The Trowbridge, Planert & Schaefer firm offered these records to the Society in late 1979 as an alternative to their destruction. The firm's lease on a basement storage area in a Green Bay office building which formerly housed the law firm as well as its records was about to expire. After initial archival appraisal, the records were transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Area Research Center. Following criteria developed by State Historical Society archivists, Marion Gould of the ARC staff weeded the modern case files to about half of their original bulk, retaining 28% of the cases.
The primary historical value of these materials is the light they shed on the operation of the legal system outside formal court proceedings. The records are more significant for this purpose than for information they contain about specific cases or particular historical events, activities, social processes, or historical developments. In particular, these materials document the interactions among attorneys, clients, the courts, and other parties to the legal process in their efforts to settle disputes.
Although the courts are an integral part of this legal system they usually were a place of last resort because they were time consuming, expensive, and uncertain. Most cases handled by the firm were settled by attorneys, outside the courtroom and usually before a trial. In some instances the records document the entire process of dispute resolution from the client's first inquiry through various efforts by attorneys to achieve a negotiated settlement to actual trial litigation. Correspondence and memoranda sometimes are quite candid in assessing the facts, the law, and the nature and costs of various strategies to pursue in furthering the client's interests. Among the most informative materials in this regard are those discussing debtors' financial conditions and various strategies in debt collection cases and those concerning the negotiation of out-of-court settlements between insurance firms and automobile accident victims.
In addition to their value for these purposes, the records illuminate several other important areas of legal history. These include the nature and operation of the financial credit structure, the enormous impact of the automobile on the practice of law, the professionalization of the practice of law at the end of the 19th century, the role of a moderate-sized general law firm operating in a regional urban center, and the business and financial operations of a law firm. Finally the records contain some information on the non-business, public interests and activities of a group of successful professional men.
Although voluminous, the collection has major gaps. Only a single scrapbook volume of incoming correspondence (1876-1877), a single letterpress copy book of outgoing correspondence (1882-1883), and a few case files exist for the period before 1891. From that date until approximately 1908 there are extensive holdings of correspondence, case files, financial records of the firm, and three sets of personal papers of firm members. The modern case files, 1921-1972, are by far the largest portion of the collection. Although they had significant gaps when received and have been substantially weeded to reduce their total bulk, nonetheless they constitute a vast research resource. The only other records in the collection for this modern period are the firm's account ledgers (1933-1951) and the personal papers of several firm members.
The records are arranged in six series:
- Background Materials. 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box)
- Correspondence Files, 1876-1877; 1882-1883; 1891-1905. 18.6 c.f. (33
volumes, 28 archives boxes)
- Old Case Files, 1882-1915. 11.6 c.f. (29 archives boxes)
- Modern Case Files, 1921-1972. 128.8 c.f. (128 cartons, 2 archives
boxes)
- Financial Records of the Firm, 1891-1951. 4.2 c.f. (3 archives boxes,
2 oversize volumes)
- Personal Papers of Attorneys, circa 1880-1968. 16.0 c.f. (16 archives boxes, 10 cartons)
Additional information on these series is provided below.
Series Descriptions:
Series 1. Background Materials. 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box)
This series consists of background materials about the history of the firm gathered by University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) students Nancy Jobelius and Donna King as a history class assignment. The materials consist of biographical information on the firm and its members from local histories, histories of the legal profession in Wisconsin, obituaries, manuscript censuses, city directories, and other sources.
Series 2. Correspondence Files, 1876-1877; 1882-1883; 1891-1905. 18.6 c.f. (33 volumes, 28 archives boxes)
The surviving outgoing correspondence for this period is contained in chronological letterpress books, November 9, 1882-October 7, 1883 and January 2, 1891-January 1, 1905. The volumes are indexed by correspondent and include many letters to attorneys and clients concerning scheduling of court appearances, hearings, depositions, and other routine matters. Also included in the volumes are personal letters by firm members, for example, a long letter analyzing reasons for the consolidation of the Cities of Fort Howard and Green Bay (January 6, 1898) and one concerning the success of the Lyceum program in that same year. The ink in some of the volumes is badly faded to the point that occasionally the writing is illegible.
The incoming correspondence also contains a great deal of routine material and in the initial processing phase only the most obviously useless materials were removed as the papers were shifted from letter boxes to archival boxes. The correspondence, however, does include materials of value, particularly letters dealing with efforts to settle disputes and those outlining legal strategies. The incoming correspondence is arranged in chronological segments and thereunder is grouped alphabetically by the first letter of the correspondents' surnames.
Series 3. Old Case Files, 1882-1915. 11.6 c.f. (29 archives boxes)
This series consists primarily of materials relating to court cases in which the firm represented one of the litigants. The records include correspondence with clients, attorneys, and court officials and copies of documents filed with the courts, including complaints, briefs, motions, and, in some cases, exhibits. Most of the files date between 1895 and 1908.
These files, the only case files which survived for this period, are a small and incomplete sample of the firm's records. Their original arrangement has been lost. They are now arranged by a case number assigned during processing. The cases also have been assigned a code for the subject category into which the case is classified. The classification scheme used both for this series and for Series 4, Modern Case Files, is explained in the following series description.
Series 4. Modern Case Files, 1921-1972. 128.8 c.f. (128 record center cartons, 2 archives boxes)
These files consist of correspondence with clients, attorneys, and court officials; copies of documents prepared for clients or for filing with the courts in the pursuit of a legal case; attorneys' memoranda, legal notes, and other working papers; transcripts of testimony and depositions; reports of medical examiners, police, and insurance claims investigators; and other materials produced in the course of serving a client.
The 1,885 files in this series were selected for preservation from 6,826 files (some 268 cartons) originally transferred by the firm. That original number included significant gaps for the periods 1937-1939 and 1957-1963. Those records apparently were destroyed prior to the transfer.
The following criteria were established as guidelines in reducing the bulk of the collection to manageable proportions and in eliminating materials of insignificant research value:
Materials to be saved should reveal significant activities of the law firm. Thus, the informational content of the files (what they reveal about a client's business, for example) is of distinctly secondary value and significance. The firm's work in labor relations is a partial exception to this because so little documentation is available concerning labor relations from the management side and because these are readily identifiable, though often sketchy, files.
Many of the files document extremely routine legal activities such as drafting simple documents, e.g. leases, wills, incorporation papers, and land title searches. Ordinarily these will be destroyed. Also, some more substantive cases involved this firm only tangentially, i.e. the firm or its client played only a small part in a larger legal undertaking. In most such cases the record too is slim but even if it is more voluminous it will contain information about other parties and legal actions in which the firm had no part. In other instances, the file may be incomplete or fragmentary, perhaps because records are missing or because a case was concluded without creation of a record. In these cases the files may not have sufficient value to warrant preservation.
Files to be preserved should contain a substantial amount of significant information about the operations of the legal process. Correspondence and related materials (telephone and conference memoranda, investigators' reports, etc.) are the best sources for such information. Of particular importance are discussions about legal strategies in pursuing a case, negotiations among attorneys seeking settlements, and interactions with clients in the process of educating them in pursuing interests and following their instructions.
The firm frequently served as counsel for out-of-state insurance companies, especially in automobile accident cases, but also in workmen's compensation litigation. These files tend to have considerable information, for example, frequent correspondence with the client about the status of the case, the prospects for its outcome, candid assessments of the legal standing and likelihood of success, and extensive information about the accident itself, including detailed medical examination reports, reports by investigators consisting of interviews with parties and witnesses and background information about the lives and characters of the parties, photographs of injured parties, damaged property, and accident sites, and “adverses” (testimony under oath and transcribed for use in a trial). These files also include correspondence among attorneys attempting to settle the cases.
The firm numbered these files serially at the time they were “closed,” i.e. retired to inactive storage, and the files remain in this serial order. The following table shows the subject categories by which these case files have been classified and the number of cases in each category which have been preserved. Approximately 138 cases have been classified in more than one category.
|
Code Number
|
Number of Cases
|
Category
|
| 10 |
462 |
Automobile accidents (all cases) |
| 20 |
211 |
Contract actions: promises to pay money |
| 21 |
40 |
Contract actions: promises to perform services |
| 30 |
33 |
Divorce |
| 41 |
142 |
Torts (negligent and intentional, except automobile accidents): bodily injury |
| 42 |
76 |
Torts (negligent and intentional, except automobile accidents): damage to property |
| 50 |
49 |
Real Property Actions: mortgages (foreclosures) |
| 51 |
9 |
Real Property Actions: land contracts |
| 52 |
65 |
Real Property Actions: title actions |
| 53 |
58 |
Real Property Actions: other (right of way, easement, zoning) |
| 60 |
41 |
Personal Property Actions (chattel mortgages, conditional sales, wrongful refusal to surrender) |
| 65 |
12 |
Bankruptcy |
| 70 |
106 |
Probate Cases |
| 71 |
42 |
Trust Administration, Guardianship |
| 72 |
101 |
Other Client Services: drafting documents (wills, contracts) |
| 73 |
40 |
Other Client Services: tax preparation/litigation |
| 74 |
152 |
Other Client Services: labor negotiation/litigation |
| 75 |
132 |
Other Client Services: corporate governance |
| 76 |
77 |
Other Client Services: other |
| 77 |
49 |
Other Client Services: general legal advice |
| 78 |
121 |
Other Client Services: workmen's compensation |
| 79 |
2 |
Public Service Commission |
| 80 |
3 |
Criminal Actions |
Series 5. Financial Records, 1891-1951. 4.2 c.f. (3 archives boxes, 2 oversize volumes)
These records provide detailed information about the law firm as a business operation over an extended time period. They are arranged under the following headings:
Statements show total dollar amounts for various categories, including charges to clients, credits to client accounts, amount due from clients, cash receipts, and cash disbursements. Annual reports exist for only a few years within the time range covered and there also are numerous gaps on the monthly statements. Many of the missing monthly statements, however, are interfiled with the trial balance sheets. Arrangement is by type of document, then chronological.
Trial balance sheets list receipts by individual attorney and all accounts receivable by client name. Monthly statements for the firm sometimes are filed with the trial balances. Arrangement is chronological.
Cash books are a chronological record of receipts and disbursements with brief explanations of each transaction. Monthly totals also are shown.
Invoices show name of client, brief description of service rendered, date, and amount charged. Arrangement is roughly chronological with an index to client names at the end of each letterpress volume.
Account ledgers contain much the same information as the invoices but arrangement is alphabetical by client name.
Series 6. Personal Papers of Attorneys, circa 1880-1970s. 16.0 c.f. (16 archives boxes, 10 cartons)
The personal papers of seven members of the firm were found among the firm's records. These materials include correspondence, business records, legal files, and other materials and relate to the business interests, civic and social activities, and to a lesser extent, the family lives of the attorneys. Each group of papers is organized under separate headings but only four of these have received even preliminary processing.
1. Papers of George Bills, 1930s-1970s. 8.0 c.f. (8 record center cartons)
These papers are entirely unprocessed.
2. Papers of H.O. Fairchild, 1894-1910. 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
Fairchild was a Marinette attorney from circa 1874 until 1895 when he joined the firm. Included are correspondence and legal documents, circa 1904-1910, concerning his role as co-prosecuting attorney in a case charging Marinette County District Attorney A.E. Schwittay with graft. One letterpress volume, 1894-1908, contains correspondence with John C. Spooner and other members of the Stalwart wing of the Republican Party and with various legal and social acquaintances. The volume is indexed by correspondent. These papers are partially processed.
3. Papers of George G. Greene, 1880-1919. 3.0 c.f. (8 archives boxes)
Consist primarily of correspondence and are a potentially rich resource deserving further analysis and description. The general correspondents include Elisha Keyes, William Hoard, and other prominent Republican political figures. There is extensive correspondence with George and Walter Stebbins, two cousins living in Madison, dealing with professional, legal, and family matters. Correspondence with another cousin, W.E. Griswold, concerns family matters and business interests, especially Greene's land investments in Washington state orchards. Papers and records concerning the Dudley Tool Company, Menominee, Michigan, the Cady Land Company, and the DePere Land and Improvement Company are also included.
4. Papers of James McGillan, circa 1910-1912. 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box)
General legal correspondence of an attorney who began law practice in Marinette in 1891 and joined the firm in 1912. McGillan served as mayor of Green Bay, 1927-1929. The correspondence is arranged into outgoing and incoming files and thereunder by correspondent.
5. Papers of Barton L. Parker, 1893-1934. 1.6 c.f. (4 archives boxes)
Correspondence and subject files of an 1893 University of Wisconsin Law School graduate active in local politics and government and local civic and social affairs. Parker served as secretary of the Green Bay Traction Company and as president of the Wisconsin Electric and Interurban Railway Association. The papers also document his business investments, including the Rice & Vroman wood manufacturing company which went out of business circa 1907. Parker was a part owner, with other prominent Green Bay citizens, of Door County shoreline property known as “Little Sturgeon.”
6. Papers of F.N. Trowbridge, 1932-1968. 2.0 c.f. (2 record center cartons)
These papers are unprocessed.
7. Papers of Rodney C. Welch, 1936-1942. 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)
These papers are unprocessed.
