The Ray-Jefferson Mining Company was organized August 14, 1909, for the purpose of engaging in general mining. The first claims included, the "Ray" Lode, the "Jefferson" Lode and the "Lincoln" Lode, all in the Beaver Mining District in Shoshone County Idaho.
The first of the Ray-Jefferson directors included: David C. Smith, president; Daniel L. McGrath, vice president; E.G. Ellis, secretary/treasurer; A.G. Kerns, assistant secretary; and Edward Dolan. Little action occurred under their direction until 1915, at which time the "Carlisle", "Hill Group," and "Carbon Creek" mining claims were purchased and parts of the Ray-Jefferson mine were leased to other mining companies.
In 1916, Eugene and Harry Day locked horns with Interstate-Callahan over the acquisition of the Ray-Jefferson property. Although they were successful in acquiring the property, a higher price was paid than the fair market value. The new directors included Eugene R. Day, president, secretary and treasurer; Harry L. Day, vice-president; George L. Garrett, D.L. McGrath and James J. Murphy. James P. Maggy took over the position of secretary/treasurer a year later. A number of loans were taken out for the construction of the Ray-Jefferson mill with the hopes of a large return on profits. However, the Ray-Jefferson failed to live up to the Days' earlier expectations and little profit was made.
In 1918 the mine was closed and in 1919 the company began yearly assessments to repay debts acquired during their two years of operation. The assessments were so regular that when no assessments were levied in 1932 and 1933, a number of concerned stockholders wrote to the company because they had not received their yearly notice of assessment and were worried about their stock becoming delinquent. Some stockholders even went as far as to send in money so the stock would not become delinquent.
By 1940, Eugene R. Day had passed away and a new set of directors took over. These included Jerome J. Day, president; George K. Garrett, vice president; S.F. Heitfield, secretary/treasurer; and Frank M. Rothrock. During this year, the Day brothers convinced the directors of the Ray-Jefferson, Blue Grouse, Virginia, and Amazon-Manhattan Mining companies, to consolidate their properties into one company. The Days felt the most economical way was to create a new company, the Monitor Mining Company, and then have each company in turn join Monitor, handing over all property owned by the companies.
The Ray-Jefferson Mining Company existed for twenty-six years in which time little profit was made. All three of the Day brothers were at one time or another on the board of directors with Jerome and Eugene Day playing a major role in the end of the Ray-Jefferson, as well as the beginning of the Monitor Mining Company.
The records of the Ray-Jefferson Mining Company span the years 1909 to 1951, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1916 to 1940. Included are minutes of meetings, financial statements, correspondence with suppliers and stockholders, stock ledgers and journals, assessment records, lists of stockholders, financial ledgers, voucher and check registers, tax returns, and time books and payroll records.
Related materials can be found in the records of the Monitor Mining Company and among the papers of John H. Wourms.
The records of the n Mining Company are divided into five series: Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, 1909-1940; General Correspondence and Related Records, 1915-1944; Capital Stock Records, 1910-1940; Financial Records, 1916-1951; Personnel Records, 1914-1916, 1929-1937
The first series, Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, includes minutes and other records relating to meetings.
General Correspondence and Related Records, the second series, contains an alphabetical file which includes annual reports and statements, tax returns, claims, invoices, leases, contracts, stock related material and general correspondence.
The third series is Capital Stock Records. Included are stock ledgers and journals, and assessment records.
The fourth series, Financial Records, contains voucher registers for both the mine and the mill, financial ledgers, an appraisement, and a check register.
Personnel Records, the fifth series, includes time books and payrolls. Additional payroll records can be found in Monitor no. 362, 1916-1918
Removal of cancelled stock certificates, returned assessment notices, vouchers, paid checks, and duplicate materials reduced the size of this collection by 2 cubic feet.
The records of the Ray-Jefferson 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 Lena M. Johnson in December 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.