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Perris District Defense Association and Val Verde Water Company
Papers: Finding Aid
mssHM 74187-74207, mssHM 74412-74420
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Table of contents
Title: Perris District Defense Association and
Val Verde Water Company Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1895-1929
Bulk dates: 1895-1902
Collection Number: mssHM 74187-74207, mssHM 74412-74420
Extent: 205 items in 1 box and 9 volumes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
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.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
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.
[Identification of item]. Perris District Defense Association and Val Verde Water
Company Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift from Mrs. E. C. Conklin, July 16 and December 12, 1934.
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.
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.
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.
The materials are organized into two series:
1. Perris District Defense Association material; and 2. Val Verde Water Company material.
Southern California Railroad Company
- Subject in Perris District Defense Assn. letter to “Each Property-owner in the Perris Irrigation District.” HM 74195.
- Subject in Perris District Defense Assn. Memorandum of Agreement between Perris District Defense Assn. and W.H. Bray (1898, May 31). HM 74205.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Perris District Defense
Association.
Southern California
Railway.
Val Verde Water
Company.
Irrigation -- California -- Riverside
County.
Water resources development --
California -- Riverside County.
Water-supply -- California -- Riverside
County.
California -- History
-- 19th century -- Sources.
Perris
(Calif.)
Riverside County
(Calif.)
Business letters -- California -- 19th
century.
Business letters -- California -- 20th
century.
Business records -- California -- 19th
century.
Business records -- California -- 20th
century.
Perris District Defense Association.
Val Verde Water Company.