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Smith Brothers Lumber Company records, 1892-1988

Overview of the Collection

Title
Smith Brothers Lumber Company records
Dates
1892-1988 (inclusive)
Quantity
174 boxes, 6 ledgers, 765 blueprints, (144 linear feet)
Collection Number
UUS_COLL MSS 342
Summary
This collection is mostly made up of ledgers, product catalogs and blueprints retained by the Smith Brothers Lumber Company during its nearly one hundred years of business.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008
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Biographical Note

One of the oldest family-owned businesses in Utah, the Smith Brothers Lumber Company existed in Logan, Utah from 1892 to 1988. Perhaps the oldest lumber and construction company in Utah, this collection presents a unique opportunity to access over ninety years of business records supplemented by architectural drawings and plan books.

Sources: Requisition documents prepared by A. J. Simmonds.

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Content Description

This collection consists of the virtually complete business records of the Smith Brothers Lumber Company of Logan, spanning the period 1892 to 1988. It is divided into four series: business records, catalogs and artifacts, Wendell E. Smith's personal and family papers, and a collection of architectural drawings, blueprints, and specifications produced by/for Smith Brothers Lumber Company that directly correlates to these business records.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this collection is its breadth. Standing as a complete business record, the components of this collection allow the researcher to gain an understanding of business practices throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The plethora of meticulously kept ledgers not only contain valuable information, but they exhibit the art of bookkeeping prior to computer technology as well as how such practices changed over time. Perhaps the most interesting among these are the credit ledgers, which show how credit was awarded and collected before credit cards. Additionally, they are a valuable resource to anyone interested in local history or in investigating specific people in the community. Also of note are the bill of sale ledgers, which exist in their entirety as a complete run.

The business correspondence section is another point of interest as it demonstrates not only how businesses conducted themselves but offers insight into the language and courtesy of different time periods. Also, the inclusion of a vast array of intricate and interesting letterheads from both national and local companies is both noteworthy and thought-provoking.

Perhaps the most usable component of the collection is the catalogs and plan books. As did most other lumber companies during the early twentieth century, Smith Brothers Lumber Company offered its patrons the latest in domestic architectural trends through a wide variety of catalogs and plan books. As the modern housing movement swept through the country, builders relied heavily on these new purveyors of popular designs and styles and, as the companion collection of architectural blueprints shows, the customers of Smith Brothers Lumber Company used these books extensively. The collection is very broad, including plan books for dozens of different house types along with catalogs offering a variety of interior and exterior adornments. Again, the breadth of this collection allows these catalogs to show the shift in styles and trends over time, which is also of considerable interest.

Other items include personal papers of Wendell E. Smith and family, photographs, company advertising/promotional items, and artifacts. Overall, this collection presents a researcher with several different opportunities to learn about Cache Valley, domestic architecture, business practices, hundreds of different people, and to observe how all of these things changed and/or progressed throughout the twentieth century.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Smith Brothers Lumber Company records must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives manuscript curator and/or the Special Collections and Archives department head.

Preferred Citation

Initial Citation: Smith Brothers Lumber Company records USU_Coll Mss 342, box [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library. Logan, Utah.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is organized into four series: Series I is made up of business records, Series II is the Northern Wasatch Development Company, Series III is the personal papers of Wendell E. Smith and family, and Series IV contains architectural blueprints, which are located in Map Cabinet #6.

Location of Collection

.Blueprints are located in Map Cabinet #6

Processing Note

Processed by Jami J. Van Huss, Clint Pumphrey, and W. Tyson Thorpe from 2008 to March 2010.

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated to USU Special Collections and Archives by Kenneth E. Smith of Salt Lake City on August 23, 1990. In 2000, Alan Smith donated additional records that have been assimilated into the collection, filling the appropriate gaps their absence created.

Separated Materials

Series IV contains architectural blueprints which are located in Map Cabinet #6.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid/Register created by Jami J. Van Huss
2010

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

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