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.
