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Collection Overview
Title: Mighell & Wakefield Smithy, Grain, and Coal Company Records (Waterman), 1851-1943
ID: RHC/RC/022
Extent: 1.5 Linear Feet
Date Acquired: 01/00/1966
Subjects: Coal trade, Farm supply industries, Grain, Iron industry and trade, Mighell, T. G., Mighell and Wakefield Smithy, Grain, and Coal Company, Wakefield, George W., Wakefield Grain Company, Waterman (Ill.)
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The records contained in this collection document the Mighell and Wakefield Company’s financial accounts from the warehouse’s first year of operation, 1872, until 1911, when Wakefield reorganized the business into the Wakefield Grain Company. A series of eleven bound volumes contains entries made by T.G. Mighell before his partnership with George Wakefield (1851-1872); business ledgers of the Mighell and Wakefield Smithy, Grain, and Coal Company (1875-1890); and records from the Wakefield Grain Company (1908-1943). The latter volumes include records of purchases, sales, loans, orders, and daily grain shipments, and monthly summaries. Also included in the collection is Roy Wakefield’s insurance company register (1897-1939) and a notes and bills receivable journal (1885-1896)
Collection Historical Note
T.G. Mighell was a blacksmith and grain dealer who settled south of Waterman in Clinton township, DeKalb County. In 1872 he entered into partnership with his nephew, George Wakefield, and the company first built a grain warehouse and, later, a grain elevator. The company added coal retailing when the railroad came through Waterman. Roy Wakefield, George’s cousin, joined the partnership and in 1911 the Wakefields bought a second grain elevator in Waterman and reorganized the business. From 1920 to 1942 the company dealt only in feed grain and in 1942 Wakefield Grain sold out to Larsen Brothers. Finally, Iven Larson sold the business in 1966.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Northern Illinois University
Access Restrictions:
There are no restrictions on access to the collection.
Use Restrictions:
Property rights to the materials belong to the Regional History Center; literary rights in the collection are dedicated to the public.
Acquisition Source:
Mr. Iven Larsen
Acquisition Method:
Mr. Iven Larsen donated the records of the T.G. Mighell and G.W. Wakefield Smithy, Grain, and Coal Company to the Northern Illinois University Archives in January 1966. The Northern Illinois Regional History Center received the collection from the University Archives in May 1978.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Volume:
[Volume 1: General accounts of T.G. Mighell, 1851-1872],
[
Box 1],
[
All]
- Volume 1: General accounts of T.G. Mighell, 1851-1872
Regional History Center 
