D. C. & H. C. Reed & Co. Collection
Scope and Contents
Letter to the Ward and Dolson Company in Charlotte, Michigan from D. C. and H. C. Reed and Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan on May 4, 1886. The letter was written by Geo A. Douglas asking Ward and Dolson to ship one buggy to Orson Douglas, Constantine, Michigan.
The letter contains two parts. The first part is a request for a buggy to be shipped to Constantine Michigan and the second part adding a question about record keeping.
Dates
- Creation: Date of the letter is unknown. Know the company existed in the years 1882-1913 and possibly beyond.
Creator
- D. C. and H. C. Reed and Company (Kalamazoo, Mich.) (Organization)
- Douglas, Geo A. (Person)
Biographical / Historical
A spring tooth harrow is an agriculture tool used to prepare soil for farming. The D.C & H.C Reed Company in Kalamazoo created a type of these. They also ended up in conflict with Chase, Taylor & Co. over a patent which D.C & H.C Reed Company claimed Chase, Taylor & Co. infringed on. D.C & H.C Reed Company filed suit not just against the competing company but also against anyone who used any other Spring Tooth Harrow. Both companies took out competing ads against one another. The D.C & H.C Reed Company won the suit against the other companies. A Kalamazoo Gazette article claims Reed’s company was one of the main manufacturers in the village as of 1882. In 1900 D.C & H.C Reed Company was reorganized as the Reed Manufacturing Company. In 1913 it was renamed as Reed Foundry and Machine Company.
Extent
1 letters ; 5" x 8"
Language of Materials
English
Physical Description
The collection is in one folder and takes up 0.05 cubic feet. The collection contains a letter and an envelope. The letter is 5” x 8” and the envelope is 3” x 5”. Condition of the letter is good. There are a few stains on it but otherwise the item is in good condition. The envelope has some black marks on it and is in fair condition. However the ink prints on the envelope are very legible.
Provenance
This collection includes a letter and envelope from D. C. & H. C. Reed & Co., Kalamazoo, MI.
General
The item was acquired through the use of the Starring Endowment.
Subject
- Dolson Automobile Company (Charlotte, Mich.) (Organization)
- Douglas, Orson (Person)
- Title
- D. C. & H. C. Reed & Co. Collection Finding Aid
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Dylan Tilbury
- Date
- 2014-09-19
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490
arch-collect@wmich.edu