NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY. TREASURER:

Among the several series of correspondence are communications with the general manager (1879-1888) and general disbursement agent (1870-1892), correspondence about branch line finances (1893-1905), correspondence with investment bankers Jay Cooke and Company (1869-1875) concerning early corporate financing, and files on the employment of Mexican and Japanese laborers (1941-1948). A few miscellaneous accounting and payroll records exist, as well.

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Treasurer's records. Northern Pacific Railway Company records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 6188; 6198; 6199; 6200; 6201; 6202; 6203; 6204; 6222; 6224; 6225; 6233; 6239; 6241; 6242; 6243; 6344; 6246; 6370; 6372; 7561; 8487; 8488; 8489; 8494; 8565; 8717; 8718; 8720; 8756; 8768; 8783; 8784; 8933; 8934; 8935; 8936; 8939; 8940; 8941; 8953; 17,761

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990017199220104294

Work on the Northern Pacific Railway Company records was supported with funds granted by the Northwest Area Foundation, the Grotto Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation.

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Letterpress books of outgoing letters of Northern Pacific treasurers Ashbel H. Barney (1870-1871), Robert Lenox Belknap (1871-1872 and 1879-1884), George S. Baxter (1887-1896), Albert E. Little (1896), and George H. Earl (1896-1897). Also includes one volume each of bills rendered (1884-1894), prior lien mortgage bonds (April 1, 1897), and general lien mortgage bonds (May 1, 1897).

These volumes originally formed part of a set of corporate records maintained by the Northern Pacific Secretary's Office.

Arrangement: In several chronological sequences. Includes Volumes A and B, Register of Letters Forwarded, 1888-1896, which are indexes to Volumes 386-405.

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The letters are authored by A. H. Barney, Northern Pacific Treasurer, and, beginning March 5, 1873, by his successor, A. L. Pritchard. The letters deal with stock and bond matters, especially the many letters to Jay Cooke & Company. There are also many letters documenting the purchase of railroad supplies and equipment, largely rail and rolling stock, and the subsequent transportation arrangements made for such material. Other letters concern the accounts and finances of various Northern Pacific divisions and departments, as well as those of branch lines.

Arrangement: All 15 letterpress volumes are indexed by recipients' names.

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The series consists of original letters and telegrams sent to the Northern Pacific Treasurer, glued chronologically into volumes, and forming a companion series to the treasurer's letterpress books (Miscellaneous Letters Sent).

The letters through February, 1873, are addressed to A. H. Barney, and those thereafter to his successor, A. L. Pritchard. Many are reports and questions from officers of other Northern Pacific departments, or of various branch lines, concerning the handling of their accounts. They contain information on line construction and equipage, as well as on payments for merchandise and services, and the transportation of railroad supplies.

There are also letters from suppliers concerning orders and payments for merchandise and services. Many letters also pertain to stock and bond sales, transfers, and redemptions, which letters increase in frequency after 1872.

Related material: Secretary's records, Letters Received, Unregistered: President, Vice President, Other Officers. Includes letters, reports, financial statements, maps and miscellany received by Northern Pacific corporate officers and relating to a broad range of topics.

Arrangement: The volumes are indexed by senders' names.

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The letters were sent to A. H. Barney, Northern Pacific Treasurer, from George P. Lee (1870-March 1872) and Reece M. Newport (April-July 1872), Northern Pacific General Disbursement Agents.

The letters begin with the hiring of Lee as the Northern Pacific's first GDA, and the 1870 letters are concerned to a great extent with setting up and restructuring the company's accounting and disbursement framework and procedures. The remainder of the letters deal with the routine management of Northern Pacific disbursement activity. There are investigations of particular disbursement vouchers (authorizations for payment), as well as periodic discussions of the Northern Pacific's disbursement policies and procedures.

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Letters to the Northern Pacific Treasurer from the Auditor of Railroad Accounts, United States Department of the Interior, mostly requesting various statistics regarding Northern Pacific operations and financing. The letters dated October 1878 and later contain a fair amount of such statistical information on the Northern Pacific. Also included is a copy (printed) of the Congressional act creating the position of Auditor of Railroad Accounts.

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The letters are addressed to the Northern Pacific Treasurer from J. W. Sprague, Assistant Treasurer and General Agent of the Northern Pacific in Portland, Oregon. The letters deal largely with the finances of the Northern Pacific's Pacific Division. There is information on the status of West Coast bank accounts and requests for fund transfers. There are also miscellaneous account statements for the division and reconciliations of Pacific Division books with those kept by the treasurer in New York.

There are also many letters documenting material and equipment orders for the Pacific Division, as well as transportation logistics. West Coast line construction progress is frequently noted.

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Most of the letters (1873-1875) are from R. M. Newport who served as Assistant Treasurer at Brainerd until October, 1874, after which he was Assistant Treasurer and Auditor at that place. The rest of the letters (1872-1874) are from L. W. Ford who served as auditor before Newport.

The letters are largely concerned with auditing the disbursement of funds for the Northern Pacific's Minnesota Division, especially payments for construction, equipment, supplies, and payroll. There is also some correspondence regarding the accounts of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad Company.

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The letters and telegrams are addressed to Robert L. Belknap, who was treasurer of both the Northern Pacific and the Northern Pacific Express Company. They are from Northern Pacific Express Company officials, from Northern Pacific officials, from surety bonding and insurance companies, and from banks and clients. Most of the letters document the routine management of Northern Pacific Express Company affairs. They are concerned with insuring shipments, insurance claims, employee bonding, employee frauds and prosecutions, and data on shipments and on the money order business.

Arrangement: Within each date segment, the letters are arranged alphabetically by the name of the sender.

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Letters and telegrams from officials of the Land and River Improvement Company, Superior, Wisconsin, to the Northern Pacific Treasurer and others. Topics discussed in the letters include Land and River Improvement Company accounts, as well as information on land dispositions and related matters, such as land contract and tax payments and the perfection of titles. There is also information on a dispute between Northern Pacific and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway regarding access to a bridge over the St. Louis River at Superior.

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The letters and telegrams come primarily from the Northern Pacific general manager and are principally concerned with property insurance matters. There is a good deal of information on insuring structures, equipment, and supplies, including those of branch lines, as well as handling loss claims. The insurance correspondence also provides a good deal of background data on the costs of construction and equipage, and the nature and extent of losses, especially those due to fire. There is also a certain amount of information on general Northern Pacific operations.

The 1879-1881 letters include many from the auditor and from the local (St. Paul) treasurer. In addition to the topics noted above, these letters discuss the handling of various corporate accounts (especially construction accounts), disbursement logistics, and miscellaneous stock and bond matters.

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The series consists of letters and telegrams from Jay Cooke & Company, the Philadelphia banking house that financed the Northern Pacific line construction and equipage during the early 1870s, and which failed during the financial upheaval of 1873. The letters are nearly all addressed to the Northern Pacific treasurers A. H. Barney (1869-1873) and A. L. Pritchard (1873-1875) and are principally concerned with Northern Pacific bonding matters.

There is information on strategies and logistics of bond sales, and on the continuing process of managing the Northern Pacific's finances. Many of Jay Cooke's letters deal with the overall financial status of the Northern Pacific and on the progress of Jay Cooke and Company's funding efforts.

There is also information on the close involvement of Jay Cooke & Company in all the major monetary disbursements made by the various Northern Pacific departments, especially with regard to line construction expenses (payments to contractors) and major equipment purchases (especially rolling stock).

Through mid-1872, many letters were authored by Jay Cooke, himself, and deal substantively with all the subjects noted above. Following that time, most letters were authored by clerks of the firm and are basically concerned with the day-to-day activities associated with managing the Northern Pacific funded debt, especially redeeming bonds and meeting coupon payments.

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This volume originally formed part of a set of corporate records maintained by the Northern Pacific secretary's office.

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Records relating to the importation of Mexican laborers for work on Northern Pacific tracks.

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Payroll records for the Construction and Operating departments.

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Volumes contain daily cash statements.

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Registers of bills recording the date, amount, name, and description of each bill.

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Clippings, forms, circulars, and similar materials created and/or collected by the treasurer's office (New York City) of the Northern Pacific Railroad. One of the volumes consists entirely of newspaper advertisements placed by Jay Cooke and Company for Northern Pacific mortgage bonds.

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Secretary's records: Letters Received, Unregistered: President, Vice President, Other Officers.

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

Topics:

Alien labor, Mexican -- Northwestern States.

Alien labor, Japanese -- Northwestern States.

Railroads -- Northwestern States -- Finance.

Railroads -- Northwestern States -- Management.

Organizations:

Jay Cooke and Co.

Northern Pacific Railway Company.

Northern Pacific Railway Company -- Finance.

Northern Pacific Railroad Company -- Reorganization.

Document Types:

Letterpress copy books.

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