Hecla Consolidated Mining Company records, 1871-1922
Table of Contents
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Hecla Consolidated Mining Company (Mont.)
- Title
- Hecla Consolidated Mining Company records
- Dates
- 1871-1922 (inclusive)18711922
1871-1906 (bulk)18711906 - Quantity
- 8.5 linear feet
- Collection Number
- MC 1
- Summary
- The Hecla Consolidated Mining Company was a Glendale, Montana, gold and silver mining company. Records (1871-1900; 1921-1922) include incoming correspondence to mining department superintendent Samuel A. Barbour, interoffice correspondence (1877-1881) and letterpress books (1871-1886) of outgoing correspondence of general manager Henry Knippenberg. There are also employment records (1876-1922); financial records; a minute book (1898-1906); minor legal documents; production records; and miscellany.
- Repository
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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 - Access Restrictions
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Collection open for research.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical Note
The Hecla Consolidated Mining Company was organized in January, 1877, at Indianapolis, Indiana. The company then bought mining property at Glendale, Montana, in Beaverhead County, and involved itself in the smelting and reduction of gold, silver, lead, and copper.
The first mine manager was Noah Armstrong, a local Glendale speculator, who was responsible for the company's formation. His tenure lasted two years until he was replaced in 1879 by E. C. Atkins, founder of an Indianapolis saw works. Atkins served only two years in the post. During his management the company's smelter burned and a new structure had to be erected at a cost of $20,000. This calamity, coupled with poor management, led the concern into a debt of $77,000. A change in management was promptly called for by the stockholders.
Henry Knippenberg, at that time managing director of the Atkins Saw Works, was offered the position as Hecla's general manager. His decision to accept the job came in March, 1881, but only after an on-the-spot tour of company property the month before. Following the inspection Knippenberg's report to the Board of Directors was not an optimistic one. Despite this report and his initial reservations, Knippenberg believed he could make the Hecla properties turn a profit--thus he accepted the position. He based his decision on fifteen years experience in the manufacturing business and his five years as a Pennsylvania coal mine manager. Knippenberg immediately obtained financing to correct the company's unstable condition. After getting $95,000 from New York backers he wasted no time in getting to Glendale in April, 1881. Within three months the firm's debt had been repaid and a ten percent monthly dividend was returned to the stockholders.
By 1886 the Hecla Mercantile and Banking Company, a separate subsidiary of the mining company, was organized with capital stock of $100,000. The company was a consolidation of Gaffney and Purdam of Melrose; Armstrong-and Losee, and Noah Armstrong and Company of Glendale, and Wilson, Rote and Company of Hecla. These represented three mercantile firms and one bank. Henry Knippenberg also served as the concern's president during its twelve years of business. He also involved himself in local politics, serving for a time as a Beaverhead County Comissioner, a state representative, and a member of Montana's 1889 Constitutional Convention.
Through the 1880s and early 1890s the Hecla Consolidated continued to prosper, and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 encouraged the production of silver. The repeal of the act, though, in 1893, ended the federal government's required monthly purchases of this precious metal. The company's yearly reports reflected the loss. Along with an accompanying decline in available ore of all kinds, the Hecla's small profit soon turned into a deficit. The mining firm ceased operations in 1904. Henry Knippenberg purchased the Hecla properties in 1906, for $28,000 and soon after disposed of them himself. A syndicate of Philadelphia investors bought the mining interests and organized a new Hecla Consolidated Mining Company.
Content Description
The most important materials in the collection are interoffice correspondence (1877-1881, 1885, 1893) between mining department superintendent Samuel A. Barbour and general manager Henry Knippenberg and other company officials. In addition there are outgoing letterpress volumes (1871-1886) of Noah Armstrong, J.W. Earl, Henry Knippenberg, George Conway, and others. There are employment records (1876-1922) including payrolls, time books, and payments charged to employees' accounts for store and boarding house; financial records (1875-1899) including bills, freight bills, journals, ledgers, supply records, and trial balances; minor legal documents; a minute book (1898-1906); and production records (1877-1895) include assay reports, mine timber books, ore receipts, and ore shipments. In addition there is an unsigned account (possibly by Benjamin F. White) or a prospecting trip in 1880 to Lion City.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Use
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Library & Archives does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Preferred Citation
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. Helena, Montana.
Administrative Information
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into nine series: Interoffice Correspondence (1877-1881, undated); General Correspondence (1885-1942); Outgoing Correspondence (1871-1894); Employment Records (1876-1922, undated); Financial Records (1875-1904, undated); Legal Documents (1877-1893); Minutes (1898-1906); Production Records (1878-1900, undated); and Miscellany (circa 1880). One folder in Employment Records series housed in mapcase.
Detailed Description of the Collection
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Interoffice Correspondence
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Description: Chronological (correspondents include Charles Armstrong, Noah Armstrong, Samuel A. Barbour, R.Z. Thomas)Dates: 1877Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1-3
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Description: Chronological (correspondents include Noah Armstrong, Samuel A. Barbour, G.G. Earle, Byron H. Cook)Dates: 1878Container: Box/Folder 1 / 4-5
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Description: Chronological (correspondents include Samuel A. Barbour, G.G. Earle, Byron H. Cook, H.F. Brown, Merritt Potter, E.C. Atkins, C.W. Hardisty, Henry Knippenberg)Dates: 1879Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6-10
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Description: Chronological (correspondents include Samuel A. Barbour, E.C. Atkins, Noah Armstrong, Henry Knippenberg, Merritt Potter)Dates: 1880Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11-13
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Description: Chronological (correspondents include James Parfet, Henry Knippenberg, G.G. Earle, Samuel A. Barbour)Dates: 1881, undatedContainer: Box/Folder 2 / 1
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General Correspondence
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Description: Chronological (correspondents include Thomas Ford, George W. Newkirk, Joseph H. Harper, Theresa Purdum, George B. Conway, H.W. Norris)Dates: 1885, 1893-1895, 1923, 1942Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
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Outgoing Correspondence
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Description: Letterpress books (include outgoing and interoffice correspondence, primarily written by Noah Armstrong, J.W. Earl, and Henry Knippenberg)Dates: 1871-1882Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3-5
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Description: Letterpress book (includes outgoing and interoffice correspondence, primarily written by Henry Knippenberg)Dates: 1882-1886Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1-3
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Description: Letterpress book (photocopy of volume in Box 3, folder 3)Dates: 1885-1886Container: Box/Folder 4 / 1
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Description: Letterpress book (includes outgoing and interoffice correspondence, primarily written by George Conway; typewritten transcription by Jim Eighorn on CD: MM 64)Dates: 1892-1894Container: Box/Folder 4 / 2
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Employment Records
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Description: Donation subscription lists for injured employees, hospital debt, etc.Dates: 1879-1883Container: Box/Folder 4 / 3
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Description: Payments charged to employees' accounts (includes room and board and store)Dates: May-December 1878Container: Box/Folder 4 / 4-7
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Description: Payments charged to employees' accounts (includes room and board and store)Dates: 1879-1896, undatedContainer: Box/Folder 5 / 1-12
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Description: Payroll (Atlantis and True Fissure mines)Dates: 1878Container: Box/Folder 6 / 1
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Description: Payroll (Atlantis, Cleve, Emma, and True Fissure mines, concentrator dept., miscellaneous)Dates: 1879Container: Box/Folder 6 / 2-7
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Description: Payroll (Atlantis, Cleopatra, Cleve, and True Fissure mines, Lion Mountain Tunnel and tram road, engine room)Dates: 1880Container: Box/Folder 6 / 8-13
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Description: Payroll (all operations)Dates: 1881-1882Container: Box/Folder 6 / 14-15
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Description: Payroll WorksheetsDates: October 1883-March 1884Container: Oversize Folder 1
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Description: Payroll (all operations)Dates: 1884-1888Container: Box/Folder 7 / 1-5
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Description: Payroll (all operations) [incomplete set: some years missing]Dates: 1889-1902Container: Box/Folder 8 / 1-7
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Description: Time books (Atlantis and True Fissure mines and unidentified)Dates: 1876-1881Container: Box/Folder 9 / 1-5
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Description: Time books (Atlantis and True Fissure and other mines and unidentified)Dates: 1881-1886 1890-1895 1921-1922Container: Box/Folder 10 / 1-7
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Financial Records
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Description: Bills and invoices (miscellaneous, scattered)Dates: 1876-1884, undatedContainer: Box/Folder 11 / 1-8
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Description: Bills: freightDates: 1884-1891Container: Box/Folder 11 / 9-15
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Description: Bills: freightDates: 1892-1899Container: Box/Folder 12 / 1-3
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Description: Checkstub books [scattered]Dates: 1883-1892Container: Box/Folder 12 / 4-7
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Description: Expense statements (monthly)Dates: 1898Container: Box/Folder 13 / 1
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Description: Inventories of suppliesDates: 1878-1882Container: Box/Folder 13 / 2-5
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Description: JournalsDates: 1875-1880Container: Box/Folder 13 / 6-8
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Description: LedgerDates: 1876-1877Container: Box/Folder 13 / 9
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Description: LedgersDates: 1877-1879Container: Box/Folder 14 / 1-2
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Description: LedgersDates: 1880-1881, 1891-1904Container: Volume 1-2
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Description: LedgerDates: undatedContainer: Volume 3
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Description: Poor and road tax collections from minersDates: 1882-1887Container: Box/Folder 14 / 3
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Description: Sundries charged to mining expenses (small notebook)Dates: 1879-1880Container: Box/Folder 14 / 4
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Description: Supply estimatesDates: 1878-1881Container: Box/Folder 14 / 5
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Description: Supply invoicesDates: 1879-1881Container: Box/Folder 14 / 6
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Description: Supplies received: Atlantis Mine, True Fissure MineDates: 1879-1881Container: Box/Folder 14 / 7-11
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Description: Trial balances (monthly)Dates: 1880, 1882 undatedContainer: Box/Folder 14 / 12-13
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Description: Warehouse account with Hecla MinesDates: 1879Container: Box/Folder 14 / 14
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Description: Workbook (includes wood deliveries, time reports, development work calculations, etc.)Dates: 1879-1886Container: Volume 4
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Description: Miscellaneous (includes account of Richard Apps and James Nickels; numbers of men working; blank check)Dates: 1881, undatedContainer: Box/Folder 14 / 15
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Legal Documents
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Description: Contract bids for Lion Mountain TunnelDates: 1882Container: Box/Folder 15 / 1
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Description: ContractsDates: 1878-1882Container: Box/Folder 15 / 2
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Description: Coroner's report on death of Jacob SchoenauerDates: July 1887Container: Box/Folder 15 / 3
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Description: Deed to Queen of the Forrest lode claimDates: 1877Container: Box/Folder 15 / 4
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Description: Indemnity bondDates: 1893Container: Box/Folder 15 / 5
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Description: Mining claim filingsDates: 1879-1880Container: Box/Folder 15 / 6
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Description: Patent application: Calle P. NixholmDates: 1893Container: Box/Folder 15 / 7
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Description: Writs of attachmentDates: 1879-1880Container: Box/Folder 15 / 8
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Minutes
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Description: Minute book (includes complete list of property and statement re sale)Dates: 1898-1906Container: Box/Folder 15 / 9
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Description: Report of Board of Directors to Stockholders [removed from minute book]Dates: 1906Container: Box/Folder 15 / 10
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Production Records
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Description: Assay reportsDates: 1877-1888Container: Box/Folder 16 / 1-19
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Description: Assay reportsDates: 1888-1895Container: Box/Folder 17 / 1-17
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Description: Mine timber booksDates: 1882, 1889-1892Container: Box/Folder 18 / 1-2
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Description: Ore receipts (Atlantis and True Fissure mines)Dates: 1877-1881Container: Box/Folder 18 / 3-7
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Description: Ore receipts, scattered (weighmaster)Dates: 1888-1900Container: Box/Folder 18 / 8-12
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Description: Ore receipts (statements)Dates: 1879-1882Container: Box/Folder 18 / 13-15
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Description: Ore receipts (misc.)Dates: 1888Container: Box/Folder 19 / 1
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Description: Ore reportsDates: 1878-1881Container: Box/Folder 19 / 2-3
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Description: Ore shipmentsDates: 1878-1881Container: Box/Folder 19 / 4-6
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Description: Tramway elevation and gradeDates: undatedContainer: Box/Folder 19 / 7
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Description: Miscellaneous (includes measurements, feet driven)Dates: 1882, undatedContainer: Box/Folder 19 / 8
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Miscellany
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Description: Unsigned account of prospecting trip to Lion City (possibly written by Benjamin F. White)Dates: circa 1880Container: Box/Folder 19 / 9
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Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Assaying
- Mines and mineral resources--Montana--Beaverhead County
- Reduction works--Montana
- Wages --Montana--Glendale
