George Frederick Jewett, Sr. Papers, 1907-1963

Overview of the Collection

Creator
George Frederick Jewett, Sr., 1896-1956
Title
George Frederick Jewett, Sr. Papers
Dates
1907-1963 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 cubic feet
Collection Number
MG114 (collection)
Summary
Business correspondence, financial statements, speeches, and other papers, relating largely to St. Joe Boom Co., Potlatch Forests, and lumber industry trade groups.
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

George Frederick "Fritz" Jewett, a prominent lumberman, was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, August 22, 1896, the son of James Richard and Margaret (Weyerhaeuser) Jewett. He received his early education at Brown and Nichols School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. He continued his studies at Harvard University where he received his B.A. in 1919 and M.B.A. in 1922. In 1937 he did postgraduate work in forestry in Germany on a Carl Schurz Memorial Fellowship. In 1949 he received an honorary LL.D degree from Washington State College, and in 1954 an honorary L.H.D. degree from Pacific University.

In 1917 he entered naval training at Newport, Rhode Island and served as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve aboard the USS Oklahoma, on convoy duty in the Mediterranean Sea, during the First World War.

Fritz Jewett married Mary Pelton Cooper in Ogdensburg, New York, September 12, 1925. They had two children, George Frederick and Margaret Weyerhaeuser.

In 1922 Jewett joined the accounting department of the General Timber Service in Saint Paul as an auditor's apprentice. In 1925 he became office manager of the Clearwater Timber Company, Lewiston, Idaho, and three years later he joined the Edward Rutledge Timber Company, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, as general manager, a position he held until 1931. He served in an executive capacity in several timber companies until 1937 when he moved to Spokane, Washington to become president of Potlatch Yards, Inc. In 1946 he was elected president of Potlatch Forests, Inc., which was formed by the merger of the Edward Rutledge, Clearwater, and Potlatch timber concerns; from 1949 until his death he was board chairman of Potlatch Forests, Inc.

He was well known in the timber industry for his progressive ideas in forest conservation. In addition to his principal business interest, he was a director of Boise Payette Lumber Co., Weyerhaeuser Sales Co., the Columbia Electric & Manufacturing Co., and the Northern Pacific Railway Co. At one time he served on the advisory board of the Spokane and Eastern branch of the Seattle First National Bank.

Known for his local philanthropic activities, Jewett made substantial gifts to St. John's Cathedral and other Spokane institutions. He financed the Donald Kirk David Fellowships at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, donated the James Richard Jewett Observatory at Washington State College, and made a substantial contribution to the music department of the University of Idaho.

He was a member of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, serving as chairman of its conservation committee during 1931-1935. He was also a member of the Society of American Foresters, Western Forestry and Conservation Association (president, 1936-1943), North Idaho Forestry Association, North Idaho Conservation Association, and the Society of American Foresters. Locally he belonged to the Rotary, Country, and City clubs of Spokane. He was lay reader at St. John's Cathedral in Spokane, and director of the National Episcopal Church Foundation.

George Frederick Jewett died in Spokane, Washington, November 23, 1956. He is buried in Coeur d'Alene.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The papers of George Frederick Jewett span the years 1907-1963, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1936 to 1945. The papers include personal business correspondence of Jewett, and financial statements of companies with which Jewett was associated, especially the St. Joe Boom Company. There are also some typescripts of speeches given by Jewett. Several Potlatch Forest reports from the 1960s do not belong with the papers, but were among the material received from the Forest History Society, and have therefore been retained in the collection.

Many of the financial records may be duplicated in other manuscript collections in the University of Idaho Library: the George Frederick Jewett papers, MG 43; Potlatch Forests, Inc. records, MG 96; or Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway Company records, MG 139.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The papers of G.F. Jewett were in no apparent order when received, therefore a series order was imposed during processing.

The correspondence in series one tends to relate to his personal business interests; it is in chronological order. Most of the speeches relate to the lumber industry, but one is political in nature, endorsing the candidacy of Wendell Wilkie and Stephen Chadwick. Also included is one article about Jewett.

The second series contains correspondence and annual reports of several forestry associations with which Jewett was associated. The items are separated by organization and are in chronological order within folders.

The third series contains annual reports and other financial statements for several Weyerhaeuser companies, most numerous among these are materials for the St. Joe Boom Company. All items are separated by company, then placed in chronological order within each folder. Although the dates in the following inventory are inclusive, in reality there are many gaps in the holdings.

The final series contains materials which do not relate to Jewett. The articles deal with forestry issues, as does one item in the legislative folder, a forestry bill introduced in the Montana Legislature. The other legislative item is a summary of legislation enacted by the 26th session (1941) of the Idaho Legislature. The James Fesler material includes a letter from a 6 year old German girl, a war orphan, dated 1948, and a list of Fesler's wartime activities.

Acquisition Information

The papers of George Frederick Jewett, Sr., were donated to the University of Idaho Library by the Forest History Society following an evaluation of their collections in December 1983.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I. Correspondence and Speeches , 1936-1952Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1-2
Correspondence
86 items
1936-1943
1/3
Correspondence, Rock Island Lumber
6 items
1936-1937
1/4
Correspondence, Training Program
16 items
1949-1952
1/5
Speeches by George Frederick Jewett
6 items
1938-1941

Series II. Organizations with which Jewett was Associated , 1936-1947Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/6
American Forest Products Industries
2 items
1941-1942
1/7
American Forestry Association
1 item
1947
1/8
National Lumber Manufacturers Association
45 items
1938-1942
1/9
Western Forestry and Conservation Association
5 items
1936-1941

Series III. Companies with which Jewett was Associated , 1907-1963Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
St. Joe Boom Company
Box/Folder
1/10
Correspondence
3 items
1920
1/11-13
Annual Statements
19 items
1914-1932
1/14
Audit Reports
6 items
1932-1949
1/15-16
Income Tax Accounting, Worksheets, and Correspondence
41 items
1902-1925
1/17
Financial Worksheets
5 items
1909-1925
1/18
Inventory of Supplies
5 items
1924-1929
1/19
Trial Balances
23 items
1932-1951
1/20
Miscellaneous Financial Records
3 items
1907-1926
1/21
Bonners Ferry Lumber Company. Financial Statement
1 item
1937
1/22
Clearwater Timber Company. Annual Report
9 items
1935-1947
1/23
Northwest paper Company. Annual Report to Stockholders
2 items
1948-1949
Potlatch Forests, Inc.
Box/Folder
1/24
Annual Statement
1 item
1931
1/25
Annual Report to Stockholders
9 items
1934-1948
1/26
Arkansas Project, Engineering Study
1 item
1961
1/27
Expansion Program
1 item
1963
2/28
Potlatch Forests, Production Recommendations
6 items
1938-1943
2/29
Potlatch Yards. Annual Reports
3 items
1941-1943
2/30
Red Collar Line. Audit Reports
5 items
1937-1942
2/31
Edward Rutledge Timber Co. Balance Sheet
1 item
December 9, 1940
2/32
Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway. Annual Financial Statements
3 items
1935-1939
2/33
Wood Briquettes, Inc. Annual Report to Board of Directors
5 items
1943-1947
2/34
Yakima Valley Lumber Co., Audit Report
1 item
1939

Series IV. Other Papers , 1929-1948Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
2/35
Articles
16 items
1937-1948
2/36
James Fesler
2 items
1948
2/37
Financial Reports
4 items
1929-1943
2/38
Legislation
2 items
1941

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Lumber trade -- Idaho

Corporate Names

  • Potlatch Forests, inc.
  • Saint Joe Boom Co.

Occupations

  • Vice president, 1935-1946; president, 1946-1949; and chairman of the board of Potlatch Forests, Inc.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Jewett, George Frederick, 1896-1956--Archives.