1890's
Alaska Treadwell
Gold Mining Co
STORE LEDGERS
Three store inventory ledgers (1891, 1893, 1894) from the
Alaska Treadwell Gold Mine Company's store in Douglas,
Alaska. They came from the California branch of the Corbus
family, as there is a letter in one of the ledgers from a
Corbus in California to Mrs. J.P. Corbus in Douglas, Alaska,
c/o A.T.G.M.Co. The Corbus family were early Treadwell
people. Andrew Taylor Corbus was secretary-treasurer of the
Alaska Treadwell Gold Mine Co. from 1890-1905. Notes on the
Corbus family in the State Library indicate that Andrew's
son, John Parker Corbus, moved to California soon after 1900
but was still principal stockholder and president of Alaska
Electric Light & Power Co. until his death in 1933.
The ledgers are unique, and unusual in that they aren't
sales ledgers (which are rare enough) but are the inventory
ledgers of the Treadwell store, which was the largest store
in Alaska for the whole nineteenth century. I doubt that
there was a larger store in Alaska even including the
Klondike years. And to be able to know what was in the
Treadwell store for the years of 1891, 1893 and 1894, will
be of immense interest to scholars for centuries to come. I
have handled a lot of rare Alaska material over the years,
and have seen ledgers for various stores around the United
States, but I have never come across an early inventory
ledger for an Alaska store. I have seen hundreds of sales
ledgers for lower 48 stores, but I don't recall ever seeing
an inventory ledger. These are quite special!
The three ledgers, containing about 13,000 to 14,000
entries, comprise a staggering array of nineteenth century
merchandise, from dynamite fuse and grenades, to shovels and
nails, and from boys' shirts to lace, yard goods, food and
dolls, baseball bats and sole leather. These ledgers offer
an unique and complete window into nineteenth century life
in Alaska. Someone studying baseball can see how many balls,
bats and gloves were stocked, indicating the importance of
the sport to the community. All aspects of nineteenth
century Alaska business and culture are here.
The first ledger states 'Inventory Apl 30,1891, May 5, '91
Noon Finished' and contains about 4000 entries over 98
pages.
The second ledger states 'Inventory of Merchandise on hand
at ATGMCo's store Douglas Island Alaska May 1893. Commenced
listing May 3, '93 Finished listing May 8th '93 10am.
Commenced extensions May 13 8am. Finished extensions.' The
1893 ledger contains about 5000 entries across 111 pages.
The third ledger states 'Inventory--Mdse on hand at
A.T.G.M.Co's. Douglas Island Store, May 15, 1894. Commenced
May 8th 8am. Finished May 13th 6pm.' It lists about 4780
entries on 104 pages. Of course each entry is composed of
various units, dozens or grosses.
They
deserve
full indexing and would be a great project for a thesis or
dissertation.
Three other views of the Treadwell store taken many years
later:
https://vilda.alaska.edu/digital/collection/cdmg21/id/9792/rec/2
https://vilda.alaska.edu/digital/collection/cdmg21/id/16118/rec/6
https://vilda.alaska.edu/digital/collection/cdmg21/id/15/rec/16
The ledgers are about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick each, and
measure 6 inches wide X 14 3/4 inches tall.
$15,000.00 for the set of three
+ postage & insurance
email: dick@AlaskaWanted.com
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