University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives Department.

Dexter-Roundy family papers, 1772-1951.

Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 108 and Milwaukee Micro Collection 57

1.4 cubic ft. (3 archives boxes, and 1 small archives box) + 1 microfilm reel (35 mm)

ABSTRACT: Papers of a family originally from Shelbyville, Illinois that founded (1872) the independent Milwaukee grocery wholesale firm Roundy, Peckham, and Dexter. Included is detailed correspondence between Judson A. Roundy and his brother-in-law, Joshua L. Dexter, concerning family matters and the establishment of their Shelbyville grocery business in 1851; letters and diaries of Joshua's son Charles J. concerning his education and early life, move to Milwaukee in 1879, and various anniversaries of his business career and miscellaneous legal and financial papers; correspondence and numerous brief diaries of Charles' son Edward, who was also active in the business; and a detailed European travel diary (1908) and correspondence of Charles' wife Effie McBeth Dexter. Also pertaining to her family are numerous legal papers primarily concerning investments in Ohio during the first half of the nineteenth Century. Pertaining to Roundy, Peckham, & Dexter are articles of incorporation, examples of advertising materials, labels used on their products, and circular letters. Also included are genealogical material, and miscellaneous correspondence of various other members of the extended family. All of the diaries in the collection are available on microfilm.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The first group of Dexter-Roundy papers (box 1) received by the Wisconsin Historical Society contained disappointing and fragmentary documentation about a major Wisconsin grocery wholesaler. Information about the history of the family itself was also incomplete. The papers were collected by Mary Dexter, who was very interested in family history, and passed on to her niece Helena Dexter McBride, who in turn presented the material to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

The accession, which primarily documents Charles J. Dexter and his uncle Judson A. Roundy, consists of correspondence, legal and financial documents, genealogical and biographical miscellany, advertising material, and photographs. The papers are organized according to the family member to whom they refer, with a few files concerning Roundy, Peckham and Dexter and its predecessor companies.

Material pertaining to Charles Dexter includes fragmentary personal and business correspondence, a scrapbook of letters put together in 1930 to honor his half-century with the firm, numerous promissory notes and other legal documents, and miscellaneous biographical material. Pertaining to Judson Roundy is the most complete set a letters of correspondence in the accession, a group of letters written to Charles Dexter just prior to his relocation in Milwaukee and a volume of flute music transcribed in 1836. Also included are a few letters concerning Dexter's father, Joshua Dexter, and letters of condolence concerning the death of Edward Dexter in 1920. Materials on the family's business enterprises include articles of incorporation; miscellaneous receipts and statement C.J. Dexter Mercantile; and advertising material, labels, and circular letters issued by the Roundy Company.

The 1987 additions to the Dexter-Roundy family papers (boxes 2-4) contain additional documentation donated by Helena McBride concerning the life of Charles J. Dexter, the primary focus of the first accession; his father, Joshua Dexter; his son Edward McBeth Dexter; and his wife Effie McBeth Dexter and her McBeth family relatives. There are few letters written by Judson Roundy in this group and virtually no records concerning the operation of Roundy, Peckham, and Dexter. As a result, the papers remain useful primarily for a study of family history. However, the accession does contain important correspondence pertaining to the early interest of the family in the grocery business under Joshua Dexter during the 1840s and 1850s and some impressions of the business may be gleaned from personal papers elsewhere in the collection. Like the original collection, this accession has been organized alphabetically by the name of the writer of the letter. All of the diaries in the collection have been microfilmed and the originals of several returned to the donor. At the same time a few selected original letters were also returned.

In addition to personal matters and health, the papers touch on a wide range of topics of more general interest such as trade conditions and business linkages between the East Coast and the Middle West, land development and trade in Ohio, European travel in the early twentieth century, the experiences of soldiers during the Civil War, and student life in Illinois and Maine during the 1850s.

Pertaining to Charles Dexter are diaries and letters concerning his youth and education during the 1860s and additional financial and legal papers. His friendship with Effie McBeth is also recorded. Additional evidences of this may be found in her file together with letters she received from other young men, some of whom were serving in the Civil War. Her file also includes a detailed diary about travel in Europe in 1908.

About their son Edward (Ned), there are additional European travel letters (1907) and a run of diaries that is virtually complete between 1907 and 1920. Unfortunately, the entries are brief and his handwriting difficult to read. Researchers may find that use of the microfilm copy overcomes reading problems to some degree.

Although a slim file, the letters of Joshua Dexter to his brother-in-law Judson Roundy in Maine during the 1840s are quite valuable for their general discussion of business conditions, the operation of his ill-health and his search for a treatment.

Although of a somewhat fragmentary nature, the collection contains two folders of correspondence and legal papers of John and William McBeth (sometimes spelled McBeath) primarily concerning their land holdings and business ventures in Ohio during the early nineteenth century. Also included is a brief transcribed diary of William McBeth, a member of the Ohio Legislature, concerning travel on the Ohio River during 1843. Other family members are documented by small files, most notable of which is the Civil War correspondence of Dudley Chase Smith.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: The Dexter-Roundy family has been prominent in the Wisconsin grocery business for over a century, but even prior to that time they were engaged in the trade in Shelbyville, Illinois and Maine. Charles Joshua Dexter, sometimes referred to as "the grand old man of the Wisconsin grocery business," was born on August 8, 1845 in Shelbyville, Illinois, to Joshua Lufkin Dexter and Sara Jane Smith Dexter. Both parents died of cholera when Charles was a boy, and as a result young Dexter was placed under the guardianship of his uncle Judson A. Roundy until 1860 when his care was taken over by another uncle, Colonel Dudley Chase Smith. Dexter was educated at Shelbyville Academy, Jubilee College in Peoria, Illinois, and Franklin Family School, Topsham, Maine. When Smith left to serve in the Civil War Charles briefly became acting head of the Smith household.

At age eighteen, Charles began to clerk in the store which his father had founded during the 1840s and which Judson Roundy had managed following Dexter's death. (As the result of Dexter's financial assistance Roundy had sold his business in Maine and moved to Shelbyville in 1851 to become a full partner.) In 1866 when Charles Dexter turned 21 he became a full partner in the business with Roundy. About a decade later when Judson Roundy moved to Wisconsin, the Shelbyville business became known as C.J. Dexter's Mercantile Co.

Having established himself in Milwaukee, Judson Roundy entered a partnership in a wholesale grocery business known as Smith, Roundy and Co. In 1877 William E. Smith left the company to enter politics, eventually being elected governor of Wisconsin. Upon Smith's resignation, W.S. Peckham was admitted as a partner to the new firm, Roundy, Peckham & Co.

In 1879 Charles closed his Shelbyville store and moved to Milwaukee to join the firm. In 1903 Charles Dexter became president of the wholesale company which was then renamed Roundy, Peckham, & Dexter Co.

Charles Dexter remained in an active administrative position with the company, also serving as president of the Wisconsin Wholesale Grocers' Association, until his death in 1939. He was also active outside the business as a Mason, an active member of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, and a trustee for the Downer Home. Other activities included membership in the Old Settlers Club, the Athletic Club, and the Town Club.

Charles Dexter married Effie E. McBeth on May 5, 1869. They had three children: Edward McBeth, Lucia Chafee, and Mary Lois. Edward Dexter was a vice-president with the Roundy Co. until his death in 1920; grandson Edward II was with the company until 1955.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Dexter-Roundy family papers, 1772-1951. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 108 and Milwaukee Micro Collection 57. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. Golda Meir Library. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

ACQUISITION: Presented by Helena D. McBride of Long Beach, California in 1986-1987 (accession numbers M86-163, and M87-457).

PROCESSING: Processed by Robert D. Nyboer (FGH summer class) in 1987 and Randal Sivertson in 1987.

The original advertising material and family photographs in the collection have been removed to the Wisconsin Historical Society's Visual and Sound Archives.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

Business records--Illinois.
Business records--Wisconsin.
Dexter family.
Grocers.
Grocery trade--Illinois.
Grocery trade--Wisconsin.
McBeth family.
Milwaukee (Wis.)--History--Sources.
Roundy family.

MILWAUKEE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 108. MILWAUKEE MICRO COLLECTION 57.	BOX	FOLDER
Addison Smith, 1819	4	3
Charles J. Dexter, Correspondence, 1864-1939	1	2
Charles J. Dexter, Promissory Notes and Legal Documents, 1873-1901	1	3
Charles J. Dexter, 50th Anniversary Scrapbook, 1930	1	4
Charles J. Dexter, Miscellaneous and Biographical Clippings, undated	1	5
Charles Joshua Dexter, Correspondence, 1852-1939, undated	2	3
Charles Joshua Dexter, Diaries, 1863-1876 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 57, section 1]	2	4
Charles Joshua Dexter, Receipts, 1861-1926	2	5
David Dexter, Jr., 1825, 1866	2	8
Dudley Chase Smith, 1862-1869	4	4
Edward Dexter, Scrapbook, 1920	1	6
Edward McBeth Dexter, Correspondence, 1877-1918	2	6
Edward McBeth Dexter, Diaries, 1897, 1907-1909 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 57, section 3]	2	7
Edward McBeth Dexter, Diaries, 1910-1911 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 57, section 4]	2
Edward McBeth Dexter, Diaries, 1912-1915 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 57, section 5]	3	1
Edward McBeth Dexter, Diaries, 1916 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 57, section 6]	3
Edward McBeth Dexter, Diaries, 1917-1920 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 57, section 7]	3	2
Effie McBeth Dexter, Correspondence 1863-1923	3	3
Effie McBeth Dexter, Diary, 1908 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 57, section 2]	3	4
Genealogical Material, 1958, undated	2	1-2
Genealogical Material, undated	1	1
Joshua Dexter, 1843-1849	1	7
Joshua Lufkin Dexter, 1833-1852	3	5
Judson A. Roundy, Correspondence to Charles Dexter, 1878-1892	1	8
Judson A. Roundy, Miscellaneous, 1836-1892	1	9
Judson A. Roundy, 1847-1894	4	2
Lucia Smith, 1847	4	5
McBeth Family, 1795-1903	3	6-7
McCurdy Family, 1822-1874	4	1
Miscellaneous Articles and Pamphlets, 1930, undated	1	14
Miscellaneous Material and Unidentified Correspondence, 1854-1920	4	6
Roundy, Peckham & Dexter, Advertising Material, Labels, Circular Letters, undated	1	13
Roundy, Peckham & Dexter, Articles of Incorporation, 1878-1894	1	10
Roundy, Peckham & Dexter, Receipts and Statements of C.J. Dexter Co., 1871-1891	1	12
Roundy, Peckham & Dexter, Statements and Correspondence, Sale of Roundy Interests, 1903-1905	1	11