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Granville Stuart papers, 1863-1918

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Stuart, Granville, 1834-1918
Title
Granville Stuart papers
Dates
1863-1918 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 61
Summary
Granville Stuart (1834-1918) was a pioneer Montana miner and cattleman. Papers include biographical material; a diary (1894) of a trip to France; two volumes of outgoing correspondence (1868-1880, 1890-1892) concerning mining and livestock; general correspondence (1863-1918); a DHS Ranch account ledger (1881-1882); a financial account book (1865); an "Historical Sketch of Deer Lodge County" (1876); three weather journals (1867-1880); scrapbooks; and miscellany. Miscellaneous outgoing correspondence includes a letter (1894) to Pomp Dennis concerning details of Dennis's escape from the Sioux in 1868.
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.
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Biographical Note

Granville Stuart was born August 27, 1834, near what is now Clarksburg, West Virginia. In 1837 he moved west with his family to Iowa. After their father went to California in 1849, Granville and his brother James Stuart followed west to join him in 1852. The Stuart brothers remained there prospecting until 1857 when they attempted to return to Iowa. However, the Mormon War in Utah blocked the trail and caused the brothers to go north to what later became Montana. They prospected for gold in the Deer Lodge Valley, making the first strike at Gold Creek in 1858. During the 1860s Granville and James worked mainly as prospectors and small merchants in various Montana mining camps. After James' death in 1873, Granville suffered financial reverses, and by 1876 had become a bookkeeper for Samuel T. Hauser's First National Bank of Helena. In 1879 he formed, with Hauser, Andrew J. Davis and Erwin Davis, a cattle-raising enterprise, Davis, Hauser and Company, using the brand DHS. The partners made Stuart general manager and superintendent of the company, a position he held until the spring of 1887. From 1894 to 1898, Stuart served as United States ambassador to Paraguay and Uruguay, a post he obtained through the assistance of Hauser and Russell Harrison. He returned to Montana in 1899, and in his final years, served as librarian of the Butte Public Library. Granville Stuart was the first secretary of the Montana Historical Society and served as its president from 1890 to 1895. In 1886 to 1887, he was president of the Society of Montana Pioneers, and for seven years he served as president of the Board of Stock Commissioners, resigning his post in 1891. Although he never completed the history of Montana the legislature commissioned him to write, he did publish Montana As It Is in 1865, and in 1925, a selection of his and James' journals was published under the title, Forty Years on the Frontier. Granville Stuart died in Missoula on October 2, 1918.

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Content Description

Papers. 1863-1918. 1.5 linear feet. The Granville Stuart Papers consist of biographical materials; a diary (1894) of a trip to France; two outgoing letterpress volumes (1868-1880, 1890-1892) dealing with mining and livestock matters, which also include short articles on early Montana life; general correspondence (1863-1918); an account ledger (1881-1882) for the DHS Ranch; "Historical Sketch of Deer Lodge County" (1876); scrapbooks; and miscellany. Included in miscellaneous outgoing correspondence is a letter (1894) to Pomp Dennis re the details of Dennis's escape from the Sioux in 1868.

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Use of the Collection

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.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by series. Some material housed in manuscript volumes. See inventory below for more information.

Location of Collection

4:3-7

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Processing Note

Portions of collection on indefinite loan from University of Montana Archives; other portions separated from Anaconda Copper Mining Company Records (MC 169), and transferred from Museum and Library.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

  • Biographical Material

    • Description: "Origin of the Stuart Family," "Granville Stuart"; miscellany
      Dates: 1873, 1902, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1
      Location: Biographical Material

  • Incoming Correspondence

    • Description: A-W (correspondents include Thomas Adams, John F. Athey, Mary Crosby [Montana Industrial School for Indians], Fountain M. Dennis, James Fergus, John N. Hall, Julia A. Hall, Meagher County Clerk, David A. Phelps, Nancy Lawrence Stuart [mother], Samuel Stuart [brother], P. Tofft)
      Dates: 1863-1894
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 2
      Location: Incoming Correspondence

  • Outgoing Correspondence

    • Description: Letterpress books
      Dates: 1868-1880, 1890-1892
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 3-4
      Location: Outgoing Correspondence
    • Description: Miscellaneous [some are photocopies from other repositories]
      Dates: 1873-1903
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 5
      Location: Outgoing Correspondence

  • General Correspondence

    • Description: A-G (correspondents include Mrs. A.E. Allison, M.D. Baldwin, Mrs. W.E. Bass, Horace Brewster, A. Bessett, J.C. Brummer, Frank D. Brown, Amos Buck, Henry Cannon, William A. Clark Jr., Charles K. Cole, Byron E. Cooney, John M. Evans, George Bird Grinnell; many are related to Stuart's compilation of information for book on history of Montana)
      Dates: 1916-1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: H-K (correspondents include Frank W. Haskins, Samuel T. Hauser, Thomas Hauser, George H. Hill, S. S. Hobson, A.M. Holter, N.B. Holter, Elizabeth Thornton Hough, Thomas H. Irvine, Charles N. Kessler, James Kirkpatrick, George W. Korte; many are related to Stuart's compilation of information for book on history of Montana)
      Dates: 1911-1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 7
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: L-R (correspondents include E.B. Largent, J.P. Lippincott Company, W.J. McConnell, Robert L. McCulloh, E.P. Mathewson, Charles Mattison, Mary E. Mitchell, W.Y. Pemberton, Henry L. Myers, National Historical Society, A.J. Noyes, J.M. Pope, T.C. Power, Adolphus Ragan, John E. Rees, S.J. Ritchey, John D. Ryan; many are related to Stuart's compilation of information for book on history of Montana)
      Dates: 1916-1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 8
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: S-W (correspondents include James U. Sanders, J.F. Saville, William Scallon, A.J. Seligman, South Dakota Dept. of History, S.V. Stewart, Nelson Story, Tom Stout, William B. Thompson, Lucille Thornton, W. D. Thornton, Thomas J. Walsh, Charles S. Warren; many are related to Stuart's compilation of information for book on history of Montana)
      Dates: 1911-1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
      Location: General Correspondence

  • Diaries

    • Description: Diary (re visit to London and Paris on way to Uruguay)
      Dates: 1894
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
      Location: Diaries

  • Financial Records

    • Description: Bank statement from Helena National Bank
      Dates: 1881-1882
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: Ledger: DHS Ranch
      Dates: 1881-1882
      Container: Volume 1
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: Notebooks: account of mining transaction, Idaho accounts
      Dates: 1896-1897, 1902-1903
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: Personal financial account book
      Dates: 1865
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
      Location: Financial Records

  • Legal Documents

    • Description: Mineral certificate for Little Etta claim; copy of mining deed for Hope Mining Company; contract for half interest in property on McDonald Creek
      Dates: 1879-1901
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
      Location: Legal Documents

  • Writings

    • Description: "Historical Sketch of Deer Lodge County"
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
      Location: Writings

  • Clippings

    • Description: Scrapbook (re poetry, literature, philosophy, etc.)
      Dates: 1870-1892
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Scrapbooks (miscellaneous)
      Dates: 1874-1901, 1902-1905
      Container: Volume 2-3
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Scrapbook (re 13th Territorial Legislature; 1900 election)
      Dates: 1883, 1900
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
      Location: Clippings

  • Miscellany

    • Description: Certificates and resolutions
      Dates: 1894, 1918
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Notebook: Spanish and French dictionary
      Dates: 1895, 1897
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 2
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Weather and meteorological journal (includes comment on 1905 fire in Butte)
      Dates: 1867-1872
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 3
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Weather and meteorological journal (includes comment on death of James Stuart)
      Dates: 1872-1879
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 4
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Weather and meteorological journal
      Dates: Jan.-June 1880
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 5
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Miscellaneous (includes resolution of support by members of 13th Territorial Legislature; notes on gun entrusted to Teddy Blue Abbott; list of sketches by Granville Stuart; list, possibly of members of Bates Expedition)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 6
      Location: Miscellany

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Cattle Ranches--Montana
  • Mines and Mineral Resources--Montana
  • Ranches

Personal Names

  • Stuart, Granville, 1834-1918 (creator)

Geographical Names

  • DHS Ranch (Fort Maginnis, Mont.)
  • Deer Lodge (Mont.)
  • Deer Lodge County (Mont.)
  • Fergus County (Mont.)

Finding aid prepared by MHS staff
2004

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

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