This collection was received in the Archives in two segments. Part 1, the Original Collection dates 1836-1939 and comprises Box 1 and the photographs. Part 2, the 1987 Additions, date 1772-1951 and comprises Boxes 2-4 and the microfilm. Each part is described separately in the narrative that follows.
Part 1 of the Dexter-Roundy Papers contains fragmentary documentation about a major Wisconsin grocery wholesaler. Information about the history of the family itself was also incomplete. The papers were collected by Mary Dexter, who was very interested in family history, and passed on to her niece, Helena Dexter McBride, who in turn presented the material to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
This original collection, which primarily documents Charles J. Dexter and his uncle, Judson A. Roundy, consists of correspondence, legal and financial documents, genealogical and biographical miscellany, advertising material, and photographs. The papers are organized according to the family member to whom they refer, with a few files concerning Roundy, Peckham & Dexter and its predecessor companies.
Material pertaining to Charles Dexter includes fragmentary personal and business correspondence, a scrapbook of letters put together in 1930 to honor his half-century with the firm, numerous promissory notes and other legal documents, and miscellaneous biographical material. Pertaining to Judson Roundy is the most complete set of correspondence in this part of the collection, a group of letters written to Charles Dexter just prior to his relocation in Milwaukee, and a volume of flute music transcribed in 1836. Also included are a few letters concerning Dexter's father, Joshua Dexter, and letters of condolence concerning the death of Edward Dexter in 1920. Materials on the family's business enterprises include articles of incorporation; miscellaneous receipts and statements concerning C.J. Dexter Mercantile; and advertising material, labels, and circular letters issued by the Roundy Company.
Part 2, the 1987 Additions, contains additional documentation donated by Helena McBride concerning the life of Charles J. Dexter, the primary focus of the Part 1; his father Joshua Dexter; his son Edward McBeth Dexter; and his wife Effie McBeth Dexter and her McBeth family relatives. There are few letters written by Judson Roundy in this group and virtually no records concerning the operation of Roundy, Peckham & Dexter. As a result, the papers remain useful primarily for a study of family history. However, the material does include important correspondence pertaining to the early interest of the family in the grocery business under Joshua Dexter during the 1840s and 1850s and some impressions of the business may be gleaned from personal papers elsewhere in the collection. Like the original collection, this material has been organized alphabetically by the name of the writer of the letter. All of the diaries in the collection have been microfilmed and the originals of several returned to the donor. At the same time a few selected original letters were also returned.
In addition to personal matters and health, the papers touch on a wide range of topics of more general interest such as trade conditions and business linkages between the East Coast and the Middle West, land development and trade in Ohio, European travel in the early twentieth century, the experiences of soldiers during the Civil War, and student life in Illinois and Maine during the 1850s.
Pertaining to Charles Dexter are diaries and letters concerning his youth and education during the 1860s and additional financial and legal papers. His friendship with Effie McBeth is also recorded. Additional evidences of this may be found in her file together with letters she received from other young men, some of whom were serving in the Civil War. Her file also includes a detailed diary about travel in Europe in 1908.
About their son Edward (Ned), there are additional European travel letters (1907) and a run of diaries that is virtually complete between 1907 and 1920. Unfortunately, the entries are brief and his handwriting difficult to read. Researchers may find that use of the microfilm copy overcomes reading problems to some degree.
Although a slim file, the letters of Joshua Dexter to his brother-in-law Judson Roundy in Maine during the 1840s are quite valuable for their general discussion of business conditions, the operation of his ill-health and his search for a treatment.
Although of a somewhat fragmentary nature, the additions contain two folders of correspondence and legal papers of John and William McBeth (sometimes spelled McBeath) primarily concerning their land holdings and business ventures in Ohio during the early nineteenth century. Also included is a brief transcribed diary of William McBeth, a member of the Ohio Legislature, concerning travel on the Ohio River during 1843. Other family members are documented by small files, most notable of which is the Civil War correspondence of Dudley Chase Smith.
