Title: Edward L. Peet Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1890-1929

Creator:

• Peet, Edward L., 1859-1929

Call Number: River Falls Mss BV

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)

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)

Abstract:

Papers of Peet, a Burnett County, Wis., journalist, land developer, and promoter of immigration to the cutover lands of northern Wisconsin; including records relating to the Kohler-Peet Company, Minneapolis, a firm dealing in land along the St. Croix and Clam rivers, and to Peet's other business and personal activities. Included is a plat map of 1913 additions to Danbury, Wis.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-rf00bv

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An early settler and land developer in Burnett County, Wisconsin, Edward L. Peet was born in Oneota (now Duluth), Minnesota, on August 7, 1859. He was the third son of the Reverend and Mrs. James Peet, natives of New York state. Because his father was an itinerant Methodist preacher, Edward and his family moved frequently during his childhood years. Educated in Dakota and Anoka Counties, Minnesota, Edward became interested in journalism, and joined the Anoka Union in 1873. Peet also began a career in show business at this time, giving magic lantern shows before country schools and acting as an advance man for traveling entertainers. He eventually worked with several Minnesota newspapers, and was co-founder of the Hennepin County Fireside and the Dassel Anchor.

During the 1880's, Peet dabbled briefly in real estate in Nebraska and Minneapolis. After his marriage in 1893 to Nettie E. Montgomery (1865-1955), Edward and his bride moved from Minneapolis to Grantsburg in Burnett County, Wisconsin. Here Peet resumed his career in journalism, founding the Journal of Burnett County in 1895. He remained sole editor and publisher of the paper until 1904. As editor of the Journal, Peet was active in promotion of the county's development. In 1902 as Secretary of the Burnett County Board of Immigration, he compiled and edited the pamphlet, Burnett County, a pamphlet descriptive of Northern Wisconsin in general and Burnett County in detail, in order to promote settlement in the cutover region. In 1904 Peet and his family established a homestead in the county on the Clam River. When the Soo Line Railroad was extended north of Grantsburg in 1911, Peet was quick to seize on the possibilities and helped to found and promote the town of Danbury. Here the family opened a hotel, livery barn, and real estate office.

In 1917 Peet moved his wife and five children back to Minneapolis. Here he formed a partnership with Dr. L. H. Kohler, founding the Kohler-Peet Company, an investment firm specializing in Wisconsin and northern Minnesota lands. Most of their plans centered around the company's 4,000 acres of land along the St. Croix, Clam and Yellow Rivers. Peet wanted to develop an elaborate tourist resort on these lands. He was also in charge of the lumber and cranberry operations on sections of this property. His partner, Kohler, seems to have furnished most of the financial backing for these ventures. The Clam River project, however, was never realized.

During his life, Peet was also active in Republican politics. He served as a delegate to state and national conventions and was an elector for Wisconsin in the 1904 presidential election. Peet also was appointed to the Wisconsin State Canal Commission serving from 1914 to 1915.

During his last years Peet suffered from economic problems as well as the physical infirmities of diabetes and rheumatism. Edward L. Peet died at Minneapolis in 1929.

These papers reveal something about the nature of land speculation in northern Wisconsin at a time when great emphasis was placed on promoting immigration to the cutover region. They also reveal the personal and financial difficulties faced by a man with a family when his speculative development schemes do not reach his expectations. The collection is organized into two sections: personal records and business records.

PERSONAL RECORDS are divided into correspondence, writings, and documents. The correspondence includes letters from relatives tracing family genealogy, and a series of “round robin” bulletins sent to Peet's immediate family and friends in 1928 describing his daily life on the Wisconsin farm. The writings consist of articles Peet submitted for publication and include controversial editorials on local issues, a plan for an airport on Nicollet Island in the Mississippi River, and descriptive advertising copy on the Kohler-Peet Company land holdings and the “wonders of the Wisconsin wilderness.” In the documents file are stock certificates, membership citations, a copy of the family genealogical chart, the Peet cemetery plot deed, and a copy of Nettie Peet's obituary.

In the series of BUSINESS RECORDS are two files of Peet's correspondence; one with his partner, C. H. Kohler, the other with J. W. Bailey, an employee at the lumbering camp in Danbury, Wisconsin. The letters trace Peet's attempts to collect payments, organize a cooperative land company, and stop the Northern States Power Company from building a dam on the St. Croix River. These activities were directly related to Kohler-Peet Company's development project in Burnett County. Financial accounts include an early list of subscribers to the Journal of Burnett County, and expense accounts from Peet's lumber business. The Kohler-Peet Company file contains descriptions of the company land holdings, manuscript maps of those lands and a copy of A Souvenir of Burnett County, Wisconsin distributed by Kohler-Peet Company and other merchants. The file of legal documents contains claim deeds covering various land holdings. The patent file includes correspondence with a Minneapolis patent lawyer concerning the rights to a weed-cutting tool designed by Peet. A copy of the letter patent is included. The plat of Danbury, Wisconsin is a copy of the 1913 additions to the town. “Scoop,” or the Game of Publication was copyrighted by Peet in the 1890's and appeared in several editions. This file contains copyright papers for the game.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Roger M. Peet, Mesa, Arizona, July 27, 1976. Accession Number: M76-307

Processing Information

Processed by H. Smith (FGH Intern) and Joanne Hohler, July 20, 1978.

	Series: Personal Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1922-1929
Box   1 Folder   2	Writings, undated
Box   1 Folder   3	Documents, 1908-1920
	Series: Business Records	⇧
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   4	1908-1928
Box   1 Folder   5	1929
Box   1 Folder   6	Financial accounts, undated
Box   1 Folder   7	Kohler-Peet Company miscellaneous materials, circa 1929
Box   1 Folder   8	Legal documents, 1915-1929
Box   1 Folder   9	Patent, weed-cutting tool, 1920
Box   1 Folder   10	Plat, Danbury, Wisconsin, 1914
Box   1 Folder   11	“Scoop,” or The Game of Publication, copyright registrations, 1890-1891