INVENTORY OF THE FORREST A. PLANT, SR. PAPERS,1907-1932, (bulk 1916-1923)

Melissa Tyler
Department of Special Collections
General Library
100 North West Quad
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616-5292
Phone: (530) 752-1621
Fax: (530) 754-5758
Email: speccoll@ucdavis.edu
January 2004 ©2004
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Note

History--California History--Bay Area History History--California History--Sacramento Area History Social Sciences--Law Social Sciences--Government Information--California Government Social Sciences--Government Information--City and County Governments

INVENTORY OF THE FORREST A. PLANT, SR. PAPERS, 1907-1932, (bulk 1916-1923)

Collection number: D-113

Department of Special Collections

General Library

University of California, Davis

Davis, California

Contact Information:

  • Department of Special Collections
  • General Library
  • 100 North West Quad
  • University of California, Davis
  • Davis, CA 95616-5292
  • Phone: (530) 752-1621
  • Fax: (530) 754-5758
  • Email: speccoll@ucdavis.edu
Processed and encoded by:
Melissa Tyler
Date completed:
January 2004
©2004 The Regents of the University of California

Descriptive Summary

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.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research under regular Reading Room rules and copyright restrictions.

Publication Rights

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.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Forrest A. Plant Sr. Papers, D-113, Department of Special Collections, University of California Library, Davis, California.

Acquisition Information

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.

Processing Information

Special Collections staff member, Melissa Tyler processed this collection and created its finding aid.

Biography

Biographical Narrative

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.

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.

Related Collections

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

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online public access catalog.

Indexing Terms

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


 

Estate Records, 1911-1922,

Physical Description: 11 folders

Scope and Content Note

Arranged alphabetically by name of the deceased.
Box 1:1-3

Becker, Carl Frederick (d. Dec. 14, 1918) Estate, 1911-1920

Physical Description:

Note

Solano County (Calif.)
Box 1:4

Conlin, Annie G. (d. Feb. 24, 1920) Estate, 1920-1921

Physical Description:

Note

Yolo County (Calif.)
Box 1:5

Conlin, Thomas (d. Nov. 7, 1918) Estate, 1918-1919

Physical Description:

Note

Yolo County (Calif.)
Box 1:6-7

Hoffman, L.R. (d. July 27, 1917) Estate, 1917-1920

Physical Description:

Note

Solano County (Calif.), Yolo County (Calif.)
Box 1:8

Lindner, Frederick F. (d. Oct. 18, 1920) Estate, 1911-1922

Physical Description:

Note

Sacramento County (Calif.)
Box 1:9

Ludington, Gilbert Lewis (d. Aug. 18, 1916) Estate, 1916-1918

Physical Description:

Note

Yolo County (Calif.)
Box 1:10

McKeen, Henry E. (d. Jan. 29, 1919) Estate, 1919

Physical Description:

Note

Yolo County (Calif.)
Box 1:11

Wilger, Elise (d. ca. Jan. 1917) Estate, 1918

Physical Description:

Note

Sacramento County (Calif.)
Box 1:12

Other Correspondence, 1918-1923,

Physical Description: 4 items

Scope and Content Note

These few pieces of correspondence were not part of the estate records.
Box 1:13

Other Financial Documents, 1918-1932,

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes an assessment and a mortgage that were not part of the estate records.
Box 1:14-15

Printed Materials, ca. 1907-ca. 1920,

Physical Description: 8 items

Scope and Content Note

Arranged in chronological order, these printed materials include instructions for filing, "Reward" announcements for recovery of stolen automobiles, a "Wanted for Murder" announcement, and an unused contract form.
Box 1:16-17

Photographic Materials, n.d.,

Physical Description: 2 lantern slides

Scope and Content Note

One image shows a boy in overalls posing with a dog. The other is of a boy wearing overalls and a hat.