Earl M. McChesney Papers
Scope and Contents
The collection is arranged in two series: I. Forestry study files and II. Business records. Series II is further sub-divided into seven sub-series: 1. General office files; 2. Land survey account records; 3. Survey field books; 4. Forester client files; 5. Land survey client files; 6. General information files; and 7. Maps and plans.
Series I, Forestry study files, contains information gathered by Earl McChesney in the 1940's to support his work as a forester. He organized the material into topics and assigned each topic a classification number using a system devised at the Yale School of Forestry. Subjects range from general information about forest management to specific work on plants and flowers. Included are pamphlets, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, etc.
Series II, Business records, begins at the time when McChesney set up his own business. The first sub-series includes files used in the day-to-day running of the office. Arranged alphabetically and using file names assigned by McChesney, it contains information on advertising, equipment, finances, and purchasing, as well as correspondence and a small amount of personal material.
The second sub-series, arranged by client name, contains billing and financial information about McChesney's clients. The third sub-series contains survey field books; those from the mid-1930's contain McChesney's notes from his studies in forestry, while the volumes from 1950 to 1996 provide detailed information about McChesney's surveying and forestry business.
Sub-series four contains a small group of client files primarily from the 1950's which document McChesney's work as a forester. Sub-series five, the largest in the collection, consists of McChesney's land survey client files. These are arranged alphabetically by place and then by client name and contain general information about the job, information about property deeds and lot history, reports and maps, and schedules of work. In letters to potential clients, McChesney emphasized that he did measurements in the field prior to marking the property and drawing maps; researched deeds for the property; studied and copied existing maps; and interviewed owners, abutters, and others to clarify any obscure information. Additional maps produced for some clients can also be found in the Maps and plans sub-series.
Sub-series six contains general information files used by McChesney in his work. It is arranged using McChesney's headings and contains geographic information about the state of Maine as a whole followed by information arranged by county and town.
The final sub-series contains maps and plans generated by McChesney for his clients as well as those copied from other sources, primarily registries of deeds and town offices. These maps are arranged alphabetically by place and then by client name. General maps of a community follow each set of client files. Especially represented are properties in Bangor, Hampden, Hermon and Holden, Maine.
Dates
- 1930-1996
- Majority of material found within 1970-1990
Creator
Restrictions on Access
Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval.
Use Restrictions
Information on literary rights available in the Library.
Biographical Note
Earl Moore McChesney was born in 1913 in Syracuse, New York, the son of Hugh D. and Almira Moore McChesney. In 1936 he received a B.S. in forestry from the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. After graduation he worked in forestry and Dutch elm disease control in the northeast, served for five years as a civilian in the United States Navy, and worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Maine on spruce budworm studies. In 1948 he began his own business in Bangor under the name Spectra-Mac. Concentrating at first on nursery work and forestry, McChesney then began to specialize in land surveying, primarily for clients in the greater Bangor area. He became a licensed surveyor with the state of Maine in 1968 and was a member of the Maine Society of Land Surveyors. He also held licenses as a professional forester, arborist, and pesticide applicator. By 1981 he was semi-retired but continued to run his business. He was also active in the Service Corps of Retired Executives at Husson College in Bangor.
Earl McChesney died on April 1, 1999 at age 85.
Extent
37.5 cubic feet (30 boxes)
29 folio folders
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Papers and business records of Earl M. McChesney, a forester and land surveyor from Bangor, Maine.
Conservation Note
The collection has been re-housed in acid-free folders and boxes. Documents have been surface cleaned as needed and metal fasteners removed.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift in 1999.
- Articles Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Bangor (Me.) -- Maps Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Business records Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Clippings Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Forest management Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Foresters -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Hampden (Me. : Town) -- Maps Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Hermon (Me.) -- Maps Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Holden (Me.) -- Maps Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Land surveys Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Maine -- Maps Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Maps Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Optical disks Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Pamphlets Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Penobscot County (Me.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Real property -- Maine -- Penobscot County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Spectra-Mac (Firm)
- Surveyors -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Earl M. McChesney Papers
- Status
- Box And Folder List Available
- Date
- April 2005
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for uncoded script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Repository
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207-581-1686