Summary Information
Arnet Family Papers
1914-1970
River Falls Mss DI; PH 3695
0.4 c.f. (1 archives box) and photographs
UW-River Falls, Chalmer Davee Library / River Falls Area Research Ctr. (Map)Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of a Minnesota farm family that also had connections in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Included are correspondence from family members who served in the military during World War I and II, two brief diaries of Laura Sheldon Arnet from the 1940's describing her life when she managed the farm alone, and financial records of the farm ranging from the late 1920's to 1970. The military correspondence concerns daily life rather than combat and chiefly focuses on training, life in the trenches, and the post-war occupation of Japan. Photographs include views of the cemetery in France where Philip Arnet I was buried. The financial records provide information on record-keeping practices on a family farm and some summary data on its overall economic condition.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-rf00di ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Two generations of the Arnet family are documented in this collection. Unfortunately the information on many important events in their lives is not clear. The first generation, the children of George B. Arnet of Houston, Minnesota, included Philip I, Elsie, Irene, Edwin, Selma, and Joseph. Philip I served in the 47th Infantry during World War I and died in France on August 3, 1918. His brother Joseph later took over management of the family farm. Joseph married Laura Sheldon, also from Houston, during the 1920's. Joseph and Laura had two children. A son, Philip Arnet II, was born on July 7, 1928. A daughter, Mary Ellen, was born about a year and a half later.
On their farm near Hokah, Minnesota, the Arnets raised grain, milked dairy cattle, and kept chicken and turkeys. At some time prior to 1943 Joseph Arnet died. Laura apparently continued to run the farm by herself, for in 1943 she was filing tax forms as the sole farm operator. She may have found this difficult because between 1945 and 1948 she apparently moved back and forth between the farm and La Crosse, Wisconsin, where she worked for the Trane Company. After Philip II returned from service in Japan from 1946 to 1947 his mother took him into partnership in the farm in 1948.
Scope and Content Note
The Arnet Family papers are a small collection, but they include interesting material on the everyday life of the common soldier in both world wars, farm life during the 1940's, and the financial condition of a family farm. The papers consist of correspondence from family members serving in the military during World War I and II, two diaries of a farm woman, financial records, and photographs. There is little non-war correspondence in the collection.
CORRESPONDENCE consists primarily of letters to family members from Philip I, his brother Edwin, and Philip Arnet II; Frank Sheldon, the brother of Laura Arnet; and other relatives in the military. The letters are written from the viewpoint of the ordinary soldier and do not contain information on combat or policy. However, the correspondence of Philip I and Frank Sheldon, who both served in World War I, do describe their training and conditions of life on post. Arnet's later letters contain information about life in the trenches in France. The correspondence also includes the letters of Edwin Arnet, the younger brother of Philip I, which describe his service on the office staff of AAFSETC headquarters in Alabama. The letters of Philip II cover his service as a mechanic in Japan immediately after the war. Also included are a few postcards to Arnet family members, miscellaneous identification cards, and memorabilia of Laura and Philip II.
FINANCIAL RECORDS include ledgers, Laura Arnet's farm diaries, and income tax forms. The ledgers cover the years 1928-1933. They were kept in pencil and provide documentation of record-keeping practices and sales of dairy products, poultry, eggs, and livestock. They also note expenditures for feed, groceries, equipment, and clothing. The 1943 and 1946 ledgers include Laura Arnet's diaries. The diaries contain brief entries concerning daily life during the period she was the sole farm operator. They cover only the winter months, running from January through April, 1943 and from January through February, 1946. The income tax forms cover, with gaps, the years 1943 through 1970. In combination, the ledgers and tax forms provide a fairly complete picture of the financial concerns and changing farming strategies of a Midwestern family farm.
PHOTOGRAPHS consist mainly of views of the Oise--Aisne cemetery in France where Philip Arnet I was buried.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Laura Sheldon Arnet via Mary A. Sather, New Richmond, Wisconsin, November 11, 1981. Accession Number: M81-112
Processed by Rebecca Williams (FGH student), 1987.
Contents List
|
River Falls Mss DI
|
Correspondence
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1
|
Philip Arnet I, 1913-1944
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
2
|
Frank Sheldon to Laura Arnet, 1918-1919
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
3
|
Edwin Arnet, 1930-1943
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
4
|
Philip Arnet II, 1943-1965
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
5
|
Relatives and friends to Laura Arnet, 1915-1944
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
6
|
Postcards to other Arnet family members, 1914 and undated
|
|
|
Financial records
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
7
|
Ledgers, 1928-1933
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
8
|
Ledgers and Laura Arnet diaries, 1943, 1946
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
9
|
Ledgers, 1948-1950
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
10
|
Income tax forms, 1943-1970
|
|
|
PH 3695
|
Photographs
|
|
|
