HERCULES L. DOUSMAN:

An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

Expand/CollapseOVERVIEW

Creator: Dousman, Hercules L. (Hercules Louis), 1800-1868, creator.
Title:Hercules L. Dousman papers.
Dates:1808-1811, 1822-1903.
Language:Materials in English.
Abstract:Correspondence, account books, and other business records of this Prairie du Chien (Wis.) trader and land speculator and of his son of the same name.
Quantity:5.5 cubic feet (5 boxes, including 81 volumes; 5 oversize items); 2 microfilm reels.
Location: See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Expand/CollapseSCOPE AND CONTENTS

Many of the letters are from Henry H. Sibley, dealing particularly with local railroads and the St. Paul Gas Light Company, as well as with Sibley's own career and with St. Paul (Minn.) political, social, and business affairs. There are six volumes of press copies of the senior Dousman's letters from 1863 to 1868, and thereafter of his estate administrator, his son, and his son's widow until 1888. They treat of a great number of topics: railroads throughout the United States; stocks and bonds, largely of municipalities and public utilities, especially in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and St. Louis; other investments, such as farm mortgages and real estate; horse breeding; and the collecting of paintings and art objects, which were hobbies of Dousman's son.

The remaining volumes are ledgers, journals, cashbooks, grocery books, and other financial records, showing the statistical and financial side of the matters treated in the letter books. Also present are balance sheets of the Prairie du Chien, Hudson, and St. Paul Packet Company and of the Northwestern Union Packet Company, together with those of the individual steamers of those lines. One small volume is entitled "Winnebago debts 1841."

There are photocopies of agreements, accounts, and other items dealing with the fur trade in the upper Mississippi Valley, including Dousman's accounts with Pierre Chouteau, Jr. and Company, and a Dakota vocabulary book.

Microfilmed materials relating to the American Fur Company, of which Dousman was the agent in Prairie du Chien (1826-1834) and a stockholder (1834- ) are on reel M418. Correspondence between Dousman and Henry M. Rice, as well as a few exchanges with Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company of St. Louis, Missouri are on reel M24. This correspondence includes data on the creation and naming of Minnesota Territory, the selection of Henry H. Sibley as territorial delegate (1848), the development of St. Paul, the projected reduction of the Fort Snelling military reservation, business relations between Rice and Dousman, Rice's interests in steamboating on the Upper Mississippi, the fur trade, Rice's differences with Chouteau, the "Sioux half-breed tract" at Lake Pepin, payment of annuities to the Ojibwe at Crow Wing (Minn.), the condition of the Winnebago Indians, negotiation of the Dakota treaties of 1851, and Rice's interest in land acquisition at Crow Wing.


Return to top

Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Hercules L. Dousman papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Location of Originals:

M24: State Historical Society of Wisconsin; Madison, WI

M418 and photocopies: Edward E. Ayer Collection, Newberry Library, Chicago, IL

Accession Information:

Accession number: 3019; 3044A; 3419; 4614; [5079?]; 6552; 7117; 7757

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 001733301


Return to top

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

LocationBox
131.A.2.8F1Correspondence and related material, undated, 1822-1885. 7 folders.
Receipts, 1836-1844.
Includes Charter of the American Fur Company, Certified 1838.
Trader's account book.
Dakota language book.
LocationBox
131.A.3.1B2Volumes 1-6. Letterpress books, 1863-1873, 1879-1884, 1886-1888. 6 volumes.
Volume 1 includes two letters of 1879 at the end signed "Per Peter Nolan".
Volumes 7-10. Bills receivable, 1849-1894. 4 volumes.
Volumes 11-13. Checkbooks and cashbook, 1854-1860, 1867-1884. 3 volumes.
LocationBox
131.A.3.2F3Volumes 14-17. Journals, cashbook, and ledger, 1868-1873. 4 volumes.
Volume 18. Real estate record, 1863-1877.
Volumes 19-21. Ledgers, 1872-1873, 1877-1881. 3 volumes.
LocationBox
131.A.3.3B4Volumes 22-30. Cashbooks, ledgers, and journal, 1876-1895. 9 volumes.
LocationBox
131.A.3.4F5Volumes 31-36. Cashbooks, ledgers, and journals, 1889-1903. 6 volumes.
Volume 37. Miscellaneous accounts, 1882-1883.
LocationBox
131.A.2.8F1Volume 38. Grain record, 1885-1888.
Volume 39. Mill products journal, 1887-1889.
Volume 40. Ledger, 1898-1899, 1902.
Volumes 41-42. Diaries, 1883-1885. 2 volumes.
Volume 43. League of Sacred Heart book, 1894.
Volume 44. Scrapbook, 1878, 1883.
Volume 45. Listing of Members of School Society, undated.
Volume 46. Check stub book, 1885.
Volume 47. Grocery book, undated.
Volume 48. Real estate record, undated.
Volumes 49-57. Bank account books, 1863-1885. 9 volumes.
Volumes 58-60. Time books, 1882-1884. 3 volumes.
Volume 61. Record of farrier work, 1884.
Volume 62. Time book, 1884.
Volume 63. Wage accounts and others, 1884-1885.
Volume 64. Time book, 1884-1885.
Volumes 65-66. Miscellaneous accounts, 1879-1880, 1885-1886. 2 volumes.
Volumes 67-73. Grocery books, 1888-1892. 7 volumes.
Volumes 74-77. Checkbooks and check stub books, 1873, 1877-1879. 4 volumes.
Volume 78. Miscellaneous accounts and appointments, 1894.
Volume 79. Artesian Stock Farm account stubs, 1885-1886.
Volume 80. Check stub book, 1887-1888.
Volume 81. Account book, Winnebago Indian debts, 1841.
Location
105.F.4.1Oversize Material:
Military commission, 1847.
Commission signed by Territorial Governor of Wisconsin Henry Dodge, making Dousman a colonel of a regiment of militia for Crawford County.
Statements of affairs and account, Prairie du Chien, Hudson & St. Paul Packet Company, 1857-1860. 3 items.
Balance sheet, North Western Union Packet Company, 1867-1868.
LocationReel
M241Hercules Louis Dousman Papers, 1848-1853.
Correspondence between Dousman and Henry M. Rice, as well as a few exchanges with Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company of St. Louis, Missouri. This correspondence includes data on the creation and naming of Minnesota Territory, the selection of Henry H. Sibley as territorial delegate (1848), the development of St. Paul, the projected reduction of the Fort Snelling military reservation, business relations between Rice and Dousman, Rice's interests in steamboating on the Upper Mississippi, the fur trade, Rice's differences with Chouteau, the "Sioux half-breed tract" at Lake Pepin, payment of annuities to the Ojibwe at Crow Wing (Minn.), the condition of the Winnebago Indians, negotiation of the Dakota treaties of 1851, and Rice's interest in land acquisition at Crow Wing.
LocationReel
M4181Hercules Louis Dousman Papers, 1808-1811, 1836-1850.
Materials originating from the Edward E. Ayer Collection in the Newberry Library, Chicago, relating to the American Fur Company, of which Dousman was the agent in Prairie du Chien (1826-1834) and a stockholder (1834-).
Report, undated.
Made to Dousman regarding money owed to the company's Western Outfit, as per agreements made in 1839 and 1850.
Act of Incorporation of the American Fur Company, 1808, 1811.
Includes subsequent legislation relating to the original act.
Financial notes and agreements, 1830s-1840s.

Expand/CollapseCATALOG HEADINGS

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:
Art objects -- Private collections.
Capitalists and financiers.
Dakota Indians -- Treaties.
Dakota language.
Fur trade -- Northwestern States.
Horses -- Breeding -- Wisconsin.
Investments.
Ojibwa Indians.
Railroads -- Minnesota.
Railroads -- United States.
Winnebago Indians.
Persons:
Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889.
Crooks, Ramsay, 1787-1859.
Dousman, Hercules L. (Hercules Louis), 1848-1886.
Drake, Elias Franklin, 1813-1892.
Ramsey, Alexander, 1815-1903.
Rice, Henry M. (Henry Mower), 1816-1894.
Sibley, Henry Hastings, 1811-1891.
Organizations:
American Fur Company.
Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railway Company.
Minnesota Valley Railroad Company.
North Western Union Packet Company.
Pierre Chouteau Jr. & Company.
Prairie du Chien, Hudson, and St. Paul Packet Company.
St. Paul & Sioux City Railroad Company.
St. Paul Gas Light Company.
Meetings:
Stillwater Convention, (1848).
Places:
Crow Wing (Minn.)
Fort Snelling (Minn.)
Minnesota -- History -- 1849-1858.
Mississippi River -- Navigation.
Prairie du Chien (Wis.)
Saint Louis (Mo.) -- Economic conditions.
Saint Paul (Minn.)
Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Economic conditions.
Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Politics and government.
Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Social life and customs.
Document Types:
Microforms.
Titles:
Traverse des Sioux, Treaty of, 1851.

Return to top