Archive Record
Metadata
Title |
Stark Paper Company Records |
Object Name |
Documents |
Creator |
Stark Paper Co. (North Bennington, Vt.) |
Dates of Creation |
1823–1974; bulk, 1880–1950 |
Scope & Content |
The Stark Paper Company Records span the years 1823-1974, with the bulk of the material dating from 1880 to 1950. The material in this collection is extensive, covering much of the daily business operations and planning of the Stark Paper Company. The records extend from the formation of the corporation to its dissolution, including some earlier material related to land purchased at an earlier date. The collection is organized into six series (subseries in parentheses): Correspondence (Incoming and Outgoing), Financial Records (Invoices, Series of general account books, Other account books, Financial Papers), Payroll & Employment, Production & Shipping (Orders, Stock, Dyes), Corporate Records & Taxes, and Properties & Rents. Also included are records of the papermaking firm of Welling & Roberts. These records are incorporated into the above-named series. The arrangement within each series is chronological with the exception of the Welling & Roberts material, which is kept separate. |
Administrative/Biographical History |
The Stark Paper Company grew out of several Welling family business ventures, beginning with Edward M. Welling's 1824 purchase of the Paran Creek grist-mill, sawmill, and a small farm in North Bennington, then called Sages City. In 1833, Edward M. removed the old mill and built the mill that would become the Stark Paper Company's Paran Creek Mill, converting it from a grist mill to a paper mill following the flood of 1852. In ca. 1876, Edward M's son Charles E. Welling and son-in-law Charles Thatcher ended their twenty-five year mercantile and papermaking business partnership when Charles E. Welling exchanged his interest in their store for Thatcher's mill interest. Shortly thereafter Charles E. Welling purchased the mill that would become the Stark Paper Company's State Line Mill. This mill was in Sodom, an area in Shaftsbury, Vermont about a mile from New York state line. After running the mill as an independent enterprise for a year or so, the Wellings founded the Stark Paper Company in 1877, with Charles E. Welling as president and Edward D. Welling as treasurer. For several decades the Stark Paper Company operated the Paran Creek and State Line Mills, with wallpaper as its chief manufacture. After the ravages of several fires and at least one flood, the State Line Mill burned for the last time in 1909. The Paran Creek Mill ceased manufacturing in ca. 1925. After several decades of acting exclusively as a landlord, the corporation dissolved in 1974. Also included in this collection is material from the paper making partnership of Charles E. Welling and Charles W. Roberts. Roberts was an inventor of pulp/paper making machines from Carthage, New York. The partnership began in late 1887 and dissolved in April of 1890. It is unclear how this venture related to the Stark Paper Company, but it appears they acted as affiliates. |
Related People |
Welling, Charles Edward Welling, Edward Dwight Welling, Fredrick H. Welling, George Bertram Roberts, Charles W. |
Search Terms |
Stark Paper Co. (North Bennington, Vt.) |
Catalog Number |
ARC5 |