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Butte Tombstone Company Records, 1903-1967

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Butte Tombstone Company
Title
Butte Tombstone Company Records
Dates
1903-1967 (inclusive)
Quantity
18 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 247
Summary
The Butte Tombstone Company was incorporated in 1903 to carve and sell stone for burial monuments and construction. The company eventually opened offices in Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula, Montana, and Idaho Falls, Idaho. The collection contains business records (1903-1967) including general and interoffice correspondence (1905-1910), account and cash books (1917-1920), general ledgers (1906-1917), organizational records (1903-1967); and subject files (1905-1924). The subject files include customer and supply orders that provide excellent information for genealogy, including deceased persons name, next of kin, dates of birth and death, and the shape, size and location of the monument.
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
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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Historical Note

Incorporated in Butte, Montana, on August 5, 1903, the Butte Tombstone Company stated its business goals as "making monuments, headstones, tombs, grave decorations, vaults, copings, fencing, house buildings, and fiscal dealings." James Welch served as the first president, Horatio Hazelton as secretary, and Julia Welch as vice president.

Between 1903 and 1909 the company expanded to offices in Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, and Missoula, Montana, and Idaho Falls, Idaho. The main office remained in Butte, while the other shops were managed by one of the major stockholders. Each office had regional sales representatives responsible for installation and sales

In 1911, after several years of steady losses, the major stockholders, including Horatio Hazelton, O. Hazelton, Dale Hodson, Mathew Roche, Albert Mooney, and Charles Mooney, divested their holdings in return for control of certain assets. The Hazeltons took over the Billings Marble and Granite Works, Bozeman Marble Works, some Helena assets, and a portion of the Missoula assets. Dale Hodson retained control over the Missoula Monumental Company and its assets. Mathew Roche gained ownership of the Helena Monumental Company. The Butte holdings and corporate name were retained by the Mooney family. The former business partners retained close ties.

The Mooney brothers, Albert and Charles, and their families, owned and operated the Butte Tombstone Company until its sale in 1967. Their assets included the Union Granite Works located in Butte, and the Idaho Falls Monument Company. After 1925 Charles Mooney resigned from the Butte Tombstone Company to run the Idaho Falls Monument Company. From 1955 until 1967 Butte Tombstone operated at a loss. In 1967 the family sold the business to the general manager, Hugh Choquette. The company closed its doors for good in 1990.

The Mooney family arrived in Montana in 1877 when John A. Mooney, and his wife Catherine McCarthy, were stationed at Fort Missoula. After his tour ended, John Mooney moved his family to Helena. His sons, Albert S. and Charles E., born in 1871 and 1878 respectively, were both apprenticed at an early age to learn granite and monument work. Albert S. moved to Butte in late 1890s. He bought interest in the Butte Tombstone Company in 1903. His brother joined him in this business venture, serving as the Billings branch office manager for the next ten years. In 1911 the Mooney brothers took over the Butte office and all its holdings. Albert S. married Laura M. O'Brien in 1899. Their son, Albert S. was born June 23, 1900. Charles E. married Nellie Allard in 1900. They had three sons, Walter E., Frank L., and Harry L.

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Content Description

This collection consists of interoffice correspondence (1907-1910) between the various branch offices and the main office in Butte--mostly outgoing; financial records (1905-1922, 1956-1960) including account books, banking records, cash books, journals, inventories, invoices, reports and statements for the Butte office and the branch offices; organizational records (1903-1910, 1958-1967) including articles of incorporation, bylaws and minutes from board and stockholders meetings; and subject files (1904-1925, 1962) divided into "customer" and "supplies" orders. The "customers" files contain correspondence, sketches, order forms, and payment records for customer monument orders. The "supplies" files contain corespondence sketches and bids for projects solicited by Butte Tombstone Company, filed by the name of the company that won the bid. Losing bids were left with the winning bid. Collection also includes miscellaneous files (1912-1918, n.d.) consisting of business cards, forms, photographs of sample tombstones, and price lists.

The Idaho Falls Monument Company subgroup consists of subject files (1922) for "customers". These were separated to avoid confusion between Montana and Idaho burials. Fiscal records can be found in annual and monthly reports for company holdings.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

by series

Processing Note

Processing Information:

These records arrived in very poor condition, with water damage, extensive silt accumulation and no internal order. Since the correspondence consisted mainly of copies of letters sent between the branch offices and the main office in Butte, the letters were organized into an Interoffice Correspondence series. The letters were filed chronologically, with the receiving offices noted for each file.

The Financial Records also lacked internal order, but they did seem to focus more on the finances of company as a whole, rather than individual offices. As a result the records for all offices were sorted by function and then by office.

The Customer Order Subject Files were filed alphabetically by the year the order was filled. That order was retained. The files, however, contained materials of various sizes, with little consistancy in content from one file to the next. This made interfiling a challenge. In order to give the best access and minimize loss of the smaller items it was decided that files over two pieces of paper would be foldered individually. All files under two pieces were interfiled alphabetically.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition Information:

available upon request

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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

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Burials--Manners and customs
  • Genealogy
  • Tombstones

Geographical Names

  • Billings (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Bozeman (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Butte (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Helena (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Missoula (Mont.)--Commerce


2004

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

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