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John Henry Sheffels Papers, 1910-1968

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Sheffels, John Henry, 1903-1963
Title
John Henry Sheffels Papers
Dates
1910-1968 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 158
Summary
John Sheffels (1903-1963) was a Cascade County, Montana, wheat farmer and owner of Sheffels Farms, Inc. He served on the Farm Credit Board, the Montana Grain Producers Association, the Cascade County Wheat Production Control Association, and the State Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). Collection (1910-1968) includes correspondence, speeches, publications, and subject files concerning wheat production, farming innovations, government agricultural programs, etc. [Photographs transferred to the Photograph Archives. Publications transferred to Library, Montana State Library and University of Montana Library.]
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
Access Restrictions

Collection is 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.
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Historical Note

John Henry Sheffels was born on January 15, 1903, in Wilbur, Washington, and was raised near there on the wheat farm owned by his father, Robert. In 1918 Robert Sheffels moved from Wilbur and started a ranch north of Great Falls, Montana, on land purchased from the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. John Henry Sheffels moved to the Montana ranch in 1925, and eventually formed Sheffels Farms, Inc. which was described by the Great Falls Tribune in 1963 as "one of the most modern and extensive ranches in the state." Sheffels Farms was involved principally in the production of wheat and maintained a private grain elevator in Dutton as a storage facility. Sheffels was also president of Central Machinery Company, a firm he started in 1947, which served as the Caterpillar Tractor agency for seventeen counties in central Montana. Sheffels was active in numerous agricultural organizations on the local, state, and regional levels. In 1933 he helped to organize and served as first president of the Cascade County Wheat Production Control Association. He was also involved with the Cascade County Farm Labor Committee, the Cascade Tenant Purchase Committee (Farm Security Administration), and the Cascade County Agricultural Planning Board. He was appointed to the Montana Grain Board in 1935, elected to serve as chairman of the state Agricultural Adjustment Administration committee from 1936 to 1938, elected chairman of the state Agricultural Conservation Committee in 1937, and served as vice president of the Montana Grain Producers Association in 1940. In 1941 Sheffels was appointed as a member of the Farm Credit Board of Spokane; he was the youngest person ever to serve as a Farm Credit Association director. Sheffels was also active in fraternal and community activities. In cooperation with Charles Bovey and Joseph Kinsey Howard he helped organize the Historic Landmark Society of Montana in 1944. John Henry Sheffels died in Great Falls of a heart attack on July 14, 1963.

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Content Description

Papers. 1910-1968. 1.5 linear feet. The John Henry Sheffels Papers consist primarily of correspondence and subject files relating to Montana farming and the administration of the federal government's agricultural programs. Included are copies of speeches and reports dealing with national agricultural policies as well as Montana farm problems. There is little material documenting Sheffels' affiliation with a variety of committees, boards, etc.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

by series

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

  • Biographical Materials

    • Description: Clippings; vita; etc.
      Dates: 1942, n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1
      Location: Biographical Materials

  • General Correspondence

    • Description: Chronological (correspondents include George E. Farrell; United States Department of Agriculture; Charles C. Bovey; Elmer Holt; Albert J. Borton; J.C. Taylor; U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration [AAA]; George E. Farrell; John Dexter; Burton K. Wheeler; James E. Murray; N.E. Dodd; Rocky Mountain Elevator Company; Farmers Union Legislative Committee)
      Dates: 1934-1939
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 2
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Chronological (correspondents include Farmers Union Grain Terminal Association; James E. Murray; Burton K. Wheeler; U.S. Farm Credit Administration; U.S. Farm Security Administration; Thomas A. Ross; U.S. Agriculutral Adjustment Administration [AAA]; John D. Black; E.A. Starch; Henry A. Wallace; N.E. Dodd)
      Dates: 1940-1943
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 3
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Chronological (correspondents include U.S. Office of Price Administration; U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration; N.E. Dodd; Burton K. Wheeler; Great Falls Chamber of Commerce; U.S. War Food Administration; Federal Land Bank of Spokane; Carnes-Shaw Ditch Company)
      Dates: 1944
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 4
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Chronological (correspondents include Carnes-Shaw Ditch Company; U.S. Farm Credit Administration; Burton K. Wheeler; Mitchell, S.C. Daily Republic; Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce; Production Credit Associations; Gov. Sam C. Ford; Zales H. Ecton; Wesley A. D'Ewart)
      Dates: 1945-1949
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 5
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Chronological (correspondents include S.B. Wallander; C.C. Morrison; Montana Crop Improvement Convention)
      Dates: 1952-1955
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6
      Location: General Correspondence

  • Miscellaneous Correspondence

    • Description: Miscellaneous (includes Mrs. Henry Sheffels to James Battin; circular letter from Y Dairy Products Co-operative; Fred Dufresne; telegrams)
      Dates: 1965, n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 7
      Location: Miscellaneous Correspondence

  • Photographs

    • Description: List of photographs transferred to the Photo Archives
      Dates:
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 8
      Location: Photographs

  • Printed Material

    • Description: U.S. Farm Credit Administration
      Dates: 1935-1946
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
      Location: Printed Material
    • Description: Montana State College, Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletins [scattered]
      Dates: 1930-1949
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
      Location: Printed Material
    • Description: New Frontiers; Alexander Botts Earthworm Tractors; Mainspring
      Dates: 1934, 1946-1947
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11
      Location: Printed Material
    • Description: U.S. Department of Agriculture
      Dates: 1936-1944, 1954,1962 n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
      Location: Printed Material
    • Description: Miscellaneous
      Dates: 1939-1947, 1962, n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
      Location: Printed Material
    • Description: List of printed materials transferred to the Montana Historical Society Library, the State Library, and the University of Montana Library
      Dates:
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
      Location: Printed Material

  • Subject Files

    • Description: "Automobile Stabilizer Invention"
      Dates: 1934, n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "Cascade County:" (includes livestock inventory; statistical maps; Farm Labor Committee; Extension Program; "Rural Neighborhood Leaders;" Wheat Adjustment Administration; Farmers Union; Agricultural Planning Board; "Report of Conservation Conference;" Agricultural Conservation Program, Bozeman)
      Dates: 1920-1942
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "Farm Loans" (re Farm Credit Administration, Tenant Purchase Loans, Federal Land Bank - Land Bank Commission)
      Dates: 1910-1946
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "The Farm Problem;" "How the Montana Crop Improvement Association Can Serve the Wheat Grower;" "Postwar Taxation;" "Managed Currency;" "Monopoly;" etc.
      Dates: 1940-1946, n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "Montana Grain Producers Association"
      Dates: 1936-1939 1940,1953 n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8-9
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "Old Town Promoter" (Historic Landmark Society)
      Dates: 1944-1947
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "Oregon Wheat Commission"
      Dates: 1947-1950
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "Sheffels Farms, Inc." (includes description, precipitation chart, fertilizing results)
      Dates: 1926-1968
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 12
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "Statistics, Wheat - Montana"
      Dates: 1923-1964
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 13
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "U.S. Government Reports and Speeches" (USDA reports, bulletins, etc.)
      Dates: 1937-1962
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "U.S. Government Reports and Speeches" (miscellaneous reports)
      Dates: 1938-1944, n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 2
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "U.S. Government Reports and Speeches" (miscellaneous speeches)
      Dates: 1936-1961
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 3
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "U.S. Government Reports and Speeches" (Henry A. Wallace speeches)
      Dates: 1936-1940
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 4
      Location: Subject Files

  • Miscellany

    • Description: re Chicago Board of Trade, Research Institute, Northwest Farm Forum, etc.
      Dates: 1947-1968, n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 5
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Miscellaneous
      Dates: n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 6
      Location: Miscellany

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Agricultural credit
  • Sureyors
  • Wheat
  • Wheat farmers

Geographical Names

  • Cascade County (Mont.)


April 21, 2015

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