The records of the Spring Valley Iron and Ore Company, 1902-1934, include correspondence, financial records, and miscellaneous legal documents.
The correspondence consists mainly of Frederick H. Foote's directions
to his manager and of his requests for information about costs, supplies, and the physical plant in Spring Valley. There are also some incoming and outgoing letters of his children and Charles Brown concerning company affairs. Incidentally included in this correspondence is information on three generations of the Foote family; on local, state, and national politics; on weather conditions in Wisconsin, Florida, and New York State; on state and national regulation of business and attempts to collect meaningful statistics on current business conditions; and on economic conditions in Wisconsin and the nation generally, especially before World War I and from 1924 to 1934.
The financial records from 1904 to 1910 document the company's weekly expenses and receipts in bank statements and a bank book, journal entries, shipping records with attached contract abstracts, and weekly sales sheets. Two documents indicate the amount of taxes the company paid from 1910 to 1921 and in 1931.
The legal documents include a copy of Frederick H. Foote's will, documents relating to several land sales in the Spring Valley area, and a packet of documents concerning a 1500 dollar settlement for personal damage the company had to pay to a man injured on company property.
