Greenhood, Bohm and Company records
Scope and Contents
Greenhood, Bohm and Company was a Helena, Montana, clothing and liquor wholesaler with offices in New York, San Francisco, and Virginia City, Montana. Records include incoming, outgoing, and interoffice correspondence (1876-1891); miscellaneous financial records (1876-1893) including cash books, journals, daybooks, invoices (incoming/outgoing), orders, ledgers, and freighting records; court papers (1875-1888); legal documents (1878-1888) The Interoffice Correspondence (1877-1891) provides information about the business of wholesale merchandising in nineteenth century Montana through the owners, Frederick Bohm and Isaac Greenhood, and their salesmen, Leo Guiterman, John Hugl, and J.G. Hammer. The Financial Records (1876-1893) follow the company's activities from its earliest days to its bankruptcy in 1892, documenting fluctuations in the Montana business cycle. There is a subgroup for William Muth's receivership of the company, which includes financial records (1877-1893), entitled, Receivership (William Muth).
Dates
- Creation: 1875-1893
Creator
- Greenhood, Bohm, and Company (Helena, Mont.) (Organization)
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
Isaac Greenhood was born in Regensburg, Bavaria, on May 11, 1842. At the age of sixteen he immigrated to Ohio where he worked as a clerk. Four years later in 1862, he moved to California and established a match factory. In 1866, Greenhood moved to Helena, Montana Territory. He worked as a clerk in several stores, including Gans and Klein, where he learned the clothing business. In 1877, Greenhood and Ferdinand Bohm of New York established Greenhood, Bohm and Company. Greenhood ran the firm's Helena clothing and liquor business, while Bohm ran the company's associated firm of Greenhood and Bohm in New York City. In February 1892, Greenhood, Bohm and Company declared bankruptcy. William Muth took over operation of the business as receiver from 1892 to 1893. After the failure of the company, Greenhood worked for Bach, Cory and Company as a traveling agent for a few years. In 1898, Isaac Greenhood and his son, Benjamin, founded Benn Greenhood Company, which dealt in men's furnishings and the manufacture of shirts and overalls. While on a buying trip in New York, Isaac Greenhood died of a heart attack on September 1, 1902.
Extent
14 linear feet
Abstract
This collection contains the records of Greenhood, Bohm and Company, including correspondence (1876-1891), daybooks (1880-1890), cash books, journals, ledgers, freighting records, and legal documents. The Helena-based firm wholesaled clothing and liquor throughout southwestern Montana. There are also some records of William Muth's receivership of the company (1892-1893) in a separate subgroup.
Arrangement
Arranged by subgroup and series. Some material housed in Manuscript Volumes. See inventory below for more information.
Physical Location
7:1-3
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquisition information available upon request
Processing Information
A collection of Greenhood, Bohm and Company records was separated from the Helena Banking Group and processed in September 1980. A large volume of correspondence and additional financial records were included in the collection acquired from Ford Bovey in 1994. These were separated and added to the Greenhood, Bohm and Company collection. The original provenance of these records had been destroyed by the Boveys, with the correspondence arranged by town of origin. The staff of the Montana Historical Society has attempted to restore the presumed original order by arranging alphabetically by correspondent (company/individual).
Subject
- Greenhood, Bohm, and Company (Helena, Mont.) (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the Greenhood, Bohm and Company records 1875-1893
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Ellie Arguimbau
- Date
- 2005
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- 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