NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG2366.AM: John Comly Past, 1817-1876
Papers: 1836-1893
Beatrice, Gage County, Neb.: Mill operator
Size: 0.5 cu.ft.; 1 box
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Born in Pennsylvania on October 17, 1817, John Comly Past attended Fallsington Seminary in 1836, and by 1838 he was living at White Haven, Pennsylvania, where he worked at a steam mill. He married Margaret Kinsey Swain on December 1, 1838. Two of the couple’s daughters, Sarah and Louise, died in childhood. Their other children who lived to adulthood included Edward, Marcus, John, Margaret and Arthur. His journal shows that John Comly Past spent his time working, attending temperance meetings, fraternal organizations and gatherings of the White Haven Literary Society.
By 1857 the family had moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where Past continued on in mill-work. His journal shows that he made several trips west and on one of these trips he made plans to build a mill for a settlement in Minnesota. He established The Industrial Mill Company, a lumber mill, on the Mississippi River, located about eleven miles north of current downtown Minneapolis. He platted a town surrounding the millsite and named it Industriana. Past moved to Industriana in 1858 to run the mill, but on November 10, 1858, a boiler explosion severely injured several workers, and the mill was forced to close down. During the winter of 1860-1861, Past worked as a journal clerk in the Minnesota House of Representatives. From 1861 to 1862 he served in the Minnesota House of Representatives out of Hennepin County.
After serving his term in office, Past returned to Pennsylvania, where he worked for the West Branch Iron Ore and Lumber Company at Glen Union. In 1867 he left Pennsylvania and settled at Beatrice, Nebraska, where he partnered with Daniel E. Marsh in the Past and Marsh Steam Saw Mill and Lumber Yard. In 1874 Past was one of the incorporators of the Beatrice Manufacturing Company. In July of 1876 he traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, with a plan to start a flour mill. John Comly Past contracted typhoid fever and died at Little Rock on September 25, 1876. He is buried in the Oakland and Fraternal Historic Cemetery Park at Little Rock, Arkansas.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of one box of papers relating to the life and career of John Comly Past. Items in the collection date from approximately 1836 to 1893. Items dated after Past’s death actually relate to Daniel Marsh, Past’s partner in the Past and Marsh Steam Saw Mill and Lumber Yard. Included in the collection are Past’s personal journal, articles of incorporation for the Beatrice Manufacturing Company, receipts and vouchers relating to the Past and Marsh Saw Mill and Lumber Company, and letters received by Daniel E. Marsh. Also included are several miscellaneous items such as a geometry problem book from the Fallsington Seminary, a book of poetry and other writings, a poem written by Past after the death of his second daughter in 1849, and various undated business papers and receipts.
Entries in Past’s journal recorded notes on his personal and business affairs, weather and local and national news. He discusses friends and acquaintances catching “California Fever” in 1848-1849; cholera epidemics; hard economic times in 1857-1858, including bank failures, businesses closing and men begging for work; Mormon uprisings; the presidential election of 1860; secession of the Southern States and the impending war; accounts of battles and the threat of British intervention on the side of the Confederacy.
Note: The journal has also been microfilmed. The film is available through interlibrary loan.
INVENTORY
Box 1
Folder
- Journal, 1848-1863 (also on microfilm)
- Beatrice Manufacturing Company article of incorporation, 1874
- Past and Marsh Steam Saw Mill and Lumber Yard receipts and vouchers, 1871-1880
- Letters to Daniel E. Marsh, 1892-1893
- Fallsington Seminary geometry problem book, 1836
“Original Pieces,” poetry and other writings, 1838 - Miscellaneous business papers and receipts, undated
Subject headings:
Beatrice Manufacturing Company (Beatrice, Neb.)
Beatrice (Neb.)
Business records
Diaries
Gage County (Neb.)
Lumber industry and trade
Marsh, Daniel E., 1846-1880
Mills and millwork
Past and Marsh Steam Saw Mill and Lumber Yard (Beatrice, Neb.)
Past, John Comly, 1817-1876
Acc. 1954
DAB/KEK/jlc 03-12-1966
Revised TMM 05-13-2025
