creator
McLeod, Charles Herbert, 1859-1946
Title
Charles Herbert McLeod Papers
Dates
1865-1953 (inclusive)
Quantity
43.5 linear feet, 112 oversize volumes, and 4 oversize boxes
Collection Number
Mss 001
Summary
This collection contains personal and professional papers, financial records, photographic materials, and scrapbooks generated and/or collected by Charles Herbert McLeod as an official of the Missoula Mercantile Company, investor in multiple businesses throughout western Montana, and community leader.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.
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Biographical Note

Charles Herbert McLeod was born in 1859 and came to Missoula, Montana, from New Brunswick, Canada, in 1880 to work for local businessman Andrew Hammond. McLeod had been sent by Hammond’s sister, Mrs. George Fenwick of New Brunswick, after Hammond asked relatives and friends in New Brunswick for enterprising young men who would like to come west. Hammond was principal owner of a firm that had begun in Missoula in 1867 as Bonner and Welch, with E. L. Bonner as one of the principals. The name was changed to E. L. Bonner and Co. in 1871 with a change of owners.

Andrew Hammond arrived in Montana in 1867, settled in Hell Gate in 1870, then moved to Missoula in late 1871. He soon became a clerk in a store owned by Richard Eddy. Hammond became a partner in the store in 1876 and the business was renamed Eddy, Hammond, and Co. In 1877, the store constructed its building at the intersection of Front Street and Higgins Avenue, on the Mullan military road, in Missoula. In 1881, the firm was awarded the contract to clear the right-of-way and provide the lumber for the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway. When the Northern Pacific was completed at Gold Creek, Montana, in 1883, business expanded considerably. The Montana Improvement Company, formed in 1882, took over this portion of the Eddy, Hammond, and Company business.

After the reorganization of Eddy, Hammond and Company as the Missoula Mercantile in 1885, Charles H. McLeod became the vice president and general manager; John M. Keith and Thomas G. Hathaway, immigrants from New Brunswick, also became involved. The Missoula Real Estate Association, another offshoot of the Mercantile, built the first Florence Hotel across the street from the Mercantile in 1888. After 1890, McLeod was responsible for the management and success of the various companies as well as the parent company. The South Missoula Land Company, yet another branch of the Mercantile, owned much of Missoula south of the Clark Fork River and was responsible for the extensive residential development there. In 1908, McLeod became president of the company and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1940.

The Missoula Mercantile operated branch stores in Kalispell, Montana; Victor, Montana; Arlee, Montana; and at other locations throughout western Montana. One key to the Mercantile’s success was its strategy of operating temporary stores to serve logging and railroad construction camps; these operations followed the population they served. The Missoula Mercantile and its branches and affiliates were one of the largest business concerns of the Pacific Northwest. Allied Stores Corporation purchased the Missoula Mercantile Company in 1959 for $1,056,000.

McLeod took an active part in state and city politics and activities, with extensive support for the Republican Party from the store’s assets. In 1888, he represented Missoula County at the state Republican convention. He was also president of the Missoula Light and Power Company and a director of the First National Bank of Missoula.

Charles McLeod married Clara Louise Beckwith in 1886; they had two children, Walter Herbert born in 1887 and Helen born in 1892. Clara McLeod died in 1935 and Charles passed away in 1946.

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Content Description

This collection contains personal and professional papers, financial records, photographic materials, and scrapbooks generated and/or collected by Charles Herbert McLeod as an official of the Missoula Mercantile Company, investor in multiple businesses throughout western Montana, and community leader. These materials constitute one of the Pacific Northwest's most detailed assemblages of rural general merchandising operations as well as a significant contribution to studies of Missoula's development into a regional economic center. Collection documents reveal Missoula Mercantile Company business practices and inter-relationships with other major business operations, Missoula's social and political networks, and McLeod family endeavors. In association with the Walter H. McLeod Collection (Mss 002), these materials reveal significant insights into the economic, political, and social patterns of Missoula and western Montana throughout the first half of the twentieth century. As displayed in the correspondence, legal documents, and financial records of this collection, the Missoula Mercantile Company dominated the retail and commercial supply trades throughout the region for half a century. Collection materials reveal McLeod family commitments to maintaining diverse and flexible business operations as well as involvement in local, state, and regional Republican politics.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number], Charles H. McLeod Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana—Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is divided into two subgroups, then thirty-eight series:

Subgroup 1: Missoula Mercantile Company and Personal, 1865-1953, 37.5 linear feet, 100 oversize volumes, and 3 oversize boxes

Series I: Correspondence, 1885-1947, 34.0 linear feet

Series II: Legal, 1885-1939, 3 folders

Series III: Financial Records, 1881-1953, 1.5 linear feet, 2 oversize boxes, and 100 oversize volumes

Series IV: Organization, 1891-1941, 1 folder

Series V: Advertising, 1939, 1 folder

Series VI: Personal, 1885-1948, 0.75 linear feet

Series VII: Printed Materials and Scrapbooks, 1906-1947, 0.75 linear feet

Series VIII: Photographs, 1865-1946, 0.5 linear feet and one oversized box

Subgroup 2: Subsidiary and Associated Businesses, 1883-1948, 6.0 linear feet, 12 oversize volumes, and 1 oversize box

Series IX: Northern Pacific Railway, Tie Account, 1920-1925, 2 folders

Series X: Conrad Mercantile Company, 1911-1938, 2 folders

Series XI: Dwight Mercantile Company, 1922, 1 folder

Series XII: Eddy-Hammond Company, 1923-1924, 1 folder

Series XIII: First National Bank, Kalispell, Montana, 1911 and 1928-1931, 1 folder

Series XIV: Hammond Lumber Company, 1917 and 1935, 1 folder and 1 bound volume

Series XV: Kalispell Grocery Company, 1933, 1 folder

Series XVI: Kalispell Mercantile Company, 1911-1932, 1 folder and 2 oversize volumes

Series XVII: May Mercantile Company, 1914-1925, 0.25 linear feet and 1 partial oversize volume

Series XVIII: Missoula Creamery Company, 1919, 1 folder

Series XIX: Missoula Opera House Company, 1920-1922, 1 folder

Series XX: Montana Development Association, 1921-1924, 1 folder

Series XXI: Northwestern Abstract and Title Guarantee Company, 1911, 1 folder

Series XXII: Stanley Scearce, 1917, 1 folder

Series XXIII: Weisel-Boissevatin Ranch Company, 1929, 1 folder

Series XXIV: Western Montana National Bank, 1921, 1 folder

Series XXV: Employees Protective Association, 1890-1948, 2.5 linear feet

Series XXVI: Amelia Loffnes, 1929-1953, 0.5 linear feet

Series XXVII: Victor Land and Livestock Company, 1883-1943, 1.0 linear feet

Series XXVIII: W.A. Mentrum Company, 1896-1898, 2 oversize volumes

Series XXIX: Corvallis Mercantile, 1889-1898, 3 oversize volumes

Series XXX: Bozeman Feed and Grain Company, 1941-1942, 1 oversize volume

Series XXXI: Kalispell Grocery Company, 1936-1941, 2 oversize volumes

Series XXXII: Missoula Real Estate Association, 1885-1926, 1 folder and 2 oversize volumes

Series XXXIII: Hot Springs Commercial Company, 1915-1925, 1 partial bound volume

Series XXXIV: Perma Commercial Company, 1927-1928, 1 partial bound volume

Series XXXV: Victor Mercantile Company, 1921-1926, 1 partial bound volume

Series XXXVI: Victor Commercial Company, 1911-1925, 1 partial bound volume

Series XXXVII: Beckwith Mercantile Company, 1910-1941, 1 bound volume

Series XXXVIII: Artifacts, undated, 1 oversize box

Custodial History

The bulk of this collection remained with Charles H. McLeod's descendants until its donation to Archives and Special Collections. A few small additions were contributed by descendants of Missoula Mercantile Company employees and independent historians.

Acquisition Information

Gifts of Walter H. McLeod, 1965; Olive (McLeod) Haugen, 1965, 1972, and 1973; R.H. Robinson 1972 and 1989; Vernon Krogstad, 1981; and Steve Leigh, 1988.

Processing Note

The materials in this collection were originally processed in six separate collections which reflected how they had been donated to the Archives: LC 1, LC 49, LC 60, SC 324, SC 254, and SC 296. Over 150 photographs donated in 1965 with the materials in LC 1 were separated during the processing of LC 1 and integrated into the Archives' general photograph collection.

In 2003, all Charles H. McLeod materials were reprocessed and integrated into one manuscript collection (Mss 001.) During this reprocessing, ten volumes originally housed as oversize materials were relocated and housed within archival boxes for more effective preservation. All photographs received as part of the earlier-mentioned McLeod collections were integrated into Mss 001 and were assigned "new" numbers reflecting their organization within series [example: 1(VIII)21]. In 2011, to minimize ongoing confusion between "new" numbers and "legacy" numbers (numbers assigned at the time of their original acquisition), all photographs with legacy numbers were returned to those numbers [example: 76-101]. Photographs that had not been numbered prior to 2003 retain their collection and series based numbers.

Also in 2003, photographs numbered 76-101 through 76-119 and 78-45 through 78-85 were transferred by the processor from the Charles H. McLeod Papers (Mss 001) to the Walter H. McLeod Papers (Mss 002). In 2011 those photographs were returned to the Charles H. McLeod Papers (Mss 001) as provenance records and earlier processing labels indicate that they were donated with the bulk of the other materials in what is now Mss 001.

Separated Materials

Thirteen bound journals originally processed within the Charles H. McLeod Papers were re-evaluated during 2003 reprocessing and were determined to be more accurately associated with the Walter H. McLeod Papers (Mss 002). This determination was based primarily on the span of years for each bound record, cross-referenced with the date of Walter's ascension to primary management of McLeod family investments. These determinations were bolstered by date spans extending well beyond Charles H. McLeod's death (often by more than a decade) and the prevalence of Walter H. McLeod's signatures on such documents. These 14 volumes were integrated into the Walter H. McLeod Papers.

A Kalispell Mercantile Catalog, circa 1915, and a history of the Missoula Mercantile company, written in 1962 at Montana State University (now the University of Montana--Missoula), were transferred to Special Collections in 2003.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Banks and banking--Montana--Kalispell
  • Banks and banking--Montana--Missoula
  • Canadian Americans--Montana--Missoula
  • Creameries--Montana--Missoula
  • Feed industry--Montana--Bozeman
  • General stores--Montana
  • General stores--Montana--Corvallis
  • General stores--Montana--Kalispell
  • General stores--Montana--Missoula
  • General stores--Montana--Saint Ignatius
  • General stores--Montana--Victor
  • Grocery trade--Montana--Kalispell
  • Lumber trade--United States
  • Real estate development--Montana
  • Real estate development--Montana--Missoula
  • Retail trade--Montana
  • Retail trade--Montana--Missoula

Corporate Names

  • Republican Party (Mont.)

Family Names

  • McLeod family

Geographical Names

  • Missoula (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Missoula (Mont.)--Economic conditions
  • Missoula (Mont.)--Politics and government
  • Missoula (Mont.)--Social life and customs
  • Montana--Politics and government

Form or Genre Terms

  • Business records--Montana
  • Business records--Montana--Missoula
  • Photographs--Montana

Occupations

  • Businessmen--Montana--Missoula

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Loffnes, Amelia.
    • Scearce, Stanley Irwin, d. 1943

    Corporate Names

    • Northwestern Abstract and Title Guarantee Company
    • Weisel-Boissevatin Ranch Company
    • Beckwith Mercantile Company (Saint Ignatius, Mont.)
    • Bozeman Feed and Grain Company
    • Conrad Mercantile Company
    • Corvallis Mercantile (Corvallis, Mont.)
    • Dwight Mercantile Company
    • Eddy, Hammond and Company
    • Employees Protective Association (U.S.)
    • First National Bank (Kalispell, Mont.)
    • Hammond Lumber Company
    • Hot Springs Commercial Company
    • Kalispell Grocery Company
    • Kalispell Mercantile Company (Kalispell, Mont.)
    • May Mercantile Company
    • Missoula Creamery Company
    • Missoula Mercantile Company
    • Missoula Opera House Company
    • Missoula Real Estate Association
    • Montana Development Association
    • Northern Pacific Railway Company
    • Perma Commercial Company
    • Victor Commercial Company
    • Victor Land and Livestock Company
    • Victor Mercantile Company
    • W.A. Mentrum Liquor and Bottling Company (Missoula, Mont.)
    • Western Montana National Bank (Missoula, Mont.)
    • Montana Mercantile Company

Finding aid prepared by Dale Johnson (circa 1965 and 1969), Jennifer Lodine-Chaffey, Jennifer Rose, Ann Sullivan, and Jack Rowan (2004)
2004

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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