Correspondence, reminiscences, family
papers, photographs, essays, maps, and other printed materials on the Bockmier,
Perry, and Ross families and the development of Whitman County. In addition,
there are records of the Whitman County Tuberculosis Association and the
Washington Water Power Company.
Repository:
Washington State University Libraries:
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Funding for encoding this finding
aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Paul T. Bockmier was the scion of a prosperous pioneer family of
Whitman County. He was born in a log cabin on the banks of the Palouse River on
September 15, 1891, the oldest child of Sarah Farnam Bockmier and Paul Thaddeus
Bockmier, Sr. His surviving brothers and sisters were Ralph, Carl, Waneta,
Lettie and Charles. During his youth he worked with his father on local
business interests, including a mining company. He acquired a basic knowledge
of business at the same time. He was also an inventor and developed a type of
drinking fountain. In 1918, he became an employee of The Washington Water Power
Company. Throughout his long life (he died in Garfield in 1977), he was an avid
collector of regional historical paraphernalia. An amateur historian, a direct
result of his sense of pioneer heritage, he gained access to numerous papers,
memoirs and photographs relevant to historical development of the Palouse. Many
of these were directly related to his own family history, particularly his
mother's family, the Perry-Ross Family.
Bockmier began his association with the Washington Water Power Company
(WWP) as an employee in 1918. During his long career, he rose to District
Manager in Garfield and retired from that position in 1956. His Washington
Water Power material provides insight into the coming of electricity to the
Palouse and the role it has played in the development of the area.
Bockmier and his wife, Lou Ella, were active in a number of social and
service organizations. One of the most important of these was the Whitman
County Tuberculosis Association. In his role as historian, Bockmier compiled
histories both of this organization and the Washington Water Power Company. He
employed many of the materials he had collected to do so.
Content Description
Photographs, family documents, family histories, regional historical
pamphlets, business papers and correspondence, financial papers, maps, and
brochures make up the bulk of the papers.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
This collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation :
[Item Description]. Cage 94, Paul Thaddeus
Bockmier Papers . Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The Paul T. Bockmier papers have been arranged in five groups or
series: Bockmier Family Papers, Perry-Ross Family Papers, materials on Whitman
County history, Papers of the Whitman County Tuberculosis Association, and
Records of the Washington Water Power Company. The arrangement is an arbitrary
topical arrangement, as the records were in no recognizable order as received
by the Library.
The second gift of Bockmeier's papers is maintained as Series six. The
papers consist of correspondence, business records such as bank statements, and
records of invention. The papers are arranged by type of material,
chronologiocally thereunder.
Acquisition Information :
The Paul T. Bockmier Papers were donated to the Washington State
University Libraries between 1959 and 1977. (77-41)
Additional papers of Paul Bockmier were donated to the Washington
State University Libraries in 1992 (accession MS92-61) by the Latah County
Historical Society.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
Series 1: Bockmier Papers,
, 1880-1965
Container(s)
Description
Box/Folder
1 / 1
Correspondence: Business and
personal correspondence of P. T. and Lou Ella Bockmier, , 1923-1949
40
items.
1 / 2
Financial: Business receipts and
ledgers,, 1910-1941
20
items.
1 / 2
Palouse Choral Society Records,
1 / 3
Investment records: Business
papers, drillhole records, leases, stock certificates, stock holding reports,
stock agreements of the Palouse River Coal and Development Company and related
companies, , 1913-1929
20
items.
1 / 4
Investment records: Prospectus
reports, board members, stock reports, plats of Gold Creek Mining district and
other records of investments of P. T. Bockmier, Sr., , 1910-1933
15
items.
1 / 5
Membership Cards, , 1919-1977
15
items.
1 / 6
Woodmen of the World: Pamphlets,
financial statements, correspondence, , 1942-1948
5
items.
1 / 7
Religious Affiliations and
Fraternal Organizations: Church pamphlets, Masonic Information, Scottish Rite
pamphlets, , 1940-1950
20
items.
1 / 8
Photographs of P. T. Bockmier and J. D.
Lewis, , 1938-1965
7
items.
1 / 9
P. T. Bockmier's Patented
Sanitary Drinking Fountain, , 1918
2
items.
1 / 10
Bockmier Family History:
Photographs, newsclippings, compiled history, , 1885-1959
Miscellaneous History of Garfield
and Environs: History of first public school in Garfield, and other papers
(program, notes) donated by Emmett F. Dix and Mrs. Joy Matlock, , 1879-1903
3
items.
2 / 16
Miscellaneous History of Garfield
and Environs: Descriptions of early buildings, such as Flour Mill (1891),
American Legion and record of its bylaws (1891), information about Garfield
Christian Church (1907), history of Garfield Christian Church., 1890-1962
10
items.
2 / 17
Miscellaneous history of Garfield
and Environs: Newspaper clippings, community promotional information and
pamphlets, handbills, regional women's club handouts, , 1920-1967
20
items.
2 / 18
Early Palouse: Palouse
promotional papers, description of Palouse in 1889, , 1889-1890
3
items.
2 / 19
Concerts and Cultural Activities:
Concert programs, sheet music, Chautauqua announcements and information,
, 1910
15
items.
2 / 20
Handbills and Announcements:
Market Day Dance (Odessa), Garfield Clean-up Week, Political
announcements., 1840-1849
4
items.
2 / 21
Publications: Daughters of the
American Revolution, Whitman County chapter, pamphlets on local industry,
Almira High School Annual., 1919-1945
13
items.
2 / 22
Homestead Certificate,
, 1888
1
item.
2 / 23
Photographs of Early Whitman County,
, 1888-1920
17
items.
2 / 24
Photographs of Early Whitman County,
, 1888-1920
30
items.
2 / 25
Whitman County Agricultural
Association: Miscellaneous papers and publications., 1943
General History of Washington
Water Power: Early history, history of WWP in Spokane and Inland Empire, The
Illuminator (1949)., 1889-1956
3
items.
4 / 30
WWP & Spokane United
Railways: Political information, employee information, handouts and
lessons., 1930-1945
14
items.
4 / 31
History of Electricity in the
Palouse Region, , 1893-1974
4 / 32
History of WWP in the Garfield
District: Brief history, substation papers, some business correspondence, plats
of Garfield and Farmington, 1913, District Manager meeting notes, WWP sales
program for 1946., 1889-1946
10
items.
4 / 33
WWP Time Books (Garfield,
Odessa), , 1939
2
items.
4 / 34
WWP Publications, Pamphlets and
Information, , 1925-1945
10
items.
4 / 35
WWP
Photographs, , 1900-1956
15
items.
4 / 36
(missing- 10-01)
5 / 37
Publications of WWP Whitman
County Meter Books,
topographic maps of WWP districts, WWP
Service Certificate, WWP Employee Convention
Photographs, , 1923
20
items.
5 / 38
Preliminary inventories,
, 1968.
2
items.
O.S. / 39
Photographs of pioneer life, first
transport for school children in Whitman County (1911), Garfield Choral Society
(1909), Palouse Basketball Team (1910)., 1909-1911
Correspondence:
Bockmier, Paul, Sr.Correspondence:
Bockmier, Sarah & siblingsCorrespondence:
Bockmier,Ralph H.Correspondence:
Bockmier, Carl W. USN, 1904-1919; , 1917-1919; , 1911-1918; , 1916-1918
6 / 45
Correspondence: Cousins
, 1906-1917.
6 / 46
Book:
Wilcox, Cornelius DeWitt:
War French, , 1918.
7 / 47
Letters from
Kildow, Oscar , 1908-1919.
7 / 48
Letters from Friends , 1908-1917.
7 / 49
Letters from Friends , 1918-1919.
7 / 50
Greeting Cards.
7 / 51
Graduation & Reunion
Announcements & Invitations.
7 / 52
Wedding Invitations.
National Bank of Palouse Checking
Account: Cancelled checks & Duplicate check stubs.
Box/Folder
8 / 53
1913-1917
8 / 54
1917
8 / 55
1917-1918
8 / 56
1918
8 / 57
Business Correspondence: Palouse
Business College, Northwest Business College, State College of Washington,
State Normal School, Standard Shorthand School, American School of
Correspondence, Blair Business College, Eugene Business College, International
Correspondence Schools, Spokane Expert School of Business., 1908-1918
8 / 58
Business Correspondence:
, 1910-1917.
8 / 59
Business Correspondence:
, 1918-1919.
8 / 60
Business Correspondence: "The
Sanitary Drinking Fountain," Paul T. Bockmier's invention, , 1915-1919.
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.
Personal Names :
Bockmier, Paul T., 1891-1977. --Archives
(
creator)
Family Names :
Bockmier family
Perry family
Ross family
Corporate Names :
Historical Map Collection waps
Washington Water Power Company
Whitman County Tuberculosis Association
Subject Terms :
Tuberculosis --
Washington (State)--Whitman County
