Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company Records, 1901-1950

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company
Title
Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company Records
Dates
1901-1950 (inclusive)
Quantity
4.5 cubic feet
Collection Number
MG250 (collection)
Summary
Correspondence and organizational, stock, financial, tax, and other records of a silver-lead mine in the Coeur d'Alene region of Idaho and it's corporate predecessors, the Ambergris Mining Company and the Ambergris Mines Company.
Repository
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Languages
English
Sponsor
Funds for processing were provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the U.S. Department of Education HEA Title II-C "Strengthening Research Library Resources" program, the Library Associates of the University of Idaho and other donors.
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

In 1901 John King, Jack "Yellow Dog" Smith and E.M. Gilpin located the Ambergris group of claims in the Lelande Mining District, Shoshone County, Idaho. In 1902, to manage these claims, the partners secured a Washington State charter for the Ambergris Mining Co., with offices in Spokane. The first stock was issued on Oct. 25, 1902. The original stockholders included Gilpin's uncle, W.B. Heyburn, later United States senator from Idaho. The Ambergris Mining Co. owned the Ajax, Ambergris, Anaconda, Goffy Jack, Rattler, and Wellington Lodes, all situated in the Lelande and Placer Districts in Shoshone County.

The founders were soon superseded by W. Clayton Miller, Alfred Page, John P. Gray, A.C. Cogswell, and F.D. Allen. These were the company's trustees by 1908 when the Ambergris Mining Company settled a long-standing against the Hercules Mining Co. over conflicting claims. This suit had at one time seen the Ambergris represented by Heyburn while the Hercules was defended by William E. Borah who also later became United States senator from Idaho. The agreement of April 10, 1908 in part required the Hercules to allow the working of the Ambergris mine through a tunnel driven from its own property while the Ambergris company was to deliver 1,516,000 new shares to Harry Day as trustee for the Hercules partners. The new stock, issued on January 3, 1909 gave the Hercules partners majority control of the Ambergris. On March 6, 1909 Harry and Eugene Day and August Paulsen took their places on the Ambergris Board of Trustees.

As agreed, the Hercules extended one of its tunnels into the Ambergris ground, but for a number of years thereafter the property sat idle because there were no funds for development. As a Washington State corporation, the Ambergris Mining Company could not levy assessments against its capital stock. To remedy this problem, on June 20, 1916, The Ambergris Mining Co. was reorganized as the Ambergris Mines Co., chartered in the state of Idaho and headquartered in Wallace. The company levied four assessments between 1917 and 1923 to provide working capital.

The Ambergris Mines Co. was in its turn reorganized into the Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company in 1928, as part of a merger of the holdings of Ambergris Mines Co., Honolulu Mining Co., and Guelph Mining and Milling Co. The Ambergris continued to be worked through the Hercules No. 5 tunnel. With its property transferred to the new conglomerate, the old Ambergris Mines Company was dissolved on April 3, 1929.

The Ambergris Consolidated Mining Co. existed from 1928 until 1939, when the shareholders approved the sale of all the property and debts of the corporation to the Hercules Mining Co. for $21,500.00. The final liquidation dividend provided one and one-half cents per share on the capital stock. Thereafter the company was dissolved.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The records of the Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company span the years 1901 to 1950, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1916 to 1941. Included are minute books, correspondence, stock ledgers and journals, financial ledgers, and daily work reports.

These records reflect the multiple incarnations of the company: Ambergris Mining Company, 1902-1916; Ambergris Mines Company, 1916-1928; and Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company, 1928-1939.

Related materials can be found in the records of the Hercules, Guelph, and Honolulu mining companies.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The Ambergris has been organized into six series: Records of the Board of Directors, General Correspondence, Capitol Stock Records, Financial Records, Tax Records, and Personnel Records.

The first series, Records of the Board of Directors, contains minute books from all three phases of the company's history, and records related to meetings and reports from the final phase. Included are, notices of meetings, copies of by-laws, lists of stockholders, records of elections, records of assessments, and some correspondence. Arranged chronologically by meeting.

The second series consists of a correspondence file, organized chronologically, and an alphabetically organized file of general records.

The correspondence file, 1901-1929, contains records of the Ambergris Mining Co. and the Ambergris Mines Co., chiefly concerning capital stock matters and including correspondence regarding issuance of shares, transfer of shares, and assessments, supplemented by lists of stockholders, lists of delinquent stock, receipts for certificates issued, assessment notices, assessment receipts, and a few legal documents relating to the probate of the estates of various stockholders. For the years 1916-1917 there are a great many letters from stockholders authorizing the exchange of shares in Ambergris Mining Co. for stock in any new corporation that may be formed, directing the exchange of Ambergris Mines certificates for Ambergris Mining certificates, or enclosing payment for the initial assessment against Ambergris Mines stock. There are also many Ambergris Mining Co. certificates, bills and receipts for supplies and services required in the reorganization, and an undated memorandum by Harry Day explaining the reasons for forming the new company. The folder for 1929 contains an Ambergris Mines dividend list dated Feb. 18 of that year.

In addition to stock-related material there are receipts for expenses; balance sheets; a trial brief, ca. 1901, concerning the case of Ambergris Mining Co. vs. Harry Day; location notices from 1901, 1903, and 1918; copies of the minutes of the board of directors' meetings of Apr. 10, 1908 and July 7, 1917; an indenture relating to transfer of property from Ambergris Mining Co. to Ambergris Mines Co., Dec. 14, 1916, and a draft of the same; an agreement between Ambergris Mines and Providence Hospital, Dec. 27, 1917; signed proxies and other records relating to annual meetings, especially in 1924, 1925, 1928, and 1929; and ore settlements for sales to the Hercules Mill, 1927. For many years there are Annual Statements of Domestic Corporations, Annual Statements or Annual Reports to the State of Idaho, federal Capital Stock Tax Returns, Corporate Income Tax Returns, and Shoshone County tax receipts.

Included in the general records, 1925-1940, are: correspondence; letters of transmittal; telegrams; legal documents such as certificates of incorporation, affidavits of improvements, indentures, leases, and probate court records; notices of meetings; notices of dividends; dividend checks; statements of account with the Hercules Mining Co.; assay certificates; annual reports to the Idaho Department of Mines; financial statements; annual reports to the U.S. Bureau of Mines; annual reports from the manager (Henry Day) to the president (Jerome or Harry Day); papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Seattle and Spokane Stock exchanges; lists of stockholders; lists of equipment and supplies; ore settlements; and other records.

The largest part of this material concerns capital stock matters: issuance and transfer of certificates, delinquencies in assessment payments, and dividends. There are also records concerning incorporation of the consolidated company and the liquidation of the Ambergris Mines and the Guelph Mining and Milling companies. There is a good deal of material on operations, including claim location and assessment work, progress in development, ore production, wage scales, and safety practices. One file of Miscellaneous Legal Documents precedes the alphabetical sequence, and two files concerning the final liquidation of the Ambergris follow the sequence.

Correspondence in the latter chiefly concerns the surrender of certificates and payment of the final liquidating dividend. Many legal documents relating to the probate of stockholder's estates are included. There is also a list of equipment stored at the Hercules Mining Co.

The third series includes capital stock records from all phases of the company's history, from creation to liquidation.

The fourth series, accounting records, contains only ledgers and journals from the latter two phases of the company's existence.

The tax records of the fifth series, 1929-1940, reflect only the activity of Ambergris Consolidated. Included are federal and state tax records; claims for refunds or abatements; capital stock tax returns; legal briefs, claims, answers, lists of cases, correspondence, and other court documents; State of Idaho corporate tax returns, annual statements of domestic corporations, and annual statements. Much of this series relates to Ambergris Consolidated Mining Co.'s successful contention that it had not been doing business within the meaning of the federal capital stock tax law.

The final series contains the only record of personnel in this group, a binder of daily work reports.

Removal of cancelled and unissued stock certificates, assessment receipts, returned notices of meetings, vouchers, paid checks and bank statements, check stubs, and duplicate materials reduced the bulk of this collection by 6.5 cubic feet.

Acquisition Information

The records of the Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company are part of the records of Day Mines, Inc., donated to the University of Idaho by Henry Day in 1984 and 1985.

Processing Note

Initial processing of this Manuscript Group was done under the direction of Richard Davis in October 1988.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I. Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders , 1908-1939Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Minutes
Jan. 27, 1908-Mar. 6, 1909
1/2
Minutes
June 20, 1916-Apr. 3, 1929
1/3
Minutes
Dec. 29, 1928-Oct. 24, 1939
1/4-15
Records relating to meetings
1928-1939
1/16
Reports
1929-1937

Series II. General Correspondence and Related Records , 1901-1929Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/17
Correspondence
1901-1914
1/18-29
Correspondence
1915-1923
2/30-35
Correspondence
1924-1929
Box
2
General records
1925-1941
Box/Folder
2/36
Legal documents
2/37
A
2/38
Ambergris Consolidated Mining Co., misc.
2/39
Ambergris Mines Co.
2/40
Annual report
2/41
Assays
1925-1926
2/42
Assessment work
1933-1934
2/43-45
B-D
2/46
Day, Henry L., manager
1925-1931
2/47
Devlin, Wm. F., Jr. and Co.
1929
2/48
Dividend No. 1
March 25, 1929
2/49
E
2/50
Engineering reports
1925, 1930
2/51
F
2/52
Ford, Frank D.
1929-1937
2/53
G
2/54
Guelph Mining & Milling Co.
1928-1929
2/55
Guelph: stock transfers
1929
2/56
Guelph: stock certificates
1929,1937
2/57
H
2/58
Hercules Mining Co.
1928-1935
2/59
Hercules Mining Co.: Invoices
1928-1932
2/60
Honolulu Mining Co.
1925-1933
2/61
I
2/62
Idaho: Dept. of State; Inspector of Mines; Dept. of Law Enforcement
1926-1935
2/63-65
J-L
2/66
Lease agreements
1930-1937
2/67-69
M-N
3/70
Net profits statement
1931-1932
3/71-72
O-P
3/73
Patent work
1934-1935
3/74
Pennaluna & Co.
1929-1937
3/75
Pohlman, T.T.
1929
3/76
Preston & Raef, Spokane
1929, 1934
3/77
R
3/78
Reports, Annual
1930-1938
3/79
Rothrock, F.M.
1929
3/80
S
3/81
Statements, Financial
1929-1938
3/82
Stock exchange
1928-1937
3/83
Stock exchange: Spokane
1934-1937
3/84-85
T-U
3/86
U.S.: Internal Revenue Service
1931, 1937
3/87
U.S.: Bureau of Mines
1925-1941
3/88-89
U.S.: Securities and Exchange Commission, application for permanent registration
1934-1940
3/90-91
V-W
3/92
Wage and hour division
1929
3/93
Y-Z
3/94-95
Final liquidation
1939-1950

Series III. Capital Stock Records , 1902-1951Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
3/96-97
Stock ledgers
1902-1917
3/98-99
Stock journal and ledgers
1913-1917
3/100-101
Stock ledgers
1916-1939
4/102-103
Stock journals
1916-1939
4/104-106
Cancelled stock certificates
1902-1916
4/107
Assessment journal
Jan. 5, 1917-Oct. 10, 1918
4/108
Dividend record
Oct. 24, 1939-May 28, 1951

Series IV. Accounting Records , 1916-1940Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
4/109-110
Ledgers
1916-1940
4/111-112
Journals
1916-1939

Series V. Tax Records , 1929-1940Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
4/113
Federal tax returns
1929-1939
4/114
Claim for exemption from capital stock tax
1933-1940
4/115
Ambergris Consolidated Mining Co. vs. United States
1936-1939
4/116
Idaho tax returns
1931-1939
4/117
Annual Statements of Domestic Corporations
1929-1939

Series VI. Personnel Records , 1917-1918Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
5/118
Daily work reports
1917-1918

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Lead mines and mining -- Idaho -- Coeur d'Alene Mining District -- History -- Sources
  • Mining corporations -- Records -- Idaho -- Coeur d'Alene Mining District
  • Silver mines and mining -- Idaho -- Coeur d'Alene Mining District -- History -- Sources

Corporate Names

  • Ambergris Consolidated Mining Company

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • Ambergris Mines Company
    • Ambergris Mining Company