Skip to main content

Roy Douglas Pritchett papers

 Collection
Identifier: MC-154

Scope and Contents

Papers. 1902-1952. 2 linear feet. This collection is arranged in subgroups for Roy Douglas Pritchett; Elizabeth Eames Pritchett; Glenn A. Pritchett; Margaret Pritchett; Southern Dynite Corporation; Southern Explosives, Inc.; and Western Dynite Corporation. The Roy Pritchett materials include biographical materials, incoming correspondence (1940-1952) regarding mine investments and development, financial records, legal documents, writings (including original poems and a short story), and miscellany.

Dates

  • Creation: 1944-1952

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

Roy Douglas Pritchett was born in Weber County, Utah, on June 26, 1877. He was the first of seven children of John Douglas Pritchett and Elizabeth Eames Pritchett, pioneer Utah settlers. When Roy was a small child the family moved to Comet, and then Amazon, Montana, both small mining towns in Jefferson County. During the 1890s the Pritchetts lived at Bear Gulch northeast of Twin Bridges, where John D. Pritchett bought and developed several mining properties. These included the Moonlight Mine which Pritchett later sold to Bielenburg and Higgins, and APA Mine where he built a five-stamp mill. As a child Roy Pritchett spent his summers in Bear Gulch and his winters in school in Twin Bridges. From the mid-1890s until the early 1920s he worked for Orrin Stone and independently as a miner in Bear Gulch, locating and developing numerous small properties. In 1900 Roy and his brothers George and John briefly had a livery stable in Jefferson township. In 1924 Pritchett moved to Lemhi County, Idaho, to work for a mining company owned by Dr. I.B. Keller and Calvin N. Friday. He also worked at Tintic and Park City, Utah. From 1929 until 1947 Pritchett was mine superintendent for the Embree Iron Company in Embreeville, Tennessee, except for a brief period in 1940-1941, when he was with the Greeenbrier Ore Company in Marlinton, West Virginia. While in Tennessee, Pritchett also organized the Southern Dynite Corporation, the Western Dynite Corporation, and Southern Explosives, Inc. to manufacture and sell explosives under patents held by him and his youngest brother, Glenn A. Pritchett. In 1944 Roy Pritchett returned to Utah, working as a janitor for the Ogden Arsenal. After three years Pritchett moved to Helena, Montana. From 1947 until the early 1950s he was involved in prospecting and mine promotion. His brother Glenn, located at Reno, Nevada, and later in Ogden, Utah, acted as his agent in trying to interest investors in Montana mining properties. Roy Pritchett had interests in several mines in the Rimini area and near Lincoln. He also hoped to develop smaller properties using a semi-portable ore processor called the PAC separator/converter, invented by Glenn Pritchett. None of these ventures proved successful and in the mid-1950s Roy returned to his boyhood home of Twin Bridges. While in Tennessee, Roy Pritchett met and married Margaret Johnson of Johnson City, Tennessee. They had no children. Roy Pritchett died at the Alder Rest Home, Alder, Montana, on May 1, 1957, at the age of 79.

Extent

2 linear feet

Abstract

Roy Pritchett was a Helena, Montana, mine promoter. Papers (1944-1952) consist primarily of general correspondence from brother Glenn A. Pritchett and others regarding mine investments and development. There are also several original poems and one short story written by Pritchett.

Arrangement

Arranged by subgroup and series.

Physical Location

7:4-6

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Acquisition information available upon request

Separated Materials

Artifacts separated to Museum. Photographs separated to Photo Archives. See inventory below for more information.

Title
Guide to the Roy Douglas Pritchett papers 1944-1952
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

Contact:
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT 59620-1201 United States
406-444-2681
406-444-2696 (Fax)