Agriculture

Central Sheep Growers Association Papers, 1930-1934 (Mss 249)
The Association was formed to cooperatively market the wool produced in central North Dakota.

William Dickinson Papers, 1891-1954 (Mss 236)
Dickinson was a North Dakota merchant and rancher.  The collection contains some correspondence and extensive subject files covering topics such as finances, ranching diaries (1914-1925), his Dickinson Abstract Company, historical newspaper clippings on the West, Stark County Taxpayers Association, and the 1895 high school class prophecy for his class at Moire, New York.

Ralph Diehl Papers, 1936-1993 (Mss 280)
Hillsboro, N.D. farmer, active in the Republican Party and served in the North Dakota Legislature in the 1960s.

Steven Downing Papers, 1888-1957 (Mss 17)
Downing was the Manager of the Downing farm near LaMoure and Mooreton, North Dakota.  The collection concerns mainly his farming and and personal financial problems, particulary in the 1930s.  The collection also contains correspondence and interviews with Downing as well as correspondence with his son, Wellington, while he served in the United States Navy during World War II.

John F. Fay Papers, 1903-1986 (Mss 217)
John Fay, a farmer near York, North Dakota, preserved his farm financial records providing detailed accounting of the family and business income and expenses from approximately 1923 to 1960.  There are also records of a threshing partnership, his cattle shipping business at Rugby, North Dakota, and participation in the federal Plains Shelterbelt Project of 1935-1936.

Fred A. Fleischman Papers, 1882-1920 (Mss 21)
The collections contains Mr. Fleischman's  detailed farm account books (450 p.) listing all expenses and income by catagories such as household expenses, dry goods and wearing apparel, farm expenses, hired help, building of home, and income.

Willard E. Hankel Papers, 1941-1995 (Mss 261)
Willard E. Hankel was a farmer at Oakes, North Dakota in Dickey County.  His farm diaries cover 1946-1960 and 1982-1995, calendars of daily action span 1961-1981, plus financial journal records for 1941.  Other records document the Hankel family in North Dakota.

Albert Hoiland Papers, 1899-1939 (Mss 444)
Mr. Hoiland was a North Dakota inventor.  The collection contains various United States and foreign patents and promotional material for some of his inventions including wild oats separator (most extensive), valves, lignite grate, freight car door, flying machine (helicopter), cow trainer, car guide, and fan for explosive engines.

Joanna Hollister Papers, 1908-1955 (Mss 4)
Mrs. Hollister was a Devils Lake, North Dakota farmer and activist.  The collection contains some letters, wedding announcement, memorial pamphlet for husband Clark W. Kelley, passport, and pages from scrapbook documenting her farming career and organization involvement.

Jules Lebrun Papers, 1930-1975 (Mss 201)
Jules Lebrun, a farmer near Langdon, North Dakota, kept incredibly detailed farm account journals and diaries from 1930 to 1969 without any gaps.  The journals document all farm and home income and expenses, whil the diaries record the daily activities of the Lebrun family.

North Dakota Cattle Women - Unprocessed (Acc. 2846)
Current accession includes the scrapbooks of the Border Belles CattleWomen division (northwest N.D.) covering the years 1982-1983, 1987-1988, 1992-1996. Scrapbooks document the activities of the division, the state association, and the North Dakota Stockmen's Association of which the Cattle Women is the auxiliary.

North Dakota Hereford Auxiliary Scrapbooks 1976-1984 - Unprocessed (Acc. 2847)
Three scrapbooks (1976-1984) documenting the activities of women's auxiliary related to the raising and promotion of Herford cattle in North Dakota.

Northwest Farm Management Association Records, 1917-1984 (Mss 122)
The Association was organized in 1909 to serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas and farm practices.  The collection consists of the the executive committee meeting minutes (1925-1980, incomplete); extensive correspondence; files for its annual winter meetings, field days and tours; annual reports (1958-1967); membership directories, biographical files on Cap E. Miller, its executve secretary (1926-1951), Ole Olson, Pioneer of the Year nominees, and other members; various financial reports; and publicity material.

Ole H. Olson, 1911-1952 (Mss 1060)
Olson was a New Rockford settler and North Dakota governor.  The collection contains threshing account books, travel expense, stallion service books, and homestead deeds.  The collection also contains material relating to Olson's political career.

William R. Page, 1937-1980 (Mss 241)
Page served as a Grand Forks County agricultural extension agent.  He deposited his diaries with the Institute.  The diaries document his work as a county agent and his family life.

James B. Power, 1872-1930 (Mss 309)
Power was a Northern Pacific land agent and farmer.  The collection contains 14 volumes of indexed correspondence that give valuable information on the inside operation of the railroads and the opening of agricultural lands in North Dakota.  The collection also contains material related to Power's farm at Helendale and the early settlement of the Red River Valley.

Rosebud 4-H Club Records, 1935-1992 (Mss 204)
The Rosebud 4-H Club of Casselton, ND was founded in 1935 as a home economics club. The collection contains the treasurer's and secretary's records and also a scrapbook for the club's 50th Anniversary.

Ransom County Trust Company Records, 1899-1949 (unprocessed)
The Company was established in Sheldon, N.D. in 1888 and incorporated in 1899 as the Ransom County Immigrant Association.  The collection consists primarily of over 6,000 case files of mainly land and farm mortgage transactions handled by the firm from 1899 to circa 1930.  In addition there are bylaws and meeting minutes (1899-1947), general correspondence files of the company and its principal partners, Edmund Pierce, F. W. Fromeke, P. W. Fromeke, Charles Bangert, Thomas Pierce, and Frank E. Shaw.  (Collection in off-site storage; contact archives staff for access information.)

Rainer Schickele Papers, 1931-1975 (Mss 224)
Shickele was an agricultural economist who taught at North Dakota State University and later worked for the United Nations in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  Schickele published numerous articles and studies concerning the viability of small farms and how to best utilize a region's resources for agricultural purposes.

L. R. Waldron Collection, 1901-1954 (Mss 36)
Waldron was a North Dakota Agricultural College wheat breeder.  The collection includes several letters, articles by and about Waldron, list of his publications, newspaper clippings, speeches, pedigree of North Dakota No. 1 Wheat, and copies of some of his articles.

Ralph Ward Papers, 1875-1960 (Mss 354)
Mr. Ward was a North Dakota rancher and banker.  The collection contains correspondence dealing chiefly with farming, ranching, legal and financial matters, land transactions, politics and banking; and biographical stories by his uncle Henry Ward, about pioneer life in in Dakota Territory to include Black Hills gold mining, 1881 Mandan flood, life in Owego colony in 1873, and hauling freight in a blizzard.  There is also clippings and articles on Ward's father-in-law, Reuben N. Stevens, and the Ward family; and business records and legal papers of Ward and Stevens relating to their agricultural, banking, and business affairs, including tax matters and the North Dakota Taxpayers Association.

Oscar A. Will Family Collection, 1887-1969 (Mss 1026)
Oscar Will homestead near Bismarck, ND and focused his attention on the seed and nursery business.  His seed company, Ocar H. Will & Co., was the first nursery in North Dakota.  The collection consists of various biographical materials on Mr. Will and his son George, publications by George F. Will, and catalogs of Oscar H. Will & Co.
 

Bonanza Farming

Amenia-Sharon Land Company Records, 1856-1967 (Mss 134)
The Company was a Cass County Bonanza farm managed and later owned by the late Chaffee family.  The collection consists of company records, its subsidiaries, and persons involved.  The company records span 1875-1923 and include meeting minutes, financial records, correspondence, and farm crop records.  The subsidiaries include: John Miller Co. (1894-1922), Red River Valley Land and Investment Co. (1895-1900), Chaffee Grain Co. (1894-1922), Wanotan Land Co. (1900-1910), Chaffee-Miller Milling Co. (1906-1922), Miller-Chaffee-Reed Co. (1906-1919), H. F. Chaffee Co. (1913-1956), Manor Farms-Carrie T. Chaffee Estate (1921-1952), and others.  Personal papers include E. W. Chaffee, Herbert F. Chaffee, Carrie T. Chaffee and children, Walter R. Reed, Peter E. Stroud, William L. Guy, Robert B. Reed, and the estates of John Miller and J. B. Vail.  there are also the papers on the C. W. Caddigan gold brick affair (1909-1912) and J. H. Reed diary excerpts.

Baldwin Corporation Records, 1823-1954 (bulk 1898-1936) (Mss 160)
The Company was founded in 1898 and was based in Appleton, Wisconsin with large land holdings (75,000 acres) in Dickey Country, ND.  The collection consists of personal family papers of George Baldwin (1830-1907), its founder; his son, George B. Baldwin (1876-1949); and Charles F. Baldwin (1879-1947), as well as other family members.  The extensive business records, beginning in 1853, cover Mr. Baldwin's early legal and land interests, the Baldwin Land Company, his estate and the Baldwin Corporation.
 

Manuscript Subject Listing