Jackson F. Kimball Collection, 1910-1945
Kimball, Jackson F., ca. 1874-1944
4.1 cubic feet


Scope and Content Note

Collection is arranged into six series: I. Lumber Company Files; II. Sales, Contracts, Leases & Trustee Files; III. General correspondence; IV. Professional Activities; V. Financial Records; and VI. Photographs. Most series are arranged alphabetically by subseries and then chronologically.

Series one documents the agent/broker work that Kimball did in the Klamath Falls area for major lumber companies other than Weyerhauser Timber Company, his primary employer. These included Day Brothers Lumber Company, C.C. Yawkey Lumber Company, and Alexander-Yawkey Lumber Company. The Alexander-Yawkey Lumber Company files document its start in 1937 and its early operations near Prineville. Series two documents Kimball's agent/broker work for smaller lumber companies and individuals.

Series three consists of personal and work-related correspondence with individuals and organizations. Series four documents some of Kimball's professional activities involving lumber and timber organizations and his role in shaping state and federal legislation affecting the timber and lumber industries. Series five pertains to Kimball's personal investments and tax matters involving his interests. Series six includes photographs separated from the collection's files.


Biographical Note

Jackson F. Kimball was probably born about 1874 in Maine, the state in which he grew up. He studied medicine and law in college, but left to become a timber cruiser. He ultimately moved west, staying briefly in Roseburg, Oregon, and then moving to Klamath Falls. In 1905 Kimball began working for the Weyerhauser Timber Company. He devised the company's policy pertaining to the leasing of its holdings for grazing purposes. Kimball worked for Weyerhauser until his death in 1944. In 1908 Kimball became associated with the Klamath/Lake Counties Forest Fire Association, later the Klamath Forest Protective Association. He was also interested in control of the Western Pine Beetle, a major pest in the forests of the Klamath region.

Kimball's timber work was not limited to Weyerhauser. He acted as agent/broker for the Day Brothers Lumber Company, the C.C. Yawkey Lumber Company (Yawkey was the owner of the Boston Red Sox), the Alexander-Yawkey Lumber Company (for whom he was an officer), several smaller timber/lumber and real estate interests, and individuals. Kimball was a shareholder and trustee of the American National Bank of Klamath Falls. From 1930-1940 he was the Klamath County chair for the Citizens' Military Training Camp. He spent considerable time in Salem lobbying the Oregon Legislature for timber and lumber industry-related legislation. Kimball died at his home in Klamath Falls on May 21, 1944. (Most of the above information is from Harry J. Drew's Weyerhauser Company: A History of People, Land and Growth, 1979.)


Related Materials

Much of Kimball's correspondence with the Weyerhauser Timber Company can be found at the corporation's archives in Tacoma, Washington.


Shelf Locations

SR 5/8/5/60
SR 5/8/4/10-30
2/2/9/21 (photographs)
oversize drawer 5


Inventory

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