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Huntington Brothers
Records
Windsor
Historical Society
96
Palisado Avenue, Windsor, CT 06095
©
2005 Windsor Historical Society
Creator:
Huntington Brothers
Dates:
1901-1978
Extent:
1.5 linear feet
Accession #:
1986.27, 1986.84, 1987.14 and additional unidentified
sources
Location:
Document Storage shelf 2B
Corporate History
The Huntington Brothers tobacco growing firm was
established in 1902 by Charles A. Huntington, Sr.
(1863-1934) and his brother Henry A. Huntington
(1865-1912). Initially they raised Havanna Seed and
Broadleaf tobacco on 24 acres of family lands in the
Poquonock area of Windsor, Connecticut. In 1911 they began
growing shade tobacco. After the death of Henry, an
attorney, in 1912, Charles assumed the ownership and
management of the farm. He took his son Charles A.
Huntington, Jr. (1893-1975) and son-in-law Ernest S. Clark,
Jr. on as partners after World War I, and at the death of
Charles, Sr. the two younger men continued the business.
Charles Huntington, Jr. was active in local politics and
operated the farm until his death in 1975. By 1949 the
third generation of the family had also become involved in
the farming activities. The Huntington Brothers ceased
operations in 1978.
After World War I the company steadily increased
its acreage of shade grown tobacco lands, and by the mid 20th
century were cultivating 150 acres. In 1926 the business
also began raising seed corn and shipped the seeds to both
retail and wholesale markets in the northeast and midwestern
states.
Scope
and Contents
The collection contains farm business records
that illustrate the evolution of tobacco growing practices
in the Connecticut River Valley. Invoices and receipts
reflect the transition from horse-drawn to mechanized
methods. Crop books record sowing the seed beds, spraying,
and sewing the leaves to the laths. The time books
document the field workers’ hours and pay. Postcard and
photo images are not explicitly of the Huntington Brothers’
operation, but depict the various stages of growing shade
tobacco. Various publications describe growing tobacco in
Connecticut.
Arrangement
Series
I. Invoices and Receipts
Series
II. Time and record books
Series
III. Publications
Series
IV. Images
Series
V. Cigar box covers
Box
and Folder Lists
Series I. Invoices and receipts
1.1
General farming invoices
1.2
General farming invoices cont’d
1.3
Harness repair
1.4
Land rent receipts
1.5
Veterinarian
1.6
Seed and grain supplies
1.7
Printer
1.8
Glass work
1.9
Electrical contractor
1.10
Trucking
1.11
Plumbing and well
1.12
Fertilizer
1.13
Blacksmithing
1.14
Feed invoices
1.15
Car deeds and car repair invoices
1.16
Insurance
1.17
Connecticut Valley Tobacco Improvement Association
Series II. Time and record books
2.1 Record book 1901-1978, sowing tobacco in seed
beds; flowers,
fruit, fertilizer mixes and Bordeaux
spraying mixtures
2.2 Loose pages from record book in 2.1, 1956-1978
(some very brittle)
2.3 Record book 1977, sewing tobacco in sheds
2.4 Time book 1902-1903
2.5 Time books 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915
2.6 Time books 1915, 1916
2.7 Time books 1916, 1917, 1918
3.1 Time books 1918, 1938-1939
Series III. Publications
3.2 The Growing of tobacco Under Shade in
Connecticut. Bulletin 137, February 1902. New Haven:
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 1902.
Clinton, George P. and Florence A. McCormick.
Wildfire of Tobacco in Connecticut. Bulletin 239, May
1922. New Haven: Agricultural Experiment Station, 1922.
Anderson, P.J. and N.T. Nelson. Report of the Tobacco
Station at Windsor 1926. Tobacco Station Bulletin 8.
New Haven, April 1927
Anderson, P.J. Growing Tobacco in Connecticut.
Bulletin 564. Jan. 1953. New Haven: Connecticut
Agricultural Experiment Station, 1952
McDonald, Adrian Francis. The History of Tobacco
Production in Connecticut. Vol. LII. [Hartford]:
Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of
Connecticut, 1952
Story
of Tobacco Valley.
Hartford: Shade Tobacco Growers Agricultural Association
Inc. 4th printing
Story
of Tobacco Valley.
Hartford: Shade Tobacco Growers Agricultural Association
Inc. [earlier printing]
Series IV. Images
3.2
Watercolor First Shadegrown Tobacco Tent 1900,
John DuBon Farm, River St., Poquonock [unsigned]
3.3
Photographs and postcards
Series V. Cigar box covers
3.5 Cigar box covers (3)
Related Materials
Subject
files: Businesses -- Tobacco
Subject Terms
Huntington Brothers
Tobacco
farms – Connecticut – Windsor
Tobacco
industry – Connecticut
Letterheads -- Connecticut
Huntington, Charles A., Sr., 1863-1934
Huntington, Charles A., Jr., 1893-1975
Administrative history
Finding
aid compiled by Barbara Goodwin, May 2005
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