Skip to main content

The Stenson Collection of Walter S. Prickett Papers

 Collection — Box: 1-38
Identifier: MS-789

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Correspondence, maps, land deeds, cash books and ledgers, farm reports and documents such as pedigree charts and milk tests as well as articles and newspaper clippings.

Dates

  • 1868; 1886-1937
  • Majority of material found within 1899 - 1937

Language of Material

English

Conditions Governing Access

Available for use in the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

Various copying restrictions apply. Guidelines are available from Michigan Technological University Archives & Copper Country Historical Collections.

Biography

Walter S. Prickett was born in Medford, New Jersey in 1864. Growing up in Marinette, Wisconsin, he moved to Michigan in 1893 to work in the logging business for Miles Wheeler and J. & W. Flatt, after which he went to business for himself, making his headquarters in Sidnaw, Michigan. Involved with dealing in land and timber, Prickett also owned Roycroft Farms, successfully breeding sheep and Angora goats and Berkshire hogs as well as maintaining Jersey dairy cows and growing grains and potatoes. Prickett also maintained a general store on his property in Sidnaw. He had interests in hydroelectric power and financed the construction of the dam in Sturgeon River. Prickett's Sturgeon River Dam Project became the source of power provided by the Baraga Light and Power Company of which he also headed.

Extent

33 Cubic Feet (38 boxes (28 paige boxes, 6 manuscript boxes, nine flat boxes))

Abstract

Papers, 1868; 1886-1937, of Walter S. Prickett, a resident and farmer in Sidnaw, Michigan. The majority of this collection is correspondence, but also includes maps, land deeds, farm reports and documents as well as articles and clippings.

Arrangement

The Stenson Collection of Walter S. Prickett Papers is arranged into five series and two subseries as follows:

1.Correspondence, 1899-1937 1.1 Chronological Correspondence, 1899-1937 1.2 Alphabetical Correspondence, 1903-1926 2.Roycroft Farm and General Agriculture, 1906-1934 3.Timber and Minerals, 1868; 1886-1930 4.Energy, 1898-1937 5.General Legal and Financial Records, 1896-1937

Acquisition

A donation consisting of 72 boxes of correspondence, 13 business ledgers, 14 boxes of personal papers, clippings and memorabilia relating to Walter S. Prickett, 1 framed photograph of Berkshire hogs, and three photographs of Roycroft Farm were donated to the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections by Faith Stenson in November, 1974. The three photographs of Roycroft Farm are copies of the original photographs, which were returned to Stenson.

Related Archival Materials

Archival material related to the Stenson Collection of Walter S. Prickett Papers includes the negatives: 00851, 00852, and 00853, which can be found in the Numbered Negative Collection and the prints for the negatives, which have been housed in the Copper Country Photograph Vertical Files under the heading, "Agriculture."

Title
The Stenson Collection of Walter S. Prickett Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Elizabeth Russell, revised by Rachael Bussert
Date
5/17/2010
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English
Sponsor
Funding provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Repository Details

Part of the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections Repository

Contact:
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton 49931 U.S.A. US