Montana Historical Society Research Center
Archives
225 N. Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT 59620-1201
(406) 444-2681
mhslibrary@mt.gov

Guide to the Browning Mercantile Company records, 1907-1927


MC 230





Finding aid prepared by Ellie Arguimbau, 1992

Finding aid encoded by Ellie Arguimbau with assistance by Cuadra Associates, 2005
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.


Overview of the Collection
 
Repository Name:
 

Montana Historical Society Research Center
Archives

225 N. Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT 59620-1201
(406) 444-2681
mhslibrary@mt.gov
 
Collection Number:
 

MC 230
 
Creator:
 

Browning Mercantile Company (Browning, Mont.)
 
Title:
 

Browning Mercantile Company records
 
Dates:
 

1907-1927 (inclusive)
 
Quantity:
 

5.5 linear feet of shelf space
 
Languages:
 

English 

 
Summary:
 

The Browning Mercantile Company was a Browning, Montana, general mercantile firm founded by Thaddeus E. Scriver and Horace C. Willits. Records (1907-1927) include general correspondence (1914-1927), cash books, daybooks, trial balance books, ledgers, and miscellany.

 

Historical Note

The Browning Mercantile Company was founded in 1907 by Thaddeus E. Scriver and Horace C. Willits under the name Willits and Scriver. In December 1913 the company was incorporated as the Browning Mercantile Company. Thaddeus Emery Scriver was born in Clarenceville, in the province of Quebec, Canada, on November 17, 1879, the son of James and Mary Scriver. He attended the Royal Military Academy in Toronto and Stanstead Commercial College. He then enlisted as a bugler in the Sixth Hussars under Major George H. MacFie. Following his military service, he bagan working for the Minneapolis Journal. There he met J.H. Sherburne who invited him to work for his newly established Sherburne Mercantile Company at the Blackfeet Indian Agency in Browning, Montana. In 1907 Scriver opened his own store with Horace C. Willits. The store served as the official trader for the Blackfeet Reservation and as a general mercantile. Thaddeus Scriver married Ellison Westgarth MacFie, daughter of his former regimental commander, in 1911. They had two sons Harold Scriver and Robert Scriver. Thaddeus was a mason and an active sportsman. He died August 14, 1971. Horace C. Willits was partner with Thaddeus E. Scriver in their mercantile business from 1907 to 1925 and was vice president of the Stockmen's State Bank in Browning. Around 1925 he moved to South Bay, Florida, where he worked for two years for the South Shore Transportation Company before setting up his own business.

Content Description

Records include general correspondence (1914-1916, 1919-1927) with a variety of wholesalers, fur traders, automobile supply houses, and customers. Many of the suppliers' letters enclose brochures, price lists, and other materials documenting fashions and products of the period. In addition there are financial records including orders (1915, 1927) for goods, mostly scribbled on small scraps of paper; cash books (1909-1924), and ledgers (1907-1917). legal documents (1916-1926); court papers (1914-1927); and miscellany.

Arrangement

by series

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information 

Acquisition information available upon request

Subjects

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.

 
Baseball--Montana
Blackfeet Indians--Montana
Public welfare--Montana
Retail trade--Montana
General stores--Montana
Browning (Mont.)--commerce
Glacier County (Mont.)--commerce

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection


 

Financial Records

 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
volume
1

Cash book
  July 1919- Dec.1920
 

General Correspondence

 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box/folder
1 / 1

W.M. Adams
  1920-1926
 
1 / 2

E. Albrecht and Son (St. Paul fur dealers)
  1920-1924
 
1 / 3

A
  1914-1927
 
1 / 4

Baker, Heyne and Company (Chicago livestock commission)
  1927
 
1 / 5

Blackfeet Agency (mostly re merchandise orders)
  1914-1927
 
1 / 6

Blackfeet Irrigation Project
  1927
 
1 / 7

George Blinn (Washoe, Bear Creek, and Lochray coal dealer)
  1916-1923
 
1 / 8

Browning School District #9
  1916-1927
 
1 / 9

M.S. Bush (Cut Bank jeweler)
  1915-1916, 1926
 
1 / 10

Ba-Bj
  1914-1927
 
1 / 11

Bl-By
  1914-1927
 
1 / 12

Cascade Milling and Elevator Company
  1916-1926
 
1 / 13

E.C. Clapper Garage (Cut Bank Ford dealer)
  1920-1925
 
1 / 14

Collins Brokerage Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
  1919
 
1 / 15

J.B. Colt Company (New York City carbide lamp and generator manufacturer)
  1922
 
1 / 16

Columbia Graphophone Company / Columbia Phonograph Company
  1915-1916
 
1 / 17

Continental Oil Company
  1913-1927
 
1 / 18

Crosley Radio Corporation (Cincinnati, Ohio)
  1926-1927
 
1 / 19

Curtis 1000 St. Paul, Inc. (office stationery)
  1920-1927
 
1 / 20

Ca-Cl
  1914-1927
 
1 / 21

Co-Cu
  1914-1927
 
1 / 22

D
  1914-1927
 
1 / 23

Eddy's Steam Bakery / Eddy's Bakery (Great Falls)
  1920-1927
 
1 / 24

E
  1914-1927
 
1 / 25

John V. Farwell Company (Chicago fur and merchandise dealer); Farwell, Ozmun, Kirk and Company, St. Paul (wholesale hardware dealer)
  1915-1927
 
1 / 26

First National Bank of Harlem (enclosing checks for credit)
  1914
 
2 / 1-2

First National Bank of Harlem (enclosing checks for credit)
  1915-1916
 
2 / 3

First National Bank of Kalispell
  1915-1927
 
2 / 4

Flathead Commercial Company; Flathead Merchants' Association; Flathead Wholesale Company
  1914-1927
 
2 / 5

Foley Bros. and Kelly / Foley Bros. and Quinlan / Foley Bros. Grocery Company, St. Paul and Great Falls
  1914-1922
 
2 / 6

Foot and Foot, Kalispell attorneys C.H. Foot and E.B. Foot
  1923-1926
 
2 / 7

F
  1914-1927
 
2 / 8

Glacier County government
  1920-1927
 
2 / 9

Glacier County Abstract Company / Van Demark Abstract Company
  1920-1927
 
2 / 10

Glacier Park Hotel Company (includes R.D. Choquette, H.A. Noble, Charles Mankenberg, Mrs. Barney McDermott, Mrs. J.C. Graves, and "Margaret")
  1916-1925, n.d.
 
2 / 11

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company / Goodyear Rubber Company
  1914-1927
 
2 / 12

Gordon and Furguson (St. Paul fur and skin dealers)
  1914-1927
 
2 / 13

Great Falls Drug Company; Great Falls Meat Company; Great Falls Paper Company; Great Falls Tribune, et al.
  1914-1927
 
2 / 14

Great Northern Express Company; Great Northern Railway Company
  1914-1923
 
2 / 15

Great Western Monument and Granite Works (Miles City tombstone manufacturer)
  1916
 
2 / 16

G
  1914-1927
 
2 / 17

Hackett, Gates, Hurty Company (St. Paul wholesale hardware dealer)
  1920-1927
 
2 / 18

Hamilton-Brown Shoe Company (St. Louis and Boston)
  1915-1927
 
2 / 19

Hardware Dealers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Wisconsin / Hardware Mutual Casualty Company
  1924-1926
 
2 / 20

Mark G. Harris and Company (Chicago tailors)
  1914-1923
 
2 / 21

W.R. Hogsed
  1923
 
2 / 22

Holy Family Mission / Ursaline Convent (includes Alexander A. Anderson, Thomas Grant, James G. Old, and Sister M. Eulaline)
  1916-1926
 
3 / 1

H
  1914-1927
 
3 / 2

I
  1916-1927
 
3 / 3

Jackson and Neff (Shelbyville, Missouri, horse dealers)
  1921-1922
 
3 / 4

Janney, Semple, Hill and Company (Minneapolis wholesale hardware dealers)
  1920-1923
 
3 / 5

J
  1914-1927
 
3 / 6

Kalispell Flour Mills Company
  1914-1927
 
3 / 7

Kalispell Mercantile Company
  1914-1927
 
3 / 8

Kelly-How-Thomson Company (Duluth wholesale hardware dealer)
  1915-1926
 
3 / 9

Kirk Brothers (Gallup, N. M., Navaho rug dealers)
  1921-1926
 
3 / 10

Kranz, the House of Flowers (Great Falls)
  1920-1923
 
3 / 11

K
  1914-1927
 
3 / 12

Lindsay Fruit Company / Lindsay Great Falls Company / Lindsay-Kalispell Company
  1915-1926
 
3 / 13

L
  1914-1927
 
3 / 14

Marshall-Wells Hardware Company / Marshall-Wells Company (Duluth)
  1914-1927
 
3 / 15

McCaull-Dinsmore Company (Minneapolis wholesale grain dealer)
  1920-1921
 
3 / 16

Miller and Holmes (St. Paul wholesale produce dealer)
  1916-1926
 
3 / 17

Mitchell Lewis Motor Company (Racine, Wisc.)
  1914-1916
 
3 / 18

Montana Development Association (includes minutes of organizational meeting, preamble, newsletters, membership card)
  1919-1920
 
3 / 19

Montana Flour Mills Company
  1924-1927
 
3 / 20

Montana State Highway Commission
  1923-1926
 
3 / 21

Montana (other state agencies)
  1914-1927
 
3 / 22

Ma-Mi
  1914-1927
 
3 / 23

Mo-My
  1914-1927
 
3 / 24

Nash Spokane Company (wholesale produce dealer)
  1920-1923
 
3 / 25

Neustadter Brothers (Portland mens' furnishings dealer)
  1914-1927
 
3 / 26

Northern Montana Association of Credit Men
  1921, 1925
 
3 / 27

Northern Montana Development Association (re Roosevelt Highway guide book)
  1920
 
4 / 1

N
  1914-1927
 
4 / 2

Oskamp Nolting Company (Cincinnati jewelers)
  1915-1925
 
4 / 3

O
  1914-1927
 
4 / 4

Pacific Bone, Coal and Fertilizing Company (re shipment of bones)
  1915-1916
 
4 / 5

F.A. Patrick and Company (Duluth wholesale dry goods dealer)
  1914-1924
 
4 / 6

P.A. Peterson (includes 1925 Legislature, Troy Chamber of Commerce, Troy Commercial Company, H.C. Willits)
  1920-1927
 
4 / 7

P-Q
  1914-1927
 
4 / 8

Racine Woolen Manufacturing Company
  1915-1923
 
4 / 9

Radio-Auto Supply, Inc. (Great Falls and Havre)
  1925-1927
 
4 / 10

Retail Merchants Association of Montana
  1920-1923, n.d.
 
4 / 11

D. Claude Roberts (re Indian moccasins)
  1916
 
4 / 12

Roberts, Johnson and Rand (St. Louis shoe dealers)
  1920-1923
 
4 / 13

Ryan Fruit Company / Ryan-Havre Company (wholesale grocers)
  1923-1927
 
4 / 14

R
  1914-1927
 
4 / 15

P.H. Schaefer (Great Falls jeweler)
  1914
 
4 / 16

A. Schilling and Company (San Francisco coffee and tea dealer)
  1914-1926
 
4 / 17

H.J. Shinn and Company (Spokane fruit and produce dealer)
  1914-1916
 
4 / 18

Roy H. Smith (Ft. Defiance, Ariz.)
  1921
 
4 / 19

H.P. Stanford (Kalispell taxidermist)
  1915-1917, 1924
 
4 / 20

James Stone; J.M. Stone; J.W. Stone
  1925-1927
 
4 / 21

Stone-Ordean-Wells Company (Great Falls importers and jobbers)
  1915-1926
 
4 / 22

Suhr Fruit Company (Great Falls)
  1921-1927
 
4 / 23

Sa-Sh
  1914-1927
 
4 / 24

Si-Sw
  1914-1927
 
4 / 25

J.L. Taylor (Chicago merchant tailors)
  1924-1926
 
4 / 26

Terrell's Aquatic Farm, "Natural Foods for Attracting Wild Ducks" (Oshkosh, Wisc.)
  1923
 
4 / 27

Mary V. Telstad; Merton Telstad
  1926
 
4 / 28

Teton County government
  1914-1916
 
4 / 29

Tobacco By-Products and Chemical Corporation (re cattle dipping)
  1920
 
4 / 30

T
  1914-1927
 
4 / 31

U.S. Forest Service (re supplies for fire fighters)
  1924
 
4 / 32

U.S. Indian Service / Office of Indian Affairs (see also Blackfeet Agency)
  1921-1926
 
4 / 33

U.S. Internal Revenue Service / Collector of Internal Revenue
  1914-1927
 
4 / 34

United States Rubber Company (St. Paul)
  1920-1925
 
4 / 35

U-V
  1914-1927
 
4 / 36

Western Union Telegraph Company (re baseball results by telegraph)
  1926
 
5 / 1

H.C. Willits
  1925-1927
 
5 / 2

Wyman, Partridge and Company (Minneapolis wholesale dry goods dealer)
  1923-1927
 
5 / 3

W-Z
  1914-1927
 

Miscellaneous Correspondence

 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box/folder
5 / 4

Charles R. Ellis to Sherburne Mercantile Company (re Federal Food Conservation Division
  Nov. 1917
 
5 / 5

Robert J. Hamilton to Wolf Plume, White Antelope, Curley Bear, and Black Weasel (re A.E. McFatridge, allotment, and Blackfeet Indian Jurisdiction Act)
  1914
 
5 / 6

U.S. Office of Indian Affairs circular to superintendents and supervisors of Indian schools (re exhibition of products of native industries)
  1916
 
5 / 7

A-W
  1914-1924
 

Court Papers

 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box/folder
5 / 8

Affidavits and depositions
  1914-1923
 
5 / 9

Bankruptcy proceedings (re Otto Van Sanden; Harvey Leiphart)
  1922-1927
 
5 / 10

Merchants Association, Inc. vs. Ernest Cut Finger
  1920-1922
 

Financial Records

 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box/folder
5 / 11

Advertisements for bids (U.S. Indian Service, Blackfeet Agency)
  1921-1927
 
5 / 12-14

Cash books
  Sept.1909- Aug.1915
 
6 / 1-2

Cash books
  Aug.1915- Aug.1918
 
6 / 3-4

Cash books
  Jan.1921- Dec.1924
 
7 / 1

Corporate income tax: Montana
  1917-1920
 
7 / 2

Corporate income tax: U.S.
  1915-1920
 
7 / 3

Daybook
  Nov.1920- Aug.1922
 
7 / 4

Financial statements
  1914-1926
 
7 / 5

Freight and express book
  1922-1925
 
7 / 6

General ledger
  1907-1917
 
7 / 7

Great Northern Railway claim register for lost and damaged merchandise
  1919-1925
 
7 / 8

Individual income tax: T.E. Scriver
  1918-1919
 
7 / 9

Order book
  1920-1921
 
7 / 10

Orders for goods: Cut Bank School mess
  1915
 
7 / 11

Orders for goods: hay account
  1915
 
7 / 12-13

Orders for goods: A-W
  1915
 
8 / 1

Orders for goods: Blackfeet Agency
  1921
 
8 / 2

Orders for goods: Browning School District #9
  1923
 
8 / 3

Orders for goods: U.S. Indian Service for Blackfeet Agency, school, and hospital
  1923
 
8 / 4

Orders for goods: A-W
  1923
 
8 / 5

Orders for goods: U.S. Indian Service for Blackfeet Agency, school, and hospital
  1927
 
8 / 6

Orders for goods: Browning School District #9
  1927
 
8 / 7

Orders for goods: Glacier County poor fund and road fund
  1927
 
8 / 8

Orders for goods: Montana State Highway Commission
  1927
 
8 / 9

Orders for goods: W.D. Strang for Blackfeet tribal members
  1927
 
8 / 10-11

Orders for goods: A-Y
  1927
 
8 / 12

Pawn ticket of Joe Bird for a war bonnet
  1927
 
8 / 13-14

Petty ledger sheets: A-B
  1907-1917
 
9 / 1-5

Petty ledger sheets: C-K
  1907-1917
 
10 / 1-6

Petty ledger sheets: L-V
  1907-1917
 
11 / 1

Petty ledger sheets: W-Y
  1907-1917
 
11 / 2

Proposal and acceptance: U.S. General Land Office
  1925
 
11 / 3

Recapitulation
  1912-1921
 
11 / 4-5

Receipt books
  Feb.-Nov. 1927
 
11 / 6

Tax assessments: Glacier County
  1922-1926
 
11 / 7-8

Trial balances
  1912-1922
 
11 / 9

Miscellaneous
  1915-1916
 

Legal Documents

 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box/folder
11 / 10

Agreements with Great Western Marble and Granite Works, Miles City (re orders for tombstones)
  1916
 
11 / 11

Agreements with wholesalers
  1916-1926
 

Miscellany

 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box/folder
11 / 12

List of land owned by George and Katie Croff
  c. 1927
 
11 / 13

Mailing list
  n.d.
 
11 / 14

Oil barrel record
  1920-1922
 
11 / 15

R.G. Dun and Company and Bradstreet Company reports on Browning businesses
  1921
 
11 / 16

Referendum Measure No. 13 (re primary elections)
  1907