FURNESS COLONY:
An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Furness Colony, creator. | |
| Title: | Furness Colony minutes and related records. | |
| Dates: | 1872-1874. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Minutes of the meetings of this emigration society founded at Barrow-in-Furness, England, whose members emigrated to the United States and settled at Wadena, Minnesota. The collection includes newspaper clippings, maps, a timetable of events taking place in the colony, a list of major persons involved with the colony, a letter of transmittal from F.J. Bailey, and a handbill for a farewell tea. | |
| Quantity: | 8 bond folders in 1 folder and 1 oversize folder, unboxed. | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
HISTORICAL NOTE
In the early 1870s, following extensive growth in population and industry, Richard Bailey, William Hurst, and other prominent citizens of Barrow-in-Furness, became interested in establishing a colony in the United States. The men were also motivated by the temperance movement and hoped to make that a part of the colony's purpose. Following the advice of George Sheppard, the London agent of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the leaders decided on Wadena County as the site of the venture. The first meeting (October 22, 1872) laid down the main features of the plan. The organization concentrated on young skilled workers and those able to withstand the rigors of frontier life. The first group left England in April, 1873, and another in May. After their arrival, the group split by nationality, the English to Wadena and the Scots to Compton Prairie.
A crisis occurred in September, 1873, when Jay Cooke's company failed, taking with it the Northern Pacific Railroad. Both companies declared bankruptcy, and the railroad's London office closed. From that time until the 1880s, the colony suffered reverses caused by the weather, bad economic conditions, and the arrival of other immigrant groups, and after the collapse of the Northern Pacific Railroad the settlers looked to themselves and others for survival.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Furness Colony minutes and related records. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 5476; 12,301
Processing Information:
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, March 1999.
Addition by: David B. Peterson, December 2019.
Catalog ID number: 990017321240104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Folder | |||||||||||
| P2331 | 1 | Minute book, October 22, 1872-June 8, 1874. | |||||||||
| Contain brief entries, listed as "resolutions," describing the formation of the committee and listing of members and officers; publication of the resolutions describing the colony; setting up of publicity groups to advertise in local newspapers; a flyer advertising a number of lectures on the colony to be delivered on January 20-23, 1873; minutes naming the association as Furness Colony; details on the Northern Pacific Railroad and Jay Cooke and Company's association with the colony; funds to construct schools, churches, a reception house for the settlers at Brained, Minnesota, and survey of the lands; information on the purchase of the town site to be handled by the Puget Sound and Lake Superior Townsite Company; and information on a farewell tea. | |||||||||||
| Letter from F. J. Bailey, Roscrea, England, to George Masters, Brookings, South Dakota, September 21, 1939. | |||||||||||
| Enclosing the minutes described above. | |||||||||||
| Bailey was related to Richard Bailey, one of the founders of the colony. | |||||||||||
| Handwritten notes by Bryn Trescatheric: | |||||||||||
| Timetable of events in the colony, September, 1872-April, 1874. | |||||||||||
| List of major persons involved with occupations and positions in the association, undated. | |||||||||||
| Information on the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Inman Line, undated. | |||||||||||
| The Inman steamship line transported the colonists from England to America. | |||||||||||
| Extracts from the Barrow Pilot and Barrow Herald, 1872-1874. | |||||||||||
| Two maps of the Lancashire area and Northern England and Southern Scotland, undated. | |||||||||||
| These are the areas from which the settlers came. | |||||||||||
| Newspaper clippings, September 14, 1872-April 25, 1874. | |||||||||||
| Includes clippings from the Barrow Pilot and Ulverston Mirror containing letters from some of the colony settlers; articles on the organization of the colony; the farewell tea party (March 21, 1874); frontier life; and a letter from George Sheppard refuting the charges of bad weather and economic conditions in the colony. | |||||||||||
| Letter published in the Barrow Times, January 1875. | |||||||||||
| Includes information on life and conditions in the colony. | |||||||||||
| Opening pages of Barrow-in-Furness: its rise and progress by Francis Leach, 1872. | |||||||||||
| Includes information on the town. | |||||||||||
| "Furness Colony in England and Minnesota, 1872-1880" by Bryn Trescatheric, 1980. | |||||||||||
| A detailed account of the formation of the colony and its successes and failures. From Minnesota History magazine (Spring 1980). | |||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| +255 | 2 | Flyer: Furness Colony, Farewell Tea Meeting, March 19, 1874. | |||||||||
CATALOG 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:
- British Americans -- Minnesota.
- Immigrants -- Minnesota -- Societies, etc.
- Persons:
- Trescatheric, Bryn, author.
- Places:
- Barrow-in-Furness (England) -- Emigration and immigration.
- Wadena (Minn.)
Collapse
All