Railroad Collections

Subject Listing:
Railways

Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. Lodge No. 191 (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Records, 1886-1968.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection EW
Records include minutes of meetings, attendance registers (1919-1968), and a financial record book. The local established its headquarters in Fort Howard in 1886, moved to Fond du Lac circa 1891, and moved to Milwaukee in 1901. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Crocker, Hans, 1815-1889.
Papers, 1836-1887.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 85
Miscellaneous papers of a Milwaukeean active in Wisconsin economic development. The bulk of the collection (1846-1871) documents real estate transactions, consisting almost entirely of quitclaims and property tax receipts from Crocker's activities as a railroad receiver and investor in land and other ventures. Also contains some correspondence of Crocker, of relatives by marriage, and of business associates. The materials provide information on the price and ownership of land, but not on its subsequent use. Collection also contains some records pertaining to the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad, and includes a few items concerning the transportation of soldiers during the early years of the Civil War. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Earling, Albert J., 1848-1925.
Papers, 1901-1948.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection BP
Collection includes the papers of Albert Earling, president of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway Company; his daughter, Harriet Earling Dake; and Lawrence Fitch, Mrs. Dake's first husband. The greater part of the collection concerns Mrs. Dake's social and civic interests, including files on the Fatherless Children of France and the Women's Club of Wisconsin. There are also clippings relating to Mrs. Dake and the Earling and Fitch families, and genealogies of the Earling, Fitch, and Tilton families. There is some biographical information on Albert Earling and a few business letters. Correspondents include William Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt, and Herbert Hoover. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Eichelberg, Robert W.
Papers, [circa 1890]-1983 (1950s-1960).
UWM Manuscript Collection 228 The collection contains photographs and negatives of engines (locomotives), rolling stock, electric interurbans, and streetcars from various railroad and railway companies including the Chicago & North Western Railroad; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific (The Milwaukee Road); the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company; and the North Shore Line. Many were taken by Robert W. Eichelberg, who was an amateur railroad photographer and part-time employee of Chicago & North Western Railroad. The collection also contains some published rail-related items. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Papers, 1840-1882.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection EV
Papers of a Milwaukee attorney and railroad executive. Most of the collection is correspondence relating to Indian claims at Mackinac, Michigan; letters from New York investor Russell Sage about his Wisconsin business affairs; and several Civil War letters. Also contains correspondence of Emmons' brother-in-law Robert Eliot concerning family matters, and includes an 1852 letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Theodore Parker concering the inscription on the Concord Bridge, and an 1854 letter of appointment to the rank of lieutenant from Matthew C. Perry to Garret V. Denniston. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Lind, Richard F.
Report, 1980.
Milwaukee Small Collection 168
Report to the Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society, Inc. detailing the condition of the railroad overhead from the interchange at Mukwonago to Highway 20 at East Troy, Wisconsin, including a written description, detailed nomenclature and overhead defect drawings, and color photographs. The Municipality of East Troy Railroad is the last remnant of the Milwaukee Electric Railway Company line. Lind conducted this survey as a volunteer for the East Troy Trolley Museum which leased the railroad in 1979.

Mariner, John W., 1868-1930.
Papers, 1881-1946.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection D
Family papers including John Mariner's business correspondence and records relating to his investments in the Ontonagon and Brule River Railroad Company of Michigan (1892-1946); and the J.J. Hof Land Company, and its successor firms, Northern Colonization Company, Mariner and Kurtz Company, and the Mariner Land Company. Also contains records (1917-1944) of the National League of Women's Service, an unofficial patriotic organization on which Mrs. Mariner served, documenting the Wisconsin groups that worked with the League, especially during World War I. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Milwaukee and Watertown Railroad. General Supervisor's Office.
Copy book, 1855.
Milwaukee Small Collection 28
Letter press copy book from the office of R. W. Fowler, dating 10 September to 7 December 1855. Many of the letters are difficult to read because of fading.

Milwaukee Cement Company.
Records, 1875-1948.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection AR
Records of the company and the Milwaukee Cement Railway Company, founded by Joseph Berthelet in 1875, consisting of correspondence, business papers, maps, and minutes of meetings of the stockholders and board of directors. Almost no records remain about the employees, sales, or production of the cement. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Milwaukee Electric Railway and Transport Company.
Records, 1896-1963.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 86
Records of the company and its predecessors, documenting the technological evolution of the Milwaukee traction industry, and legal and financial development of the railway companies. A large portion of the collection dates between 1920-1940 when the company undertook its most ambitious modernization and expansion programs, and experienced its most severe hardships. The records contain little information pertaining to labor relations.
Collection documents the rolling stock department's concerns with railway equipment, accidents, labor, and construction programs. Includes corporate histories, correspondence, financial data, minutes, and reports. Numerous blueprints detail interurban routes and new equipment for installation in trolley cars and buses. Also includes albums (1924-1942) containing portrait photographs and biographical information on the Veterans' Association of the company; and cartographic records (ca. 1898-1963) consisting of charts, maps, and plans of buildings, construction projects, equipment, and operations.
Administrative History Note: Between 1890-1893, Henry Villard acquired six competing Milwaukee street car companies. The North American Company bought the properties from Villard in 1895, and reorganized them as the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company (TMER&L). Two subsidiaries, the Milwaukee, Light, Heat, and Traction Company and the Wisconsin Motor Bus Lines were created in the following decades. In 1938, the federal courts forced TMER&L to reorganize. The TMER&L became the Wisconsin Electric Power Company, and the transit operations became the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Transport Company (TMER&T). The TMER&T sold its property to the Milwaukee Suburban Transport Corporation in 1952, and went out of existence in 1963.

Mowry, Duane.
Papers, 1918-1926.
Milwaukee Small Collection 11
Includes records of organizations of which Mowry was an officer: the Citizens Civic Council of Milwaukee County and the Property Owners and Renters Association of Milwaukee concerning such items as electric railroads, coal supply, and a water filtration plant; and a 1922 letter from the Federal Trade Commission concerning food and coal prices.

Munk, Emanuel, 1806-1899.
Letters, 1861-1893.
Milwaukee Micro Collection 2
Letters, mostly in German, of a physician who emigrated to Wisconsin in 1847, including letters to his son Herman written while he served as assistant surgeon to the 20th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War (1862-1863), especially about the Battle of Prairie Grove; and letters (1866-1873) describing his life in Fond du Lac and Milwaukee, and the development of business and railroads in Eastern Wisconsin, and his interest in self-education.

Nedden, William F.
History of Milwaukee horse railways, 1981.
UWM Manuscript Collection 126
Manuscript history of the River and Lakeshore City Railway, Milwaukee City Railway, West Side Street Railway, and the Cream City Railroad, predecessors to the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The focus is on the period 1850-1896, and special attention is given to route layouts, use of horse-drawn railway cars, and administrative operations of the companies. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Phelps, Walter.
Letter, 1908.
Milwaukee Small Collection 21
Letter from Walter Phelps to his brother in Horicon, Wisconsin telling how he brought the first locomotives to Wisconsin for Byron Kilbourn, president of the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad.

Sholes, Charles C. (Charles Clark), 1816-1867.
Papers, 1843-1867.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection BS
Miscellaneous papers of a pioneer Wisconsin newspaperman, politician, and businessman. Most of the collection consists of letters to Sholes' wife Sarah, usually of a personal nature. Some of the letters dating 1853-1855 discuss meetings with Horace Greeley and Phineas T. Barnum; impressions of William Lloyd Garrison as a speaker; descriptions of New York museums, a spiritualist seance, and a reception given by Senator Charles Durkee. A letter dating 9 February 1854 describes a performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. There are some references to Sholes' work in New York overseeing the printing and sale of railroad bonds; to his purchase of telegraph lines in Wisconsin; his activities as speaker of the Wisconsin state assembly; and to his brother Christopher. Also contains other miscellaneous letters, and photographs of Sholes and his wife. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Wells, Daniel L., 1821-1884.
Papers, 1811-1884.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection Q
Papers of an early railroad contractor and financier, including correspondence and letter books relating to his work for the following railroad companies: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul; Chicago and Dakota; Chicago and Great Eastern; Chicago & Northwestern; La Crosse and Milwaukee; Milwaukee and Northern; Ohio and Mississippi; Sheboygan and Fond du Lac; and the Wisconsin Central. Collection also includes materials on Wells' interests in the Nonesuch Mining Company, and the newspaper Republican and News of Milwaukee, and some family records. Finding aid available in the Archives.

Whitcomb, Henry F., 1848-1932.
Papers, 1868-1933.
Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 116
Papers of a Wisconsin railroad official, businessman and investor. Includes personal and business correspondence; and annual reports, legal records, and subject files pertaining to the Eastern Wisconsin Railway and Light Company; the Wisconsin Central; the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway; the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad Company; and other railroads with which he was involved. A large part of the collection provides documentation of Whitcomb's career as receiver, general manager and president of the Wisconsin Central Railroad Line (1893-1906). Finding aid available in the Archives.
Biographical Note: Born in 1848 in Herman, N.Y., Whitcomb settled in the Village of Waterford in Racine County in the 1860s. During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon's assistant in Company A, 43rd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. In 1871, he married Louisa Margaret Clock of Fond du Lac. In the 1890s Whitcomb worked as general manager for the Wisconsin Central Railroad, and was named president of Wisconsin Central Lines in 1899. Whitcomb also served as director of Whitcomb and Company (1919-1930) and as director of the National Exchange Bank of Milwaukee during the 1920s. He died in Milwaukee in 1932.

Wisconsin. Public Service Commission.
Records, 1918-1934.
Wisconsin Series 1279
Letters, memoranda, reports, graphs, charts, maps, photographs, special committee minutes and studies, relating to the construction, extension of service, efficiency of operation, safety, convenience, and cost to the consumer, of water, electric power, railroads, street railways, steam heating, and telephone service in metropolitan Milwaukee. Also contains many letters, memoranda, and reports relating to requests and complaints from manufacturers, commercial enterprises, and individuals concerning change or extension of service, rate discrimination, overcharges, inconveniences, nuisances, and inefficient service. Finding aid available in the Archives.