Title: Harry J. Hirshheimer Papers
Bulk Dates: 1852-1920
Inclusive Dates: 1840-1948

Creator:

• Hersheimer, Harry J., 1871-1952

Unique Identifier: MSS R

Quantity: 0.8 cubic feet

Physical Description: 2 archives boxes

Repository:

La Crosse Public Library
Contact Information

Archival Location:

La Crosse Public Library (Map)

Abstract:

Harry J. Hirshheimer was born in La Crosse in 1871. The son of prominent La Crosse businessman, Hirshheimer was well known as a local historian. He collaborated with Albert H. Sanford in writing A History of La Crosse 1841-1900 , and died in 1952, shortly after the book’s publication. These papers constitute materials collected by Hirshheimer while working on his book, The History of La Crosse 1841-1900 , and while doing research for his radio broadcasts on local history and his papers presented to the La Crosse County Historical Society.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.lcpl-mssr

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28417084

Transferred from the La Crosse County Historical Society

(Accession No. 1984.010)

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

[Identification of item], Harry J. Hirshheimer Papers, MSS R, La Crosse Public Library Archives, La Crosse, WI

Processed by Bill Petersen, September 1986

Arranged in nine series:

Series 1: Biographical Materials

Series 2: Business and Industry

Series 3: Events

Series 4: City of La Crosse

Series 5: La Crosse County

Series 6: Organizations

Series 7: Settlers and Pioneers

Series 8: Transportation

Series 9: Additional Topics

The papers deal primarily with La Crosse history. The information was collected by Hirshheimer while researching his book A History of La Crosse 1841-1900 , and while working on his radio broadcasts on local history and his papers presented to the La Crosse County Historical Society.

The collection has been divided into nine main subject areas: Biographical Materials, Business and Industry, Events, La Crosse, City of, La Crosse County, Newspapers, Organizations, Settlers and Pioneers, and Transportation. The remaining materials of the collection have been placed under the Additional Topics subject heading. Materials have been arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically within each subject.

BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS include some correspondence as well as extracts from newspapers and essays written about the individuals. Further information on M. M. Pomeroy may also be found in the NEWSPAPER section.

The BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY materials deal primarily with the businesses and industries of the La Crosse prior to 1900. Some of the more detailed sections are; Early La Crosse Businessman which lists the names of businessmen in La Crosse for various years and gives a breakdown of businessmen from certain ethnic groups; the Ice Business section which gives statistics on the amount of ice packed, sold and lost, and the section on Manufacturing in La Crosse, 1853-1880 which lists the types of businesses and industries in existence at that time and the companies that were involved in these markets in La Crosse. Further information on the lumber industry may be found in the TRANSPORTATION materials under Packet boats, Rafting and Steamboats.

Materials in the EVENTS series are, for the most part, made up of extracts from newspaper advertisements and accounts of the particular event. The information on circuses and lotteries is particularly complete. Materials on circuses list the names of circuses that appeared in La Crosse from 1857-1885 and gives some of their main attractions. Found in the section on Lotteries and Gift Concerts are listings of prizes that were offered as well as ticket prices and number of tickets sold.

Materials concerning the CITY OF LA CROSSE consist of information taken from newspapers and written Essays. The La Crosse Economy section includes statistics on the cost of living, fuel costs, building costs and the manufacturing climate in La Crosse. The information found in the Water Works section and Fire Department section often overlaps since their development coincided with one another. How streets were laid out and how many got their names can be found in the Street and Street Lighting section.

How coulees got their names and where they are located can be found in the LA CROSSE COUNTY materials. Also included is information on early La Crosse census dealing primarily with total population figures and population figures for various ethnic groups in La Crosse county. This series also contains a small amount of information on early elections and political candidates in the county and some financial records, list of teachers, and school curriculums from early La Crosse schools.

The materials on NEWSPAPERS include various advertisements that have been extracted from early La Crosse newspapers. The section on the La Crosse Democrat and the La Crosse Republican focuses mainly on M. M. Pomeroy and feuds between the two newspapers in the 1860s.

Information available on ORGANIZATIONS has been divided into four organizations; Kriege Verein, Masons, Old Settler’s Association and the Rescue Hose Company. Of these, the Rescue Hose Company materials are most complete, with membership lists and charter members, some minutes from meetings and a rather extensive written history of the organization. The materials on the other organizations contain mainly membership lists and officers.

A detailed account of a trip from Friesland, The Netherlands to La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1853 can be found in the SETTLERS AND PIONEERS series. Also available is an essay on Dutch, German and Scandinavian settlers in La Crosse from 1853-56.

The TRANSPORTATION series has been divided into three main headings; Packet boats, Rafting and Steamboats, Railroads, and Street Cars. Packet boats, Rafting and Steamboats is further divided into the Davidson Line, McDonald Brothers, Miscellaneous, Rafting, Rate wars, River Traffic and H.T. Rumsey. The Davidson Line, McDonald Brothers and H.T. Rumsey were all river transportation companies. Materials on these companies consist of brief histories of the businesses, lists of some of the boats owned by each company and some information on the competition involved in their type of business. Further information on the competition that took place on the Mississippi can be found in the Rate War section.

The Rafting section deals mainly with how the river was used in the lumbering industry in the mid to late 1800’s. The section on railroads includes essays on railroads that were planned and built, as well as railroads that never left the planning stage from 1852-1885. Materials on street cars consists of a brief history of street cars in La Crosse from 1878-1924, plus a newspaper clipping on the La Crosse City Railway Company from 1903.

Materials that do not fall under any of the nine main subject headings have been placed under the ADDITIONAL TOPICS subject heading. The section on Newspaper Extracts, Obituaries and Marriages lists the information alphabetically by first letter of the last name. The research paper by A.H. Sanford is entitled Interpretations of the Ordinance of 1787 and was written in 1894 while he attended Harvard. The open files consist mostly of miscellaneous notes that were written by Hirshheimer about his radio broadcasts and his work with the La Crosse County Historical Society. They also include some small amounts of information relating to La Crosse.

Harry J. Hirshheimer was born in La Crosse in 1871. The son of prominent La Crosse businessman Albert Hirshheimer, Harry soon became involved in his father’s plow manufacturing business. He became vice-president when the La Crosse Plow Company was incorporated in 1893. After his father’s death in 1924, Harry became president of the company until it was sold to Allis-Chalmers in 1929.

Hirshheimer was well known as a local historian. The La Crosse County Historical Society, of which he was a member and an officer, published many of his papers on La Crosse history. He collaborated with Albert H. Sanford in writing A History of La Crosse 1841-1900 , and also created a detailed card index of La Crosse newspapers that were published between 1852 and 1935. This index is now located at the Archives Room in the La Crosse Public Library.

Harry J. Hirshheimer married Azalia West in 1894. They had one daughter and three sons. Hirshheimer died in 1952.

• Hersheimer, Harry J., 1871-1952
• La Crosse (Wis.)--Biography
• La Crosse (Wis.)--History
• La Crosse County (Wis.)--History

(Series 1)	Series: Biographical Materials
Box 1   Folder 1	Anderson, Mons, 1860-1861
Box 1   Folder 2	Black, Ole and Johanna, 1850
Box 1   Folder 3	Calvert, Robert, 1876-1916
Box 1   Folder 4	Elwell, 1852-1854
Box 1   Folder 5	Hirshheimer, Albert, 1840-1924
Box 1   Folder 6	Lincoln, Elsie, 1886-1889
Box 1   Folder 7	Liverman, Moses, 1863-1903
Box 1   Folder 8	MacKenzie, Charles, 1850
Box 1   Folder 9	Novak, Matthias, 1867
Box 1   Folder 10	Pomeroy, M. M., 1860-1868
Box 1   Folder 11	Salzer, Benjamin, 1876
(Series 2)	Series: Business and Industry	⇧
Box 1   Folder 12	Advertising, 1850s-1890s
Box 1   Folder 13	Bentley, C. S., 1858
Box 1   Folder 14	Board of Trade, 1863
Box 1   Folder 15	Brewing industry, 1853-1905
Box 1   Folder 16-17	Early La Crosse businessmen, 1851-1890
Box 1   Folder 18	Flour mills, 1850-1906
Box 1   Folder 19	Ice business, 1850s-1890
	Lumber industry
Box 1   Folder 20	Pioneer sawmills, 1852-1890
Box 1   Folder 21	Sawyer and Austin Sawmill, 1886-1898
Box 1   Folder 22	Manufacturing in La Crosse, 1853-1880
Box 1   Folder 23	Market Square, 1868-1921
Box 1   Folder 24-25	Miscellaneous manufacturing, 1853-1905
Box 1   Folder 26	New industries in La Crosse, 1880-1905
Box 1   Folder 27	Oyster business, 1869
(Series 3)	Series: Events	⇧
Box 1   Folder 28	Calico Ball, 1858
Box 1   Folder 29	Circuses, 1857-1885
Box 1   Folder 30	County Fair, 1858-1909
Box 1   Folder 31-32	Lotteries and gift concerts, 1855-1877
(Series 4)	Series: City of La Crosse	⇧
Box 1   Folder 33	Economy, 1885-1905
Box 1   Folder 34	Fire Department, 1857-1913
Box 1   Folder 35	First things in La Crosse, 1842-1890
Box 1   Folder 36	Government, 1857-1858
Box 1   Folder 37	Streets and street lighting, 1848-1897
Box 1   Folder 38	Trees and parks, 1854-1932
Box 1   Folder 39	Water Works, 1857-1910
(Series 5)	Series: La Crosse County	⇧
Box 1   Folder 40	Census materials and poll list, 1850-1900
Box 1   Folder 41	Coulees, 1846-1860, 1946
Box 1   Folder 42	Elections, 1861-1890
Box 1   Folder 43	Schools, 1867-1894
Box 1   Folder 44	Advertisements, 1852-1870
Box 1   Folder 45	La Crosse Democrat and La Crosse Repulican, 1860s
Box 1   Folder 46	Miscellaneous, 1851-1920
(Series 6)	Series: Organizations	⇧
Box 2   Folder 1	Kriege, Verein, 1888-1907
Box 2   Folder 2	Masonic Temple dedication, 1902
Box 2   Folder 3	Old Settler's Association, 1848-1881
Box 2   Folder 4	Rescue Hose Company, 1868-1891
(Series 7)	Series: Settlers and Pioneers	⇧
Box 2   Folder 5	Account of a trip from Friesland, Netherlands to La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1853
Box 2   Folder 6	Dutch, German, and Scandinavian settlers, 1853-1856
Box 2   Folder 7	Miscellaneous, 1849-1855
(Series 8)	Series: Transportation	⇧
	Packetboats, Rafting, and Steamboats
Box 2   Folder 8	Davidson Line, 1857-1890
Box 2   Folder 9	McDonald Brothers, 1856-1900
Box 2   Folder 10	Miscellaneous, 1853-1879
Box 2   Folder 11-12	Rafting, 1860-1900
Box 2   Folder 13	Rate wars, 1860-1861
Box 2   Folder 14-15	River traffic, 1863-1915
Box 2   Folder 16	H. T. Rumsey, 1857-1872
Box 2   Folder 17	Railroads, 1852-1885
Box 2   Folder 18	Street cars, 1878-1924
(Series 9)	Series: Additional Topics	⇧
Box 2   Folder 19	Congregational Church, 1855-1878
Box 2   Folder 20	Fur, game, and fish, 1842-1904
Box 2   Folder 21	Indians, 1862-1881
Box 2   Folder 22-23	Jackson County
Box 2   Folder 24-25	Menus, 1871-1908
Box 2   Folder 26	Music, 1885-1893
Box 2   Folder 27	Newspaper extracts, obituaries, and marriages, 1852-1900
Box 2   Folder 28	Passenger pigeons, 1842-1899
Box 2   Folder 29	Plat book record extracts, 1843-1880
Box 2   Folder 30	Real estate sales, 1880-1883
Box 2   Folder 31	Register of Deeds extracts, 1848-1879
Box 2   Folder 32	Research paper by A. H. Sanford, 1894
Box 2   Folder 33	Baseball, 1867-1939
Box 2   Folder 34	Sports, 1856
Box 2   Folder 35	Tennessee Valley Authority (T.V.A.) newspaper clippings, 1948
Box 2   Folder 36	West Salem newspaper clippings
Box 2   Folder 37	Wisconsin place names and origins
Box 2   Folder 38-39	Open file