Warren Thompson Shepperd Papers, 1899-1969

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Warren Thompson Shepperd
Title
Warren Thompson Shepperd Papers
Dates
1899-1969 (inclusive)
Quantity
4 linear feet
Collection Number
MG065 (collection)
Summary
Personal and family correspondence; correspondence relating to fraternal and service organizations, especially the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; records of the Coeur d'Alene Mill Company, Kootenai County civic activities, and other papers.
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
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Warren Thompson Shepperd was born on a farm 10 miles east of Moscow, Idaho, on August 15, 1883, the son of George W. and Rutha J. (Woody) Shepperd. He graduated from the University of Idaho Preparatory School in 1905, and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering at the University in 1910. He worked as a private surveyor from 1911 to 1914, chiefly in connection with lumbering roads and homestead property claims around Worley, Kootenai County, Idaho. In 1912 he married Mildred Dodge, they had five children. He and his family moved to Benewah County where, in 1915, he was appointed County Auditor and Recorder of Deeds. He held these positions until he moved to Coeur d'Alene in 1920. There he was cashier and office manager for the Fred Herrick Lumber Company. In 1928 the Coeur d'Alene Mill Company, one of Herrick's companies, was placed in receivership, and from March 1929 until 1932 Shepperd operated the mill for the mortgage holder Baker Fentress Company. He was Kootenai County Assessor from 1932 to 1935, and Treasurer from 1945 to 1948. He was also secretary of the Kootenai County Planning Commission from 1935-1937, as well as being active in I.O.O.F. and Kiwanis.

Shepperd was named to the board of Coeur d'Alene Junior College, a private school, by the local Kiwanis Club in 1933 and served as chairman of the board for several years. In 1939 the Idaho Legislature passed a Junior College Law and by June of that year he and the other board members had organized the North Idaho Junior College. In addition to his duties as secretary of the board he was named treasurer in 1949. He retired in 1960.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The papers of Warren T. Shepperd span the years 1899 to 1969, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1925 to 1950.

The papers include personal correspondence and tax returns, correspondence generated by his official duties in both the I.O.O.F. and Kiwanis, and correspondence with Baker-Fentress Company during the time he was handling the affairs of the bankrupt Coeur d'Alene Mill Company. There are financial records of the Hayden Lake Irrigation District and the North Idaho Junior College as well as material relating to the projects of the Kootenai County Planning Commission, and correspondence from the county auditor's office. Also included are several surveyors notebooks and various Coeur d'Alene Mill Company ledgers.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The material in this Manuscript Group was originally stored in several letter transfer boxes, bundled file folders, and envelopes of various sizes. An attempt was made to bring like material together while, at the same time, maintaining the original order of each group.

In this regard, the personal correspondence presented the greatest problem. A small collection of Christmas cards with personal notes was retained and placed in a file folder. A second folder contains letters to Mildred Shepperd from various friends. There is no arrangement within these folders. The remaining folders, arranged alphabetically, contain Warren Shepperd's correspondence. Several different alphabetical files were melded into one sequence, but in no case were the contents of the folders combined. Therefore, there are folders for letters of the alphabet followed by folders for individuals, usually family members, or on subjects, i.e., Insurance, Legal (this contains correspondence relating to the estates of family members), and Sunswheat Deal (Sunswheat was a new breakfast cereal developed at the University of Washington). The taxes are arranged chronologically, with all taxed, property, state and federal income tax returns, for a given year in the same folder.

While secretary and Grand Chaplain of I.O.O.F. Lodge 34, Shepperd kept two alphabetical files. The second of these, all from late 1938, contained so very few items and were merged with the first which also contained 1938 correspondence. The correspondence to and from Shepperd as secretary of the Coeur d'Alene Kiwanis Club is also alphabetical.

The Baker-Fentress material was in one transfer box. With the exception of the first three sections (A-C) which were separated by subject, the letters appeared to be in no order. No attempt was made to reorganize this material.

The items in the Kootenai County Planning Commission are arranged alphabetically by project; Shepperd's original folder headings were retained.

Many Christmas and birthday cards in the collection contained no message and were removed. Several duplicate annual reports of the mill company were also withdrawn from the collection as was an eleven volume mimeographed set of jokes and speech ideas. A small sample of J.M. Carey's daily scale reports were retained, but since summary sheets were available., the remaining daily reports were not. In all about .5 c.f. of material was removed.

Acquisition Information

The papers of Warren T. Shepperd were donated to the University of Idaho by Virgil Shepperd, Hannah (Shepperd) Oldham, son and daughter of Warren, and John T. Trueman in June 1971.

Processing Note

Processing began as a Special Collections group project in October 1984 and was completed by Judith Nielsen in February 1985.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I. Personal Papers , 1905-1962Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
A. Correspondence
Box/Folder
1/1
Greeting Cards
20 items
1930-1948
1/2
To Mildred (Mrs. W.T.) Shepperd
28 items
1932-1953
1/3-35
A - Z
326 items
1905-1960
B. Financial
Box/Folder
1/36
Promissory Notes
11 items
1924-1928
1/37
Check register
1 item
1956
1/38-63
Taxes
245 items
1920-1962

Series II. Service Clubs , 1919-1962Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
A. Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Box/Folder
1/64-75
Correspondence
174 items
1930-1938
1/76
Receipts
105 items
1931-1933
1/77
Minute Book
1 item
1938
1/78
Programs, certificates
13 items
1919-1962
B. Kiwanis
Box/Folder
1/79-80
Correspondence, A-Z
51 items
1938
1/81
Programs
14 items
1935-1953
1/82
Newsletters
11 items
1938
C. Others
Box/Folder
1/83
Knights of Pythias
6 items
1925-1933
1/84
Toastmasters
4 items
1950

Series III. Lumber Interests , 1899-1934Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
A. Baker-Fentress
Box/Folder
1/85
Correspondence A (Insurance on Property)
100 items
1929-1932
1/86
Correspondence B (Sale of Property)
150 items
1929-1931
1/87
Correspondence C (Payroll & Expenses)
45 items
1929-1932
1/88-89
Correspondence D-Z
115 items
1929-1932
B. Coeur d'Alene Mill Company
Box/Folder
1/90
Correspondence, A-Z
46 items
1914-1931
1/91
Taxes
35 items
1927-1934
1/92
Carroll Heights
5 items
1913-1928
1/93
Time Book
1 item
1899-1900
1/94
John M. Carey Book & Log Scale
20 items
1920-1921
C. Other Items
Box/Folder
1/95
Parody of Senate Bill 90
1 item
undated
1/96
Booklet: "Old Homes Made New," (Chicago: American Lumberman)
1 item
1925

Series IV. Civic Interests , 1915-1960Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
A. Hayden Lake Irrigation District
Box/Folder
2/97-99
Bank Statements: Domestic, Irrigation & Reserve Accounts
39 items
1953
2/100-104
Vouchers: Domestic & Irrigation Funds
436 items
1953
2/105-117
Receipt Books, Domestic Fund
13 items
1948-1953
B. Education
Coeur d'Alene School District #1
Box/Folder
2/118
Correspondence
7 items
1927-1929
2/119
Bulletins
12 items
1928-1930
2/120
Financial Statements
44 items
1925/1926-1930/1931
North Idaho Junior College
Box/Folder
2/121
Programs & Newspaper clipping
3 items
1939-1952
2/122
Faculty Deposit Records
3 items
1955-1960
C. Politics
Box/Folder
2/123-124
Assessor: Correspondence
61 items
1933-1943
2/125
Board Orders
23 items
1933-1934
2/126-127
Appeals
13 items
1924-1934
2/128
Migratory Livestock
17 items
1934
2/129
Chief Engineer, Highway District
2 items
1931
2/130-131
Election Campaigns & Results
53 items
1932-1956
2/132
Certificates of Appreciation & Election
6 items
1915-1954
D. Kootenai County Planning Commission
Box/Folder
2/133
Minutes
26 items
1935-1937
2/134
General Correspondence
14 items
1935-1936
2/135
Bayview-Belmont Highway
5 items
1935
2/136
Belgrove-Black Rock Road Project
1 item
undated
2/137
Cedar Creek Project
2 items
undated
2/138
Coeur d'Alene zoning laws
6 items
undated
2/139
Coeur d'Alene, O'Brien Addition
4 items
1947-1949
2/140
Coeur d'Alene Junior College
32 items
1934-1936
2/141
Coeur d'Alene River-Kellogg Road
2 items
1935
2/142
Cougar Gulch-Mica Flat Road
2 items
undated
2/143
Flood Control
12 items
1936-1949
2/144
Hayden Lake Road
1 item
1935
2/145
Post Falls
8 items
1936
2/146
Public Domain
15 items
1935-1937
2/147
Re-settlement
10 items
1935
2/148
Wolf Lodge-Bennett Bay Road
3 items
1935
2/149
Worley School
23 items
1935-1937
2/150
Worley Sidewalks & Water
3 items
1936
2/151
Worley-Chatcolet-State Line Project
5 items
1935-1936
2/152
State Planning Board - Circular Letters
31 items
1935-1936
2/153
American Society of Planning Officials
4 items
1935-1936

Series V. Surveying Material , 1921-1957Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
2/154
Notebooks
6 items
1930-1935
2/155
Licenses
51 items
1921-1957
2/156
Correspondence
3 items
1953

Series VI. Journals and Ledgers , 1920-1965Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
A. Coeur d'Alene Mill Company
Box/Folder
os/157-160
Annual Reports
4 items
1922-1927
os/161
Bills Payable
1 item
1928
os/162
General Journal
1 item
(includes North Idaho Junior College Budget Balances 1957/1958-1959/1960)
1925-1927
os/163
General Journal #4
1 item
1928
os/164
General Ledger; Sinking Fund Accounts
1 item
1928
os/165
Orders
1 item
1923
os/166
Purchase Journal
1 item
1925-1928
os/167
Lumber Purchased Journal
1 item
(includes check register for unidentified company 1933-1934)
1928
os/168
Sales Journal
1 item
1928
os/169
Accounts of Clearwater Operation
1 item
1924-1927
os/170
St. Joe Camp General Journal
1 item
(includes WTS personal accounts, Jan. 1958)
1925-1927
os/171
St. Maries River Camp Payroll Book
1 item
Nov. 1927
B. Other Companies
Unidentified Companies
Box/Folder
os/175
Ledger
1 item
Nov.-Dec. no year
os/176
Time Book
1 item
1920
os/177
Payroll Ledger
1 item
undated
Box/Folder
os/172
Hauser Lumber Co. Memorandum Ledger
1 item
1927
os/173
Store Sales #2
1 item
(includes WTS personal accounts, Dec. 1957-Feb. 1958)
1926-1927
os/174
Tuscor Lumber Company. Journal
1 item
(includes WTS personal accounts 1961-1965)
1925-1927

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Friendly societies--Idaho--Coeur d'Alene

Personal Names

  • Shepperd, Warren Thompson, 1883-1971--Archives

Corporate Names

  • Coeur d'Alene Mill Company

Geographical Names

  • Kootenai County (Idaho)--Politics and government--History--Sources