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Register of the Lindley Family Papers,
1890-1928
Mss184
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Table of contents
Title: Lindley Family Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1890-1928
Collection number: Mss184
Creator:
Frank B. McKevitt
Extent: 0.5 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language: English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Lindley Family Papers, Mss184, Holt-Atherton
Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Thomas Morton Lindley, Sr. (1819-1896) was founder and proprietor of the
firm of Lindley & Co. of Sacramento. Born in Indiana, he came to California
seeking gold in 1849. In that year Lindley began the firm of Lindley &
Booth which was succeded by several other mercantile partnerships until the
creation of Lindley & Co. (1869). Douglas A. (D.A.) Lindley, T.M. Lindley's
eldest son became a partner in 1886. He subsequently incorporated the company,
first as Lindley Mercantile Company (1904), then as Lindley and Company
(1919).
The original Lindley & Company (1869-1928) was a wholesale grocer,
tea importer and coffee roaster. Lindley and Co. became identified with "Cherub
Brand Foods" and "Lindley's Motor Coffee," so named because its quality
purportedly moved it rapidly from the grocer's shelf. Later, the Lindleys were
involved in many additional enterprises including land sales, canal, railroad
and transportation development and ranching in Sacramento, as well as land
development in Yuma County, Arizona, through the Mohawk Canal and Improvement
Company (ca. 1892-1901). The family owned a Red Bluff farm from the time they
entered the wholesale grocery business. Douglas Lindley later purchased Maxwell
Ranch in Plumas County with his brother Morton (1911). Douglas' health began to
fail around 1920 and, following his suicide (1928), his wife, Mary, sold the
company. Mary B. Lindley (ca. 1867-1956), formerly Mary Denson, subsequently
married William A. Briggs.
This collection consists chiefly of the papers of D.A. Lindley and his
wife, Mary B. Lindley. They include family correspondence, business documents
(including deeds, bills of sale, advertising, minutes, articles of
incorporation and stock certificates) and a few photographs. Most records of
the wholesale grocery company date from 1920-1928. The Lindley's efforts to
develop the Sacramento and Yolo Belt Line electric railway (1908-1912) are
represented by three ledger books, including: the by-laws, noting incorporation
of March 21, 1912; a stock ledger and record book (1908); and a board of
directors minutebook (1908-1910).