Title: Tillman Brothers Records
Inclusive Dates: 1856-1899

Creator:

• Tillman Brothers (La Crosse, Wis.)

Call Number: La Crosse Mss K

Quantity: 0.4 cubic feet (1 archives box including 7 volumes)

Repository:

Housed at the Special Collections & Area Research Center, Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)

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

Abstract:

Records of Tillman Brothers, a furniture and undertaking establishment founded in 1859 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, by Friedrich and Wilhelm Tillman, and operated by three generations of their descendants. Included are ledgers, cash books, day books, and an account book for 1861-1872; a stock inventory, 1868; price lists from 1872 to 1899; and the original and translations of a diary kept by Friedrich Tillman when he sailed to America from Germany in 1856.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx000k

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In 1856, Friedrich Tillman (1835-1893) of Elbing, Germany, sailed to America, and sent back to his family in Germany a “diary” of his trip. His brother, Wilhelm (1839-1900), emigrated soon afterward, and in 1859 the two moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin. There they established Tillman Brothers, a family furniture store that later included an undertaking business, and members of the family operated it for more than one-hundred years.

After Friedrich died in 1893, Wilhelm bought the interest of Friedrich's widow, and Wilhelm's unmarried sons, Herman and Walter, carried on as a second generation of Tillman Brothers. With Herman's death in 1955, Friedrich's grandson, Frank W. Tillman, inherited seventy percent of the firm and operated it as Tillman Bros. Inc., until it was discontinued in 1960.

These papers contain various record books kept by Tillman Brothers between 1859 and 1872, and a folder of price lists for 1872, 1890, 1895, and 1899. There is a stock inventory for 1868 included in Volume 4. In addition, the collection contains the original diary kept by Friedrich Tillman (in German script), together with a translation.

The story of the diary and the Tillman Brothers was printed in Then and Now, a monthly publication of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, in January 1966.

Acquisition Information

Tillman Brothers record books presented by Frank W. Tillman, La Crosse, Wisconsin, August 17, 1962; diary and translation presented by Mrs. Edward Sullivan, Excelsior, Minnesota, October 8, 1965.

Processing Information

Processed by Margaret Hafstad, April 16, 1968.

La Crosse Mss K Box   1 Folder   1	Diary: original and translation, 1856
Box   1 Folder   2	Price lists for Tillman Brothers, 1872, 1890, 1895, 1899
	Ledgers
Box   1 Volume   1	1861 November 1-1864 April 1
Box   1 Volume   2	1868 March 2-1872 January 1
	Cash books
Box   1 Volume   3	1861 April 13-1868 January 14
Box   1 Volume   4	1868 January 15-1869 December 31 Note: Also includes a stock inventory, March 1868.
	Daybooks
Box   1 Volume   5	1861 November 1-1863 March 31
Box   1 Volume   6	1863 April 1-1865 March 31
Box   1 Volume   7	Account book (partly in German script), 1859-1860