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Special Collections & Archives


Manuscript Group 65

WARREN THOMPSON SHEPPERD

Papers, 1899-1969
4 linear feet


The papers of Warren T. Shepperd were donated to the University of Idaho by Virgil Shepperd, Hannah (Shepperd) Oldham, son and daughter of Warren, and John T. Trueman in June 1971. Processing began as a Special Collections group project in October 1984 and was completed by Judith Nielsen in February 1985.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF WARREN T. SHEPPERD

Warren Thompson Shepperd was born on a farm 10 miles east of Moscow, Idaho, on August 15, 1883, the son of George W. and Rutha J. (Woody) Shepperd. He graduated from the University of Idaho Preparatory School in 1905, and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering at the University in 1910. He worked as a private surveyor from 1911 to 1914, chiefly in connection with lumbering roads and homestead property claims around Worley, Kootenai County, Idaho. In 1912 he married Mildred Dodge, they had five children. He and his family moved to Benewah County where, in 1915, he was appointed County Auditor and Recorder of Deeds. He held these positions until he moved to Coeur d'Alene in 1920. There he was cashier and office manager for the Fred Herrick Lumber Company. In 1928 the Coeur d'Alene Mill Company, one of Herrick's companies, was placed in receivership, and from March 1929 until 1932 Shepperd operated the mill for the mortgage holder Baker Fentress Company. He was Kootenai County Assessor from 1932 to 1935, and Treasurer from 1945 to 1948. He was also secretary of the Kootenai County Planning Commission from 1935-1937, as well as being active in I.O.O.F. and Kiwanis.

Shepperd was named to the board of Coeur d'Alene Junior College, a private school, by the local Kiwanis Club in 1933 and served as chairman of the board for several years. In 1939 the Idaho Legislature passed a Junior College Law and by June of that year he and the other board members had organized the North Idaho Junior College. In addition to his duties as secretary of the board he was named treasurer in 1949. He retired in 1960.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The papers of Warren T. Shepperd span the years 1899 to 1969, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1925 to 1950.

The papers include personal correspondence and tax returns, correspondence generated by his official duties in both the I.O.O.F. and Kiwanis, and correspondence with Baker-Fentress Company during the time he was handling the affairs of the bankrupt Coeur d'Alene Mill Company. There are financial records of the Hayden Lake Irrigation District and the North Idaho Junior College as well as material relating to the projects of the Kootenai County Planning Commission, and correspondence from the county auditor's office. Also included are several surveyors notebooks and various Coeur d'Alene Mill Company ledgers.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

The material in this manuscript group was originally stored in several letter transfer boxes, bundled file folders, and envelopes of various sizes. An attempt was made to bring like material together while, at the same time, maintaining the original order of each group.

In this regard, the personal correspondence presented the greatest problem. A small collection of Christmas cards with personal notes was retained and placed in a file folder. A second folder contains letters to Mildred Shepperd from various friends. There is no arrangement within these folders. The remaining folders, arranged alphabetically, contain Warren Shepperd's correspondence. Several different alphabetical files were melded into one sequence, but in no case were the contents of the folders combined. Therefore, there are folders for letters of the alphabet followed by folders for individuals, usually family members, or on subjects, i.e., Insurance, Legal (this contains correspondence relating to the estates of family members), and Sunswheat Deal (Sunswheat was a new breakfast cereal developed at the University of Washington). The taxes are arranged chronologically, with all taxed, property, state and federal income tax returns, for a given year in the same folder.

While secretary and Grand Chaplain of I.O.O.F. Lodge 34, Shepperd kept two alphabetical files. The second of these, all from late 1938, contained so very few items and were merged with the first which also contained 1938 correspondence. The correspondence to and from Shepperd as secretary of the Coeur d'Alene Kiwanis Club is also alphabetical.

The Baker-Fentress material was in one transfer box. With the exception of the first three sections (A-C) which were separated by subject, the letters appeared to be in no order. No attempt was made to reorganize this material.

The items in the Kootenai County Planning Commission are arranged alphabetically by project; Shepperd's original folder headings were retained.

Many Christmas and birthday cards in the collection contained no message and were removed. Several duplicate annual reports of the mill company were also withdrawn from the collection as was an eleven volume mimeographed set of jokes and speech ideas. A small sample of J.M. Carey's daily scale reports were retained, but since summary sheets were available., the remaining daily reports were not. In all about .5 c.f. of material was removed.

SERIES LIST

Containers

I. Personal Papers, 1905-1962 1

A. Correspondence

B. Financial

II. Service Clubs, 1919-1962 1

A. Independent Order of Odd Fellows

B. Kiwanis

C. Other

III. Lumber Interests, 1899-1934 1

A. Baker-Fentress

B. Coeur d'Alene Mill Co.

C. Other Papers

IV. Civic Interests, 1915-1960 2

A. Hayden Lake Irrigation District

B. Education

C. Politics

D. Kootenai County Planning Commission

V. Surveying Material, 1921-1957 2

VI. Journals & Ledgers, 1920-1964 o.s.

A. Coeur d'Alene Mill Company

B. Others

INVENTORY

WARREN THOMPSON SHEPPERD

Box Folder Description Items

I. Personal Papers, 1905-1962

A. Correspondence

1	1	Greeting Cards, 1930-1948	20
	2	To Mildred (Mrs. W.T.) Shepperd, 1932-1953	28
	3-35	A - Z, 1905-1960	326

B. Financial

	36	Promissory Notes, 1924-1928	11
	37	Check register, 1956	1
	38-63	Taxes, 1920-1962	245

II. Service Clubs, 1919-1962

A. Independent Order of Odd Fellows

	64-75	Correspondence, 1930-1938	174
	76	Receipts, 1931-1933	105
	77	Minute Book, 1938	1
	78	Programs, certificates. 1919-1962	13

B. Kiwanis

	79-80	Correspondence, A-Z, 1938	51
	81	Programs, 1935-1953	14
	82	Newsletters, 1938	11

C. Others

	83	Knights of Pythias, 1925-1933	6
	84	Toastmasters, 1950	4

III. Lumber Interests, 1899-1934

A. Baker-Fentress

	85	Correspondence A (Insurance on Property), 1929-1932	100
	86	Correspondence B (Sale of Property) 1929-1931	150
	87	Correspondence C (Payroll & Expenses), 1929-1932	45
	88-89	Correspondence D-Z, 1929-1932	115

B. Coeur d'Alene Mill Company

1	90	Correspondence, A-Z, 1914-1931	46
	91	Taxes, 1927-1934	35
	92	Carroll Heights, 1913-1928	5
	93	Time Book, 1899-1900	1
	94	John M. Carey Book & Log Scale, 1920-1921	20

C. Other Items

	95	Parody of Senate Bill 90, n.d.	1
	96	Booklet: "Old Homes Made New," (Chicago: American Lumberman, 1925)	1

IV. Civic Interests, 1915-1960

A. Hayden Lake Irrigation District

2	97-99	Bank Statements: Domestic, Irrigation & Reserve Accounts, 1953	39
	100-104	Vouchers: Domestic & Irrigation Funds, 1953	436
	105-117	Receipt Books, Domestic Fund, 1948-1953	13

B. Education

Coeur d'Alene School District #1

	118	Correspondence, 1927-1929	7
	119	Bulletins, 1928-1930	12
	120	Financial Statements, 1925/26-1930/31	44

North Idaho Junior College

	121	Programs & Newspaper clipping, 1939-1952	3
	122	Faculty Deposit Records, 1955-1960	3

C. Politics

	123-124	Assessor: Correspondence, 1933-1943	61
	125		 Board Orders, 1933-1934	23
	126-127		 Appeals, 1924-1934	13
	128		 Migratory Livestock, 1934	17
	129	Chief Engineer, Highway District. 1931	2
	130-131	Election Campaigns & Results, 1932-1956	53
	132	Certificates of Appreciation & Election, 1915-1954	6

D. Kootenai County Planning Commission

	133	Minutes, 1935-1937	26
2	134	General Correspondence, 1935-1936	14
	135	Bayview-Belmont Highway, 1935	5
	136	Belgrove-Black Rock Road Project, n.d.	1
	137	Cedar Creek Project, n.d.	2
	138	Coeur d'Alene zoning laws, n.d.	6
	139	Coeur d'Alene, O'Brien Addition, 1947-1949	4
	140	Coeur d'Alene Junior College, 1934-1936	32
	141	Coeur d'Alene River-Kellogg Road, 1935	2
	142	Cougar Gulch-Mica Flat Road, n.d.	2
	143	Flood Control, 1936-1949	12
	144	Hayden Lake Road, 1935	1
	145	Post Falls, 1936	8
	146	Public Domain, 1935-1937	15
	147	Re-settlement, 1935	10
	148	Wolf Lodge-Bennett Bay Road, 1935	3
	149	Worley School, 1935-1937	23
	150	Worley Sidewalks & Water, 1936	3
	151	Worley-Chatcolet-State Line Project, 1935-1936	5
	152	State Planning Board - Circular Letters, 1935-1936	31
	153	American Society of Planning Officials, 1935-1936	4

V. Surveying Material, 1921-1957

	154	Notebooks, 1930-1935	6
	155	Licenses, 1921-1957	51
	156	Correspondence, 1953	3

VI Journals and Ledgers, 1920-1965

A. Coeur d'Alene Mill Company

o.s.	157-160	Annual Reports, 1922-1927	4
	161	Bills Payable, 1928	1
	162	General Journal, (includes North Idaho Junior College Budget Balances, 1957/58-1959/60) 1925-1927	1
	163	General Journal #4, 1928	1
	164	General Ledger; Sinking Fund Accounts, 1928	1
	165	Orders, 1923	1
	166	Purchase Journal, 1925-1928	1
	167	Lumber Purchased Journal, (includes check register for unidentified company, 1933-1934)1928	1
	168	Sales Journal, 1928	1
o.s.	169	Accounts of Clearwater Operation, 1924-1927	1
	170	St. Joe Camp General Journal, (includes WTS personal accounts, Jan. 1958) 1925-1927	1
	171	St. Maries River Camp Payroll Book. Nov. 1927	1

B. Other Companies

	172	Hauser Lumber Co. Memorandum Ledger, 1927	1
	173	Store Sales #2. (includes WTS personal accounts, Dec. 1957-Feb. 1958) 1926-1927	1
	174	Tuscor Lumber Company. Journal, (includes WTS personal accounts, 1961-1965) 1925-1927	1

Unidentified Companies

	175	Ledger, Nov.-Dec. no year	1
	176	Time Book, 1920	1
	177	Payroll Ledger, n.d.	1


July 1997/ mg065.htm

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