FRAZER ARNOLD:
An Inventory of His Papers Relating to Wilbur Foshay at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Arnold, Frazer, creator. | |
| Title: | Frazer Arnold papers relating to Wilbur Foshay. | |
| Dates: | 1927-1966. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings, minute books, and other papers relating to Minneapolis businesssman and power company operator Wilbur Burton Foshay and to his W. B. Foshay Company. The papers largely focus on the company and on the trials (1931-1933) of Foshay and his associate, Henry Henley, for mail fraud, and on efforts to secure pardons for the men after they were convicted and sent to Leavenworth Prison. Much of the material was collected or originated by Frazer Arnold, a Colorado attorney who was Foshay's business associate and friend. | |
| Quantity: | 1.65 cubic feet (3 boxes and 2 volumes in 1 partial box). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Wilbur B. Foshay, born in Sing Sing, New York, in 1881, came to Minneapolis in 1914, after working for the New York Central Railroad, the United Gas Improvement Company (Tarrytown, New York), a water and light company (Hutchinson, Kansas), a zinc company (Princeton, Illinois), the Iowa Gas and Electric Company (Fort Dodge, Iowa), and various other firms.
In Minneapolis, he worked first for the firm of Page and Hill, and then, in 1917, he organized a utility company, the W. B. Foshay Company of Minnesota. His business, which became nation-wide in scope, prospered until 1929. The firm went into receivership. Foshay went to Salida, Colorado, where he entered the employ of the Mountain Cross Granite Company, a firm in which Arnold was a stockholder and served as legal counsel.
In 1931 the federal government brought suit against Foshay and Henry Henley, an associate in the W. B. Foshay Company, for using the mails to sell stocks and pay dividends in a fraudulent manner. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and a retrial was held in 1932. The defendants were declared guilty and sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment in Leavenworth. They appealed the case to the United States Circuit Court, which in 1933 upheld the finding of the lower court. They entered Leavenworth in 1934 and remained there until 1937.
After Foshay's release, he worked with chambers of commerce in Salida, Alamosa, Colorado, Winslow, Arizona, and Fort Collins, Colorado. He died in 1957.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Most of the papers reflect events following the receivership (1929) of the W. B. Foshay Company, a utility company organized by Foshay in Minnesota in 1917. They include information on the company; the defense of Foshay and his associate, Henry Henley, during their trials (1931-1933) for mail fraud; and efforts to secure a pardon for the men after they entered Leavenworth Prison in 1934.
Other topics are the dedication (1929) of the Foshay Tower in Minneapolis; the march written by John Philip Sousa for the building's dedication; business affairs of the Mountain Cross Granite Corporation (Salida, Colo.); Foshay's employment with various chambers of commerce after his release from prison in 1937; and impeachment proceedings (1934) against Joseph W. Molyneaux, federal judge who tried the Foshay-Henley case. There is also information about the creation in 1966 of the Foshay Museum in the Foshay Tower by the Apache Corporation, owner of the building.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Frazer Arnold Papers Relating to Wilbur Foshay. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 9794; 10,436; 17,457; 17;575
Processing Information:
Additions by David B. Peterson, April 2022.
Portrait of Foshay used as an illustrative image in this finding aid is taken from the Minnesota Historical Society sound and visual collections.
Catalog ID number: 990017176280104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| P440 | 1 | Correspondence and other papers, undated, 1929-March 19, 1934. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P440 | 2 | Correspondence and other papers, March 20, 1934-June 10, 1935. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P440 | 3 | Correspondence and other papers, June 11, 1935-1966. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 143.B.17.10F | 4 | W. B. Foshay Company minute books: | |||||||||
| Contain minutes of board of directors meetings with related correspondence and attachments documenting the purchases and sales of properties owned by this public utilities holding company. These volumes were later entered into evidence in the mail fraud trial of Wilbur Foshay. | |||||||||||
| Volume 3. February-October 1927. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Volume 4. October 1927-June 1928. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
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:
- Corporations -- Corrupt practices.
- Granite -- Colorado.
- Mail fraud.
- Public utilities.
- Trials.
- Persons:
- Brill, Josiah E., author.
- Chambers, Margaret Henley, author.
- Ervin, Berry, author.
- Foshay, Leoto Hutchinson, author.
- Foshay, Wilbur Burton, 1881-1957, author.
- Gravelle, L. A., author.
- Henley, Berniece, author.
- Henley, George, author.
- Henley, Henry H., author.
- Heister, Daniel C., author.
- O'Connell, John M., author.
- Molyneaux, Joseph W.
- Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.
- Sousa, John Philip, 1854-1932.
- Organizations:
- W.B. Foshay Company (Minneapolis, Minn.).
- Foshay Tower (Minneapolis, Minn.).
- United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.
- Mountain Cross Granite Corporation (Salida, Col.).
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