James Fergus Family Papers
Scope and Contents
Papers. 1857-1971. 5 linear feet. This collection is divided into four subgroups: James Fergus; Andrew Fergus; Fergus Live Stock and Land Company; and Miscellaneous. The James Fergus Subgroup includes biographical material (undated); incoming correspondence (1860-1900, undated) consisting of both personal and business correspondence; outgoing correspondence (1861-1899, undated), including letters to family, friends, and newspaper editors; financial records (1857-1897, undated), consisting of two ledgers of the Cone Butte and Moccasin Roundup (also referred to as the Moccasin and Cone Butte Roundup) which was a local cattlemen's association organized in 1884 for which Fergus served as secretary and president; legal documents (1884-1910); subject files (1889-1904), concerning the distribution of James Fergus' estate and the purchase of John H. Ming's horses; writings (1876-1892); miscellany (1858-1898, undated), including notebooks which include a wide variety of entries such as a list of fruit trees planted, descriptions of daily events, a list of hired men, costs of purchases, shopping lists, etc.; and clippings (1899, 1900, undated). The Andrew Fergus Subgroup includes incoming correspondence (1881-1918, undated) containing both business and personal correspondence; outgoing correspondence (1886-1916); court papers (1910, 1919); minor financial records (1878-1911); legal documents (1879, 1906-1916) which are primarily crop leases; and miscellany (1879-1900), consisting primarily of notebooks which include brief entries of daily activities and counts of cattle by brand. The Fergus Live Stock and Land Company Subgroup includes general correspondence (1908-1923); financial records (1859-1931); legal documents (1895-1934); minutes (1895-1931); and miscellany (1898-1908). The subgroup contains material which pertains to James and Andrew Fergus' business interests including small amounts of financial material concerning James Fergus' business in Minnesota and the Fergus' ranching operations near Helena and in the Judith Basin. In addition to this financial material, the subgroup contains a small amount of correspondence and legal documents which concern the Company generally. Correspondence and legal documents which are addressed or pertain specifically to James or Andrew Fergus are filed in the appropriate subgroup. See particularly the correspondence in the Andrew Fergus Subgroup from Harry H. Marks. The Miscellaneous Subgroup is divided into eight series: incoming correspondence (1884-1912, undated), which is primarily personal correspondence of the Fergus and Gilpatrick families; outgoing correspondence (undated) of George Gilpatrick; miscellaneous correspondence (1887-1912), neither to nor from the Fergus family, or unidentified; financial records (1870-1872); legal documents (1898, 1921, 1929); writings (undated); miscellany (1881-1931); and clippings (1870-1928, undated).
Dates
- Creation: 1857-1971
Creator
- Fergus, James, 1813-1902 (Person)
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
Collection open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Biographical / Historical
James Fergus was born October 8, 1813, in Lanarkshire, Scotland. At the age of nineteen he emigrated to Quebec and, three years later, to the United States. He lived in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota where he built and managed saw mills, powder mills, a foundry, and a paper mill, and invested in property. James Fergus married Pamelia Dillin in Moline, Illinois in 1845. The couple had four children: Andrew (b. 1850), Mary Agnes, Luella (married Stephen Collins Gilpatrick), and Lillie (married Frank H. Maury). While in Minnesota in the late 1850s, Fergus became involved in politics and ran for office. In March 1860 he journeyed to Pike's Peak where he unsuccessfully prospected for gold until he returned to Minnesota in September 1861. In the spring of 1862 Fergus traveled with the Fisk Expedition to the Beaverhead gold mines near what was to become Bannack, Montana Territory. Moving to Virginia City in 1863, Fergus had modest success in finding gold. He was elected to serve as judge of the first miners' court and as the city's first recorder, and was appointed the first county commissioner for Madison County. Fergus' family, including his recently married daughter Mary Agnes and his new son-in-law Robert Stavely Hamilton, joined him in Virginia City in 1864. Fergus moved to Helena in 1865, where he engaged in ranching and was elected to two terms as county commissioner and one term in the territorial House of Representatives. Fergus' son Andrew was much involved in the ranching business; he officially bought (for one dollar) one-third of the stock in 1878, and, in 1879, acquired one quarter of James Fergus' property, livestock, and farm machinery. In 1880 James and Andrew Fergus bought land in the Judith Basin on Armells and Box Elder Creeks, and Andrew started ranching there. James Fergus and his wife Pamelia joined Andrew the next year. Eventually they raised cattle, horses, and sheep, and also did some farming. The ranch operation became one of the biggest in the territory, operating first under the name of James Fergus and Son (established in 1879) and later as the Fergus Live Stock and Land Company (established in 1895). James Fergus was elected as a delegate from Meagher County to the 1884 Constitutional Convention and to the territorial Council where he was instrumental in the creation of Fergus County. Pamelia Dillin Fergus died in 1887. James Fergus died in 1902. Andrew Fergus married Hazel Akley in 1910 and continued to ranch at Armells until his death in 1928.
Extent
5 linear feet
Abstract
The James Fergus Family papers are divided into four subgroups: James Fergus; Andrew Fergus; Fergus Live Stock and Land Company; and miscellaneous. Papers (1857-1971) include biographical materials, incoming correspondence, outgoing correspondence, general correspondence, financial records, legal documents, subject files, and miscellany.
Arrangement
Arranged by subgroup and series
Physical Location
1:3-2
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquisition information available upon request
Separated Materials
One map has been transferred to the Library Map Collection. Photographs have been separated to the Photo Archives.
Geographic
- Armells (Mont.)
- Cone Butte (Mont.)
- Helena (Mont.) -- Commerce
- Judith Basin County (Mont.)
- Moccasin (Mont.)
- Montana
Topical
- Agriculture
- Agriculture -- Fergus County (Mont.)
- Cattle raising -- Montana
- Fisk Expeditions, 1862-1871
- Frontier and pioneer life -- Montana -- Blaine County
- Horse Industry -- Montana
- Land companies -- Montana
- Overland journeys to Montana
- Ranches -- Montana
- Retail Trade -- Montana
- Roundups -- Montana
- Scottish Americans
- Sheep ranches -- Montana
- Title
- Guide to the James Fergus Family Papers 1857-1971
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by MHS Staff
- Date
- 2004
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard) 2nd Edition
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the Montana Historical Society, Research Center Archives Repository
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT 59620-1201 United States
406-444-2681
406-444-2696 (Fax)
mhslibrary@mt.gov