Webber Family Papers
Scope and Contents
The collection contains ledgers and maps of the timberland business owned by several generations of the Webber family. The ledgers include primarily correspondence and financial information. The maps provide information about the family's land holdings in northern Maine.
The ledgers are arranged by the company function they represent: executive, financial and production. The collection begins with copies of outgoing correspondence, 1955-1960, from G. Peirce Webber; much of it concerns acknowledgments of rent received for campsites on Webber land. Copies of deeds, permits, etc., follow, along with a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, 1903-1907, concerning land and lumbering.
The journals, 1928-1965, which make up a large part of the collection often list C.J. Webber as agent, presumably acting for other members of the Webber family in the management of their land holdings. C.P. Webber, Franklin R. Webber, R.B. Webber, M.P. Heald, C.J. Webber, T. Roscoe Webber, Anne W. Chase and Lucy R. Webber are all mentioned in various volumes. One of the journals records information about the estate of Charles P. Webber.
The maps are arranged chronologically with a section of undated maps at the end. Some of the maps were compiled by Charles P. Webber.
Dates
- Creation: 1895-1976
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1909-1960
Creator
- Webber family (Family)
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
John Prescott Webber, born in 1832 in New Portland, Maine, began the Webber family business interests. After establishing general stores in Ripley, Exeter, and East Corinth, Mr. Webber moved to Bangor in 1864 and established a land ownership and lumbering business. He eventually owned land in Somerset, Piscataquis, Penobscot, Aroostook, Hancock and Washington Counties and operated mills in Lincoln and Alton.
John Webber's two sons, Charles Prescott and Franklin R., continued in the land and lumbering business, also owning the firm of C.P. and F.R. Webber, mill owners and dealers in short lumber and lumbering supplies. Charles P. Webber was born in 1853 in Ripley, Maine, and Franklin R. Webber was born in East Corinth, Maine, in 1854. Charles P. Webber studied at Hebron Academy and a Minneapolis business college. When he returned to Maine, he went into business with his brother in Oakfield, Maine, until the 1870s when they moved to Lincoln to operate a sawmill and conduct their lumbering operations. They also owned a general store there. Franklin R. moved to Minnesota after being in business with his brother for a few years. There he successfully invested in timberlands, moving to Boston only a few years before his death in 1949.
About 1880, Charles P. Webber moved to Bangor and opened a wholesale grocery store; he operated this store until about 1892 when he began to work full-time in his timberland and lumbering operations. In 1909 he moved to Brookline, Massachusetts, to manage the family's business interests in Boston. He died in 1940.
His son, Charles J. Webber, born in 1881, was the third generation to manage the family's timberlands, entering the business in 1905 and remaining there until his death in 1961. His son, G. Peirce Webber, began management of the Webber Timberlands in 1933, becoming the fourth generation of the family in the land and lumbering business.
Extent
4.2 linear feet (ledgers)
41 folio items (maps)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Ledgers and maps of the timberland business owned by several generations of the Webber family of Bangor, Maine.
Conservation Note
The maps have been flattened and rehoused in acid-free folders.
Subject
- Webber, Charles J., 1881-1961 (Person)
- Webber, Franklin R., 1854-1949 (Person)
- Webber, Charles P. (Charles Prescott), 1853-1940 (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Webber Family Papers
- Status
- Box And Folder List Available
- Date
- 2012
- 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