Title: Farmers Elevator Company Records (Yorkville), 1908-1985
ID: RHC/RC/109
Extent: 25.5 Linear Feet
Date Acquired: 08/27/1980. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Coal trade, Farmers Elevator Company, Farm supply industries, Grain, Kentland (Ill.), Yorkville (Ill.)
Languages: English
Incorporated on October 3, 1908, the Farmers Elevator Company’s first board of directors elected J. Wampah, president, Lewis Christiansen, vice president, E. B. Thomas, secretary, L.C. Martner, treasurer, and appointed Guy Corzine, company manager. The Porport property in Yorkville, Illinois, purchased for $2500 on December 5, 1908, became the site of the company’s first business offices and elevators. On October 26, 1912, the firm approved a second elevator site in Kentland, Illinois. Annual picnics, started in 1909, provided social entertainment br stockholders and company employees.
In February, 1909 the Farmers Elevator Company signed an agreement with the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad which agreed to construct a side track to the elevator to facilitate shipping and receiving operations. Two years later the Fox and Illinois Union Railroad built a short line between Yorkville and Morris, Illinois connected to the C. B. & Q. railroad in Yorkville. The Kentland elevator site used this track for moving grain, coal, and lumber. Working closely with area agribusinesses, the Farmers Elevator Company provides needed supplies to the farmers of Kendall County.
Repository: Northern Illinois University
Accruals: An addendum was added at a later date.
Access Restrictions: There are no restrictions on access to the collection.
Use Restrictions: Property rights in the collection remain with the Farmers Elevator Company; literary rights are dedicated to the public.
Acquisition Source: Steve Bazan
Acquisition Method: Steve Bazan, President, deposited the Farmers Elevator Company Records with the Regional History Center on August 27, 1980.
Related Materials: Researchers should note other collections held by the Regional History Center documenting agribusiness in northern Illinois: Embree Lumber Company (RC 7); Lindenwood Grain Co-op (RC 11); Uplinger Lumber, Grain, and Coal Company (RC 16); Mighell and Wakefield Smithy, Grain and Coal Company (RC 22); H. W. Colwill Collection (RC 47); North Corn Belt Seed Growers, Inc. (RC 90); Colehour Grain Elevator (RC 91); Will-DuPage Service Company (RC 94); Kendall-Grundy FS Company (RC 105); and the DeKalb, Kane, Winnebago, DuPage, Carroll, Kendall, and Grundy County Farm Bureau Collections (RC 52, 76, 79, 87, 96, 103, 106).