Skip to main content

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records - Land Department

 Record Group
Identifier: CB&Q-7

  • Staff Only

Scope and Content of the Collection

The Land Department record group comprises one of the largest record groups in the CB&Q Railroad Company Records. It also contains some of the widest varieties of types of materials, including correspondence, reports, maps, plats, promotional material, ledgers, legal and financial volumes, contracts, applications, and some drawings. The Record Group begins with correspondence to and from Colonel H.B. Scott, who managed the combined B&MRR – Iowa and B&MRR – Nebraska land departments and corresponded prodigiously with individual land owners, CB&Q agents in the field, and real estate agents. There are circulars and letters also with Foreign agencies, mostly English but also representing other countries and groups in Europe. The two previously separate Land Agencies – the B&MRR-Iowa and B&MRR-Nebraska - make up the last two subgroups and include more specific records on land purchases, including land examination reports by field agents, plats and maps showing ownership of land, applications for land deeds, and correspondence between CB&Q and land purchasers/examiners for delinquent accounts.

Forms part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records.

This finding aid supersedes the Guide to the Burlington Archives in the Newberry Library, 1851-1901 (Chicago: Newberry Library, 1949), and incorporates subsequent additions to the company records. Certain materials have been deaccessioned and donated to the Burlington Route Historical Society; see curator for details.

Dates

  • 1852-1934

Creator

Language

Materials are primarily in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

History of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Land Department

In 1859, Charles Russell Lowell was appointed by CB&Q financier John Murray Forbes to found the railroad’s Land Department, surveying and managing the sales of over 230,000 acres in Iowa. Forbes also appointed an assistant to Lowell, an 18 year old named Charles Elliott Perkins. The Land Department was charged with surveying and examining the land and the land claims that were granted to it in the Federal Land Grant Act in Iowa. Lands that were too swampy to farm, or had been claimed prior to the enactment of the Land Act, had to be investigated. The Land Department also had the task of promoting farming on the land and finding willing land purchasers. For this they extended invitations and sent promotional materials to the Eastern United States and to Europe, hoping to entice settlers. By 1869, when George S. Harris took over its management, the department was also selling lands in Nebraska and moving aggressively forward in land sales.

After 1905, the Land Department closed its books, having sold 359,804.25 acres in Iowa for a sum of $4,199,657.34, averaging $11.67 per acre; and 2,365,704.09 acres in Nebraska for $12,402,837.83, averaging $5.24 per acre. From the most active years, 1863-1905, the company had made enough to construct some but not all of its lines; but more importantly, it had populated lands along the railroad lines, ensuring its enduring success in Iowa and Nebraska.

Extent

491.5 Linear Feet (745.5 boxes, 10 oversize boxes, 282 oversize volumes, and 2 flat file folders)

Additional Description

Abstract

Correspondence, reports, maps, plats, promotional material, ledgers, legal and financial volumes, contracts, applications, and some drawings pertaining to the examination and sale of lands granted to the CB&Q by Federal land grant acts. Most of the lands were sold for farming, in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. Forms part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records.

Organization

Papers are organized in the following subgroups:

Arrangement note

Subgroup 7: Private Land Papers,
Boxes 1-130; Box +1; 3 volumes
Subgroup 71: Private Land Companies,
Boxes 131-157; Box +1; 7 volumes
Subgroup 73: Foreign Agencies,
Boxes 158-167
Subgroups 75: Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company in Iowa,
Boxes 168-512; Boxes +1-5; 79 volumes; 1 flat file folder
Subgroups 76: Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company in Nebraska,
Boxes 513-752; Boxes +6-10; 193 volumes; 1 flat file folder

Collection Stack Location

4a 35 1-6; 4a 36 1-12; 4a 39 2-12; 4a flat files

Provenance

Deposit of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Company, 1943, with subsequent additions, 1948-onward. Ownership transferred to Newberry Library by Burlington Northern Company, 1975.

Processed by

Martha Briggs, Alison Hinderliter, Lisa Janssen, Kelly Kress, Emma Martin, Andrew Olofsson, and Pamela Olson, 2014.

Subjects

Browse by Topic

Related Names

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Inventory of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records - Land Department,1852-1934
Status
Completed
Author
Alison Hinderliter and Kelly Kress
Date
©2014.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts Repository

http://www.newberry.org
Contact:
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512

Staff Interface | Visit ArchivesSpace.org | v2.8.1 | Send Feedback or Report a Problem