In 1899 a group of business persons, among them Eugene R. Day, founded the Happy Day Mining Company Limited, establishing themselves as a mining corporation with articles of incorporation and by-laws. The company's main business was to have been the mining of 115.3 acres of land (worth about $580) consisting of the Happy Day, Grey Eagle, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minneapolis, and Snowslide lodes located just northeast of the Hercules mine.
On October 4, 1899 the stockholders of Happy Day met for the first time, elected directors, approved by-laws, and made plans to issue certificates of stock.
In 1901 Happy Day made the first assessment on its capital stock to raise money for development of the claim. Again in 1902 and 1903 Happy Day levied assessments for the same purpose. In all, Happy Day levied a total of nineteen assessments between 1901 and 1944.
Although the record is not entirely clear, there seems to have been a small amount of work started around 1903. The minutes are consistent from 1899 to 1915 and show that only a small amount of work was ever accomplished--a tunnel of approximately fifty to one-hundred feet in length. Most meetings were held only to elect directors and officers and to levy assessments.
From 1915 to 1924 there exists in the records a gap, during which time the charter of the corporation lapsed. In 1924 three members of the board of directors met again to elect new officers, approve a loan for $600 to pay debts, and plan for the reinstatement of Happy Day as a corporation in Idaho. At this meeting Henry L. Day was elected a director and vice-president of the corporation to fill the unexpired term of Eugene R. Day, who died in 1922.
From 1925 to 1947 it appears that the stockholders and board of directors met only to levy assessments and elect directors and officers. The tax returns of Happy Day indicate that it was "non-productive" and had "no income." The stockholders met in 1947 and voted to approve a resolution calling for the consolidation of Happy Day with nine other mining companies. These companies plus two others merged to form Day Mines, Inc. on October 1, 1947. Of the six directors of Happy Day in 1947, four (Henry L. Day, F.M. Rothrock, R.W. Anno, and S.F. Heitfeld) became officers of Day Mines. Stockholders in Happy Day received seven shares of Day Mines, Inc. for each one thousand shares of Happy Day.
The records of the Happy Day Mining Company span the years 1899 to 1947, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1910 to 1947. Included are minutes of meetings, financial statements, correspondence with stockholders, annual statements and reports to state agencies, a stock ledger, assessment records, lists of stockholders, a financial ledger and cashbook, a voucher register, and tax returns.
The records of Happy Day are divided into five series.
The first series, Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, includes a bound volume of minutes, 1899-1947, which also contains the articles of incorporation, by-laws, notices of meetings, notices of assessments, and proofs of publication. A folder of related material contains notes from meetings, copies of the minutes, including the last stockholders meeting (September 23, 1947) which is not recorded in the bound volume. Also included are notices of meetings, lists of stockholders, ballots, reports on elections, proxies, notices of assessments, and correspondence with stockholders. Annual report balance sheets and a file of the correspondence of Daniel Morgan, president of the company, 1912-1924, also form part of this series.
General Correspondence and Related Records, the second series, contains an alphabetical file of correspondence with stockholders, annual reports to the state of Idaho, stock lists, contracts, and agreements.
The third series is Capital Stock Records. Included are a stock ledger, stock audits, records relating to assessments, including correspondence, lists of delinquent stock and proofs of publication.
The fourth series, Financial Records, contains a stock ledger, cashbook, voucher journal, bank statements, and receipts and invoices for supplies, printing, and work done under contract.
Tax Records, the final series, consists of property tax receipts for the years 1912-1931 and Corporation Income Tax returns for the state of Idaho for the years 1923-1947.
Removal of cancelled stock certificates, returned assessment notices, vouchers, and duplicate materials reduced the size of this collection by 3 cubic feet.
The records of the Happy Day Mining Company are part of the records of Day Mines, Inc., donated to the University of Idaho by Henry Day in 1984 and 1985.
Initial processing of this manuscript group was done by Gregory Eisenlein in May 1987.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.