Title: Coleman United Co-operative Shipping Association Records
Inclusive Dates: 1934-1971

Creator:

• Coleman United Co-operative Shipping Association (Coleman, Wis.)

Call Number: Green Bay Mss 75

Quantity: 2.0 c.f. (5 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of the Coleman United Co-operative Shipping Association, a livestock sales cooperative organized in the early 1930s; including minute books, sales ledgers, shipping records, audit reports, and other financial and membership records.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0075

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The Coleman United Co-operative Shipping Association, a non-stock corporation, began operating in the early 1930s to buy, ship, and sell livestock for its members. The co-operative was incorporated officially in 1937. Only persons engaged in farming are eligible for membership and any such person making one or more shipments per year can become a member. The co-operative had about 450 members in 1953. It purchased trucks and hired drivers to ship calves, cattle, hogs, and sheep to markets in Green Bay. The co-operative is a member of the Equity Co-operative Livestock Sales Association. In 1958, most shipping was shifted to the Bonduel Livestock Market, Shawano County, built by the Equity Co-operative Livestock Sales Association.

The records are arranged in three categories: Minute Books, 1934-1961; Financial Records, 1940-1971, and Membership Records.

The Minute Books contain minutes of the board of directors regular monthly and special meetings, annual membership meetings, and occasional special membership meetings. The primary purpose of the board of directors meetings was to audit and pay bills. Such topics as changes in shipping rates, drivers' salaries, condition and maintenance of trucks, and the succession of officers and managers were also discussed. At the annual meetings, members of the board of directors were elected, financial reports were distributed, and arrangements were made for auditing the books. Guest speakers at annual meetings included representatives from the Equity Co-operative Livestock Sales Association, county extension agents, and speakers from the state Department of Agriculture. Special meetings were called to approve changes in management and major purchases.

Among the Financial Records, the financial statements and audit reports show the co-operative's assets, liabilities, and operating expenses. The year-end reports are computer printouts listing, for each member, the number of cattle, calves, hogs, and sheep sold, the gross market value received for the livestock, and the amount paid to each member. The sales ledgers report, for each day a shipment was made, the amount and type of livestock, its gross market value, market expenses, the net value to the co-operative, and the expenses for the sale. The shipping records are computer printouts listing, for each month, the amount of livestock sold by each member, the gross value of the livestock, and fees charged. The tax ledgers contain information similar to that in the shipping records as well as the weight of the livestock and the amount of tax. Records in the tax ledgers are arranged by date of shipment.

The Membership Records consist of two computer printed membership lists, which also indicate subscribers to Equity News, presumably from some years after 1964 when the co-operative introduced automated record keeping. Also included is a computation of equity received by members from the Equity Co-operative Livestock Sales Association, 1948 through 1951.

For related materials in the holdings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, see “Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association, Records, 1937-1974” (Micro 471).

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Coleman United Co-operative Shipping Association, via Howard Fuella, Pound, Wisconsin, 1977. Accession Number: M77-274

Box   1 Folder   1-2	Minute Books, 1934-1961
	Financial Records
Box   1 Folder   3-4	Audit Reports and Financial Statements, 1946-1969
Box   2 Folder   1	Year-end Reports, 1967-1968
	Sales Ledgers
Box   2 Folder   2-5	1940-1958
Box   3 Folder   1-2	1958-1971
	Shipping Records
Box   4 Folder   1-3	1964-1968
Box   5 Folder   1	1969-1971, January
Box   5 Folder   2	Tax Ledgers, 1943-1945
	Membership Records
Box   5 Folder   3	Membership Lists, undated
Box   1 Folder   5	Allocations of Equity, 1953