Special Collections & Archives
Manuscript Group 291
Success Mining Company
Records, 1906-1953
16 cubic feet
The records of the Success Mining Company are part of the records of Day Mines, Inc., donated to the University of Idaho by Henry Day in 1984 and 1985. Initial processing of this manuscript group was done by Dixie Miller in February 1988, with funds provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Processing was completed by Judith Nielsen in June 1992.
COMPANY HISTORY
In 1905, H.F. Samuels and associates bought the Granite Company, a formerly successful lead-silver producer that had been abandoned after encountering excessive zinc in the ore. The new firm, incorporated under the laws of the state of Idaho on April 5, 1905 as the Success Mining Co., was to be operated primarily for zinc. Samuels owned 2/3 or more of the stock. The Success paid frequent dividends between 1911 and 1917. In the latter year the U.S. Geological Survey's Mineral Resources of the United States ranked the Success mine second among smelter producers in the state of Idaho.
Early in 1915 rapidly advancing zinc prices spurred a brief boom in Success stock. The company had owed $77,825.14 at the beginning of the year; by April it was out of debt and able to declare a two-cent dividend on the $1.5 million par value of stock; a similar dividend followed in May and again in June, yet a surplus continued to accumulate. Then, near the end of the latter month, H.F. Samuels resigned the presidency and his cousin C.C. Samuels quit the secretaryship. P.J. Gearon, and C.M. Carroll, both of whom had been directors, became president and secretary-treasurer, respectively.
After that, the flow of dividends dried up. Two years later, a stockholder and attorney, Franklin Pfirman, circulated a report charging Gearon, Howarth, and other directors with having disposed of most of their own stock and conspiring to rob the company of the money accumulated in the treasury. Securing the proxies of the scattered small stockholders now in the majority, Pfirman took over the Success at its next annual meeting and installed new officers, with himself as president. Nevertheless, by 1918, the mine was closed. Between 1918 and 1925, there were seven assessments levied against Success stock.
The Success continued to ship small amounts of ore while successive managers, first Allen G. Kennedy and then Herman Rossi, tried to encourage stockholders with reports of development work and hints of a forthcoming rich strike and an end to the continual assessments. In 1925 when Kennedy and his entire staff were fired, Success stock rose briefly, but even exploration work soon ceased. With the Success supposedly played out and the stock down, the Day family took over control. Henry Day became manager, although Rossi remained as a director. John Fahey, in The Days of the Hercules, suggests the Days bought the Success hoping for a hidden vein. Later a variety of lessees tried their luck without finding anything of value. The mine was soon allowed to fill, much of the equipment sold, and one liquidating dividend paid. The last known sale of Success stock was for 1/4 cent per share in 1932.
Although inoperative and the stock completely worthless, the Success Mining Company continued to exist for many decades. The Henry L. Day Papers, Subject Files, contain information on the Success Mining Co. into the 1980s.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The records of the Success Mining Company span the years 1910 to 1953, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1915 to 1926. Included are records relating to the meetings of the directors and stockholders, correspondence concerning mine operations, correspondence with stockholders and suppliers, financial statements, tax returns, leases, ore contracts, ore shipment records, information on the sale of equipment, capital stock records, financial records, and accident and payroll records.
ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION
The records of the Success Mining Company are divided into seven series.
The first series, Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, does not contain minute books. However, some years do contain minutes as well as other material relating to meetings, such as by-laws, lists of stockholders, proxy statements, and ballots for directors. Meetings were not held annually, but at widely scattered intervals.
General Correspondence and Related Records, the second series, is broken down into three subseries. The first is an alphabetically arranged file of the Secretary/Treasurer, and contains correspondence relating to mine operations, correspondence with stockholders regarding stock transfers and assessments, correspondence with suppliers, reports to the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1927 and 1937, records of the sales of mine equipment in 1925 and 1926, financial statements, income and capital stock tax returns, leases, and ore contracts. The second subseries contains the incomplete files (A-O) of the General Manager and includes ore shipment records, information on the sale of equipment, capital stock tax returns, and correspondence with suppliers. The final subseries contains leases, contracts, coroner's inquests and insurance policies which were loose in the original received order.
The third series is Capital Stock Records. Included are stock ledgers and journals, incomplete sets of bound volumes of receipts for assessments 1-7, correspondence concerning assessments 4, 6 and 7, and a dividend register.
The fourth series, Financial Records, contains check stubs for the years 1939 to 1943, an alphabetical file of correspondence, financial ledgers and journals, and a voucher register.
Ore Production and Shipment Records, the fifth series, contains smelter returns which include shipping information, assays, and settlement sheets for ore the mine shipped to American Smelting and Refining Co, Anaconda Copper Mining Company and Vieille Montagne Zinc Co., and a daily record of production for the years 1915-1925.
Series six, Plant and Equipment Records, contains inventories of equipment and supplies for the years 1920 to 1925, and a 1925-1926 order book.
Personnel Records, the final series, contains accident reports for 1923-1926, time check records, and payroll journals for the years 1915-1926.
Material relating to the Idaho Memorial Association found with the Success Mining Company papers appeared to have no relation to the mine or its officers and was therefore removed. Also removed were the stock ledger on cards since the stock ledger books were more complete, returned notices of meetings and assessment notices, and paid checks which were listed in the voucher register. This reduced the bulk of the material by four cubic feet.
SERIES LIST
I. Records of the Board of Directors and Stockholders, 1916-1953 1 II. General Correspondence and Related Records, 1906-1946 1-3 A. Secretary/Treasurer's Files, 1910-1946 B. General Manager's Files, 1917-1930 C. Other Files, 1906-1930 III. Capital Stock Records, 19l5-1928 3-5 IV. Financial Records, 1914-1943 5 & os V. Ore Production and Shipment Records, 1915-1925 6 & os VI. Plant and Equipment Records, 1920-1926 6 VII. Personnel Records, 1915-1926 6 & os
SUCCESS MINING COMPANY
INVENTORY
Box Folder Description
I. Records of the Board of Directors and Stockholders
1 1 Records relating to meetings, 1916, 1918, 1924 2 Records relating to meetings, 1925-1926 3 Records relating to meetings, 1927 4 Records relating to meetings, 1930-1932 5 Records relating to meetings, 1933, 1936 6 Records relating to meetings, 1939, 1942 7 Records relating to meetings, 1946, 1953
II. General Correspondence and Related Records, 1910-1946
A. Secretary/Treasurer's Files, 1917-1930
8-9 A-B, 1918-1939 10 Bureau of Mines, 1927, 1935-1937 11 C, 1924-1939 12 Consolidated Insurance Agency, Hartford, 1924-1927 13 D, 1925-1938 14 Dividend file, 1927, 1930 15 E, 1925-1936 16 Equipment sales, 1927-1929 17 F, 1925-1939 18-19 Financial statements, 1915-1946 20-22 G-J, 1920-1940 23 Income and capital stock tax returns, 1912-1916 24 Industrial Accident Board, State of Idaho, 1925 25 K, 1925-1939 2 26 L, 1925-1939 27 Lidell and Clarke, Inc., 1925-1936 28 Lease: Bloyed & Clark, 1937 29 Lease: Roberts, 1936 30 Lease: Ross & Hillstrom, 1937 31-32 M, 1925-1939 33 Minerals Separation Corporation, 1925 34 N-O, 1925-1937 35 Ore contracts, 1910-1926 36 P, 1925-1937 37 Price list, 1915-1936 38 R, 1925-1938 39 Rossi Insurance and Investment: Aetna, 1924-1930 40-41 S-U, 1925-1939 42 Thomas & McDonell, lessors, 1927 43 V, W, Wage schedule, 1925-1939 44 Y-Z, 19226-1935
B. General Manager's Files, 1917-1930
45 A; Aetna, 1924-1925 46 American Smelting and Refining Company, East Helena, Montana, 1922-1927 47 Applications; Austin-Henderson Company, Spokane, 1923-1925 48 B; Brokers; Bureau of Mines; Bureau of the Census, 1919-1928 49 C; Capital Stock Tax, 1918-1926 50 Change of address; Claims; Coal, 1924-1925 51 Coeur d'Alene Hardware & Foundry; Collector of Internal Revenue, Boise; Connersville Blower Company; Continental Oil Company; Cowles, A.E., 1918-1925 52 Corporation Income and Profit Tax, 1917-1930 53 D; Denver Rock Drill Manufacturing Company; Department of the Interior; Dier, E.D. and Company, 1923-1925 54 DuVal Moore & Company, 1925-1926 55 E; Edison Lamp Works; Export Lumber Company, 1924-1933 56 F; First National Bank, 1923-1933 57 G; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 1924-1925 58 H; Hallidie Company, 1924-1925 59 Housman, A.A. & Company; Hartford Accident and Indemnity; Herrin, H.M. and Company; Hutton, E.F. and Company, 1923-1925 60 I; Insurance "Compensation"; J; Jessen, Dewey; K, 1923-1925 61 L; Labor unions; Lauzier, Wolcott & Company, 1924-1925 62 Mc; Motors; Operating statements, 1925-1926
C. Other Files, 1906-1930
3 63 Agreements, 1913-1917 64 Contracts: Hospital, 1917-1922 65 Contracts: Mine work, 1922 66 Contracts: Washington Water Power, 1915-1930 67 Coroner's inquests, 1915 68 Deeds and Proofs of labor, 1906-1924 69 Explosives license, 1917-1918 70 Indemnity bonds, 1915-1923 71 Insurance policies, 1928-1929 72 Leases, 1917-1922 73 Legal cases, 1916 74 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1916-1925 75 Property records, 1903-1906 76 Reports on property, 1912-1918 77 Rights of way, 1911-1914 78 Settlements of mine injuries, 1910-1914 79 Stock settlement, sale February 28, 1919
III. Capital Stock Records, 1915-1928
80 Stock journal, 1915 os 81-82 Stock ledgers, 1915 os 83 Stock journal, 1915-1922 os 84-89 Stock ledgers, 1915-1928 os 90 Dividend register, 1915-1917 91-95 Correspondence relating to assessment #4, 1924-2925 96-98 Correspondence relating to assessment #6, 1925 4 99-101 Correspondence relating to assessment #7, 1925 102-110 Assessment receipts, assessment #l, 1919 111-117 Assessment receipts, assessment #2, 1919 118-124 Assessment receipts, assessment #3, 1921-1922 125-131 Assessment receipts, assessment #4, 1924-1925 5 132-136 Assessment receipts, assessment #4, 1924-1925 137-149 Assessment receipts, assessment #5, 1925 150-156 Assessment receipts, assessment #6, 1925 157-159 Assessment receipts, assessment #7, 1925
IV. Financial Records, 1915-1943
os 160 Voucher register, 1915-1932 os 161 Debit/Credit ledger, 1915-1942 os 162 Distribution of expenses journal, 1915-1925 163 Applications, 1926 164 Boarding house statements, 1926 165 Continental Oil Company, 1926 166 Development, 1926 167 Dupont (explosives shipment), 1926 168 Insurance claims (accident), 1926 169 Orders for money to be paid from salary, 1923-1926 170 Spokane Nash Motor Company, 1926 171 Check stubs, 1939-1943 172 Bank deposit books, 1915-1924 173 Paid checks, 1915 174 Paid checks "In partial liquidation", 1930
V. Ore Production and Shipment Records, 1915-1925
os 175 Daily record of ore production, 1915-1925 6 176-181 Smelter returns: American Smelting and Refining Company, East Helena, Montana, 1922-1926 182-184 Smelter returns: Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Butte, Montana, 1923-1925 185-190 Smelter returns: Vieille Montagne Zinc Co., San Francisco, California, 1925-1927
VI. Plant and Equipment Records, 1920-1926
191-192 Inventories, 1920, 1924-1925 193 Order book, 1925-1925
VII. Personnel Records, 1915-1926
194 Accident reports, 1923-1926 195 Time check record, 1915-1926 os 196 Payroll journal, 1915-1921 os 197 Payroll journal, 1922-1926 os 198 Mill payroll journal, 1925 199 Miscellaneous payroll, April-June 1925
mg291.htm / March 1995
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