Title: Arms-Yager Railway Car Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1885-1944

Creator:

• Arms-Yager Railway Car Company

Call Number: Mss 269

Quantity: 3.0 c.f. (5 archives boxes, 1 flat box, and 3 volumes)

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:

Corporate and financial records of the Arms-Yager Railway Car Company, a company in the business of leasing horse/livestock cars to railroads. Organized in Toledo, Ohio in 1885 as the Arms Palace Horse and Stock Car Company, it later moved to Chicago and underwent several name changes before dissolution in 1944. The files, which are incomplete, include stockholders' and directors' minutes, some financial and general correspondence, stockholders' records, operating records, and financial records. Also present is a financial record book of Glen View Lodge, Inc.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00269

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The Arms Palace Horse and Stock Car Company was organized in 1885 by Harrison Arms at Toledo, Ohio, to lease horse cars to railroads. After 1900, the firm's shops and offices were moved from Cleveland to Chicago. In 1903, the company's name was changed to the Arms Palace Horse Car Company, and its capitalization increased from 500,000 dollars to 800,000 dollars. In 1922, the name was changed again, to the Arms-Yager Railway Car Company. With increased use of the gasoline engine, business fell off rapidly, and no new cars were added after the early 1920s. By 1929, cars were used to ship Wisconsin dairy cattle to the east coast. Hard-hit by the Depression during the 1930s, the company decreased its capitalization to 500,000 dollars in 1936, and to 350,000 dollars in 1939. By the end of the decade, the company was forced to begin selling its cars. On December 20, 1940, the stockholders voted to liquidate the firm, but liquidation was deferred during World War II, as the scarcity of railroad cars brought increased demand for the company's equipment and repair facilities. The firm ceased doing business on June 30, 1944, and was dissolved December 30, 1944.

The proceedings of the stockholders' and directors' meetings include by-laws, articles of incorporation, minutes of meetings, copies of resolutions, treasurer's reports, and other financial records. Other corporate records have been arranged in general files of tax returns, correspondence with the Treasury Department, records of capital structure changes, stockholders' evidences of ownership, dividend records, salaries, vouchers of both officers and employees, documents dealing with the War Production Board, and liquidation records; stockholders' records including copies of wills and certifications of probate courts; and operating records on the rolling stock such as inventories, mileage, repairs, and depreciation.

There are also financial records consisting of cash books, a general ledger, a file of balance sheets, and Social Security records including payrolls and taxes of employees. A general journal and ledger pertaining to Glen View Lodge, Inc., kept by J.B. Bassett, Fiscal Agent, 1926-1931, is included with the company's books.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Norman Bassett, Madison, Wisconsin, 1955. Transferred from the State Archives, 1956.

Processing Information

Processed by Josephine David and Joanne Hohler, 1973, and by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, April 1986.

	Stockholders' and Directors' Minutes
Box   1 Folder   1	, 1885 March 7-1901 February 19 (with By-Laws)
Box   1 Folder   2	1901 May 20-1918 April 5
Box   1 Folder   3	1918 May 20-1930 April 14
Box   1 Folder   4	Amendments to Codes of Regulations, Articles of Incorporation (copy), and Certificate of Capital Increase
Box   2 Folder   1	1930 July 1-1944 December 20 (with Amended Laws and Ohio Statutes, Copies of Resolutions)
	General Files
Box   2 Folder   2	Patents and Abstracts of Titles
Box   2 Folder   3-9	1912-1935
Box   3 Folder   1-6	1936-1942
Box   4 Folder   1-4	1943-1946
	Stockholders' Records
Box   5 Folder   1-2	Copies of Wills
Box   6	Stockholders' Ledger, 1886-1944
	Operating Records
Box   5 Folder   3	Car Inventory Records, 1910-1921
Box   5 Folder   4-5	Car Mileage, 1934-1944
Box   6	Equipment and Depreciation Record, 1909-1942
	Financial Records
Volume   1	General Ledger, 1921-1944
	Cash Books
Volume   2	1921-1927
Volume   3	1927-1936
Box   5 Folder   6	Balance Sheets, 1923-1942
Box   5 Folder   7	Social Security Record, 1937-1944
Box   5 Folder   8	General Journal and Ledger of Glen View Lodge, Inc., kept by J.B. Bassett, Fiscal Agent, 1926-1931