Antique 1875 Fraser Chalmers & Co Mining Smelting Letterhead 8" x 10.5" -- Fraser Chalmers & Co is writing a customer in Virginia City Montana MT named Henry Elling who was one of the wealthiest men in Montana through his varied investments in livestock, mining and real estate -- letter acknowledging the receipt of an order for "Broad Gauge Mill" Train Tracks -- Mining Railroad Related -- August 11, 1875 -- Eagle Works Manufacturing Co -- Chicago 139 to 145 Fulton Street --
In very good condition. It has soft corners, minor staining and edgewear, but still very nice. Fold marks, but will ship flat. Please see detailed photos.
Henry Elling was born in Germany December 9, 1842. At the age of 15, he was orphaned and with his younger brother, immigrated to the United States. Henry initially lived in Missouri, where an older brother had previously established himself. By 1863, Henry was working in the mercantile business in Colorado when he learned of the new gold strikes in the Idaho Territory. He arrived in Virginia City in early summer of 1864, and opened a general mercantile store on Wallace Street. Henry soon expanded—and prospered—with investments in mining, livestock operations, property acquisitions, the franchise for electrical service for Bozeman and, most notably, widespread banking interest. By 1876, Henry was well established as one of the wealthiest men in Montana.
In 1872, Thomas Chalmers founded this Chicago manufacturer of mining machinery, boilers, and pumps. The company employed more than 170 workers in 1880, making engines, boilers, and other products worth $600,000. By 1890, when, under the leadership of William J. Chalmers, it had expanded its manufacturing to England and its sales worldwide, the company employed about 1,000 workers at its Chicago plant and had become one of the world's largest manufacturers of mining equipment. In 1901, Fraser & Chalmers (along with the Gates Iron Works of Chicago) merged with another leading machinery maker, Edward P. Allis & Co. of Milwaukee, to form Allis-Chalmers Co. This company, based in Milwaukee, soon became a leading manufacturer of farm equipment. The company's Chicago works were closed in the 1910s, but after World War II, Allis-Chalmers became a leading employer in the Chicago area. As late as the mid-1970s, it had over 4,000 workers around the Windy City. By the 1990s, Allis-Chalmers was part of AGCO Corp., a farm equipment maker based in Georgia.