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Frank Bond & Son Records

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-133-BC

Scope and Content

The collection contains financial records and correspondence of Frank Bond & Son and various related businesses. Included are ledgers, cash journals, sales, remittances, account books, stock certificates, purchases, invoices, receipts, day books, letter copy books, orders, letters sent, bank statements, cash books, tax records, vouchers, meeting minutes, correspondence, and legal documents. Other businesses represented in the collection include G.W. Bond & Brother Mercantile Company, Quemado Sheep Company, Bond-Sargent Sheep Company, Bond-Nohl, Bond and Wiest, and Bond-Connell Wool Company. Photographs are housed in Pictorial Collections.

Dates

  • 1870-1958 (bulk 1905-1945)

Language of Materials

English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Copy Restrictions

Limited duplication of print and photographic material is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with all copyright, privacy, and libel laws. Permission is required for publications or distribution.

Historical Information

Frank (Franklin) Bond was a merchant and wool grower who emigrated from Canada in 1882. He established a mercantile company in Española, N.M. with his brother George, who was already living in New Mexico. In addition to running the retail business, Frank Bond acquired extensive tracts of land, including the Valle Grande (Baca Location) in the Jemez Mountains. Using this land to raise sheep, he quickly took advantage of the lucrative wool market. His businesses expanded to include wool storage and marketing ventures. In 1925, Bond relocated to Albuquerque, establishing business ventures such as the Wool Warehouse Company with his son, Franklin Bond, and other partners.

Frank Bond & Son was a complex configuration of interlocking businesses and joint ventures. The first business was G. W. Bond & Bro., established in 1883. This mercantile partnership dissolved in 1911, when George moved to Trinidad, Colorado and Frank took sole ownership. By 1893 Frank Bond was investing in land and sheep, operating in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Eventually, he also purchased land in Nebraska to provide winter feed. Bond exploited the local partido system, mortgaging flocks of sheep to partidarios, who paid their debts in raw wool. Bond then sold the raw wool in the East, along with wool purchased from other local growers. In 1914, he began moving sheep and wool interests to central New Mexico, opening the Bond-Connell Sheep and Wool Company in Albuquerque and the Bond-Sargent Sheep Company near Grants.

The Bond retail and wholesale businesses were also active. In addition to the Española store, there was a store in Wagon Mound established by George Bond in 1892. Eventually, smaller branches opened in Cuervo (later the Bond & Wiest Company) and in Roy, N.M. The Bond and Nohl Company took over the general merchandizing activities in 1906, with Louis Nohl managing day to day operations.

Franklin Bond took over as president of Frank Bond & Son when his father died in 1936. He held the vast family interests until his sudden death from illness in 1953. At that time, with no family member able to manage operations, the family began selling off assets and the company was liquidated.

Extent

272 volumes and boxes (62.7 linear feet)

Related Material

Wool Warehouse Company Records Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico William J. Parish Papers Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico Gross, Kelly & Co. Records Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico Charles Ilfeld Company Records Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico

Separated Material

Photographs have been transferred to the Frank Bond & Son Photograph Collection.

Relevant Secondary Sources

  • Grubbs, Frank H. "Frank Bond, Gentleman Sheepherder of Northern New Mexico, 1883-1915." Unpublished thesis, University of New Mexico, 1958.

Processing Information

Box 137 has been discarded.
Title
Finding Aid of the Frank Bond & Son Records, 1870-1958 (bulk 1905-1945)
Status
Completed
Author
Described by K. Ferris
Date
©2000
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English

Revision Statements

  • June 28, 2004: PUBLIC "-//University of New Mexico::Center for Southwest Research//TEXT (US::NmU::MSS 133 BC::Frank Bond & Son Records)//EN" "nmu1mss133bc.sgml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
  • Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.

Repository Details

Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451