Business records of an early St. Croix Valley land speculation office which evolved into a general real estate agency, and personal papers of agency owner Harry D. Baker. Originally known as the Cushing Land Agency, the company was established in 1854 to manage the land and water power investments of Caleb Cushing, a Massachusetts lawyer. Included are detailed financial records, letterbooks and a few client case files, records relating to land acquisition and sale, occasional administrative and advertising papers, and some maps which document the transition from an agency chiefly involved with timber cutover land sales for agricultural purposes to one selling developed farms and vacation lake homes.
Harry D. Baker in 1893 joined his father, agency owner Joseph Stannard Baker, in the firm's management where he worked until 1966. Harry Baker's papers document his civic involvements in St. Croix Falls and regional communities and relate to the First Presbyterian Church, Red Cross and county assistance following a 1922 tornado, Polk County Council of Defense during World War I, and establishment of Interstate Park at the St. Croix River Dalles, Wisconsin's first state park. Reminiscences about the land agency, his childhood, father J.S., First Presbyterian Church, and Interstate Park are in a tape-recorded interview with Baker and a series of letters which Baker wrote to his long-deceased brother Clarence. An unpublished booklet containing recorded dialect renditions of stories told by Swedish immigrant Olag Strandberg is also part of the collection.

Booklets containing bylaws, ordinances, and regulations for the village.

Letter, February 3, 1970, from Beatrice Raygor containing her recollections of teaching in 1957-1958 at the one-room Iverson School, Towns of El Paso and Ellsworth Joint School District #6, Pierce County, Wisconsin.

Minutes of the youth organization.

Minutes of the church's Winners Bible Class, 1910-1913, and minutes of a women's group, the GCBS Society, 1912-1913.

[1] School District Record (1927-1948) containing minutes of school board meetings, records of receipts and disbursements, reports of district board auditing committee, orders drawn on treasurer, notices of budget hearings, and teachers' contracts; [2] Teachers' Reports to Superintendent (1937-1938, 1948-1949) including a copy of a program showing recitation and study periods, six weeks or monthly reports, term averages, and textbook record; and [3] School Registers (1925-1957) containing attendance record, and monthly and term summaries showing pupil's classification number, sex, age, name, and record of standing and report of work accomplished, daily programs, visitors' record, and state reading circle record.

Letter, 1929 April 7, from Bunker to William Barter of the National Bank of Hudson, Wis., describing tornado damage throughout St. Croix County. Bunker also prepared a map showing the path of the April 5, 1929 tornado including the names of the owners of damaged properties.

A program and an historical sketch from the 75th anniversary celebration of the Bethel Lutheran Church.

Photocopied records of the association including treasurer's records, 1938-1980; scattered minutes of association meetings, 1965-1980; and listings of payments to the cemetery association's perpetual fund.

Photocopy of sacramental records of Bethlehem Lutheran Church located in the hamlet of Esdaile, Town of Hartland, Pierce County, Wisconsin; in Norwegian and English.

Records of the Bi-County Ministerial Association of St. Croix and Pierce Counties, Wisconsin, including correspondence, constitution and minutes, and announcements of meetings.

Official manuscript and typescript volumes of the proceedings of the County Board of Supervisors, including clerk's minutes of meetings, and complete or partial copies of documents considered at meetings.

Original papers from County Board of Supervisors' proceedings, 1969-2016, including agendas, minutes, notes, correspondence, committee reports, resolutions, proclamations, and ballots from committee and officer elections.

Proceedings of the County Board of Supervisors, published annually in pamphlet form under the provisions of Wisconsin Laws of 1901, Ch. 298, Sec. 3; including the County Clerk's minutes of each meeting of the County Board, and documents considered by the Board at each meeting. Documents include: petitions, memorials, communications, and claims addressed to the Board; reports of county officers and of Board committees; resolutions and ordinances; and other papers relating to operations, services, finances, planning, and policy of county government.
Included are proceedings for these years: 1875, 1876, 1878-1880, 1883, 1885-1950, and 1952-1985. Additional volumes may have been added since this cataloging.

Journal of the Boardman Co-Operative Cheese Co. recording cheese sales, 1921-1930; milk purchases, 1928-1930; and labor, equipment, and other expenses, 1921-1925.

Genealogical charts, written descriptions, and maps documenting the Boumeester, Yost, and Knipel families, 1832-1976; compiled by Alice Chapman in 1978.

Letter, 1947 December 20, presumably by Dr. Boyd Williams, superintendent of the Williams Sanatorium of Hudson, Wisconsin. The letter writer, who signs himself simply "Dr. Boyd," conveys his Christmas greetings to a friend. The letterhead shows a picture of the Sanatorium grounds.

Genealogical chart, 1772-1961, of the Bright family, compiled in 1962 by Sumner Spurgeon Bright, Jr., of Hudson, Wis.
The family ultimately settled in St. Croix County, Wisconsin.

Family papers collected and collated by River Falls businessman and historian Bruce Earl Foster (1932-2007), great-grandson of early River Falls resident Judge Joel Foster.
Foster was born September 6, 1932 in River Falls, Wisconsin, to Letha (nee Chinnock) and Earl Hunter Foster. The last of three children, Bruce graduated from River Falls High School in 1954 and obtained a bachelors degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 1958.
Foster worked as a professional Scout Leader for the Boy Scouts, sold life insurance for Metropolitan Life, drove a school bus, and operated an animal shelter for Pierce and St. Croix counties, which he later expanded to include grooming services. In his personal life, Foster was an avid fisherman, and involved in numerous social organizations in Pierce County throughout his life. He married Joy Rasmussen in 1961 and they had two children, Judie (1962-) and Andrew "Andy" (1968-).

Transcript of oral history interview of Burdette Chapin and Darlene Peterson by University of Minnesota geography students Karen Van Buskirk and Kevin Hanron, concerning land use and conditions and vegetation in the areas of Fargo School and the Trimbelle River (River Falls township), and of Clay Corners School (Martell township), Pierce County, Wis.

Annual premium lists detailing scheduled events at the Burnett County Fair, 1926-1970, held at Webster and the Burnett County Cooperative Agricultural Society Fair, 1929-1970, held at Grantsburg.

Assorted records from the court, including materials relating to the organization of the Village of Siren, 1913; one certificate of ordination, 1938; one marriage license, 1906; criminal statistics, 1932; one defendant tally sheet, 1936; a certification for the Union Indemnity Company, 1931; a court order designating the First National Bank of Grantsburg as a public depository, 1937; and two memorials, one to lawyer and judge William R. Foley, 1940, and one to circuit court clerk Newton Hickerson, 1909.

Proceedings of the County Board of Supervisors, published annually in pamphlet form under the provisions of Wisconsin Laws of 1901, Ch. 298, Sec. 3; including the County Clerk's minutes of each meeting of the County Board, and documents considered by the Board at each meeting. Documents include: petitions, memorials, communications, and claims addressed to the Board; reports of county officers and of Board committees; resolutions and ordinances; and other papers relating to operations, services, finances, planning, and policy of county government.

Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors including minutes of Board meetings, resolutions, committee reports, reports of county officers and commissions, financial reports, and communications to the Board. The 1877-1881 volume is a photocopy of the original. (The original volume was charred in a courthouse fire prior to 1887, so it was photocopied for preservation and then discarded.) Volume A is an exact transcription of official proceedings as published in the Burnett County Sentinel. (The original volume for some of these years was destroyed in the courthouse fire.).

Annual printed directories of public officials having jurisdiction within the county, prepared and published by the county clerk. Directories list national and state officers and legislators, court justices and officers, county board members, county officers and certain county employees, and town, village, and city officers and supervisors.
More recent directories also show members of each county board standing committee, and U.S. census population totals for each local unit.
Included are directories for these years: 1930, 1943/4, 1944/5, 1947/8, 1949/50, 1959/60-1974, 1978, 1979, and 2004-2014. Additional directories may have been added since this cataloging.

Statements of real and personal property assessment and tax apportionment for each assessment district. Assessment statements show number of livestock and other items of personality, acreage, valuations, and total assessment.

Audit reports and supporting papers submitted to the board of supervisors by the Bureau of Municipal Audit or by public accountants employed by the board to make the annual audit.
Each report contains a statement by the auditor on the condition of the financial records of the county and any errors which were found. Summary financial statements of all the county funds showing the receipts, disbursements, and balances of the various funds for the year follows.

Board of Canvassers' statements of election returns, showing date and type of election, candidates or issues, and the number of votes received.

Reports of real estate sales recorded in the register of deeds office, submitted to the clerk by the Wisconsin Tax Commission under Chapter 522, Laws of 1907, showing assessment district, date of sale, date the sale was recorded, volume and page where recorded, grantor, grantee, land description, acreage, consideration given in the deed, assessed valuation given on the tax roll, and totals for each assessment district and the county.
The 1911 report gives total figures on sales data and assessed valuations for each assessment district and the county, ratio of assessed to true value, and ratio of each district to the county total. With the 1911 report is the Statistical Report of the Supervisor of Assessments for 1911, which contains assessment data and a table showing the market value of real estate by towns from 1906 to 1910.

Record of elected or appointed town and village clerks, justices of the peace, notaries, constables, and deputy sheriffs as reported to the county clerk. Entries give name, office held, post office of official and length of term. Volume A: 1888-1927; Volume [2]: 1936-1955.

Records of marriages performed by the county judge.

Supervisor of Assessments' annual reports to the County Board, printed by the County Clerk under Wis. Laws of 1905, Ch. 523, Sect. 4. Each report contains a table of amount of state, county, school, and local tax revenue, classified by type of tax; a table of total assessed valuation of each county; tables for each town of acreage and assessed valuation of lands and improvements, classified by use; tables showing assessed and recommended full value of real estate (classified by use) and personal property (classified by type) in each assessment district; and general advisory remarks.

Volume 1 includes statements of taxes and indebtedness filed by towns and villages, showing date, assessed valuation, all taxes levied, and all bonded and other indebtedness incurred and outstanding. Also present are statements of county taxes levied, purposes for which county tax money was spent, and county indebtedness.

Record of accidental injuries, giving name of person injured, residence, color, sex, race, marital status, date of injury, cause and extent of injury, result and duration of injury, where attended, by whom attended, name of employer, and if an industrial injury, location of factory.
This record was required by Laws of Wisconsin, 1905, Chapter 416.

Jail register showing name and residence of prisoner, date and cause of commitment, committing authority, sentence, date of and authority for release, personal description (age, height, weight, complexion, and color of hair and eyes), and remarks.

Directories listing names of Burnett County school district officers and teachers.

Volume 1 tax sale record showing land description, acreage, year sold for, date of sale, sale price, certificate number, purchaser, date of redemption, redemptioner, amount redeemed for, date of deed, and grantee.

Circuit court cases dealing with civil actions. Legal papers include complaints, summonses, affidavits, petitions, court orders and decrees. Cases #1-1479, 1888-1930, consist of civil actions and cases #1493-3789, 1931-1971 consist of divorce cases only.

Record of credentials of clergymen which were required to be filed before being authorized to perform marriages. Entries usually include name, denomination, geographic assignment, and name of authorizing ecclesiastical superior.

Record of Circuit Court civil case proceedings, providing a brief history of each action with cross references to other related court volumes. Entries give the names of the plaintiff, defendant, and attorney; date of case disposition; sometimes the nature of the action; and for Volumes D-G the case number.

Case files detailing commitment of insane and feeble-minded people in Burnett County to state institutions.

The volume for 1891-1916 contains docket entries giving the name of the defendant, the charge, sentence or judgment, and sometimes court fees; record of commitments to state schools, and informations. A few early entries from the Circuit are included. Volume 1 (1895-1958) gives the case number, defendant and his/her attorney, the charge, witnesses, sentence or judgment, and court fees. Includes record of commitments to state schools. Name index in the front of the volume. Acts as an index to the County Court Cases in C2003/032.

Cases #2-#182.

Documents filed in County Court concerning the settlement of deceased individuals' estates and the filing of wills. Included are petitions, orders, letters of administration, wills, inventories of estates, and additional legal documents.

Burnett County probate volumes that document records regarding estate, administration, executorship, wills, sales, and heirship. Executors and wills volumes include similar material to probate and administration: last wills and testaments, documents regarding administration, appraisal and inventory of real estate, and claims. The general inventory volume includes inventory and appraisal of real estate and oaths of appraisers.

Ready reference collection of subject files, historically called 'vertical files' (vertical file), arranged by county (Burnett, Pierce, Polk, or St. Croix), thereunder by name of town/city or miscellaneous subject matter deemed of historical interest. Collection is no longer being maintained or added to as of January 2020.

Index to county cemeteries located in Burnett, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix Counties. The St. Croix Valley Genealogical Society (SCVGS) completed an extensive project in the 1980s to inventory tombstones in local cemeteries. Transcriptions were made from tombstones for most of the cemeteries in the counties of Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix by the SCVGS over the course of this project. Burnett County cemeteries were indexed by a number of volunteers.