Albertus Homer Kidd, 1863-1936 [RG2111.AM]

NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG2111.AM:  Albertus Homer Kidd, 1863-1936

Papers:  1861-1936

Beatrice, Gage County, Neb.:  Lawyer

Size:  2.5 cu.ft.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Albertus Homer Kidd was born March 19, 1863 at Ada, Ohio. In 1869 his father, a Methodist minister, moved the family to Indiana. He attended the public school at Wyoming, Illinois, and from 1882-1884 he attended the Gittings Seminary at LaHarpe, Illinois. Upon his admission to the Illinois bar in 1887, he moved to Nebraska. At Alma, Harlan Co., he entered into partnership with Thomas Porter. In the next year he married Elizabeth Gilliland of LaHarpe, and brought her to Alma. Lack of business closed the collection firm for which he had been working, and in 1891 he moved to Beatrice where he obtained work as manager of the collection department of the firm of Griggs, Rinaker and Bibb.

Kidd served six years on the Beatrice board of education, from 1895-1901, and was City Attorney from 1900-1901. Between 1902-1907 he wrote copy and was editor of the Beatrice Daily Express, in which capacity he wrote a series of articles exposing graft between certain bridge companies and the county commissioners. He entered partnership with Samuel Rinaker in the law firm of Rinaker and Kidd, continuing in the Association until 1928. In 1912 he was president of the Crop Improvement Association, hiring Otto H. Leibers to become the first County Agent in Nebraska. A.H. Kidd died on November 9, 1936 at Excelsion Springs, Missouri.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of five manuscript boxes of material arranged in eight series: 1) Correspondence, 1879-1963; 2) Records, 1851-1936; 3) Journals, 1899-1933; 4) Genealogical material; 5) Scrapbook; 6) Manuscripts; 7) Printed Matter; and 8) Miscellany.

This collection consists mainly of the correspondence and business (as well as personal) records of A.H. Kidd. The ledgers and related business material, dated between 1881-1936, relate mainly to collections made on farmers debts. The correspondence relates to business and personal affairs. The journals are records of mileage and expenses of trips taken between 1899-1933, and include his personal comments. Genealogical material relates to the families Poage (Poge), Hopkins, Gilliland, Johnson, Marsh, Mansfield, Lillibridge and Kidd.

Correspondents include: William Allen, 1900; H. Ambler, 1891; Fred H. Barclay, 1933; F.B. Beall, 1894; J.B. Billings, 1894; E.J. Burkett, 1906; A.L. Burr, 1894; Charles E. Bessey, 1900; William A. Campbell, 1894; Robert Leroy Cochran, 1937; Harry B. Coffee, 1929; Leonard M. Colby, 1894; Joseph Garber, 1899; A.L. Green, 1910; R.A. Green, 1899; Frank A. Harrison, 1908; Ross L. Hammond, 1929; W.G. Hastings, 1908; William Hayward, 1906; E.H. Hinshaw, 1904-1908; Gilbert M. Hitchcock, 1918, 1922; Bridge (?) Kidd, 1895; Dora Kidd, 1899; Robert Kyd, 1894; Moses P. Kinkaid, 1908; C.B. Letton, 1895; Otto H. Liebers, 1963; Samuel R. McKelvie, 1906-1929; Adam McMullen, 1917; John H. Mickey, 1904, 1906; Ed S. Miller, 1916; John H. Morehead, 1913; George W. Norris, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1919; W.C. Murray, 1894; Bayard H. Paine, 1905; Ernest M. Pollard, 1908; Roscoe Pound, 1899-1901; Halleck F. Rose, 1900; Victor Rosewater, 1904, 1908; John J. Ryder, 1908; J.C. Seacrest, 1904; Ashton C. Shallenberger, 1906; George L. Sheldon, 1906, 1908; E.N. Smith, 1894, 1897; J.E. Smith, 1891, 1894; C.A. Sorenson, 1912; Charles H. Sloan, 1914; William P. Warner, 1905; Arthur J. Weaver, 1920.

DESCRIPTION

Series 1 – Correspondence, 1879-1963

Box 1

Folder

1. 1. 1879

1. 1. 1887-1889

1. 1. 1891-1894

1. 1. 1895-1899

1. 1. 1900-1904

1. 1. 1905-1909

1. 1. 1900-1914

1. 1. 1915-1919

1. 1. 1920-1924

1. 1. 1927-1929

1. 1. 1931, 1933, 1936 and 1937

1. 1. 1963

1. 1. Postal cards, 1910-1931

Series 2 – Records, 1861-1936

Box 1

Folder

1. 1. Personal expenses, notes on property, memoranda, 1861-1895

1. 1. Personal expenses, notes on property, memoranda, 1893

1. 1. Bank books, 1918-1936

Box 2

Folder

4. 4. Business ledgers, 1881-1891

4. 4. Business ledgers, 1892-1899

4. 4. Business ledgers, 1899-1906

Box 3

Folder

7. 7. Business ledgers, 1914-1935

7. 7. Business ledgers, 1934-1936

7. 7. Minutes of meetings of the Express Publishing Co., 1904

7. 7. Patent papers, 1897-1901

7. 7. Contracts; bills of sale; a will, 1891-1906

7. 7. Livestock record, 1901-1902

7. 7. Tax forms, 1927-1936

7. 7. Material concerning the estate of A.H. Kidd, 1936

Series 3 – Journals, 1899-1933

Box 3

Folder

1. 1. 1899-1919 (five items)

1. 1. 1927 (includes typed copy)

1. 1. 1928-1933 (four items)

Series 4 – Genealogical material

Box 4

Folder

1. 1. Kidd family – typewritten manuscript by Norma Kidd Green

1. 1. Typewritten notes on Poage (Poge); Hopkins; Gilliland; Johnson; March; Marsfield; Lillibridge; and Kidd families

1. 1. Handwritten research notes

Series 5 – Scrapbook

Box 4

Folder

1. 1. Scrapbook, includes photos, biographical notes on A.H. Kidd; certificates; bills, cards; letters of recommendation; and programs

Series 6 – Manuscripts

Box 4

Folder

1. 1. Typewritten speeches, mostly undated and unsigned

1. 1. “The Bridge Graft, What it Cost Gage County,” A.H. Kidd, 1907

1. 1. Editorials, 1904-1905

1. 1. Verse, poems and jingles

1. 1. Sermon by Bert H. Kidd, an essay written at Gittings Academy, not dated
      
      “The Storie of the Prairie,” Norma Kidd Green, 1928

Series 7 – Printed matter

Box 5

Folder

1. 1. Soil Survey of Gage County, U.S.D.A., 1916
      
      By-Laws of the State Savings and Loan Co. of Beatrice, 1905
      
      Untitled pamphlet on Beatrice
      
      Catalogue of Gittings Seminary, LaHarpe, Illinois, 1902-1903
      
      Testimony in a patent dispute case

1. 1. Clippings

1. 1. Political parties campaign material, 1888-1908

Series 8 – Miscellany

Box 5

Folder

1. 1. Address book

1. 1. Autographs

1. 1. Notes, cards, etc.

ADDED ENTRIES:

Beatrice (Neb.) — History

Gage County (Neb.) — Crime and criminals

Gage County (Neb.) — History

Poage (Poge) Family

Gilliland Family

Hopkins Family

Johnson Family

Kidd Family

Kidd, Albertus Homer, 1863-1936

Lawyers — Nebraska

Lillibridge Family

Mansfield Family

Marsh Family

07-27-2007   Revised TMM/tmm