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Myron Clarke Tubbs Collection, 1902-1911

Manuscript Collection No. 158

 

Introduction

Abstract

The business records of Myron Clarke Tubbs were given to the Historical Society by his grandson, Myron Burr, on September 4, 1981. A small accretion was given to the society on November 1, 1981. Although most of the records pertain to Tubbs’ grain, flour, feed, coal, and lumber businesses, there are a few items relating to his service as a delegate to the Republican State Convention in 1906 and his involvement with railroads. There are no restrictions on the use of these papers.

Repository

Kansas State Historical Society

Biography

Myron Clarke Tubbs was born in Buffalo, N. Y., on November 30, 1854. As a young man, he was employed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail Road Company as an agent in Massillon, Ohio. He was transferred to Kinsley, Kansas in1886 and the following year married Ada Hollinger of Massillon and brought her to Kansas. They had two children, Martha Gertrude (born in 1888) and John Jacob (born in 1894).

Tubbs continued as the Santa Fe agent in Kinsley for many years, but by 1894 he owned a grain business. By 1900 this firm had expanded into lumber and into coal by 1904. About this time his business merged with the Kinsley Roller Mills. A 1904 Kinsley directory shows him owning an elevator, mill, and lumber yard. Tubbs remained in the milling business at least through 1906 and continued as a grain dealer as late as 1912.

In 1901 Tubbs was named a director of the National Bank of Kinsley and in 1904 he became the bank’s vice-president. He was involved in the banking business for the remainder of his life. In 1914 he acquired a controlling interest in the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Kinsley and served as president until his death on May 13, 1923.

Tubbs also had an interest in proposed railroad routes through Kinsley. He was secretary-treasurer of the Wichita, Kinsley, Scott City and Denver Air Line in 1910 and may also have been associated with the Arkansas Valley Interurban Railway Company.

History of the Kinsley Roller Mills

The Kinsley Roller Mills was founded in 1874. Proprietorship changed frequently, according to gazetteers; owners or managers are shown as S. B. Rickerson and Co. (1885-1886); W. L. Hobbs (1891); and J. M. Cain, proprietor, & J. F. Hawley, manager (1894). An elevator was added in 1890. The exact date the firm was purchased by Myron Tubbs is unknown but believed to be about 1904. Statistics for the firm (taken from the 1905 Kansas State census) show that the company had $16,000 in capital, a 50-horsepower steam engine, and 3 male employees with aggregate wages of $1,400 annually. The firm had received or stored 50,000 bushels of wheat, 30,000 of corn, and 10,000 of barley as well as 300 tons of coal during the previous year. Production or sales totaled 10,000 bushels of grain and 15,000 tons of coal.

A 1926 description of the mill indicated that at that time it was operated by the Kinsley Mill and Elevator Company. It was described as being capable of handling all the products of the area.

Scope and Content

The overwhelming majority of the collection consists of invoices and statements received from suppliers of lumber, grain, coal and other commodities; waybills showing the transportation of goods are often attached. In many cases letters sent by various firms to M. C. Tubbs concerning his orders or shipments are included with the statements. Most of these letters concern price estimates given to him for requested orders, discounts on materials or shipping charges, or resolution of supply or transportation problems.

The collection is comprised of one continuous series, arranged geographically. All bills, waybills, correspondence, and other papers are filed together by state. Within each state, the papers are grouped by cities, and—within each city—by name of firm and thereunder chronologically. Arrangement of states is alphabetical except for Kansas, which is filed at the beginning. Within each state, the records are by cities in alphabetical order, the only exception being separate folders for the Missouri cities of Kansas City (3 folders) and St. Louis (1 folder); these follow the Missouri folder (which contains records from all other locations in the state). The arrangement is virtually unchanged from when they were donated, although this may not have been the original filing scheme used by Tubbs.

The correspondence and financial records documenting Tubbs’ dealings in brick, concrete, and other building materials may relate to the construction or enlargement of his mill, or these products may represent products consumed by others in the community. Throughout the collection, the majority of documents are concerned with lumber and other building materials, shipping problems, prices, and concerns of the company as it dealt in grain and other salable goods.

Tubbs was a delegate to the Kansas Republican State Convention of 1906 held in Lansing, Kansas. A number of letters in the collection are from potential candidates and advocates of particular positions. Filed in the Hutchinson, Kansas correspondence is a letter from J. S. George of Hutchinson Wholesale Grocer Co. It discusses a political strategy calculated to break the influence of the railroads over freight rates. In the Iola, Kansas file, letters from F. J. Oyler and Frank L. Travis of that city support the latter’s candidacy for the Republican nomination for superintendent of insurance. In the Lansing, Kansas, folder, a letter from J. C. Brown, candidate for the nomination for secretary of state, asks for Tubbs’ support. A similar request from Ansel R. Clark, running for the nomination for lieutenant governor, appears in the Sterling, Kansas file. In the Topeka, Kansas correspondence, S. C. Crummer, a candidate for the state auditor nomination, also seeks Tubbs’ support.

The only railroad-related item found in the collection is a letter from C. E. Coon, vice-president and general manager of The Omaha and Western Iowa Traction Co. of Omaha, Nebraska. This letter, found in the Omaha, Nebraska file, promises Tubbs and his “line” financial backing and requests that Tubbs contact him for details.

Bob Knecht
May, 1983

Contents List

Box/Folder List

    KANSAS  
 
Box # Folder # Description Dates
# of items
1 1 Atchison 1902-1906
2
  2 Burlingame 1904-1906
2
  3 Burns 1901-1905
11
  4 Cherryvale 1906 D-1907 F
2
  5 Cimarron 1905-1907
8
  6 Coffeyville 1902-1906
6
  7 Columbus 1903 J1 31
1
  8 Dodge City 1904-1906
2
  9 Enterprise 1905 0 5-10
1
  10 Eureka 1906 Mr 31
1
  11 Florence 1901-1903
25
  12   1904-1906
25
  13 Fredonia 1904-1905
2
  14 Gaylord 1906 Ap 21
1
  15 Great Bend 1906 Ag 1
1
  16 Greensburg ca. 1904
1
  17 Hillsboro 1905 N 10-D 2
2
  18 Humboldt 1903-1906
22
  19 Hutchinson 1902-1907
12
  20 Independence 1906-1907
24
  21 Ingalls 1906 Mr 17
1
  22 Iola 1904-1906
3
  23 Jetmore 1906 F-Je
2
  24 Kansas City 1905 Ap 3
1
  25 Kinsley 1906 F-D
2
  26 Lansing 1906 Ap 3
1
  27 Larned 1902-1906
6
  28 Lawrence 1904-1906
3
  29 Leavenworth 1902-1906
3
  30 Lewis 1903-1906
2
  31 Lyons 1906 J1 2-5
2
  32 McPherson 1902-1905
2
  33 Midway 1902-1905
11
  34 Neodesha 1905-1906
7
  35 Ness City 1906 Mr 26
1
  36 Pittsburg 1902 Je 9
1
  37 Rush Center 1906 Ja 5-F2
2
  38 St. John 1904 Ja-Ap
2
  39 Spearville 1906 Mr-1907 F
2
  40 Stafford 1905 J1 7
1
  41 Sterling 1904-1906
2
  42 Strong City 1904-1906
7
  43 Topeka 1902-1907
12
  44 Wellington 1905 N 1
1
2 45 Wichita 1901-1906
19
  46 Winfield 1901-1907
2
  47 ALABAMA 1902 0 14
2
  48 ARKANSAS 1901-1907
13
  49 ARIZONA 1905 Ag-1906 Ja
5
  50 CALIFORNIA 1906-1907
4
  51 COLORADO 1903-1907
6
  52 ILLINOIS 1902-1906
6
  53 INDIANA 1901 N 9
3
  54 IOWA 1901-1905
2
  55 LOUISIANA 1901-1906
11
  56 MINNESOTA 1901-1905
2
    MISSOURI  
 
  57 All cities except Kansas 1901-1907
4
    City and St. Louis  
 
    Kansas City  
 
  58 A-H 1901-1906
22
3 59 I-Q 1901-1907
14
  60 R-Z 1903-1907
7
  61 St. Louis 1901-1907
23
  62 NEBRASKA 1906-1911
3
  63 NEW MEXICO 1905 0 30
2
  64 NEW YORK 1903-1907
2
  65 OHIO 1901-1904
2
  66 OKLAHOMA TERR. 1905-1906
2
  67 PENNSYLVANIA 1902-1905
4
  68 TEXAS 1902-1907
13
  69 WASHINGTON 1901-1906
4
  70 WISCONSIN 1903 My 11
1
  71 NON-RECORD ITEMS  
 

Oversize

AMERICAN SASH & DOOR CO. 1906 Je 2 1
ROACH & KIENZLE FACTORY. ESTIMATE

1901-1911 - Tubbs, Myron Clarke, 1854-1923
[Buiness records,] 1901-1911. 1 ft. (405 items)

Railroad agent and promoter, grain dealer, businessman, banker, of Coll. 158 Kinsley, Kan. Invoices and correspondence from suppliers of lumber, grain, coal, and other commodities; most of the records are for the period 1901-1907 and concern prices and orders for Tubbs’ businesses and the Kinsley Roller Mills. Some letters are from seekers of the Republican nomination to State office in 1906 when Tubbs was a delegate to the State convention. Records are arranged by State, thereunder by city and name of Correspondent.

I. Kinsley Roller Mills.

1. AGRICULTURAL PRICES—KANSAS—KINSLEY

2. AGRICULTURE—ECONOMIC ASPECTS

3. BANKERS—KANSAS—KINSLEY

4. BUSINESS RECORDS—KANSAS—KINSLEY

5. BUSINESSMEN—KANSAS—KINSLEY

6. COAL—PRICES

7. COAL TRADE—KANSAS—KINSLEY

8. EDWARDS COUNTY, KAN.

9. FLOUR AND FEED TRADE—KANSAS—KINSLEY

10. FLOUR MILLS—KANSAS—KINSLEY
11. GRAIN—MILLING

12. GRAIN—PRICES

13. GRAINELEVATORS—KANSAS—KINSLEY

14. INVOICES—KANSAS—KINSLEY

15. KANSAS—POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

16. KINSLEY, KAN.

17. LUMBER—PRICES

18. LUMBERTRADE—U.S.—KANSAS

19. LUMBER-YARDS—KANSAS—KINSLEY

20. NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICE—KANSAS

21. POLITICALCONVENTIONS—KANSAS

22. POLITICAL LETTER WRITING—KANSAS

23. PRICES—KANSAS—KINSLEY

24. PRODUCE TRADE—KANSAS—KINSLEY

25. RAILROADS—EMPLOYEES

26. RAILROADS—KANSAS—EDWARDS COUNTY

27. REPUBLICANPARTY. KANSAS—STATE CONVENTION, 1906

Related Records and Collections

Unpublished finding aid in the respository.

Additional Information for Researchers

Restrictions

Information on literary rights available in the repository.

Acquisition

Gift of Myron Burr, 1981.