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John H. Shober Sr. papers, 1832-1952

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Shober, John H., 1832-1925
Title
John H. Shober Sr. papers
Dates
1832-1952 (inclusive)
Quantity
2.5 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 69 (collection)
Summary
John Shober (1832-1925) was a Helena, Montana, miner, attorney, and state legislator. Collection (1832-1952) includes descriptions of frontier social and mining conditions. Included are subgroups for Shober's nephew John H. Shober, Jr., manager of a ranch near Townsend; and of his niece Harriet Shober Nolan, wife of Cornelius B. Nolan.
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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Biographical Note

John Shober was born in Loudon County, Virginia, on January 5, 1832. After attending law school in Cincinnati, Shober was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1852. In 1854 he began practicing law in Minnesota where he participated in the organization of Dodge County. In 1858 Shober moved to Yankton, Dakota Territory. While in Yankton he was elected to the Territorial Council, serving as its president in 1862. Shober participated in the initial formation of the Dakota Territory after his election to the Territorial Council. He served as the Council's president in 1862.

In 1864 Shober joined the Sully Expedition and travelled to Montana Territory, arriving in Helena by September, 1864. He mined in Nelson and Holmes Gulches, while beginning his law practice in Helena. In 1865 he ran for district attorney and defeated Cornelius Hedges. He won that office again in 1867. That year Shober also formed a law partnership with Thomas J. Lowry. Shober, an ardent Democrat with pro-Confederate sympathies during the Civil War, was elected a member of the 1866 Constitutional Convention. In 1894 Shober was elected to the Fourth Legislative Assembly as a Populist.

Shober invested in mining and ranching properties. The Elkhorn Mining Company (established in 1883) and the Montana Mining and Improvement Company (established in 1887) were two of his larger investments. Shober was a pioneer in the formulation of mining and water rights law. John H. Shober never married and was cared for in his old age by his niece Harriet Shober Nolan. Shober died in Helena on August 22, 1925.

John H. Shober, Jr. was born in Dexter, Iowa, about 1870. He was the son of Nerva and Herod Shober and the nephew of John H. Shober. He worked on his father's farm, attended Rathbun's Business College in Omaha, Nebraska (1888-1890), and entered the feed business with his father in Dexter in 1891.

In 1900 Shober left Iowa and settled on his uncle John Shober's ranch near Townsend, Montana. He continued to manage his uncle's property for a number of years, and after the death of his uncle and his sister Harriet Shober Nolan (1929), he moved to Helena where he entered the real estate business. John H. Shober never married. He died in 1952.

Harriet Shober was born in Dodge County, Minnesota, in the early 1850s and moved to Dexter, Iowa, when she was sixteen years old. The teaching certificates she earned between 1876 and 1885 enabled her to teach in the Adair County, Iowa, schools.

In 1887 Harriet moved to Helena, Montana Territory, and lived with her uncle John H. Shober. In 1894 she married Cornelius B. Nolan, a Helena attorney, and involved herself in Helena's social affairs. Harriet Nolan, like her uncle, was active in Democratic politics and served as Democratic National Committeewoman for several years.

Harriet Shober Nolan died at Lake McDonald, Montana, on August 23, 1929.

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Content Description

This collection consists of three subgroups: John H. Shober; John H. Shober, Jr.; and Harriet Shober Nolan.

The John H. Shober subgroup contains interview notes with Shober by A.J. Noyes (circa 1917), miscellaneous incoming correspondence, outgoing correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and miscellany. The majority of the correspondence is between John and his father George and brother Herod. John H. Shober describes the conditions in Dakota and Montana in the early and mid-1860s. Several letters describe the mining conditions in and around Helena. Other correspondence reflects John Shober's political attitudes in the 1860s and 1870s. The financial and legal records in this subgroup document Shober's mining investments. There are also some miscellaneous materials including some memo books belonging to George Shober, some identification papers, etc.

The John H. Shober, Jr. subgroup consists of incoming correspondence (primarily love letters) (1880s-1940s) and some miscellaneous general correspondence. The legal documents and the three subject files in this subgroup deal with his interest in several mining companies. There are also some miscellaneous items.

The Harriet Shober Nolan subgroup consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence (1877-1929), including letters from suitors and from Cornelius B. Nolan prior to his marriage to Harriet, as well as correspondence from school friends who became teachers and administrators at the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute in Valparaiso, Indiana. The subgroup also contains some minor financial records (1928-1929) and miscellany (1876-1926).

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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

Arranged by subgroup and series. Some material housed in oversize folder in archives map case. See inventory below for more information.

Location of Collection

4:4-4

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Separated Materials

Printed material, maps, photographs, and artifacts transferred to Library, Library Map Collection, Photograph Archives, and Museum respectively. See inventory below for more information.

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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

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Frontier and pioneer life--Montana
  • Legislators--Montana
  • Mines and mineral resources--Montana--Jefferson County
  • Mines and mineral resources--Montana--Lewis and Clark County
  • Mines and mineral resources--Montana--Silver Bow County
  • Overland journeys to Montana
  • Political parties--Montana
  • Railroad travel
  • Ranches--Montana

Personal Names

  • Nolan, Cornelius B., 1855-1922
  • Nolan, Harriet Shober, -1929 (creator)
  • Shober, John H. 1870-1952 (creator)
  • Shober, John H., 1832-1925 (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Broadwater County (Mont.)--Agriculture
  • Helena (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Helena (Mont.)--Description
  • Helena (Mont.)--Politics and government
  • Helena (Mont.)--Social life and customs
  • Lewis and Clark County (Mont.)--Politics and government
  • Townsend (Mont.)
  • Yellowstone National Park--Description and travel
  • Yellowstone National Park--Leased departments, concessions, etc.

Finding aid prepared by Joan Bishop, 1978
2006

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

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