Title: William B. Mershon Papers Creator: Mershon, William B., 1856-1943 Dates: 1848-1943 Extent: 46.5 linear feet, 1 oversize folder, 14 microfilms Abstract:
Saginaw, Michigan, lumberman and businessman, and Michigan State Tax Commissioner, 1912 and wildlife conservationist and sportsman. Papers include extensive correspondence files, business records and photographs.
Call number: 851844 Aa 2 Language: The materials are in English. Repository: Bentley Historical Library
1150 Beal Ave. Ann Arbor, MI
48109-2113 Phone:
734-764-3482 Fax:
734-936-1333 e-mail:
bentley.ref@umich.edu Home Page: http://www.bentley.umich.edu/
Finding aid prepared by: Bentley Historical Library Staff.
Access and Use
Acquisition Information:
The collection was the gift of William B. Mershon and family (donor no. 51) and came to the library in 1944
Access Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
To protect fragile audiovisual recordings (such as audio cassettes, film reels, and VHS
tapes), the Bentley Historical Library has a policy of converting them to digital
formats by a professional vendor whenever a researcher requests access. For more
information, please see: http://bentley.umich.edu/research/duplication/.
Copyright:
Copyright to the collection has been transferred to the Regents of the University of Michigan. William B. Mershon's unpublished works are in the public domain in the U.S. due to copyright expiration. Many of his published works are also in the public domain in the U.S. The collection also contains materials authored by others; some of those materials are in the public domain, while others remain protected by copyright. If researchers seek to use materials from the collection, they are responsible for considering the work's copyright status and obtaining any required permission.
Processing Information:
The Bentley Historical Library has digitized materials in this collection to better preserve original items and increase possibilities for access. Links to digital content are available within this finding aid; access and/or use restrictions may apply.
In preparing digital material for long-term preservation and access, the Bentley Historical Library adheres to professional best practices and standards to ensure that content will retain its authenticity and integrity. For more information on procedures for the ingest and processing of digital materials, please see Bentley Historical Library Digital Processing Note. Access to digital material may be provided either as a direct link to an individual file or as a downloadable package of files bundled in a zip file.
Preferred Citation:
[item], folder, box, William B. Mershon Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
[item], [URL], William B. Mershon Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
Arrangement
The Mershon Papers are arranged in two distinct subgroups, the Paper Records and the Microfilmed Records. The paper records are primarily personal, but contain some business records while the microfilmed material is primarily business records. Each of the subgroups is further divided into series.
Paper Records subgroup
Papers - Chronological
Papers - Undated
Letterbooks
Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company
Hunting and Fishing
Business Papers
Photographs
Microfilmed Records subgroup
William B. Mershon & Company
Mershon, Schuette and Parker
Atlas Oil Corporation
Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Co.
Personal Journals
Biography
William Butts Mershon was the third generation of his family to engage in lumbering in and around Saginaw, Michigan. When he first became active in the family business in 1866 the firm was already large and diversified. In addition to lumbering and the operation of a planing mill, the firm was one of the nation's largest manufacturers of knock-down wooden boxes, the standard form of storage and shipping box prior to the development of cardboard cartons.
After spending several years working within the family concern, Mershon founded his own company, William B. Mershon and Company. He also formed several other partnerships including one formed by himself, S.L. Eastman, William Schuette, and Parker, Sheldon & Co. While he divided his time among many interests, after 1905 he generally concentrated on William B. Mershon and Co., rather than his other business interests. This firm manufactured bandsaws designed by his brother Edward. In 1926 William Mershon sold the business and retired.
Mershon also had financial interests outside the state of Michigan. In 1900 he became a stockholder (later he was elected president) of the Saginaw & Manistee Lumber Company, headquartered at Williams, Arizona. He also invested in copper mining in Arizona and lumbering operations in Montana.
Privately, Mershon was a well known conservationist and sportsman. He published two volumes, one regarding the passenger pigeon and the other relating his hunting and fishing experiences over fifty years. He also was active in Saginaw political life, serving as mayor of Saginaw (1894-1895), city alderman, member of both the parks and the cemetery commissions, and the citizen's water committee.
Collection Scope and Content Note
The William Mershon collection consists of correspondence dealing with Mershon's various activities as a lumberman, Saginaw businessman, and member of the State Tax Commission in 1912. Subjects included in the papers are Michigan wildlife conservation, the Michigan Sportsmen Association, the Michigan Manufacturers Association, the Michigan State Tax Commission, Michigan politics, the Democratic party, personal business investments, lumbering and mining interest, and personal affairs.
The collection also includes diaries, a book of notes on hunting and fishing trips, and various business records such as cash books, time books, ledgers, and journals. These primarily concern his investments and lumbering business. Many of the business records are available on microfilm. The collection also includes photographs.
Subject Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the finding aid database and catalog of The Bentley Historical Library/University of Michigan. Researchers desiring additional information about related topics should search the catalog using these headings.
Account books.
Diaries.
Business records.
Conservation of natural resources -- Michigan.
Elections -- Michigan -- 1936.
Fishing -- Michigan.
Forests and forestry -- Michigan.
Hunting -- Michigan.
Huron National Forest (Mich.)
Logging -- Michigan.
Lumbering -- Michigan.
Manufactures -- Michigan.
Michigan -- Politics and government -- 1899-1916.
Mines and mineral resources -- Michigan.
Saginaw (Mich.)
Strikes and lockouts -- Michigan.
Taxation -- Michigan.
Bliss Park (Saginaw, Mich.)
Boats.
Business enterprises -- Michigan -- Saginaw.
Camping.
Fish.
Fishing.
Grayling fishing.
Hunting.
Laborers.
Lumber industry.
Lumberman's Memorial (Iosco County, Mich.)
Mining.
Monuments and memorials.
Photographs.
Railroads -- Michigan.
Saginaw (Mich.)
Saginaw (Mich.) -- Business enterprises.
Travel.
World War, 1914-1918.
Account books.
Diaries.
Photographs.
Digital file formats.
Democratic Party (Mich.)
Mershon, Wm. B. (William Butts), 1856-1943.
Michigan. Dept. of Conservation.
Michigan Forestry Association.
Michigan. Forestry Commission.
Michigan Manufacturer's Association.
Michigan Sportsmen's Association.
Michigan. State Tax Commission.
Michigan Wildlife Conservation Association.
United States. Congress.
United States. Supreme Court.
Ashurst, Henry Fountain, 1874-1962.
Avery, Waldo A.
Baker, William F.
Bland, Joseph Edward, 1866-
Bliss, Aaron Thomas, 1837-1906.
Brown, Prentiss M. (Prentiss Marsh), 1889-1973.
Brucker, Wilber Marion, 1894-1968.
Campbell, Thomas E., 1858-
Carton, Augustus C.
Comstock, William Alfred, 1877-1949.
Cooley, Mortimer E. (Mortimer Elwyn), 1855-1944.
Couzens, James, 1872-1936.
Crawford, Fred L., 1888-1957.
Doremus, Frank Ellsworth, 1865-1947.
Ferris, Woodbridge N., 1853-1928.
Fitzgerald, Frank Dwight, 1885-1939.
Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.
Fordney, Joseph W. (Joseph Warren), 1853-1932.
Garfield, Charles William, 1848-1934.
Glaspie, Andrew Bird, 1876-
Green, Fred W. (Fred Warren), 1872-1936.
Grinnell, George Bird, 1849-1938.
Groesbeck, Alexander J. (Alexander Joseph), 1873-1953.
Hamilton, Edward LaRue, 1857-1923.
Harrison, Francis Burton, 1873-1957.
Hart, Michael James, 1877-1951.
Hawes, Harry B.
Hough, Emerson, 1857-1923.
Humphrey, George M. (George Magoffin), 1890-
Humphrey, Watts S.
Hunsaker, Walter Jerome, 1857-1939.
Kelley, Patrick Henry, 1867-1925.
King, Francis, Mrs., 1863-1948.
Knox, Frank, 1874-1944.
Kracher, Horatio S.
Linsley, Edward B., 1847-
Macauley, Thomas Babbington.
Mapes, Carl Edgar, 1874-1939.
Maxey, John O., 1871-1920.
Mellon, Andrew W. (Andrew William), 1855-1939.
Michener, Earl C. (Earl Cory), 1876-1957.
Morley, George Bidwell, 1857-1935.
Munger, Edith Cushway, 1865-1945.
New, Harry S. (Harry Stewart), 1858-1937.
Newberry, Truman Handy, 1864-1945.
Osborn, Chase S. (Chase Salmon), 1860-
Pearson, William J., 1860-
Penney, Harvey A., 1866-
Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946.
Rayburn, Robert H., 1866-
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.
Roth, Filibert, 1858-1925.
Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company.
Shields, Robert Hazen, 1905-
Sleeper, Albert E., 1862-1934.
Smith, Hal Horace, 1903-
Smith, Shirley Wheeler, 1875-1959.
Smith, William Alden, 1859-1932.
Smoot, Reed, 1862-1941.
Sterling, Louis T.
Townsend, Charles E. (Charles Elroy), 1856-1924.
Tuttle, Arthur J., 1868-1944.
Underwood, Oscar Wilder, 1862-1929.
Vandenberg, Arthur H. (Arthur Hendrick), 1884-1951.
Vincent, Bird J., 1880-1931.
Warner, Frederick Maltby, 1865-1923.
Watkins, Lucius Whitney, 1873-
Whitney, Joseph H., 1858-
Williams, John Sharp, 1854-1932.
Wood, Edwin O., 1840-
Young, Horace Olin, 1850-1917.
Mershon, Wm. B. (William Butts), 1856-1943.
Mershon family.
Rochester Salt and Lumber Company (Saginaw, Mich.)
Pinacote (Mexico, Arizona and California trip) 1915
Box 47
Picnic at Ajo, Arizona 1920
(Includes Papago Indians and architecture.)
Box 47
Tawas Beach and other snapshots of family 1903-1905[access item]
Box 47
Family and camping snapshots. 1907-1919
(Locations: Bridgeport, Pasadena, the Mackinaw ferry, Buffalo Lake, Coleman Lake (Arizona), Mississippi, Cascapedia (Gaspe), Lovells, Black River, Au Sable River, High Bank Lodge and the "portable house.")
Large album, with fishing, travel and vacation photos in Newfoundland, Quebec, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, France and California. Includes Merson fishing lodge on Casapedia River in Quebec. 1899-1905
Box 48
Large album with family and hunting photos circa 1910[access item]
