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3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
Rhode Island textile and foundry company Records, 1863-1978 (bulk 1901-1959) Size: 3 lin. ft. Catalog number: MSS 775 Processed by: Harold Kemble, 1983 and Rick Stattler, April 1995 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
The Wanskuck Company was founded as a woolen mill in 1862 by Stephen T. Olney, Jesse Metcalf and Henry J. Steere. It was located on Branch Avenue in North Providence. In 1913, the company bought out two other mills, a tactic which was then repeated many times. The Roger Williams Finishing Company was acquired in 1921. Wanskuck merged with the Oakland Worsted Company in 1952, retaining the Wanskuck name. In reaction to the collapse of the Rhode Island woolen industry, the company attempted to diversify in 1955 with the purchase of the New England Butt Company, a Providence foundry which produced a wide variety of industrial machinery. New England Butt had been the site of pioneering industrial engineering work by Frank Gilbreth. By 1957, Wanskuck was out of the textile business completely, but continued to buy out other firms, and was a successful conglomerate for many years. It was reorganized as Mossberg Industries, Inc. circa 1982; after 1983, the Providence directories do not list Wanskuck, Mossberg or New England Butt, and the corporate headquarters were vacant.
Scope and content:
Records of the Wanskuck Company, the New England Butt Company, the Oakland Worsted Company and the Roger Williams Finishing Company are included; the bulk are minutes, financial and tax records.
Provenance:
Gift of the Mossberg Company in 1983, care of Edward O. Bartlett, secretary/treasurer. The three volumes of Wanskuck Company minutes, 1861-1949, were placed at the library on deposit from Malcolm G. Chace Jr. in 1972.
Processing note:
The collection was first inventoried and foldered by Harold Kemble upon receipt in 1983; in 1995, it was slightly reorganized and a finding aid written.
Inventory:
Wanskuck Company
1. Stockholders' minutes, 1863-1917
2. 1917-1939
3. 1940-1949
4. 1950-1952
5. Taxes, 1914-1954 (includes some Oakland Worsted Company)
6. 1937-1955
(See also box 3 for Wanskuck tax records).
7. Financial reports, 1924-1935
8. Stock share book, 1864-1949
9. Stock transfer ledger, 1880-1912
10. 1922-1949
11. Corporate history (1977), stock certificates, pictures.
12. Miscellaneous, 1910-1951 (secretary's papers?)
13. Richard A. Bowen files, 1936-1955 (minutes, mergers, etc.)
(See also oversized loose ledger volume, 1953-1959)
Oakland Worsted Company
14. Stockholders minutes, 1939-1952
15. Directors minutes, 3/31/1950-5/20/1952
16. Secretary's papers, 1922-1951
Box 2:
Roger Williams Finishing Company
17. Minute book, 1901-1921
18. Minutes, 1914
19. Stock share book, 1901
New England Butt Company
20. Directors minutes, 1947-1950
21. Printed material (catalog, articles), 1899-1978
22. Shareholder minutes, 1947-1950
23. Corporate history (1931), stock certificates, etc.
24. Stock transfer books (2), 1903-1947
(See also oversized loose general ledgers)
Box 3 (Oversized):
Wanskuck Company, tax records, 1922-1938.
Includes partial payroll lists.
Loose Volumes:
1. Wanskuck Company, General Ledger, 1953-1959
2. New England Butt Company, General Ledger, 1922-1950
3. New England Butt Company, General Ledger, 1919-1945
Subjects:
Foundries - Rhode Island - Providence
Gilbreth, Frank
New England Butt Company
Oakland Worsted Company
Roger Williams Finishing Company
Wool Trade and Industry - Rhode Island - North Providence
End of finding aid - return to top
RIHS1822