Perris District Defense Association and Val Verde Water Company Papers, 1895-1929, bulk 1895-1902

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Perris District Defense Association and Val Verde Water Company Papers
Dates:
1895-1929, bulk 1895-1902
Abstract:
This collection contains business correspondence, documents, and ephemera relating to the operation of the Perris District Defense Association in Riverside County, California, and a single document and multiple pieces of ephemera relating to the operation of the Val Verde Water Company, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1895-1902.
Extent:
205 items in 1 box and 9 volumes
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Perris District Defense Association and Val Verde Water Company Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains business correspondence, documents, and ephemera relating to the operation of the Perris District Defense Association, and a single document and multiple pieces of ephemera relating to the operation of the Val Verde Water Company. The materials are organized into two series 1. Perris District Defense Association material; and 2. Val Verde Water Company material. Within each series the materials are divided into sub-series of document type, and organized chronologically within these subseries. The one letter authored by the Val Verde water company to the Perris District Defense Association (HM 74201) is in the sub-series of letters pertaining to the Perris District Defense Association.

The correspondence of the Perris District Defense Association (HM 74187-74204) consist primarily of letters relating to the legal strategy the association regarding their attempt to release District property holders from their financial obligations to the Perris Irrigation District. HM 74195, a letter soliciting contributions from property holders in the district, offers a good overview of the aims of the association. HM 74205 is the agreement between the association and an attorney working in the legal department of the Southern California Railroad Company, who assisted the law firm of Works & Lee in serving as legal advisors for the association. The minutes of the Perris District Defense Association, HM 74206, offers perhaps the most complete record in the collection of the association’s activities.

The materials of the Val Verde Water Co. are much more incomplete. The draft contract, HM 74207 outlines the company’s intent to solicit subscriptions for the purpose of constructing a pumping station, and the two folders of ephemera provide a very partial sense of the company’s quotidian expenses and activities.

There are also nine volumes in the collection; arranged chronologically. They include cash books, ledgers, journals, stock ledger, transfer journal, record book, and a minutes book that includes meeting minutes and the by-laws of the Val Verde Water Co. The material found in Minutes Book (HM 74416) includes: receipts, invoices, reports, proxy notes, meeting minutes, insurance information, miscellaneous financial documents and one piece of correspondence all related to the Val Verde Water Co.

Biographical / historical:

The Perris District Defense Association was formed in 1895 by property holders in the Perris Irrigation District in order to take legal action against the district for what the Defense Association saw as fraudulent practices of the district, with the aim of dissolving the district so as to clear the property holders of the expensive bonds they were paying to the district. The Defense Association was active through at least 1901 in its efforts to finance and conduct legal action against the original irrigation district. It appears that the association also acted as de facto managers of other matters relating to the maintenance and regulation of the district’s irrigation infrastructure.

The Val Verde Water Company, which also operated in Riverside County near Perris, solicited bonds from local property holders to maintain and build irrigation infrastructure. It shared at least two officers with the Perris District Defense Association, F.J. Fogg and George Conklin.

Acquisition information:
Gift from Mrs. E. C. Conklin, July 16 and December 12, 1934.
Processing information:

Sixty-seven (67) items were found in page 103 of the Minutes Book (HM 74416). That material was put into a folder labeled “Material found in Minutes Book” and put at the end of the collection; it is not item listed in the container list but is described below in the Scope and Content Note.

Arrangement:

The materials are organized into two series: 1. Perris District Defense Association material; and 2. Val Verde Water Company material.

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Alex Young, October 14, 2010.
Date Prepared:
© 2010
Date Encoded:
Machine readable finding aid encoded by Diann Benti in August 2017 from PDF finding aid originally in the Huntington Digital Library.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Perris District Defense Association and Val Verde Water Company Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Website