Title: Charles I. Brigham Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1833-1948

Creator:

• Brigham, Charles I., 1862-1948

Call Number: Mss 243

Quantity: 9.0 c.f. (21 archives boxes and 5 flat boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Papers of Charles I. Brigham, an experimental and scientific farmer interested in improving dairy methods and in dairy and sheep herd improvements, consisting mainly of records of the operation of the family farm, a family-operated creamery, and a cheese factory all located at Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Included are crop notes, inventories, time books, and financial records, as well as personal correspondence and diaries of several family members, including Jerome Brigham, Charles' father. Also present are financial records of the Blue Mounds Congregational Church, 1892-1911, and minutes of the Blue Mounds Cheese Factory, the Blue Mounds Creamery, the West Blue Mounds Association of Patrons of Industry, and the Blue Mounds Percheron Association.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00243

Charles I. Brigham has long been identified with experimental and scientific farming, dairy methods, and herd improvement. Brigham was born February 4, 1862, the son of Jerome Ripley Brigham and Mary Ilsley Brigham. He spent the first years of his life in Milwaukee and attended public school there. In 1885, Brigham graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.A. and Phi Beta Kappa honors. Following his graduation, he took over the operation of the family farm at Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, which is now the site of the Cave of the Mounds.

From 1909 to 1911 Brigham compiled detailed reports and statistics relating to his dairying, breeding, and farm management methods, and turned them over to the United States Department of Agriculture. These were among the first of their kind and a major step forward in scientific farming. Although dairying was the chief business of the Brigham farm, sheep raising also received attention. Brigham innovated methods of flock management and prophylactic practices in handling diseases in sheep.

In 1888, Brigham established a butter and cheese factory in Blue Mounds, and in 1893 a creamery, which upgraded the popular regard of dairying in the area.

Throughout his life, Charles Brigham was also active in civic, social, and church activities. Upon his death on March 22, 1948, Brigham was survived by his wife, Anna Gray Brigham; a son, Charles I., Jr.; and a daughter, Elizabeth.

The Charles I. Brigham Papers are mainly records of the operation of the family farm, a family-operated creamery, and a cheese factory all located at Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. There are detailed crop notes, inventories, time books, cash books, journals, and records of improvements, expenses and purchases, and of general household and farm expenses accrued. Also preserved here are personal correspondence, diaries, and other family-originated records and ephemera. Arrangement of the papers is generally chronological under each category or type of material.

The correspondence file includes letters, letterpress books, and volumes recording lists or copies of letters received. The letters have been arranged by recipient and correspondent and chronologically thereunder. Preserved here are letters to the Ilsley children, the Brigham children, Jerome Ripley Brigham, Ellen D. Ilsley, David Brigham, and Charles I. Brigham. There are lists and manuscript copies of letters received by Charles I. Brigham. The letters concern personal, family, and business affairs.

The diaries of Charles I. and Jerome R. Brigham include personal observations and judgments on events of that time. Jerome Brigham's diaries are for the years 1835 and 1836; Charles I.'s diaries date from 1871 to 1887. The order of arrangement is chronological for the diaries of each author separately.

The “ledgers” (1884-1935) of Charles I. Brigham lack the years 1885, 1887, 1908, 1914, 1916-1918, and 1920-1934. There is an 1890 cash book (“ledger”) kept by Jerome R. Brigham filed here.

Charles I. Brigham's nine notebooks (1896-1910, and undated) contain miscellaneous jottings. In a notebook dated 1896 to 1910, Brigham has listed projects for “rainy days.” Filed here also are two school penmanship notebooks of Jerome R. Brigham (1833), and two writing notebooks from Charles I. Brigham's school days (1874-1875), and zoology notes (1881) taken under Edward Asahel Birge (professor of limnology, University of Wisconsin, 1875-1939).

The other financial records include family financial records of general household expenses, account books, personal financial computations, and a record of fines; and farm records of “receipts and expenses,” expenses and purchases, and cash books.

Business records include financial accounts of the Blue Mounds Congregational Church, 1892-1911, and articles of organization and minutes of the Blue Mounds Cheese Factory, the Blue Mounds Creamery, the West Blue Mounds Association of the Patrons of Industry, and the Blue Mounds Percheron Association.

Farm records consist of a general record, a record of improvements, a live-stock record, time books, a record of wages, a journal, cattle feed ration notes, and inventories (1905 and 1906).

Also included with the papers are miscellaneous family-collected items, e.g., a copy of Charles I. Brigham's obituary; a certificate, oration, and eulogy of Jerome R. Brigham; and one folder of newspaper clippings relating to railroads.

See also the Jerome Ripley Brigham Papers (Wis Mss KS); the Ebenezer Brigham Papers (Wis Mss AM); and the George Ripley Papers (Micro 63) at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. Charles I. Brigham, Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, November 19, 1968. Accession Number: M167-1

Processing Information

Processed by K. Weicher and Joanne Hohler, December 18, 1973.

	Series: Correspondence and Miscellaneous
	Subseries: Letters
	Letters to the Ilsley children
Box   1 Folder   1	1864
Box   1 Folder   2	Undated
	Letters to the Brigham children
Box   1 Folder   3	1860-1869
Box   1 Folder   4	1870-1879
Box   1 Folder   5	1880-1889
Box   1 Folder   6	1890-1899
Box   1 Folder   7	1900-1909
Box   1 Folder   8	Undated
	Letters to Mary Ilsley Brigham from Ilsley children
Box   1 Folder   9	1846-1848
Box   1 Folder   10	1850-1855
Box   1 Folder   11	1856-1859
Box   1 Folder   12	1860-1869
Box   1 Folder   13	1870-1871
Box   1 Folder   14	Undated
	Letters to Mary Ilsley Brigham from Brigham children
Box   1 Folder   15	1864-1869
Box   1 Folder   16	1870-1879
Box   1 Folder   17	1880-1889
Box   1 Folder   18	1890
Box   1 Folder   19	Undated
	Letters to Mary Ilsley Brigham from Edward and Ellen D. Ilsley
Box   1 Folder   20	1850-1859
Box   1 Folder   21	1860-1869
Box   1 Folder   22	1870-1879
Box   1 Folder   23	Undated
	Letters to Mary Ilsley Brigham from Charles I. Brigham
Box   2 Folder   1	1879-1882
Box   2 Folder   2	1883-1885
Box   2 Folder   3	1887-1889
Box   2 Folder   4	1890-1891
	Letters to Mary Ilsley Brigham from Jerome R. Brigham
Box   2 Folder   5	1850-1859
Box   2 Folder   6	1860-1869
Box   2 Folder   7	1870-1879
Box   2 Folder   8	1880-1889
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Undated
	General letters to Mary Ilsley Brigham
Box   3 Folder   3	1850-1859
Box   3 Folder   4	1860-1869
Box   3 Folder   5	1870-1879
Box   3 Folder   6	1880-1890
Box   3 Folder   7	Undated
	Letters to Jerome Ripley Brigham from Mary Ilsley Brigham
Box   3 Folder   8	1850-1859
Box   3 Folder   9	1860-1863
Box   4 Folder   1	1864-1868
Box   4 Folder   2	1870-1879
Box   4 Folder   3	1890-1899
Box   4 Folder   4	Undated
Box   4 Folder   5	Letters to Jerome Ripley Brigham from Brigham children, 1863-1895
	Letters to Jerome Ripley Brigham from Charles I. Brigham
Box   4 Folder   6	1860-1869
Box   4 Folder   7	1870-1879
Box   4 Folder   8	1880-1889
Box   4 Folder   9	1890-1893
Box   4 Folder   10	1894-1897
Box   4 Folder   13	Letters to Mary Ilsley and Jerome R. Brigham from Brigham children, 1869-1884
Box   5 Folder   2	Replies to RSVP request for wedding of Bessie Brigham, 1881
	General letters
Box   4 Folder   11	To Jerome Ripley Brigham, 1834-1890
Box   4 Folder   12	To Charles I. Brigham, 1867-1948
Box   4 Folder   14	To Jerome and Mary Brigham, 1861-1869
Box   4 Folder   15	To Ellen D. Ilsley, 1864-1869
Box   4 Folder   16	From Ellen D. Ilsley, 1856
Box   5 Folder   1	To David Brigham, 1833-1837
Box   5 Folder   3	Identified, 1853-1865
Box   5 Folder   4	Unidentified, 1857-1859; undated
	Subseries: Miscellaneous	⇧
Box   5 Folder   5	Obituary notice - Charles I. Brigham, 1948
Box   5 Folder   6	Newspaper clippings - relating to railroads, 1888
Box   5 Folder   7	Certificate, oration, and eulogy of Jerome R. Brigham, undated
Box   5 Folder   8	Forms - American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1878
Box   5 Folder   9	Receipts of Jerome R. Brigham, 1864-1872
Box   5 Folder   10	Financial records (unbound) - Jerome R. and Charles I. Brigham, 1872-1926
	Subseries: Lists and Copies of Letters Received by Charles I. Brigham	⇧
	Record of letters received by Charles I. Brigham
Box   6 Folder   1	1892-1894
Box   6 Folder   2	1906-1923
Box   6 Folder   3	1914-1916
Box   6 Folder   4	1940-1947
Box   6 Folder   5	Copies of letters received by Charles I. Brigham, 1879
	Subseries: Letterpress Books (Copies of letters written by Jerome R. Brigham)	⇧
Box   7 Folder   1	1856-1864
Box   7 Folder   2	1883-1886
Box   7 Folder   3	1886-1890
Box   8 Folder   1	1886-1893
Box   8 Folder   2	1894-1896
	Series: Diaries	⇧
	Diaries of Charles I. Brigham
Box   9 Folder   1	1871
Box   9 Folder   2	1872
Box   9 Folder   3	1877
Box   9 Folder   4	1878
Box   9 Folder   5	1882-1884
Box   9 Folder   6	1887
Box   9 Folder   7	Diary of Jerome R. Brigham, 1835
Box   9 Folder   8	Diary of trip East - Jerome R. Brigham, 1836
Box   9 Folder   9	Diary, undated
	Series: Ledgers	⇧
	Ledgers of Charles I. Brigham
Box   10 Folder   1	1884
Box   10 Folder   2	1886
Box   10 Folder   3-4	1888
Box   10 Folder   5-6	1889
Box   10 Folder   7-9	1890
Box   10 Folder   10-15	1891
Box   10 Folder   16	1891-1892
Box   10 Folder   17-19	1892
Box   10 Folder   20	1892-1893
Box   10 Folder   21-24	1893
Box   11 Folder   1-6	1894
Box   11 Folder   7-10	1895
Box   11 Folder   11-13	1896
Box   11 Folder   14-16	1897
Box   11 Folder   17	1898
Box   11 Folder   18-19	1899
Box   11 Folder   20-22	1900
Box   12 Folder   1-2	1901
Box   12 Folder   3-4	1902
Box   12 Folder   5-6	1903
Box   12 Folder   7-9	1904
Box   12 Folder   10-12	1905
Box   12 Folder   13-15	1906
Box   12 Folder   16	1907
Box   12 Folder   17	1909
Box   12 Folder   18	1910
Box   13 Folder   1	1910
Box   13 Folder   2	1911
Box   13 Folder   3	1912
Box   13 Folder   4	1913
Box   13 Folder   5	1915
Box   13 Folder   6-7	1919
Box   13 Folder   8	1935
Box   13 Folder   9	Ledger of Jerome R. Brigham, 1890
	Series: Notebooks	⇧
	Notebooks of Charles I. Brigham
Box   13 Folder   10	“Rainy day book,” 1896-1910
Box   13 Folder   11	1903-1906
Box   13 Folder   12-13	Undated
	School notebook
Box   13 Folder   14	1874
Box   13 Folder   15	1874-1875
Box   13 Folder   16	Zoology notes taken under Edward Asahel Birge, professor of limnology, University of Wisconsin, 1881
Box   13 Folder   17-18	Miscellaneous cattle feed ration notes, undated
	Notebooks of Jerome R. Brigham
Box   13 Folder   19-20	School, 1833
Box   13 Folder   21	Account of Jerome R. Brigham's heirs, 1897
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
	Subseries: Household and General
	Expenses
Box   14 Folder   1	General household, 1878-1883
	General
Box   14 Folder   2	1889-1894
Box   14 Folder   3	1894-1897
	Account books, general
Box   14 Folder   4	1875-1876
Box   14 Folder   5	1877
	Personal financial computations
Box   14 Folder   6	1925-1939
Box   14 Folder   7	1939-1941
Box   14 Folder   8	“Fines,” undated
	Subseries: Farm	⇧
Box   14 Folder   9	“Statement of receipts and expenses,” 1913
	Expenses and purchases
Box   15 Folder   1	1914-1915
Box   15 Folder   2	1915-1916
Box   15 Folder   3	1916-1920
Box   16 Folder   1	1920-1926
Box   16 Folder   2	1926-1933
Box   17 Folder   1	1933-1934
Box   17 Folder   2	1936-1939
Box   17 Folder   3	1939-1942
Box   18 Folder   1	1942-1945
Box   18 Folder   2	1945-1948
	Cash books
Box   19 Folder   1	1899-1903
Box   19 Folder   2	1903-1906
Box   19 Folder   3	1907
	Series: Business Records	⇧
	Financial
	Congregational Church accounts
Box   20 Folder   1	1892-1898
Box   20 Folder   2	1899-1905
Box   20 Folder   3	1905-1911
	Organizational (Articles of organization and minutes)
	Blue Mounds Cheese Factory
Box   21 Folder   1	1888-1890
Box   21 Folder   2	1892-1902
Box   21 Folder   3	Blue Mounds Creamery, 1891-1896
Box   21 Folder   4	West Blue Mounds Association of the Patrons of Industry, 1892-1893
Box   21 Folder   5	Blue Mounds Percheron Association, 1914-1921
	Series: Farm Records	⇧
	General record
Box   22 Folder   1	1899-1903
Box   22 Folder   2	1904-1906
Box   22 Folder   3	1914
Box   22 Folder   4	Record of improvements, 1891-1903
	Record of livestock
Box   23 Folder   1	1894-1908
Box   23 Folder   2	1898-1906
Box   23 Folder   3	1902-1905
Box   23 Folder   4	1907-1910
	Time books
Box   23 Folder   5	1893-1900
Box   23 Folder   6	1903
Box   23 Folder   7-8	1903-1905
Box   23 Folder   9	Record of wages paid out, 1890-1891
	Journal
Box   24 Folder   1	1899-1905
Box   24 Folder   2	1907-1923
	Cattle feed ration notes
Box   25 Folder   1-9	1909
Box   25 Folder   10	1910
Box   25 Folder   11-12	1910-1911
Box   25 Folder   13	1910
Box   25 Folder   14	1910-1911
Box   26 Folder   1	1910-1911
Box   26 Folder   2-5	1910
Box   26 Folder   6	1915
Box   26 Folder   7	1916
Box   26 Folder   8	1919-1920
Box   26 Folder   9	1921-1931
	Inventories
Box   26 Folder   10	1905
Box   26 Folder   11	1906