Donohue, Kelly & Company records, 1863-1917

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Summary

Title:
Donohoe, Kelly & Company records
Dates:
1863-1917
Creators:
Donohoe, Kelly and Company (San Francisco, Calif.)
Abstract:
Donohoe, Kelly Banking Company was a large private banking company formed in the second half of the nineteenth century, and flourishing until 1929.
Extent:
344 Linear Feet (approximately 870 boxes and volumes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item] Donohoe, Kelly & Company Records, (JL002). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of a relatively small percentage of loose material and a much larger percentage of bound volumes.

The loose material includes a variety of general business papers. Of particular interest are those dealing with Donohoe, Ralston and Company in Liquidation, which cover a four year period (1863-1867) of evaluation and recapitulation of the old company. Much of the other material consists of correspondence, notes, etc. to the bank regarding individual and company accounts. This is quite routine business, but presents an interesting cross section of the way routine affairs were conducted in banking in the 1860s.

Letters of credit, insurance policies, and business papers relating to income tax, semi-annual reports, balance sheets and statements comprise the remainder of the loose material.

The volumes include either complete or near-complete series of general cash books, blotters, checks and deposits volumes, draft stubs, collection journals, and balance sheets in bound groups, as well as statements and remittance records from other banks.

General ledger vouchers, for which there are no ledgers, are included at the end of the collection, and are left in their original bundles, arranged chronologically by month and year.

The records of the Donohoe, Kelly Banking Company certainly will be of interest to anyone with a desire to know a lot about banking practices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Biographical / historical:

The Donohoe, Kelly Banking Company was a large private banking company formed in the second half of the nineteenth century, and flourishing until 1929 when it transferred its business to the Bank of America of California, later the Bank of America, National Trust and Savings Association. The company was established in 1861 by Joseph A. Donohoe, Eugene Kelly and W.C. Ralston as Donohoe, Ralston and Company, and Eugene Kelly and Company was later organized to represent the company in the East.

In 1864 Ralston left the company and subsequently was instrumental in establishing the Bank of California, while Donohoe, Ralston and Company became Donohoe, Kelly and Company in the same year. John W. Flood and Howard Havens joined Donohoe and Kelly in 1876 with no alteration in the title. In 1891 this private banking firm was incorporated under the State laws of California as the Donohoe, Kelly Banking Company and remained so until 1929.

Custodial history:

Gift of Joseph A. Donohoe, Jr. to the Jackson Library of Business in 1951. Transferred to the Department of Special Collections in 1979.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into three series. Series A. General business papers and correspondence, 1863-1914 (boxes 1-17)

Series B. General account books, 1864-1919 (volumes 18-853)

Series C. General ledger vouchers, 1906-1917 (volumes 854-877)

Physical location:
Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36 hours in advance.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2019-11-04 11:44:46 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Note that material is stored off-site and must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.

Terms of access:

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item] Donohoe, Kelly & Company Records, (JL002). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
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