A large part of the Henry F. Whitcomb, Sr., Papers provides documentation of Whitcomb's career as receiver, general manager, and president of the Wisconsin Central railroad line (1893-1906), and includes reports, business correspondence and subject files. Other railroads by which Whitcomb was employed are documented with internal analytical memoranda and reports as well as correspondence and bound reports. Also in the papers are varied reports and correspondence from many different Wisconsin and out-of state railroads; much of this documentation may have been acquired for investment information. Unfortunately, the only documentation of the investment firm Whitcomb and Company, established by his son Henry F. Whitcomb, Jr., in 1919, is a cash book and the small amounts of business correspondence scattered throughout the collection. A small amount of correspondence and reports documents Whitcomb's role as director of several Milwaukee corporations. The papers consist of three series: Personal Correspondence, Railroad Records, and Miscellaneous Records.
Personal Correspondence, 1868-1933, consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Whitcomb and family members, business partners, and businesses. Most of the correspondence is from the period 1900 to 1930. Arrangement of the series follows original order, and is strictly chronological for the earliest correspondence and alphabetical by correspondent or subject and chronological there under for the remainder. Prominent correspondents include F. W. Cherry, a business partner; Philip W. Fox and Henry F. Whitcomb, Jr., family members; J. F. Pritchard, friend and customer of Whitcomb and Company; and various railroad officials. Topics include the business affairs of clients of Whitcomb and Company, personal real estate management, and varied investments and investment information. Many of the business letters contain personal information on family, friends, and Whitcomb himself.
The Railroad Records, 1872-1932, consist of by-laws, annual reports, agreements, correspondence, legal records, subject files, and other records of many railroads, in some of which Whitcomb held positions as an official. There is correspondence here generated by Whitcomb both as a railroad official and as an investor. Particularly prominent in the series are the Eastern Wisconsin Railway and Light Company; the Milwaukee, Lake Shore, and Western Railway; and the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad Company. Records documenting the Wisconsin Central are especially complete, and include Whitcomb's correspondence files as a general manager and president of the company. Arrangement of the series is alphabetical by railroad and by genre hereunder.
The Miscellaneous Records series, 1881-1932, contains fragmentary documentation on the Milwaukee Securities Corporation, National Exchange Bank, and the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, on the boards of which Whitcomb served as a director. Of particular note in the Northwestern Mutual files is a 1932 testimonial regarding Whitcomb. Also in this series is a cash journal, 1919-1930, of Whitcomb and Company and photographs, including portraits of Whitcomb and some family members.
