Special Collections: Guide to the Halls Mills Lumber Company records

Administrative Information

Collection title:  Halls Mills Lumber Company records
Collection number:  SpC MS 1726
Dates of collection:  1855-1975 (bulk 1929-1940)
Size of collection:  1 box (1 linear ft.)
Provenance:  Gift of Karen Forslund Falb in 2002.
Restrictions on access and use:  Stored in the library's remote storage area.  One week's notice requested for access.

Historical Note

Shortly after settling property near Whiting, Maine, in 1811, John Raymond erected a sawmill. A small settlement formed near the mill that was known as Connecticut Mills, named for Raymond’s home state. The mill was owned by several people over time, including Peter Hall who owned the property from 1829 until his death in 1867. The community was renamed Halls Mills in 1907, and members of Hall’s family, Austin and George B. Hall, operated the facility until 1938. The mill was torn down around 1952.

Scope and Content Note

Business records of a sawmill located near Whiting, Maine, along with information about the history of the mill, area homesteads, and the logging industry in Washington County, Maine.

Contents

Bound manuscripts:

Accounts, Whiting, 1873-1902 (217 pages). Inserts include “River Systems of Maine” printed map 1855, and bill of sale for a horse in 1882.
Account book, 1886-1910. Customer records from mill.
Accounts, Whiting, 1892-1906.
Account book, 1905-1911. Customer records from mill. Inscribed Austin Hall Jan. 1905 inside front cover.
Daybook 1915-1937. Records payroll and other expenses for Halls Mill.
Day book, 1938-1940.
Order book, 1918-1937. Records lumber orders from mill.
Orders, 1938 (only a few pages used).
Ledger of expenses and income, 1935-1940. Includes index.
Ledger of expenses and income, 1937-1938. Includes index.
Time books for 1933 and 1941.

Small pocket size notebooks of customer records from mill, with cover titles as indicated:

Pocket notebook, 1909-1913.
Memorandum notebook, 1914-1919.
Important Events, 1919-1923.
Ledger, 1924-1929 (188 pages).
Record, 1929-1932 (152 pages).
Journal, 1932-1934 (140 pages).
Cash book, 1935-1936 (152 pages).
Record, 1936-1939.
Indian Cove notebook. Notes made at Whiting Town Hall regarding expenses 1820-1881.
Pocket notebook, 1901? Notes of expenses, lessons, and names (mill customers?)

Papers:

Accounting records, 1934-1937 (19 loose pages). Customer records from mill.
Payroll records, 1937-1938 (36 loose pages taken from notebook).
Payroll records, 1938-1940 (34 loose, oversized pages).
Misc. billheads, envelope, 1890-1919. (7 items)
Misc. receipts, lists and clippings, n.d, 1840, 1893-4, 1929, 1994 (9 items).
Hall billheads, envelope, unused, 192- (9 items)
Photograph, mill and pond, n.d.

Imprint:

History of Whiting, by Grace Hall Forslund, 1975.

Miscellaneous items:

Daybook 1915-1937. Records payroll and other expenses for Halls Mill.
Orderbook 1918-1935 Records lumber orders from mill.
Accounting records, 1934-1937 (loose pages). Customer records from mill.
Paryoll records, 1938-1940 (loose pages).
Misc. billheads, 1890-1919.

 

Finding Aids for selected manuscript collections in the Special Collections Department at Fogler Library are accessible online in URSUS, in a browsable Guide to Manuscript Collections. Please contact Special Collections at spc@umit.maine.edu or (207) 581-1686 for further information.

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Special Collections Staff: spc@umit.maine.edu | Revised: 01/16/2013