View XML QR Code

Philip Richmond Barbour Papers, 1862-1944

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Barbour, Philip Richmond, 1900-1955
Title
Philip Richmond Barbour Papers
Dates
1862-1944 (inclusive)
Quantity
11 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 95 (collection)
Summary
Philip Barbour (1900-1955) was a Helena, Montana, mine operator and amateur historian. His papers include personal correspondence (1911-1944), legal documents (1923-1944), and other materials, including historical research files on Samuel T. Hauser, Bannack, Gold Creek, the Helena Mining and Reduction Company, typhoid fever in Butte, the Montana Club, etc. The collection contains subgroups for Barbour's father, Dr. George H. Barbour (1880-1943); his mother's family, the Raleigh's; and for several mining companies, including Montana Lead, Inc. (1880-1944), and the Valley Forge Mining Company (1906-1939), both of Rimini, Montana.
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 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.
Return to Top

Biographical Note

Philip Richmond Barbour was born on South Rodney Street in Helena, Montana, April 23, 1900, the second son of Dr. George Hauser Barbour and Susan Raleigh Barbour.

Dr. Barbour had come to Montana in 1887, at the urging of his mother's brother, Samuel T. Hauser, Montana pioneer, governor, and businessman. Dr. Barbour became one of Helena's most respected physicians, treating many of the most prominent people of the city, as well as serving for forty years (1887-1927) as physician for the East Helena smelter. Dr. Barbour also invested in mines in Rimini and Wickes and was a member of the prestigious Montana Club.

After graduating from Helena High School, Philip Barbour enlisted in the Marines in 1918, but World War I was over before he had completed his training. Philip was nominated to West Point and studied there for one year. He then transferred to the University of Washington at Seattle where he also spent one year. After working as a salesman for Enamel Products, Inc., in Cleveland, Ohio, for three years, Barbour returned briefly to a military career as a member of a mounted guard known as the Black Horse Troop.

In 1925, Barbour invested in Miami Beach, Florida, real estate. When his Florida venture failed, Barbour returned to Helena to help his father in his Rimini mining properties. He first worked for the Valley Forge Mining Company. In November 1927, Barbour joined with S.T. Hauser, Jr., Edmond G. Toomey, and George Norman Slade to form Montana Lead, Inc., to develop the Rimini property for lead and arsenic. Montana Lead took over the properties of the former Red Mountain and Valley Forge companies, both of which had been owned by George Barbour and others, and the Lee Mountain Mine which had been operated primarily by C. Walter Geddes. The company operated during the 1930s with varying success until it was sold at sheriff's sale in 1938.

A few years after his father's death in 1942, Barbour left Montana to settle in the East. He founded Southern Minerals, Inc., in North Carolina. Throughout his life, Barbour was interested in Montana history, especially as it related to Samuel T. Hauser. He did considerable work on a planned history of Montana, written around the life and work of Hauser. He also did research on the history of the Montana Club. In 1931, Philip Barbour married Marion Holter, daughter of Norman B. Holter. They had two sons, James Anton and Philip J., born in 1938 and 1939, respectively. Barbour died July 14, 1955, in Martinsville, Virginia.

Return to Top

Content Description

This collection includes a subgroup containing Philip R. Barbour's personal correspondence and legal documents, and another containing his historical research files. There are subgroups for George H. and Susan R. Barbour, Raleigh W. Barbour, Susan Barbour Page, William B. and Medora T. Raleigh, Walter W. and Clara B. Raleigh, Albert C. Raleigh, Margaret Raleigh Havard, and Katherine Hartt. There are also subgroups for four Rimini mining companies: Montana Lead, Inc., and its predecessors Lee Mountain Mine, Red Mountain Consolidated Mining Company, and Valley Forge Mining Company. In addition, there are smaller subgroups for the Montana Club, for the Sterling and Muffly law firm, and for John Woodruff, a Rimini miner.

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society 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 Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by subgroup and series. Some material housed in Manuscript Volumes. Some material housed in Archives Map Case. See inventory below for more information.

Location of Collection

5:6-2

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Separated Materials

Magazine articles as well as maps have been transferred to the Library. See inventory below for more information.

Return to Top

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

  • Arsenic
  • Clubs
  • Frontier and pioneer life--Montana
  • History research
  • Lead mines and mining--Montana--Helena
  • Lead mines and mining--Montana--Rimini
  • Military art and science
  • Military education
  • Mines and mineral resources--Montana--Lewis and Clark County
  • World War, 1914-1918

Personal Names

  • Barbour, Philip Richmond, 1900-1955 (creator)

Finding aid prepared by MHS staff
2004

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

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

Loading...
Loading...