The third of James J. and Mary Mehegan Hill’s ten children, Louis Warren Hill was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1872. He, along with his older brother James, was schooled at home before attending Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and Yale University.
He began working for his father at the Great Northern Railway Company immediately after graduation and began pursuit of his own ultimately extremely successful investments in iron mining in northeastern Minnesota. While the eldest Hill son James had been groomed as their father’s successor, Louis’s capable management of a Great Northern extension over the Rockies in 1901 moved him into position as heir to the Hill business empire.
Also in 1901 Louis married Maud Van Cortlandt Taylor, child of a well-known New York family. The couple moved into a large home next door to James J. and Mary Hill on Summit Avenue in St. Paul and together had four children: Louis Warren Jr., James Jerome II (always called Jerome), Maud Van Cortlandt and Cortlandt Taylor. The family traveled the United States and the world and spent much of their time at North Oaks Farm, just north of St. Paul, where Louis built a chalet-style retreat.
In the mid ‘00s Louis began to take over management of the Great Northern Railway. He was named president in 1907 and board chairman in 1912, although his father James continued to retain much control until his death in 1916. Louis expanded his interests far beyond railroads: he was at the forefront of the oil and auto transport industries and was a major player in land development in Montana and California, in finance, and in copper mining.
One of Louis’ greatest legacies was his enthusiastic promotion of U.S. tourism and the national park system. He was a major force in the creation, promotion, and development of Glacier National Park in Montana, where he built several resorts. He also maintained an interest in the American Indian tribes of Montana and became a collector of Blackfoot material, now housed in the Science Museum of Minnesota. Louis W. Hill died in St. Paul in 1948 at the age of 75.
This extensive collection of the personal papers and business records of Louis Warren Hill document nearly every aspect of his private and public life from his teenage years until his death in 1948.
The papers are comprised of several major sections: incoming and outgoing correspondence, financial records, including records of trusts and investments, and records of businesses and charities with which Louis W. Hill was involved. Notable business ventures represented include iron mining in the Mesabi range, timbering in Oregon, copper mining in Arizona, oil drilling in Montana, banking and finance, hotels and development in Glacier National Park, and land development in Monterey, California. Some records related to the Great Northern Railway Company, of which Louis was chairman and president, are contained within the papers; these for the most part duplicate what exists within the Railroad Records at the Minnesota Historical Society, which are much more extensive.
Major charities which Hill founded or was active in that are represented in the papers include the James J. Hill Reference Library, the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation, Goodfellows, and United Charities. The Hill Library and Family Foundation papers also include records of the ownership, care, and use of the James J. Hill and Louis W. Hill papers prior to their acquisition by the Minnesota Historical Society.
The Louis W. Hill papers also include records of the estates of James J. Hill and Mary T. Hill, the administration of which Louis was heavily involved in, as well as the estate records of Louis himself. A large series of records of North Oaks Farm in North Oaks, Minnesota, which Louis W. Hill was given by his mother before her death, continue the farm records which exist in the James J. Hill papers. Records related to other residential and investment properties owned by Hill may be found in the Real Estate and other series.
The Ephemera, Photographs and Graphic Materials, Newspaper Clippings, Printed Materials, and Maps and Plans series include materials that have been at some point separated from the General Correspondence and other series; these have been kept separate rather than replaced in their original location due to the time required to interfile each piece; in some cases separation sheets or penciled notes indicate original locations and associations.
Much of the material in the papers dating to after Louis W. Hill's death in 1948 are later accessions donated by Louis W. Hill, Jr.
The papers are organized into the following sections:
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota
Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics should
The Louis W. Hill Papers are part of the Hill Family Collection.
The collection was previously held at the James J. Hill Reference Library. It was transferred to the Minnesota Historical Society in March, 2008.
Accession number: 15,401; 16,137
Processed by: Duane Swanson and Jillian Odland, September 2008-September 2009.
Work on the Hill Family Collection is supported entirely with funds granted by the Northwest Area, Grotto, and Jerome Foundations.
Catalog ID number: 6980404
Series consists of biographical and genealogical files regarding Louis W. Hill and his family, and materials used by Louis W. Hill for personal business, some of which was found in his desk after his death.
Kept by Harry Kask.
L.W. Hill and Harry Kask.
This series is divided into six subseries: General Correspondence, Memos, Family Correspondence, Letterpress Books, Outgoing Correspondence, and Holiday Cards. Letters between Louis W. Hill and his family member are also included in the General Correspondence series. The Letterpress Books and Outgoing Correspondence subseries form a continuous series of outgoing letters and are only divided by format.
Includes "Sunny Waters", Manchester, Massachusetts, lease and inventory.
Scattered after September 1950.
Correspondence, wills, and clippings.
Includes data on trust established for Mrs. Anna Phelps (aunt of Louis W. Hill).
Includes Leslie Hill and Ethel Hill Macklin.
Copies of letters sent over the signature of Louis W. Hill or on his behalf by H.H. Parkhouse, mainly relating to the personal affairs of Hill and his family. This series is continued by Outgoing Correspondence.
Originals of the 1899-1900 typescripts are probably found in the James N. Hill/Louis W. Hill letterpress book separately identified.
Includes copies of letters from James N. Hill (February-June 1899) and Louis W. Hill (September 1899-March 1900), mainly to James J. Hill; both sign as "Vice-President."
Box labels imply that file numbers exist for groups of letters; individual letters may also have numbers. This series is preceded by Letterpress books: Louis W. Hill, personal.
Includes both cards received and samples of cards ordered and sent by Louis W. Hill.
Oversize item.
These files were kept as separate subject files by Louis W. Hill; they include correspondence, financial records, printed material, maps, ephemera, and clippings.
Louis W. and Maud V.C.T. Hill and children and William Whitener.
Primarily urinalysis reports.
Correspondence regarding Pebble Beach gardener.
Consists primarily of files of insurance policies of various types including workers' and liability.
Series is comprised of records related to Louis W. Hill's work in the financial sector, as an executive for the First National Bank of St. Paul and related banking and trust companies from the 1910s to 1940s. The majority of the series is formed of correspondence arranged in a file number system by subject, which has been maintained in its original order. The significance of the numbering and order is unknown.
Includes miscellaneous publications from banks.
Includes 1st National Corn Show and Baked Potato Show.
Includes Midland and Northwestern National Bank lists of shareholders.
Includes Stockyards Mortgage and Trust Company and St. Paul Cattle Loan Company.
Published by First and Security National Bank, Minneapolis.
Series is comprised of records related to timber lands owned by Louis W. Hill in Oregon, particularly Linn County, and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and of two related companies, the Minnesota Log and Lumber Company and the Oregon and Western Colonization Company. Records include correspondence, plats and maps, deeds and abstracts, and materials published by the USDA Forest Service. Forest management and conservation are major topics.
Green Tree Conservation Corporation and Sweet Home Land Company.
By location and date.
Most of the maps are "forest" maps, showing locations of timber land holdings.
Arranged alphabetically by county.
Includes USDA Forest Service bulletins, stumpage reports, and Oregon laws.
Includes Linn County "Porden cruise".
Louis W. Hill's Great Northern Railway files date primarily to the 1910s-1930s, when Hill served as president of the railway. Files are highly duplicative of what exists in the railroad company records held at the Minnesota Historical Society. Of particular note are the carbons of outgoing correspondence and Hill's corporate data book; notable correspondents are E.T. Nichols, Gaspard Farrer, Edward Tuck, and Lord Hindlip. Also included is data on other railroads including the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle.
See June 1, 1910, letter in LWH/GN/General correspondence for possible provenance information.
See June 1, 1910, letter in LWH/GN/General correspondence for possible provenance information.
See June 1, 1910, letter in LWH/GN/General correspondence for possible provenance information.
Contains 2 volumes.
Printed volumes.
Records related to Glacier National Park in Montana primarily concern Louis W. Hill's efforts to improve the park, including his hotel operations within the park, the Glacier Park Hotel Company and the Canadian Rockies Hotel Company. Materials include financial data and visitor statistics for these hotels and park brochures and maps. Additional data on Glacier National Park may be found in the general correspondence, Great Northern Railway, and oil company papers, and many photos of the park are included in the Louis W. Hill photograph collection.
Great Northern Iron Ore Properties was established as a trust in 1906 by the Great Northern Railway and James J. Hill, through an agreement with the Lake Superior Company, Ltd., which was the railroad's holding company for iron ore properties. Ownership was distributed among Great Northern stock holders, with Louis W., James N., and Walter Hill and E.T. Nichols as trustees. Included in the series are records of the subsidiary North Star and Leonard Iron Mining companies and "private" companies, in which Louis W. Hill invested money from his family's trusts, including the Alexandria, Dean, Monterey Ore, Neath, St. Anthony, Mesaba Security, Jefferson, and Wysox companies. The records concern these mines, their leases, sales, production by year, owners, operators, dividends, taxes, freight rates, investments, and legislation.
Correspondence and legal documents.
Journal, cashbook, account statements, and receipts and disbursements.
Ledgers, journal, cashbook, summary of operations, receipts and disbursements, leases, and miscellaneous.
Alexandria Iron Company, Wysox Iron Company, Mesaba Security Company, and Neath Mining Company.
Includes plan for GNIOP office space.
Series is composed of records of three copper mining companies with operations in Arizona in which Louis W. Hill invested and held a directorship: Denn-Arizona Copper Company, incorporated in Minnesota in 1907, Shattuck Arizona Copper Company, incorporated in Minnesota in 1904, and Shattuck Denn Mining Corporation, a consolidation of the first two companies incorporated in Delaware in 1925. The records are scanty; the majority relate to Shattuck Arizona Copper Company and consist of carbon copies of internal memos and reports of mine superintendents and mine maps.
Includes Winchell report of 1907.
Includes comparative analyses.
Series is comprised of records related to Louis W. Hill's ventures into oil production in Montana. He began researching oil in Montana in 1916 and started explorations in 1919. In 1920 he secured leases on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and began drilling the next year. He expanded his oil interests in Montana throughout the 1920s despite dry holes and trouble attracting investors; in 1925 he struck oil in the Kevin-Sunburst area and additional nearby properties also proved successful. All land is identified by lease name, which was customary in the oil industry. The records also include data on separate oil and gas companies in which Louis W. Hill invested which operated in Oklahoma and Kansas. Later oil records may be found in the Cascadia Development and Production Company series.
The Fort Benton Company was an investment firm which served as a holding company for lands in Glacier County Montana which Louis W. Hill did not want held in his own name. The lands had been held under the name of George W. Noffsinger but in 1931 an issue involving potential judgements against him arose and the holding company was organized in Minnesota on May 13 of that year. The company held various securities in addition to the land; it was voluntarily dissolved in December 1936, but the land in question remained in the name of the company until 1947. Addition data on the properties can be found in the Glacier County, Montana, lands records in the Real Estate series of the Louis W. Hill papers.
Includes correspondence, financial statements, and annual reports, principally of companies in which the Fort Benton Company owned stock.
Includes American Home Products Association, American Power & Light Company, and Associated Gas and Electric Company.
Includes Baldwin Locomotive Works, Beatrice Creamery Company, and Berghoff Brewing Company.
Includes Chicago Railways Company, J.R. Clark Company, Continental Can Company, Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, Continental Oil Company, and The Chicago Corporation.
Includes Eastman Kodak Company,
Includes First National Bank of Chicago, First National Bank of the City of New York, and First Trust Company of Saint Paul.
Includes Glacier County, Montana, lands.
Includes The Lambert Company and P. Lorillard Company.
Includes Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company and Midvale Company.
Includes National Surety Company, New York Press Club, Northern Securities Company, and Northwest Bancorporation.
Includes Phelps Dodge Corporation and Provident Loan Society of St. Paul.
Includes Saint Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, Saint Paul-Mercury Indemnity Company, Saint Paul Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company, State Street Investment Corporation, Stock Yards Mortgage Company, and Stott Briquet Company.
Includes The Texas Company and Texas Gulf Sulphur Company.
Includes Union Pacific Railroad Company and Union Public Service Company.
The Pescadero Pebble Beach Company was incorporated in December 1924 in the state of Delaware for the purposes of acquiring, holding, and selling real and personal property as well as securities to generate income to cover property expenses. All of the shares were owned by the Fort Union Development Company. Company headquarters were in Wilmington, Delaware; most of its real property holdings were in the Monterey Peninsula of California, including Louis W. Hill's residence in Pebble Beach. The company was dissolved in July 1961.
Contain correspondence, financial records, abstracts of title, and deeds.
Additional data located in Real Estate series of Louis W. Hill papers.
Includes lists of stockholders.
Includes journal for June to August 1961.
Includes related correspondence.
The Fort Union Development Company was incorporated in December 1924 in the state of Delaware for the purposes of acquiring, holding, and selling stocks. The shareholders and company officers were limited to Louis W. Hill, his family members and few close associates; the purpose of the company was to allow these individuals to pool their shares to exert increased influence over the First National Bank of St. Paul, of which they were majority shareholders, to hold the stock of the Pescadero Pebble Beach Company, and to protect their investments from inheritance taxes in other states. The company was dissolved in 1957.
The Cascadia Development and Production Company was incorporated in 1948 under the laws of Minnesota for the purposes of owning and transferring real property, handling personal property, and trading in capital stock, bonds, and securities. It was headquartered in St. Paul. The company's principal land holdings consisted of oil lands in Montana and timber lands in Oregon, with additional oil and gas holdings in Kansas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming. The company voluntarily dissolved in December 1969, although closing activities continued into 1970.
Consists mainly of notes about disposition of the company's records.
Includes balance sheets, profit and loss statements, Montana oil operations statements, and miscellaneous financial statements.
Primarily Montana oil field plat maps.
Series is comprised of records related to various trust accounts held with the First Trust Company of St. Paul, Minnesota for which Louis W. Hill was trustee. The records include correspondence arranged both chronologically and by subject, subject files primarily arranged by trust, and financial records for the various trusts. Additional financial records are included in the "Trusts" series; the reason for the division of the records between the two series is unknown.
Letters between Louis Jr. and Jerome Hill.
Arranged by family member.
Printed copies of trust agreements, brochure for trust plan 'A'.
North Oaks Farm and Bond Trust, Pescadero Pebble Beach Company, and Fort Union Development Company.
Includes accounts of Louis W. Hill, Jr., Maud Van Cortlandt Hill, and James Jerome Hill II.
Includes Cortlandt Hill and joint accounts.
Includes accounts of Louis W. Hill, Jr. and Maud Van Cortlandt Hill.
Includes accounts of James Jerome Hill II and Cortlandt Hill and general files.
These records consist almost exclusively of routine financial records of several different trusts held in account with the First Trust Company of St. Paul for which Louis W. Hill served as trustee; a small amount of related correspondence is also included, but most trust related correspondence can be found in the "First Trust Company" series. The trusts represented in this series are: 1917, 1928, and 1934 trusts formed by Louis W. Hill for his wife and four children, 1919 "grandchildren's" trusts formed by Mary T. Hill for each of her grandchildren, ABC trusts formed by Louis W. Hill for his sons James Jerome Hill II and Cortlandt Hill. There is also a small amount of information related to children's trusts created by Mary T. Hill, held with the Northwestern Trust Company, for which Louis W. Hill was a beneficiary but not trustee. Additional records related to investments made for these trusts can be found in the "Investments" series and tax data can be found in the general "Financial Records" series.
Maud Van Cortlandt Taylor Hill and Louis W. Hill, Jr. accounts.
Maud Van Cortlandt Hill and James Jerome Hill II accounts.
Cortlandt Hill and Joint Accounts.
Louis W. Hill, Jr. and Maud Van Cortlandt Hill accounts.
All accounts excepting Louis W. Hill, Jr. account.
Maud Van Cortlandt Taylor Hill account.
Louis W. Hill, Jr., Maud Van Cortlandt Hill, James Jerome Hill II accounts and all accounts statements.
Cortlandt Hill accounts.
Includes Louis W. Hill, Jr., Maud Van Cortlandt Hill, and James Jerome Hill II accounts.
Includes James Jerome Hill II, Cortlandt Hill, James N. B. Hill, Beard, and Boeckmann accounts.
Includes Dorothy Hill and Slade accounts.
James Jerome Hill II and Cortlandt Hill accounts.
Series is comprised of records related to the extensive investments in stocks, bonds, and other securities made by Louis W. Hill on behalf of himself, his family, various trusts for which he served as trustee, and several Hill controlled holding corporations, primarily in the 1920s and 1930s. The series includes not only financial records and correspondence related to Hill's actual investments, but also prospectuses and correspondence related to Hill's research into a variety of securities and offerings from numerous investment firms with which he worked. The bulk of the series is formed from a single subject series arranged alphabetically, with the records arranged by either name of the security or company being invested in or by name of intermediary investment firm.
Includes children's accounts.
Includes investments of Louis Hill, trusts, and other companies.
Arranged by month.
Series is comprised is miscellaneous financial records related primarily to various Louis W. Hill personal accounts, but also related to personal accounts for his wife and children, various trust accounts, and accounts of several of Hill's investment corporations. The records are mainly routine financial records including vouchers, bills and receipts, bank and account statements, cancelled checks, check stubs, and bank pass books.
Plus unused checkbook.
Louis W. Hill and Maud Van Cortlandt Taylor Hill accounts.
Includes records of Louis W. Hill personal accounts, family personal accounts, trust accounts, and various corporate accounts.
Maud Van Cortlandt Taylor Hill and children's accounts.
Includes expenses, income, assets, and accounts receivable and payable.
Ledger, journal, and cashbook entries for various trusts and accounts and general securities register.
Includes income tax returns and related documentation for numerous trust and personal accounts, and business and property tax records.
Includes related correspondence.
Records are organized by individual account.
Records are organized by individual account.
Includes consolidated records of all 5 trust accounts.
Includes related correspondence.
Noted on volumes: "Contents transferred to card index".
Records related to Louis W. Hill's personal and investment real estate holdings, including his main home on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. Records of additional properties used by Hill, but owned by holding companies, are included in the Pescadero Pebble Beach Company series, the North Oaks Farm series, and the Oregon Lands series.
Correspondence, financial records, plats, and deeds.
Maud V.C.T., Jerome, and Maud V.C. Hill.
The Fort Benton Company held these properties from 1931-1936.
Deeds, real estate documents, and related correspondence.
Deeds, real estate documents, and related correspondence.
Series is comprised of the records of North Oaks Farm, a 5,000 acre hobby and breeding farm in North Oaks, Minnesota, 10 miles north of St. Paul. Louis W. Hill was the sole inheritor of the farm after his mother’s death in 1921. The series includes primarily correspondence, financial records pertaining to daily operation of the farm, and records regarding the residences constructed on the farm. Also included are the records of the North Oaks Farm and Bond Trust, a trust established in 1925 which owned most of the real property on the farm. The correspondence is arranged in its original order of three separate alphabetical subject series; the reason for the different series is unknown. Additional financial records may be found in the James J. Hill estate series, the Mary T. Hill estate series, and the John J. Toomey files. Earlier records are included in the James J. Hill papers.
Primarily for board furnished by the farm to individuals.
Includes "Approved Appliances for Fire Protection" (The Safety Fire Extinguisher Company, 1930?); "Waterless Fire Control: The Modern Automatic Method" (International Fire Equipment Corporation, 1930?), "State of Oregon Fire Warden's Handbook, "1925), and "List of Inspected Fire Protection Appliances" (National Board of Fire Underwriters, 1925).
Includes time book, October 1938-June 1940.
Includes proposals for increasing game and regulatory hunting signs.
Includes sample specifications contract of the Amenia and Sharon Land Company, North Dakota (1924).
Principally Northwestern Mortgage Company (Minneapolis) farm supervisor reports for North Oaks Farm.
Includes "Certificate of Incorporation of The Volunteers of America in Saint Paul and Major Activities (1942), Volunteers of America calendars (1931, 4 items), photocopy of Minnesota annual report (1926), and Volunteers of America illustrated brochure (ca. 1926) featuring photographs and statistics of the Fresh Air Camp at North Oaks.
Includes volume 1, nos. 1 and 5.
Includes issues for May, July, September, and December; published in New York.
Includes original agreement (June 1922) and rental receipt (July 1922) with Volunteers of America, a clipping (1924) about children at the Fresh Air Camp, and a "Standard Map of Ramsey County, Minnesota," published by McGill-Warner of St. Paul (1949). These items were donated to the Hill Papers in 1996.
Includes Jamesway Magazine (volume XIV, no. 2, 1924?), American Remount Association extracts of annual reports for 1923-1924, The Remount (May, 1924), The Agricultural Review (June, July, September 1924), and "Relief for Agricultural Depression: Speeches of Hon. Peter Norbeck of South Dakota," (May-June 1924, Government Printing Office).
Includes numerous United States Department of Agriculture farmers' bulletins and University of Minnesota Agricultural Extension Division bulletins, biennial report of the Minnesota State Inspector of Apiaries (1921/1922), bee supply catalogs of the A.I. Root Company of St. Paul (1923, 1925, 1926), The Bee Hive (Medina, Ohio, vol. 3, no. 2, June 1925), the and American Bee Journal (February and October 1923).
Includes printed material from the Letz Manufacturing Company (Crown Point, Indiana).
Includes certificates of registration from National Duroc Record Association (Peoria, Illinois, 1927).
Includes wall calendar (1932), compliments of J.L. Sinykin, La Salle Stables (Minneapolis, Minnesota).
Also includes farm financial reports (1917) and residence payroll (1919).
Includes catalog (1930) of King Ventilation materials from Babson Manufacturing Company (Chicago).
Includes St. Paul Ascendant (volume 1, no. 8, July 1913) published by the St. Paul Association of Commerce.
Includes by-laws of the North Oaks Outing Association.
Includes correspondence, principally between J.J. Toomey and Hill, regarding all aspects of North Oaks operations.
This trust, established in 1925, owned most of the real property on North Oaks Farm.
Includes receipts and disbursement statements, depreciation statements, and related correspondence.
Covers years from 1850 through 1891.
May 1922-February 1925 missing.
Principally account statements with firms to which farm goods were sold, especially livestock merchants from South St. Paul, Minnesota, and railway company waybills; also includes correspondence and summary statements of sales.
Contains individual records for each meter on the farm, arranged alphabetically by structure or function.
Alphabetical cards by firm or person noting date, voucher number and amount.
May be a continuation of the weigh tickets found in North Oaks Farm, subject series 3, "Sheep, ephemera (weigh tickets)."
Covers Mary T. Hill's North Oaks Farm account; J.H. Probst, cashier.
Begins North Oaks Farm and Bond Trust account.
Begins North Oaks Farm and Bond Trust account.
Monthly time books for individuals employed at North Oaks Farm, giving total hours each worked and, occasionally, what jobs were performed. For some months, separate volumes exist for farm, residence, and gardens.
Includes timebooks for M.C. Downey and A. Johnson (location unstated, January-April 1921) and for the city garage (February-March, October 1921).
Order carbons showing with whom the order was placed, type and amount of merchandise and where delivery was to occur. The order books do not follow in strict chronological sequence, especially the later volumes.
Earlier dates principally accounts payable.
Includes Holstein-Friesian Association of America certificates of registry.
Includes plans for the original farm residence, chalet no. 1, greenhouse, barn, garden, swimming pool, and miscellaneous mechanicals.
These are Louis W. Hill's records as administrator of his father James J. Hill's estate. James died intestate in May 1916; the series includes extensive legal documentation of the process required to inventory, appraise, and divide his estate among his heirs and creditors. The United Securities Corporation was established in 1916 by James's heirs as a holding company for those parts of the estate which the heirs did not want to divide or to own personally. Its records as well as a small amount of records related to other James J. Hill business ventures are here included.
Chronological record of purchases and list of pictures by artist.
Includes appraisals.
Primarily circulars.
Includes United Securities Corporation.
Includes index.
Includes index.
Includes Chatham, Hampden, Humboldt, Norman, Northcote, and St. Vincent Land Companies and Gopher Mining Company.
Records relating to the estate of Mary T. Hill following her death in 1916 fall into two subseries. The Louis W. Hill file is comprised of Hill's records primarily relating to the appointment of an estate administrator and the lawsuits brought against him by his siblings and by the heirs against the government in regard to estate taxes. The administrator's records are the files of estate administrator George P. Flannery, consisting of correspondence and routine financial records.
Includes depositions, petitions, and hearing transcript.
Hearing transcript, continued.
Arranged by heir.
Primarily routine financial records for the estate of Louis W. Hill following his death in May 1948. The records are for two separate bank accounts: one for the general estate and one specifically for the 260 Summit Avenue property in St. Paul, which had been Hill's main residence.
Goodfellows was a charitable organization composed of St. Paul businessmen, including Louis W. Hill, which formed in 1914 to provide food, fuel, clothing, and gifts for the poor and needy during the holiday season. The club normally operated from December 1 to January 1 but seems to have also been active in November 1918 to provide medical care during the influenza epidemic. The organization continued through the 1920 holiday season when it was succeeded by the Santa Claus Club. Hill was at one time president of the organization and provided space in the Great Northern building and use of his own staff for its administrative functions. The records consist in large part of an office card file of clients, reports of investigations, and records of distribution.
Arranged by location.
Arranged alphabetically.
Records relate to Louis W. Hill's charitable activities in the early 1930s, primarily document food distribution efforts in conjunction with United Charities in St. Paul, but also work with Volunteers of America and on the Mayor's Unemployment Board. Correspondence and financial records document Hill's bulk purchases of commodities, arrangement of facilities, research on potential donation recipients, and distribution of orders. Hill ended the program after the winter of 1932-1933 because of increased government relief efforts.
Lists of supplies purchased and families served.
Series is comprised of records relating to the James J. Hill Reference Library, founded by James J. Hill in St. Paul, Minnesota as a charitable endeavor. The series includes administrative and financial records related to the founding and daily operation of the library (1912-1970s) and papers specifically related to the project of processing of the James J. Hill papers beginning in the 1960s, and subsequent research use of the papers. Also in this series are materials related to the research and writing of a history of the Great Northern Railroad by a pair of business historians.
Prepared by Georgianna Reny.
Reproduced from the Great Northern Railway records.
Selected and compiled from the James J. Hill papers by Ellen Rosenthal of the Minnesota Historical Society.
Records related to the research, writing, and review of an official business history of the Great Northern Railroad by business historians Ralph and Muriel Hidy, begun in 1954 and not finished until the mid 1980s.
Records kept by the Hill Reference Library and Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation of records requested and copied by the Hidys, which were to be returned at the completion of the project.
Files consist primarily of maps, collected by Gardnier at Great Northern for historical and business research and presentation purposes.
Railroad related published works collected by the Hidys as research material. File is arranged alphabetically by publisher, then by date.
Index is also available in
Includes "Miscellaneous".
Records related to the charitable foundation started by Louis W. Hill, first known as the Lexington Foundation and later known as the Northwest Area Foundation. The series is composed primarily of records of the Historical Documents Preservation Project, begun in 1954, to preserve and arrange the James J. Hill and Louis W. Hill papers which were in the possession of the Foundation at that time.
Includes Louis W. Hill's original data regarding the arrangement of his files and material created by the Hill Family Foundation which gained ownership of the papers after his death.
Cards are not now functional, as they direct user to defunct location system.
Files of John J. Toomey, long-time personal secretary to James J. Hill who began to work for Louis W. Hill after James's death in 1916.
Unarranged correspondence and reports including Twenty-first Annual Report of the Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company (1917), The Milking Shorthorn Journal (May, 1919, volume I, number 2), College of Puget Sound Bulletin (Volume X, No. 1, January 1918), Financial Statement of the American Shorthorn Breeders' Association (1916), and various reports about Kittson County lands and the distribution of James J. Hill's estate.
Includes financial records and printed materials regarding various financial institutions.
Includes enclosures from 1908-1915, and a 1916 printed report of proceedings of a shareholders meeting in London (December 1916).
Correspondence and financial data concerning joint trust accounts created after the death of James J. Hill as well as personal bank and investment accounts overseen by John J. Toomey on behalf of Mary T. Hill, her children, and her sons-in-law. Toomey seems to have most actively represented Mary T. Hill, Rachel and Egil Boeckmann, and Mary Hill Hill.
Includes financial data.
Correspondence and subject files retained by Goodson (1888-1971) as chief tax lawyer/accountant for Louis W. Hill. The files have been grouped into subjects; no internal order exists within most subjects.
Includes stock certificate.
Includes copies of income tax returns for individuals and trusts and negotiations over the Internal Revenue Service's claims for increased taxes.
Includes data on Shattuck Arizona Mining Company (1924), injury to Arthur Packenham at North Oaks Farm (1924), bail bond for Edward Maitland (1924), statement of real estate holdings (1946), and assorted tax issues.
Includes copies of money and credits tax returns (personal property) for individuals, corporations, and trusts and negotiations over the state's claims for increased taxes.
Includes receipts and disbursements detail (1924) and chrysanthemum planting records.
Includes lists of land holdings in Linn and Deschutes counties and a "Report on Proposed Willamette Valley Timber Consolidation," prepared by Baker, Fentress & Co. (1932).
Records collected by Jerome Hill regarding the Hill family and their legacies, including his work on the board of the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation.
Includes correspondence regarding death of Maud Hill, her estate, and memorials to her.
Includes Yale University course catalog.
Sheet music and audio cassette tape of MPR recording.
These papers relate to the family history and genealogy of Eleanor E. Pearce, a Hill cousin of Louis W. Hill from Ontario, Canada, and her family. This material was acquired separately from the main portion of the Louis W. Hill papers by the James J. Hill Reference Library.
Additional maps and plans can be found in many series within the Louis W. Hill papers. All railroad maps can be found in the Great Northern Railroad Company series and all maps of Oregon can be found in the Oregon Lands series.
This file of ephemera has been arranged by either subject or material type. The items were collected both by Louis W. Hill in his lifetime and by Louis W. Hill, Jr. and other at later dates.
Calling, business, and enclosure cards, ID, and baptismal certificate.
Newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, tear sheets, and some whole newspapers containing articles related to James J. Hill, Louis W. Hill, other Hill family members, Great Northern Railroad and other businesses, various charitable endeavors, and St. Paul activities including the Winter Carnival. The later clippings were collected by Louis W. Hill, Jr.
Series is comprised of pamphlets, brochures, periodicals, monographs, and other printed material, some of which was collected by Louis W. Hill, and some of which was added to the collection later, mainly by Louis W. Hill, Jr. Series is divided into three subseries: materials directly concerning Louis W. Hill and his children, a pamphlet file collected for the most part by Louis W. Hill, and miscellaneous printed material.
File is composed of pamphlets, brochures, and other printed publications, many of which were separated from the General Correspondence and other series. Material is arranged topically; within each topic material is arranged alphabetically, chronologically, or is unarranged.
Series is comprised of photographs and graphic materials, including drawings, paintings, posters and printed items.
A