Overview
Records of Lyndon, Vermont lumber business and mill owner Dudley P. Hall, 1841-1914.
Dates
- Creation: 1841-1914
Creator
- Hall, Dudley P. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Some materials may be stored offsite; access requires advance notice. Contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.
Extent
14 linear feet (38 volumes, 8 boxes, 6 cartons)The Dudley P. Hall business papers consist of financial records, correspondence and legal documents for Hall's various interests in railroad, lumber and sawmills. The collection is divided into two series: collection includes legal documents and bills for many of Hall's early business opportunities. The Island Pond Company (or Steam Mill Company) is covered by volumes as well as papers. Hall's Michigan activities are well represented for the 1870s through to his death in 1885. Records for some of Hall's business concerns continue on into the 1890s, including those for Hall & Chase, which continued Hall's business in Lyndon. The collection has gaps, especially in D.P. Hall's own activities. Unbound records were in complete disorder and had to be arranged. Incoming correspondence in fairly extensive but there is little outgoing correspondence. Also included are some family papers, estate papers, and papers related to local interests.
Biographical Note:
Dudley P. Hall was born in 1820 at Hart's Location, New Hampshire. Around 1837, Hall moved to Concord, Vermont and started his own mill business He expanded to other towns in Vermont including East Haven, East Burke, Mount Hunger, and Lyndon (Hall's Mills) on the Passumpsic River. These mills were owned in combination with various persons. Hall married in 1843 and moved to East Burke in 1851, to Lyndon around 1862, and built the Riverside mill in 1866. He served as an agent for the Fairbank Scale Company and managed a store for them. Hall was also engaged in lumber operations and in the Frankfort & Southeastern Railroad Company in Michigan. Along with John H. Simmons, Hall formed the lumbering partnership Hall & Simmons and later Hall & Lincoln, with Benjamin Franklin. Lincoln. Hall was also an agent for Erastus Corning's interests and for the Fairbanks interests in Michigan. Hall died in 1885, but his business continued into the 1890s as Hall & Chase.
Series Outline
The collection is arranged in the following series:
- Series I. Bound volumes, 1864-1893
- Series II. Unbound material, 1841-1914
Physical Location
MANU
Provenance:
Gift of Mrs. Walter A. Nelson, September 1969.
Processing Information:
In April 2014, this collection underwent preservation actions. Bundled material that was originally stored in record center cartons was rehoused into Hollinger boxes. The new locations are represented as Box 5A and Box 5B. The materials in these two boxes were originally in Carton 5.
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Hall, Dudley P., 1820-1885. Dudley P. Hall Business Papers, 1841-1914: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- bak00211
Repository Details
Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository
Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.
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