Title: Potter Lumber Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1904-1962

Creator:

• Potter Lumber Company (Calumet County, Wis.)

Call Number: Green Bay Mss 87

Quantity: 4.0 c.f. (10 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Business records of the Potter Lumber Company (founded in 1921 in Calumet County, Wis.) and the Rudolph Greve Hardware Company (founded in 1924 in Kiel, Wis.), as kept by their tax consultant, Elmer E. Meyer. Meyer was on the board of directors of both companies and a brother of the founder and president of Potter Lumber Company, Henry L. Meyer, and a brother-in-law of the founder and president of the Rudolph Greve Hardware Company, Rudolph Greve. The records for both companies include board of directors and stockholders meeting minutes, ledgers, and journals, account books and related business records, and corporation tax returns. Records of the Potter Lumber Company also include inventory sheets and business correspondence. Correspondence concerning the sale of the Rudolph Greve Hardware Company, stock certificates for an unidentified H. L. Meyer Company, tax returns and related correspondence of Henry L. Meyer, and Elmer E. Meyer's translation into English of Der Deutsche Tag complete the collection.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0087

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The Potter Lumber Company was founded in 1921. Members of the board of directors included Elmer E. Meyer who acted as assistant secretary and Rudolph Greve who, for a time, was vice president of the company. The company was located in Potter in Calumet County. It remained a small business until its dissolution. In 1958 the buildings and inventory of the lumberyard were sold to Alvin Kasper, an employee of Potter Lumber and a member of its Board of Directors, who reorganized the business as the Kasper Building Supply. The Potter Lumber Company became an inactive corporation from 1958 until its dissolution in 1961.

Henry L. Meyer was a respected businessman in the Hilbert area. In addition to the Potter Lumber Company, he owned the Sherwood lumberyard, organized the Hilbert Light and Power Company, manufactured wooden cheese boxes, was vice president of the Sherwood State Bank and the director of the insurance division of the Wisconsin Retail Lumbermans Association. He was also vice president of the Rudolph Greve Hardware Company.

The Rudolph Greve Hardware Company was located in Kiel in Manitowoc County. It was founded in 1924 by Rudolph Greve whose wife, Clara, was a sister to H.L. and Elmer Meyer. It is speculated that Greve Hardware was the successor to the J.M. Duecker Hardware Company. Rudolph Greve died in January 1949 and Clara Meyer Greve sold her stock in the company to their son, Roland Greve. She was guaranteed 100 dollars per month for life as payment. Following Roland Greve's death in December 1952 his son Roger did not wish to take over the business, and the company was dissolved and the business sold in 1956.

The collection is arranged in three series: Potter Lumber Company Records, the Personal Records of Henry L. (H.L.) and Elmer Meyer, and Rudolph Greve Hardware Company Records. The POTTER LUMBER COMPANY RECORDS which constitute the major portion of the collection, include the company's Corporation Record Book containing the original articles of incorporation and minutes of both the stockholders' and directors' meetings. The Journals for the company span the length of the company's life, 1922-1959, except for a gap from 1929-1939 for which there are no journals. There are three sets of Inventory Sheets, one for each of the years 1957 and 1958 and one undated set. Unissued stocks as well as issued stock certificates are in the Stock Book. Within the Annual Statements, an incomplete run for 1950-1956, is a company self-audit report prepared by Elmer E. Meyer. Business Correspondence between Elmer E. Meyer and H.L. Meyer deals mostly with preparation of the company's tax returns, but includes many references to their personal lives. Miscellaneous legal papers such as deeds, articles of corporation and papers of dissolution are grouped together in Legal Records.

The PERSONAL RECORDS of Henry L. and Elmer Meyer include stock certificates, 1920-1924, issued to H.L. Meyer and other family members for the H.L. Meyer Company. Nothing else pertaining to the H.L. Meyer Company and no information indicating what or where it was found. Federal Tax Returns for H.L. Meyer from 1936 to 1955 include estimated income tax forms. The Tax Returns from 1958 to 1961 include both federal and state forms for the period when the Potter Lumber Company was going through the process of dissolution. While serving with the First Army Corps School in France during World War I, Elmer Meyer found a copy of the German book Der Deutsch Tag. His translation into English of this book is in the collection along with a clipping of the obituary of his mother, Mrs. William Meyer, a newspaper clipping relating to H.L. Meyer and a photograph possibly depicting a family home.

The RUDOLPH GREVE HARDWARE COMPANY's Corporation Record covers the period of the company's life, 1924-1956. It contains the articles of incorporation and minutes of meetings of the board of directors and stockholders. The Financial Statements from 1938-1954 are incomplete; they include statements of profit and loss as well as annual reports. Tax Returns span 1944-1955 and include both federal and state returns. In addition, correspondence with Elmer E. Meyer, the company's tax consultant and a member of the board of directors, is included with the tax returns. The Stocks-Correspondence and Lists contain lists of stockholders, and documents and correspondence pertaining to transfers of stocks after Rudolph Greve died. Miscellany contains one of the earliest dated documents in the collection, which is a grant dated 1905 for the founding of the J.M. Duecker Hardware Company, a possible predecessor to the Rudolph Greve Hardware Company. Miscellany also contains various records dealing with the establishment of the Rudolph Greve Hardware Company.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Elmer Meyer, Madison, Wisconsin, 1968. Accession Number: M68-13

Processing Information

Processed by Leah Weisse and Joanne Hohler, May 1982.

	Series: Potter Lumber Company Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Corporation Record, 1921-1959
	Journals
Box   1 Folder   2-3	1922-1950
Box   2 Folder   1-3	1951-1959
Box   2 Folder   4	Account Book, 1957-1958
	Ledger
Box   3 Folder   1-7	1922-1946
Box   4 Folder   1-5	1947-1958
Box   5 Folder   1-8	Federal Tax Returns, 1921-1959
Box   6 Folder   1-8	State Tax Returns, 1921-1958
Box   7 Folder   1-3	Inventory Sheets, 1957-1958
Box   7 Folder   4	Stock Book, 1922-1958
Box   7 Folder   5	Annual Statements, 1950-1956
Box   7 Folder   6	Business Correspondence, 1921-1962
Box   7 Folder   7	Legal Records, 1912-1961
Box   7 Folder   8-9	Balance Sheets, 1904-1958, undated
Box   8 Folder   1	Insurance, 1957-1959
Box   8 Folder   2	Real Estate Taxes, 1904-1958
	Series: Personal Records of Henry L. and Elmer E. Meyer	⇧
Box   8 Folder   3	H.L. Meyer Company Stock Book, 1920-1924
	Henry L. Meyer
Box   8 Folder   4	State Tax Returns, 1935-1951
Box   8 Folder   5	Federal Tax Returns, 1936-1955
Box   8 Folder   6	Tax Correspondence, 1959-1961
Box   8 Folder   7	Tax Returns, 1958-1961
Box   8 Folder   8	Elmer Meyer's Translation of Der Deutsche Tag
	Series: Rudolph Greve Hardware Company Records	⇧
Box   9 Folder   1	Series: Corporation Record, 1924-1956
Box   9 Folder   2	Series: Cash Book, 1951-1953	⇧
Box   9 Folder   3-4	Series: Journals, 1953-1956	⇧
Box   9 Folder   5	Series: Account Book, 1951-1954	⇧
Box   9 Folder   6	Series: Ledger, 1953-1956	⇧
Box   10 Folder   1-2	Series: Financial Statements, 1938-1954	⇧
Box   10 Folder   3-4	Series: Tax Returns, 1944-1955	⇧
Box   10 Folder   5	Series: Mortgages and Insurance, 1924-1956	⇧
Box   10 Folder   6	Series: Stocks - Correspondence and Lists, 1933-1955	⇧
Box   10 Folder   7	Series: Correspondence on Sale of Business, 1953-1957	⇧
Box   10 Folder   8	Series: Miscellany, 1905-1956	⇧