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Guide to the J.J. Martin Papers, 1880-1972, bulk 1885-1936
BANC MSS C-B 363
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Table of contents
Collection Title: J.J. Martin papers
Date (inclusive): 1880-1972,
Date (bulk): , bulk 1885-1936
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 363
Creators :
Martin, J. J., (James John), 1845-1938
Extent:
Number of containers: 5 boxes and 4 volumes
Linear feet: 2.2
Repository: The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: Contains documents from and relating to the Kaweah Colony, the Hartly Bay Lumber, Trading & Fishing Company, the Tasmania
Colony, as well as information on other cooperatives. The Kaweah Colony records include official documents, correspondence,
legal documents from a case with the U.S. Government, a scrapbook and two histories, including one unpublished manuscript
by Martin. Papers also include a small amount of personal and family papers including an unpublished manuscript, "Religion
and Socialism."
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library 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 reader.
[Identification of item], J.J. Martin Papers, BANC MSS C-B 363, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Correspondence from Upton Sinclair is available on microfilm, [BANC FILM X-X film 5].
Kaweah Cooperative Colony Company Records (BANC MSS C-A 303)
Haskell Family Papers (BANC MSS C-B 364)
Joseph Cummings Rowell Papers (BANC MSS C-B 419)
P.N. Kuss Papers (BANC MSS 2002/193 c)
Rodney Sydes Ellsworth Papers: Relating to the Kaweah Cooperative Colony Co. (BANC MSS 81/27 c)
Ruth Krandis Lewis Correspondence (BANC MSS C-B 365)
Scrapbooks of Clippings Regarding Kaweah Cooperative Colony (BANC MSS C-V 24)
Thomas Waters Papers (BANC MSS C-B 983)
Why Kaweah Failed: transcript, by Joseph E. Doctor (BANC MSS 82/143 c:2)
Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Martin, J. J. (James John), 1845-1938--Archives
Martin, J. J. (James John), 1845-1938--Pictorial works
Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968--Correspondence
Kaweah Colony
Hartly Bay Lumber, Trading and Fishing Company
Tasmania Colony
Credit Foncier Company
Bucklands Settlement
Huapai Estate
Hotel Del Monte (Monterey, Calif.)--Correspondence
Tasmania Colony--Pictorial works
Cooperative societies--California
Cooperative societies--Tasmania
Cooperative societies--New Zealand
Cooperative societies--Mexico
Cooperative societies--South Africa
Clippings
Scrapbooks
Manuscripts for publication
Photographs
The J.J. Martin Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Daisy Martin Redstone in September, 1941. Additions were made
in 1985 and 1988 by Ellis Redstone.
No additions are expected.
Processed by Alison E. Bridger and Andrea O'Neill (SJSU SLIS student) in 2005-2006.
James John Martin was born in 1845. The early years of his adulthood were spent in railroad endeavors and efforts related
to labor unions. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Coast Seaman's Union of San Francisco in the 1880s.
These efforts were followed by his involvement in the founding of the Kaweah Co-Operative Colony. The Colony was begun with
the filing of land claims in 1885 and the formal purchase of land in 1887. Martin served as the Secretary of the Kaweah Colony
for five years during which time the Colony was constructed, occupied, investigated by Federal agents, prosecuted by the Federal
government and eventually dismantled. After leaving Kaweah, Martin moved to Los Angeles where he continued to fight for compensation
of the colonists by the government. During this time Martin and some colleagues began to explore the possibility of establishing
a cooperative colony in Mexico, but exploration proved fruitless.
At the beginning of the 20th century Martin moved to Victoria, British Columbia where he worked for a short period as a salesman
before becoming involved in a labor dispute on behalf of the Marine Engineer's Association. Following the resolution of that
labor dispute, he was hired as the organizing Secretary and Treasurer of the Merchant Service Guild of Canada. Amidst a dispute
within the organization, Martin resigned in 1909. For the next two years Martin was involved in the establishment of the
entrepreneurial enterprise of the Hartly Bay Lumber, Trading and Fishing Company. This business collapsed in 1911 and Martin
spent the next 4 years working as Special Representative for the Hotel Del Monte in Western Canada.
In 1914 Martin retired from his work with the Hotel Del Monte and spent the next two years working to establish a cooperative
colony similar to the Kaweah Colony in Tasmania. Despite the backing of prominent governmental officials in Tasmania, the
colony failed to secure parliamentary approval for their establishment and in 1915 efforts were abandoned.
Following the failure of the Tasmania Colony, Martin suffered a nervous breakdown and spent several weeks convalescing with
friends in Tasmania. Upon his recuperation he returned to British Columbia and unsuccessfully sought employment again with
the Hotel Del Monte. Martin spent the next 19 years in retirement spending time with his children and grandchildren. He
died on May 10, 1938 in San Luis Obispo.
Scope and Content of Collection
Contains documents from and relating to the Kaweah Colony, the Hartly Bay Lumber, Trading & Fishing Company, the Tasmania
Colony, as well as information on other cooperatives. The Kaweah Colony records include official documents, correspondence,
legal documents from a case with the U.S. Government, a scrapbook and two histories, including one unpublished manuscript
by Martin. Papers also include a small amount of personal and family papers including an unpublished manuscript, "Religion
and Socialism."
The collection is arranged into five series. Series 1: Kaweah Colony; Series 2: Hartly Bay Lumber, Trading & Fishing Company;
Series 3: Tasmania Colony; Series 4: Other Cooperatives; Series 5: Personal and Family Papers.