RAILROAD AND WAREHOUSE COMMISSION:
An Inventory of Its Correspondence of the Supervising Inspector of Country Elevators at the Minnesota Historical Society
Government Records
| | |
| Creator: |
Railroad and Warehouse Commission of the State of Minnesota.
|
| Title: | Correspondence of the Supervising Inspector of Country Elevators. |
| Dates: | 1899-1912. |
| Language: | Materials in English. |
| Abstract: | Correspondence regarding grain elevator licenses, ownership, operation, and related matters. |
| Quantity: | 1.4 cubic feet (1 box and 1 partial box). |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
Correspondence of R. C. Burdick (1901) and Henry Feig (1901-1912), supervising inspectors of rural elevators in Minnesota.
Much of it has to do with the sending and receiving of applications for grain elevator licenses (the applications themselves are not present),
and the ownership and operating status of elevators. Some, however, concerns such matters as availability of railroad cars for shipping grain,
wheat grading and inspection practices, grain prices, duties of public warehouses as regards the issuance and honoring of storage receipts,
submission of annual reports by grain elevators, and other aspects of grain elevator establishment and operation. A number of illustrated
letterheads are found throughout the files.
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The correspondence is arranged in chronological groups as established by the Commission, largely by crop season, and alphabetically by correspondent
within each group.
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Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Railroad and Warehouse Commission of the State of Minnesota. Correspondence of the Supervising Inspector of Country Elevators. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional
examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 232?
Processing Information:
Processed by: Heidi Zimmermann, 1999.
Processing note: In 1999, these files were weeded of routine facilitative letters that pertained only to the
sending and receipt of license applications and payments, particularly for the pre-1909 period, when other
ownership records are extant.
Catalog ID number: 990017376600104294
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | Box |
| 104.I.13.10F | 1 | undated and 1899. |
| | | A few miscellany, including a handwritten draft of a letter regarding political matters. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | 1901. |
| | | Primarily filled-in forms with elevator ownership and capacity data. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | 1902. |
| | | Primarily filled-in forms with elevator ownership and capacity data. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | First annual report of Country Elevator Department, September 1, 1902. |
| | | Handwritten, 20 pages, on poor-quality paper. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | 1902-1903. 2 folders. |
| | | Most letters are dated February, August, and September, 1903, and are requesting the return of license renewal application forms from the past crop season, 1902-1903. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | October 1903–April 1904. 2 folders. |
| | | Letters associated with crop season 1903-1904. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | January 1902–December 1904. |
| | | Expense reports of the supervising inspector. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | May-December 1904. 2 folders. |
| | | Letters associated with crop season 1904-1905. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | January-October 1905. 2 folders. |
| | | Letters related to crop season 1905-1906. Most are from August 1905, and pertain to applying for renewal of elevator licenses that are good from September 1–August 31. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | December 1904–December 1906. |
| | | Expense reports of the supervising inspector. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | October 1905–1906. 2 folders. |
| | | Letters relating to renewal of elevator licenses for the 1906-1907 crop season. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | February 1907–July 1908. |
| | | Expense reports of the supervising inspector. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | 1907. 2 folders. |
| | | A new law (Laws 1907 c112) provided that an annual report from every grain elevator be submitted to the Railroad and Warehouse Commission. Another law had established a crop season as July 1–June 30. Much of the correspondence concerns problems with the new law, focused on the fact that the grain season at most elevators did not end on June 30. Also present: complaints on the grading and docking of wheat, and examples of wheat storage tickets. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | July-December 1908. |
| | | Expense reports of the supervising inspector. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | 1908. 2 folders. |
| | | Letters related to crop season 1908-1909. Complaints about disparities in grain prices between rural and urban elevators. Problems with receiving elevators’ annual reports on time. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | January-August 1909. 2 folders. |
| | | More problems with timely receipt of annual reports. One letter concerns elevator building codes. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | August 1909–July 1910. 2 folders. |
| | | Includes correspondence between the Kasota Elevator Company and the inspector, who explains that grain purified by sulfur and other chemicals must be labeled. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | August 1909–March 1911. 2 folders. |
| | | Includes more complaints about price disparities between Minneapolis and small town elevators. A state representative sends a letter on behalf of M&J Krebsbach explaining why they had not sent their annual report (a drunken worker who did not do his job). |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | March-August 1911. 2 folders. |
| | | [Needs inspection for content annotation.] |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | August-October 1911. 2 folders. |
| | | [Needs inspection for content annotation.] |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | Box |
| 104.I.13.11B | 2 | December 1908–November 1911. |
| | | Expense reports of the supervising inspector. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | November 1911–February 1912. 3 folders. |
| | | Problems with elevator weights (some cars were 5 bushels too short and the wrong price paid). Problems with elevators buying barley at 50 lbs./bushel and selling at 40 lbs./bushel (the laws prescribe selling and buying at 48 lbs. per bushel). New law effective July 1, 1911, establishes a Weights and Measures Commission. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | November 1911–October 1912. |
| | | Expense reports of the supervising inspector. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | March-August 1912. 3 folders. |
| | | The supervising inspector helps farmers settle claims against the Barry Farmers Elevator Company for unlawfully shipping stored grain. More problems with the annual report cut-off date. Policy in case of lost storage ticket. A dockage table is required at all elevators. One letter discusses how prison-made goods (such as the twine made at Stillwater) benefit farmers. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | August 1912–October 1912. 3 folders. |
| | | Primarily licensing matters; fine of $50.00 per day for operating without a license. |
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:
- Grain -- Grading -- Minnesota.
- Grain elevators -- Minnesota -- Inspection.
- Grain elevators -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.
- Persons:
- Burdick, R. C.
- Feig, Henry.
- Document Types:
- Letterheads.
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