The records include complete files of correspondence between the attorneys and their clients from 1890 to 1905; less complete information about the financial operation of the law firm, 1879-1903; records of court cases in which Ellis, Merrill, and George G. Greene represented clients in circuit court, 1873-1894; and some records of real estate sales and the collection of rents by the attorneys, 1861-1895. The records are arranged in four series: correspondence, financial records, legal records, and miscellaneous records. The correspondence constitutes about four-fifths of the collection and the remaining one-fifth is divided evenly between the other three series.
The CORRESPONDENCE pertains almost exclusively to business between the attorneys and their clients, mainly in Green Bay, Brown County, and other northeastern Wisconsin counties. Most cases referred to in the correspondence concern the collection of debts, including routine bill collections, bankruptcy cases, and mortgage foreclosures. There are extensive files of letters between Ellis and Merrill and debt collection agencies for which they acted as agents, especially the Snow-Church Company; Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Company; and the Wilbur Mercantile Agency. Other topics found in the correspondence are claims against personal estates, sales of real estate, the collection of rent, business matters of firms in which Ellis and Merrill had financial interests, and insurance matters. Especially interesting is correspondence with the Fidelity and Casualty Company regarding claims for industrial accidents in logging and construction operations.
The incoming correspondence, 1877-1911 (mainly 1889 to 1911), is arranged in alphabetical order. Letters from individuals who wrote as officers or agents for companies are filed under the name of the company. Letters from law firms are filed under the name of the attorney who signed the letter. In some cases, researchers will find additional correspondence filed under the names of other principals or associates in a law firm. Some persons had correspondence with Ellis and Merrill pertaining to both personal and business matters. In those instances, personal correspondence is filed under the individual's name and business correspondence is filed under the name of the company. A list of such cross-references follows the container list. Also there is a list of predominant correspondents, arbitrarily defined as persons and businesses with twenty or more letters in the incoming correspondence file.
The outgoing correspondence sent by Ellis and Merrill between 1890 and 1905 is letterpress copies in volumes arranged in chronological order. Each volume contains a name index. The volume covering April 21 to July 25, 1891 also contains copies of letters from the law firm of Hastings & Greene, May 9, 1882-Arpil 30, 1883. The small amount of miscellaneous correspondence consists of outgoing letters, which were found among the incoming correspondence. The two volumes of E. H. Ellis's personal correspondence pertains to Ellis's official concerns as postmaster, 1896-1899, Oneida Indian land claims, real estate transactions, and debt collection cases.
Among the FINANCIAL RECORDS are account ledgers containing expenditure accounts for E. H. Ellis and Carlton Merrill as well as accounts for each client arranged by the name of the individual or company. The daybooks show daily expenditures by the law firm. The two debt collection case ledgers list the debtor, creditor, date, type and amount of debt, and amount due, and payment records. The ledgers are indexed by the names of the cases and the names of the debtors and creditors.
The LEGAL RECORDS consist of circuit court dockets compiled by Ellis, Greene and Merrill containing cases in which they appeared as attorneys. The dockets record the names of the plaintiff, defendant, and their attorneys, the county, judgment, damages, costs, and remarks on the progress of each case. The dockets are indexed by the name of the case. Included are cases from the circuit courts of Bayfield, Brown, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Milwaukee, Oneida, and Winnebago counties. The miscellaneous legal records include a warranty deed from E.H. Ellis and H.J. Furber to Peter Platten, 1868, and records of a Brown County circuit court case, Charter Oak Life Insurance Company vs. James W. and Almira E. Childs, 1878.
Among the MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS is one volume of Henry B. Baker's outgoing correspondence about Baker's business dealings. According to a letter to Carlton Merrill from Baker, dated January 25, 1897, this volume was turned over to Merrill to provide information about the J.R. Thomas Machine Company. The real estate records include one volume of land sales and rent records. The first part of the volume was kept by E. H. Ellis in 1861. It lists land for sale by individuals and companies for whom Ellis appears to have acted as an agent. The second part of the volume was kept by Ellis and Merrill, 1881-1889, and lists properties for sale, terms of sales, properties for rent, and records of rent payments. The other land sales and land contract records list the block and lot numbers, names of purchasers, the amounts paid, terms of contracts, and records of payment. The map book bears the name E. H. Ellis and contains maps of approximately fifty townships in Door and Kewaunee counties, indicating lands sold and pre-empted.
