Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Charles S. Sprague Co.
- Abstract:
- This collection consists mainly of letters between investors and employees of the Charles S. Sprague Company of Goldfield, Nevada, from the mid-1910s regarding their investments in mining stocks, including the Goldfield Merger, as well as correspondence about the business failures before and after Harry Schwaikert’s sale of the stock brokerage firm Sprague & Schwaikert to Robert Byars & Co., dating from 1913-1916.
- Extent:
- 139 items in 2 boxes
- Language:
- English.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection is divided into two series, Correspondence (arranged in alphabetical order, by author) and Ephemera. The Correspondence consists mainly of letters between investors and employees of the Charles S. Sprague Co. from the mid-1910s regarding their investments in mining stocks, including the Goldfield Merger. The letters indicate that many of the mining operations were not yielding profits. The Ephemera includes receipts and blank buy order forms.
The addenda includes business correspondence from 1913-1916 regarding business failures before and after Harry Schwaikert’s sale of the stock brokerage firm Sprague & Schwaikert to Robert Byars & Co., who refused to honor stock existing stock contracts. The majority of the correspondence is from Harry Schwaikert to Charles Sprague and includes references to Schwaikert’s nervous breakdown over the business failures and his unhappiness with what he calls Sprague’s “extravagance.” Other letters were written by various clients and regard disputes over the non-transmittal of stock certificates purchased from Sprague & Schwaikert.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Charles S. Sprague Company was a stock brokerage company in Goldfield, Nevada, specializing in buying and selling mining shares in the early 1900s.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from Talisman Press, March 24, 1978 and Holabird-Kagin auction, October 29-30, 2010.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged in the following order:
- Box 1: Correspondence and Ephemera
- Box 2: Correspondence - Addenda
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191