Jacobs family papers

The collection consists of correspondence, letter books, invoices, financial statements, ledgers, journals, receipts, cancelled checks, debit and credit memos, certificate of deposit stubs, draft registers, collection registers, and remittance registers produced by the daily mercantile and banking business of Lionel and Barron Jacobs.

Correspondence includes letters between Mark Jacobs and his sons, Lionel and Barron, concerning business conditions, needs and decisions. Until 1872, Mark managed the firm through his regular letters to his sons in Tucson. From 1872 to 1875, Lionel is residing mostly in San Francisco and directing the business for his father. For this period, the business correspondence is mainly between Lionel in San Francisco and Barron in Tucson. Barron's replies are found in the bound letter books. There is also correspondence from family and friends to Lionel and Barron, 1871 to 1876, including a few letters from their nephew, Selim M. Franklin, who later became a prominent Tucson citizen.

The rest of the correspondence relates to business matters although some correspondents such as Abraham Franklin, J.B. Collins, and Joe Goldwater include information on local conditions in their letters. From 1878 to 1880, Abraham Franklin writes detailed letters while establishing a branch store in Safford, Arizona. J.B. Collins writes of an 1880 incident when Isaac Clanton, Joe Hill, and Johnny Ringo went on a shooting spree at Jacob's mill and Abraham Franklin's store in Safford. Joe Goldwater owns stores in Bisbee, Contention, and Fairbanks, Arizona, and comments on daily events.

Materials documenting the purchase of goods from New York, San Francisco, and Mexico and the shipment of goods to Tucson and other locations in southern Arizona, 1861 to 1879, include invoices, correspondence, receipts, and financial statements. The Jacobs brothers contracted with private freighters such as Joseph Pierson, Juan Fernandez, Pedro Aguirre, and the Hooper and Whiting Company to transport their goods. David Neahr was their primary forwarding agent; he transferred goods from steamers at Yuma to freight wagons bound for Tucson. The Jacobs Company also served as forwarding agent for the Terrenate Flour Mill in Jerante, Sonora. Owner Joseph Pierson sent flour to L.M. Jacobs and Company which sold it mainly to nearby military forts.

Goods were purchased in New York and San Francisco and shipped by steamer up the Colorado River to Yuma, then by freight wagons easterly across the desert to Tucson. Goods were also purchased in Mexico and shipped north to Tucson from Guaymas, Mexico. The goods sold were then delivered to locations throughout Southern Arizona including Oatman, Mission Camp, Gila Bend, Desert Station, Sacaton, Altar, Picacho, Apache Camp, Tombstone, Safford, Florence, Camp Grant, Camp Thomas, Fort Yuma and others.

Mercantile records representing the sale of goods to individuals, companies, and the military include journals, ledgers, invoices, daily sales blotters, inventories, and registers of distilled spirits received and sold, 1867 to 1880. The content of these records is described in the Inventory and Series Description section of this finding aid. Many of these records provide an itemized record of items purchased and prices paid. Their customers include early residents of Tucson, Tombstone, and southern Arizona. Selected names are noted in the inventory but many others exist in the records.

Banking records consist of journals, ledgers, daily exchange records, certificate of deposit stubs, money order stubs, checks, debit and credit memos, notes and bills receivable, collection registers, remittance registers, draft registers, records of payments for government and other agencies and trial balance sheets. Explanations of information provided in the records is included in the Inventory and Series Description section of this finding aid. The majority of records relate to the Cochise County Bank, but Pima County Bank and Arizona National Bank are also well represented. While most of the loose papers of banking correspondence and cancelled checks relate to the Cochise County Bank, the bound volumes are more evenly divided between banks.

This collection provides detailed evidence of mercantile and banking practices at the end of the 19th century. Additional highlights include 1875 bankruptcy papers for the mercantile company of Philip Drachman and Isaac Goldberg; agreements to supply goods to military camps; daily sales blotters from as early as 1867 showing customer name, items purchased and price paid for each item; an 1870 Citizens Subscription of Indian Campaign giving names and amount contributed; receipt books that show customer name, items shipped, and where shipped, including many for Camp Grant; Distilled Spirits Received and Sold records which give customer name, place, and number of gallons of whiskey delivered; lists of bank depositors showing names of Tombstone and Tucson citizens with amounts they have on deposit; and other bank transactions for individuals showing what they deposited, borrowed, and paid out.

Some materials in this collection are in Spanish.