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INVENTORY OF THE FORREST A. PLANT, SR. PAPERS,1907-1932, (bulk 1916-1923)
D-113
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Table of contents
Title: Forrest A. Plant, Sr. Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1907-1932,
Date (bulk): (bulk 1916-1923)
Collection number: D-113
Creator:
Plant, Forrest A., 1889-1933
Extent:
0.40 linear feet in 1 document case
Repository:
University of California, Davis. General Library. Dept. of Special Collections.
100 North West Quad
Davis, California, 95616-5292
Abstract: Forrest A. Plant, Sr. (1889-1933) was a member of a pioneering Davisville (later Davis), California family. Plant was admitted
to the California Bar in 1913 and then established a private law practice in Davisville. He played a major role in community
development by preparing the Articles of Incorporation for the City of Davis in 1917. As City Clerk and City Attorney, Plant
drew up the first ordinances implementing the new local government, and he continued to serve Davis in these two capacities
until 1932 when he was elected Superior Court Judge of Yolo County. The Forrest A. Plant, Sr. Papers span the years 1907 to
1932, but the bulk dates from 1916 to 1923. The papers mainly relate to Plant's Davis legal practice and his work settling
the estates of eight citizens of Solano, Yolo, and Sacramento counties in the Superior Courts of those California counties.
The majority of the papers are correspondence and legal and financial documents.
Physical location: Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research under regular Reading Room rules and copyright restrictions.
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
[Identification of item], Forrest A. Plant Sr. Papers, D-113, Department of Special Collections, University of California
Library, Davis, California.
In 1975, the Plant Family donated the Forrest A. Plant, Sr. Papers to the Library, and local historian Joann Larkey delivered
the papers to the Department of Special Collections.
Special Collections staff member, Melissa Tyler processed this collection and created its finding aid.
Forrest A. Plant, Sr. (1889-1933) was a member of a pioneering Davisville (later Davis), California family. His grandfather
was Louis Jefferson Plant (1835-1898), and his father was Albert June Plant (1859-1911). L.J. Plant came from Alabama to settle
in Davisville and is thought to have worked at the Davisville depot after it was established in 1868. He married Sarah Elizabeth
Lanham (1835-1929). The couple had five children. Their only son was Albert June. A.J. Plant attended school in Sacramento
and business college in San Francisco. In 1886, he returned to Davisville to become a bookkeeper for Liggett and Drummond's
General Store. Circa 1905, he founded the Plant Grain and Warehouse business. He was secretary of both the first Davisville
Chamber of Commerce and the local committee that promoted Davisville as the site for the University State Farm. He served
as a Justice of the Peace in Davisville from 1907 to 1908. A.J. Plant married Mary Ellen Borchers in 1888. They had four children
including their eldest son Forrest Albert.
After his father's death in 1911, Forrest Albert Plant (1889-1933) interrupted his college studies in order to assume responsibility
for the Plant warehouse operations. F.A. Plant was admitted to the California Bar in 1913 and then established a private law
practice in Davisville. He married Helen Ayer in 1913. She died in 1918 in the influenza epidemic. The couple had one daughter.
In 1921, Plant married Marie Phleger. They had two sons Forrest A., Jr. and Marshall.
F.A. Plant, Sr. played a major role in community development by preparing the Articles of Incorporation for the City of Davis
in 1917. Citizens of Davisville had been subject to a county-administered form of judicial township government for the first
fifty years of the town's existence. A 1916 fire that destroyed much of downtown Davisville and demonstrated the need for
better firefighting equipment, swayed public opinion in favor of municipal government. In March 1917, Davisville was incorporated
as the City of Davis. The officers of the newly formed city included J.B. Anderson (President of the Board); S.H. Beckett,
C.A. Covell, E.S. McBride, and B.T. Brewster (Board of Trustees); F.P. Wray (City Treasurer); and F.A. Plant, Sr. (City Clerk).
As City Clerk and City Attorney, Plant drew up the first Ordinances implementing the new local government, and he continued
to serve Davis in these two capacities until 1932 when he was elected Superior Court Judge of Yolo County. F.A. Plant, Sr.
died in 1933 at the height of a promising career.
Forrest A. Plant, Jr. graduated from the University of California Berkeley, School of Law, Boalt Hall and was admitted to
the California Bar in 1950. He eventually became a named partner in one of Sacramento's oldest and largest law firms Diepenbrock,
Wulff, Plant & Hannegan. Over the course of his career, which spanned more than fifty years, F.A. Plant, Jr. was involved
with numerous professional and community related organizations. His son, Forrest A. Plant, III, also practices law in Sacramento.
He graduated from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific and was admitted to the California Bar in 1976.
Source:
Larkey, Joann L. Davisville '68: The History and Heritage of The City of Davis, Yolo County California. Davis, Calif.: The Davis Historical and Landmarks Commission, 1969.
Larkey, Joann L. Davisville '68: The History and Heritage of The City of Davis, Yolo County California. Davis, Calif.: The Davis Historical and Landmarks Commission, 1969.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Forrest A. Plant, Sr. Papers span the years 1907 to 1932, but the bulk dates from 1916 to 1923. The small amount of material
making up the Plant Papers represents just a fragment of Plant's life and work. The Papers are arranged in five series: 1.
Estate Records, 2. Other Correspondence, 3. Other Financial Documents, 4. Printed Materials, and 5. Photographic Materials.
The first series, Estate Records, contains records relating to Plant's Davis legal practice and his work settling the estates
of eight citizens of Solano, Yolo, and Sacramento counties in the Superior Courts of those counties. These estate records
include correspondence and legal and financial documents such as petitions, orders, creditors' claims, invoices, receipts,
deeds, property inventories, tax records, insurance records, and bank statements. The other series contain a small number
of items that are not part of the estate records.
The following collections are related to the Forrest A. Plant, Sr. Papers and may be accessed through Special Collections.
D-344, City of Davis Ordinance/Financial Records Collection
D-032, Davis Land Records Collection
D-022, Pierce Family Papers
D-167, Westgate, Warren A. Collection
MC187, Wilcoxson, Jefferson, Major. Papers
D-194, Yolo County, Putah Township, Justice's Court Records Collection
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online public access catalog.
Plant, Forrest A.,--1889-1933
Becker, Carl Frederick,--d. 1918
Conlin, Annie G.,--d. 1920
Conlin, Thomas,--d. 1918
Hoffman, L.R.,--d. 1917
Lindner, Frederick F.,--d. 1920
Ludington, Gilbert Lewis,--d. 1916
McKeen, Henry E.,--d. 1919
Wilger, Elise,--d. ca. 1917
Estates (Law)
Yolo County (Calif.)--History
Sacramento County (Calif.)--History
Solano County (Calif.)--History