James McCampbell Lyle Papers, 1883-1949

The papers of James Lyle span the years 1883 to 1949, with the bulk of the material dated between 1901 and 1940. The correspondence is all incoming. From 1902-1918 it is from D.S. Waskey of the Deming Investment Company, Oswego, Kansas. Waskey was one of the original Peck Townsite promoters, but after moving to Kansas from Colfax, Washington, he wished to divest himself of his Peck property and paid Lyle a commission to sell the lots for him. Many of the letters contain comments on early Peck residents. After 1920, when Lyle moved to Lewiston, a majority of the letters are from his Peck patients who wrote him about their medical problems and sought his advice.

The bills and receipts include such things as poll, property, and road tax receipts, fish and game licenses, dog licenses, utility bills, rent receipts, medical supply invoices, and insurance receipts.

The practitioner's visiting lists and call lists are a chronological records of visits, including the patient's name, date of the visit and the charge. Each book also contains a section for recording births and deaths. The patient account books list all charges for an individual patient during the period covered by the book. There are also some records for the Lyle Drug Store in Peck, and several account books for the farm and orchard property.

Included in the last series are the articles of incorporation and the by-laws for the Peck Publishing Company, James Lyle's early report cards from Franklin High School, and an early essay on Charles Dickens.