Most of the records in the collection deal with the company's operations prior to the time it became the Algoma Division of United States Plywood. They are arranged in two series: Ownership Records; and Management Records. The collection lacks records of the Board of Directors.
The Ownership Records contain two sections: Stockholder Records, consisting of lists of stockholders and some samples of company-issued stock certificates; and Merger Records, including correspondence and legal documents relating to the 1931 merger with the Claus Panel Company and the 1940 purchase of Algoma by United States Plywood.
The Management Records form the major part of the collection and are divided into five subseries: Correspondence; Financial Records; Legal Records; Real Estate Records; and Tax Records.
The Correspondence subseries includes general management correspondence in letterpress volumes for the years 1892-1893, 1910, and loose correspondence for the years 1918-1934. It mainly concerns general problems, orders, personnel, contracts, and bond notes.
The Financial Records are divided into general accounts, sales accounts, production accounts, and employee accounts. The general accounts are the financial records which detail the total operations of the company on a yearly, monthly, or daily basis. These include balance sheets, annual audit reports, trial balances, daily cashbooks, and general ledgers. Of particular interest is an undated “Chart of General Ledger Accounts” (box 11, folder 1) which explains and outlines the accounting procedures of the company. The sales accounts include the company's inventory reports and order the charge books. The order and charge books, 1892-1916, are an almost complete set detailing who ordered what types and amounts of the company's products. The production accounts include log account books detailing the amount of logs cut at the veneer and saw mills, detailed but undated order specifications, time (payroll) books, and records of transportation costs and problems. Employee accounts consist only of a dues book for an employee benefit association.
The Legal Records contain correspondence, briefs, other legal documents, and court testimony transcripts for two cases. The Perry vs. White case concerned the alleged fraudulent sale of company stock and the embezzlement of company funds for that purpose by a company director. The War Labor Board case concerned the threatened strike over promised wage increases by Local 1521 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (AFL) during World War II. Also in the legal files are two labor agreements between the local and the company for the years 1947 and 1974.
The Real Estate Records consist of the correspondence, deeds, and legal documents pertaining to the timber, warehouse, factory, and general investment lands owned by the company in Wisconsin and eight other states.
The Tax Records have correspondence and working papers which the company used in preparing its federal and state income tax returns, as well as the returns prepared for the United States government, Wisconsin, and four other states.
