Title: Raymond A. Peabody Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1933-1954

Creator:

• Peabody, Raymond A., 1883-

Call Number: Micro 1111; River Falls Micro 165

Quantity: 6 reels of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives and Area Research Center, Chalmer Davee Library, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, ; 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-River Falls, Chalmer Davee Library / River Falls Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Correspondence of a Republican assemblyman who represented Polk County, Wisconsin from 1943 to 1955. Included are exchanges with friends, family, advocacy groups, state agencies, other legislators, and ordinary citizens concerning most of the important legislative and political issues of the period. Among the most frequent correspondents are fellow legislators Guy Benson, Selmer Gunderson, Earl Hanson, H.E. Heden, and Warren P. Knowles and Dr. J. Arthur Riegel who became a member of the Conservation Commission. Also included are discussions of the early activities of the Legislative Council, of which he was a charter member and frequent references to his personal banking interests and to his activity in Wisconsin Indian Head Country, Inc., an organization to promote tourism.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr1111

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

Republican assemblyman and banker Raymond A. Peabody was born on February 24, 1883 in Baldwin, Wisconsin, where his great-grandfather had settled before the Civil War. After attending the local schools he became a railway telegraph operator and in 1903 entered the mercantile and lumbering business in Washburn County. At about age 33 he embarked on a career in banking, insurance and finance. Eventually he became an officer in the State Bank of Centuria and the First State Bank of Prairie Farm and a member of the executive council of the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

In addition to his business interests, Peabody was a director of Wisconsin Indian Head Country, Inc.; a director and officer of the Polk County Association of Commerce; director of the Highway 35 Association; and, during World War II, chairman of the Polk County Council of Civilian Defense.

Peabody wrote that he had always been interested in “civic betterment,” and shortly after settling in Milltown he became involved in local politics. He was a member of the Milltown village council from 1922 to 1930 and mayor for three years. From 1930 to 1942 he was a member of the Polk County Board. For three years he was board chairman. In 1942 Peabody successfully ran for a seat in the Assembly; thereafter he was reelected six times. In the Legislature Peabody was a charter member of the Legislative Council. In 1952 he was selected to be a delegate pledged to Taft for the National Republican Convention

The papers consist almost entirely of correspondence documenting the period of Peabody's career when he served in the Assembly. Because the papers were presented to the Archives in August, 1954, his last term in office is not represented. There are some papers covering his business and personal interests prior to entering the Legislature, but these items are limited and fragmentary. Some arrangement work was done on the papers during the 1970's so that their original order and condition was not apparent when the organization was completed in 1987. Because of their deteriorated condition, at that time the papers were microfilmed and the originals destroyed.

The papers consist of chronologically-arranged correspondence and speeches. Although the bulk of the correspondence concerns legislative and political matters there is also an extensive correspondence with members of his family; personal and business letters exchanged with his partners in the State Bank of Centuria and the First State Bank of Prairie Farm; and, when the Legislature was not in session, with members of the Assembly with whom he was friendly. In the later category are letters from Guy Benson, Selmer Gunderson, Earl Hanson, and H.E. Heden. Although there are some letters from “ordinary citizens,” the majority of the individuals who wrote (such as doctors J. Arthur Riegel, who was appointed to the Conservation Commission; L. O. Simonstad; and R. G. Arveson) seem to have been accustomed to their advocacy role. In addition, there are extensive materials prepared by lobbyists and state agencies. Because many of these materials were undated and had been removed from their original context, they can be found at the end of the material for the year to which they refer.

Unlike many of his successors in the Legislature Peabody did not hesitate to express his views frankly in his legislative correspondence, but perhaps because many of his letters went to family members who lived out of state he did not describe legislative or political matters in great detail. Nevertheless, because he served in the Legislature during a period which witnessed important political changes his correspondence is of considerable interest. Of particular interest are references to the early activities and interests of the Legislative Council. The value of the Peabody Papers is further increased because they supplement the legislative correspondence (also on microfilm) received by Warren Knowles, Polk County's state senator at the time. The archival documentation of Polk County views is therefore unusually rare and extensive.

In addition to the legislative concerns reflected in the papers there are extensive letters, as well as separately-filed minutes, reports, and other materials pertaining to the tourist organization with which Peabody was involved, the Wisconsin Indian Head Country, Inc. Also included are many mimeographed bulletins pertaining to the Wisconsin Bankers Association. Information on his banking activities with the First State Bank of Prairie Farm and the State Bank of Centuria are scattered within the correspondence, but in this section researchers will find comments on notes and real estate, as well as a few statements of financial condition.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Raymond Peabody, Milltown, Wisconsin, August 4, 1954.

Processing Information

Processed by R. Meyer (intern),1971; and prepared for microfilming by Carolyn J. Mattern, 1987.

Reel   1 Frame   1	Series: Speeches, 1943-1949
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
Reel   1 Frame   41	1933-1940
Reel   1 Frame   102	1941
Reel   1 Frame   147	1942
Reel   1 Frame   405	1943
Reel   2 Frame   1	1944
Reel   2 Frame   346	1945, January-August
Reel   2 Frame   751	1946
Reel   2 Frame   824	1947
Reel   3 Frame   1	1948
Reel   3 Frame   408	1949, January-June
Reel   4 Frame   1	1949, June-December
Reel   4 Frame   219	1950
Reel   4 Frame   659	1951
Reel   5 Frame   1	1952
Reel   5 Frame   602	1953
Reel   6 Frame   1	1954, January-August
	Subject files
Reel   6 Frame   197	Bank reports, 1945-1948
Reel   6 Frame   210	Ernest Heden correspondence, n.d.
Reel   6 Frame   225	Wisconsin Bankers Association, 1936, 1941-1945
Reel   6 Frame   331	Wisconsin Indian Head Country, 1940-1951
Reel   6 Frame   425	Undated correspondence