Herschel Bullen, Sr. was born January 10, 1840 in Mercer, Maine to Newell and Clarissa Judkins Atkinson Bullen. In 1846 the Bullen family set sail on the Brooklyn for San Francisco, California, and upon landing, traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah to join Mormon pioneers. In 1858 Hershel’s father died, leaving Herschel responsible for the family’s financial needs. In 1861 the Bullen family relocated to the developing settlement that later became Richmond, Utah. During the 1860s Hershel became involved with Richmond’s “Dramatic Circle”, a group of theatricals that often traveled throughout Cache Valley performing such acts as “Ten Nights in a Bar Room”.
On March 28, 1868 Herschel married Lydia Malinda Knapp, a Welch immigrant, in Farmington, Utah. They had one child, Lorenzo, before they separated/divorced in the spring of 1870. During that same spring, on February 8, 1870, Hershel married Emma Boston Gibbs in Salt Lake City, Utah. They later had two children, Herschel Jr. and Nellie. Tragedy struck the family on October 1, 1873 when Emma died. Three years later, on October 1, 1876 Herschel married again, this time to Mary Josephine Whittle in Logan, Utah. Together they had seven children, Roy, Pearl, Cyrus, Emma, Asa, Bryant, and Edith.
During the 1870s Herschel found work freighting goods between Utah and Montana. Since railroad construction was increasing in the West, Herschel formed a partnership with Samuel A. Hendricks and operated a railroad grading company, often working contracts throughout the western United States. Herschel also acquired and maintained a large farm in Cache Valley where he raised crops and livestock. By the 1890s Herschel became involved in land speculation and the Republican party, serving as a member of the State Board of Land Commissioners from 1900 to 1910. Herschel Bullen, Sr. died on June 27, 1910 in Richmond.
Source:
Bair, Amos, W. History of Richmond, Utah, The Richmond Bicentennial Committee, 1976 (this book can be found at USU Special Collections & Archives under the call number: 979.27 R415).
Provenance Note:
The papers of Herschel Bullen, Sr. were donated to USU Special Collections & Archives by Reed Bullen (a grandson of Herschel Sr.) in 1991
Scope & Content Note:
This 10 box collection contains the papers of the pioneer industrialist Herschel Bullen, Sr. The materials in this collection consist of correspondence, personal papers, legal documents, financial papers, and various other materials. Nearly half of the materials in this collection consist of Bullen’s financial papers, providing a detailed account of the financial status and economic dealings of one of Richmond’s early settlers.
Boxes 1—3 contain Bullen’s bank statements from 1886—1910. Box 4 consists of booklets that contain a detailed and often daily log of Bullen’s financial dealings from 1878—1908. Boxes 5—7 contain a variety of personal papers, legal documents, financial papers/booklets, and LDS materials. Box 8 contains Bullen’s correspondence and papers while serving as a member of the State Board of Land Commissioners (1900—1910). Box 9 contains Bullen’s personal and business correspondence (separated into outgoing and incoming). Bullen’s outgoing correspondence has been organized chronologically. Incoming correspondence has been organized alphabetically by the surname name of the sender. In addition, Box 9, Fd 8 contains the incoming correspondence (1848—1878) to Clarissa Bullen, the mother of Herschel Bullen, Sr. Box 10 contains 40 check registers/account registers spanning the years from 1880 to 1910.
Note: Researcher interested in the Bullen family should also see USU Special Collections & Archives, Coll Mss 178: The Herschel Bullen, Jr. Papers.
Inventory
Box 1: H. Bullen, Sr.’s financial papers with the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company.
Fd 1: 1886—1900
Fd 2: 1901, January—May.
Fd 3: 1901, June—August.
Fd 4: 1901, September—December.
Fd 5: 1902, January—May.
Fd 6: 1902, June—September.
Fd 7: 1902, October—December.
Fd 8: 1903, January—May.
Fd 9: 1903, June—December.
Fd 10: 1904, January—August.
Fd 11: 1904, September—December.
Fd 12: 1905, January—April.
Fd 13: 1905, May—August.
Fd 14: 1905, September—December.
Fd 15: 1906, January—April.
Fd 16: 1906, May—August.
Fd 17: 1906, September—December.
Box 2:
H. Bullen, Sr.’s financial papers with the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company (1907—1910) and financial papers of Roy Bullen, 1908.
Fd 1: 1907, January—April.
Fd 2: 1907, May—August.
Fd 3: 1907, September—December.
Fd 4: 1908, January—March.
Fd 5: 1908, April—June.
Fd 6: 1908, July—December.
Fd 7: 1909—1910.
Fd 8-9: 1908, Roy Bullen.
Box 3: H. Bullen, Sr.’s financial papers with the State Bank of Richmond.
Fd 1: 1908
Fd 2: 1909, January—April.
Fd 3: 1909, May—August.
Fd 4: 1909, September—December.
Fd 5: 1910, January—April.
Fd 6: 1910, May—December.
Box 4: H. Bullen, Sr.’s financial notebooks.
Fd 1: Expense record for 1884, horse team purchases.
Fd 2: Expense record for 1876—1893, primarily dealings with individuals.
Fd 3: Expense record for 1884—1887, purchases.
Fd 4: Expense record for 1882—1886.
Fd 5: Expense record and papers for 1890—1893.
Fd 6: Expense record and papers for 1901—1904, primarily
dealings with State Board of Land Commissioners.
Fd 7: Expense record and papers for 1888—1895, primarily travel expenses.
Fd 8: Expense record for 1885—1888.
Fd 9: Expense record for “June 1881”, hay, farm, and other material purchases.
Fd 10: Expense record and papers for work done on the Denver
Rio Grande & Western Railroad and the Oregon Short Line Railroad.
Fd 11: Expense record 1900—1908, primarily dealings with individuals.
Fd 12: Record, farm labors and other, 1902—1905.
Box 5:
H. Bullen, Sr.’s personal, legal, and business papers.
Fd 1: Finishing contract for Bullen home.
Fd 2: Records of expenses for home construction
Fd 3:Bills, Rocky Mountain Telephone Company, (one bill for damages caused by Bullen’s “hay wreck,”)
Fd 4: Bills and statements, High Creek Electric Company.
Fd 5: Bills and correspondence, concerning insurance.
Fd 6: Bill, from a harness-maker, J. W. Cotterell, and Fister & Nielson.
Fd 7: Bills, Consolidated Implement Company.
Fd 8: Bills and statements, Consolidated Wagon & Machine Company.
Fd 9: LDS membership papers, genealogy for J. C. Whittle, legal documents concerning Whittle, correspondence of Whittle.
Fd 10: People’s Mercantile & Creamery Company, pamphlet and statement.
Fd 12: Tithing receipts from Bishop’s Store House in Richmond, 1899—1907.
Fd 13: Contract, between Bullen and Alexander Harris, mule and wagon sale, 1876.
Fd 14: Correspondence, concerning real-estate.
Fd 15: Railroad passes: Oregon Short Line, San Pedro, Los Angles, Salt Lake, Rio Grande Western, San Pete Valley Railway, and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company.
Fd 16: Papers, concerning the Coveville Horse Company.
Fd 17: Statement of blacksmiths in Richmond.
Fd 18: By-laws of Western Loan & Savings Company.
Fd 19: Drawing book, compliments of Zion’s Savings Bank & Trust Company (children’s coloring book).
Fd 20: Map, Township and County of Washington State, J. K. Grill & Company, Portland, 1887, and map/guide of Washington DC, 1905.
Fd 7: Paper/receipts concerning the Richmond Irrigation Company, 1890s.
Fd 8: Judgment & Decree in: H. Bullen, Sr. vs. the Cub River Irrigation Company, 1910.
Fd 9: Legal document, document/letter to Bishop’s Court of Richmond: the Richmond Pasture Company vs. (no name appears), 1897.
Fd 10: Certificate of Stock, 6,250 shares invested in the “Richmond Mine”, 1893.
Fd 11: Vaccination papers of Bullen family and other health related papers.
Fd 12: Financial record of dealing of Newell Bullen and H. Bullen, Sr., 1901—1905.
Fd 13: Bullen children school papers (report cards, financial papers, records).
Fd 14: The Daily Bulletin, March 1909 (numerous issues), discussing H. Bullen, Jr.
Fd 15: “Republican Campaign, 1900” booklet, with handwritten records.
Fd 16: Four farm booklets containing records/receipts of Bullen’s financial dealings, 1890s—1910.
Fd 17: Pierce’s Memorandum & Account Book Designed for Farmers, Mechanics, and all People, New York, 1900s (four booklets with notes and a record of Bullen’s financial dealings).
Fd 18: Correspondence and literature concerning “Hill’s Rheumatic &Gout Medicine”, 1894—1901.
Fd 19: Promotional literature, miscellaneous.
Fd 20: Certificate of membership to The Globe Association, 1908.
Fd 21: Bills and receipts from miscellaneous companies, A—K.
Fd 22: Bills and receipts from miscellaneous companies, L—Z.
Fd 23: Notes and papers, miscellaneous.
Fd 24: The Fish & Game Law of the State of Utah, 1909.
Box 7: H. Bullen, Sr. and family personal, legal, and business papers.
Fd 1: Cache County taxes, 1892—1904.
Fd 2: Cache County taxes, 1905—1909.
Fd 3: Tax notices for Salt Lake and Millard Counties, 1902—1911.
Fd 4: Mining deeds and papers, signed by H. Bullen, Jr., 1896 and 1902.
Fd 5: Clarissa J. Bullen’s application for land use in Cache Valley under Desert Lands Act, 1894.
Fd 6: Homestead certificate of Daniel S. Robbins with warranty to H. Bullen, Sr. 1884.
Fd 7: Legal documents/drawings of Bullen’s land in Cache Valley.
Fd 8: Mortgage papers.
Fd 9: Correspondence, legal documents, and papers concerning the H. Bullen, Sr. estate after his death.
Fd 10: Papers concerning the Dry Farm Congress, 1909.
Fd 11: “Recollections of the Pioneer Jubilee”, Salt Lake City, 1897, by Lyle Miller.
Fd 12: “Brief Historical Biography of Herschel Bullen”, by J. W. Bullen.
Box 8: H. Bullen, Sr.’s papers concerning the State Board of Land Commissioners.
Fd 1: Pamphlet, “Rules of Procedure of State Board of Land Commissioners, Salt Lake City, 1897”.
Fd 2: Correspondence, 1901.
Fd 3: Correspondence, 1902.
Fd 4: Correspondence, 1904—1905.
Fd 5: Crop reporter reports (filed by H. Bullen, Sr.), 1905.
Fd 6: Crop reporter reports, 1906.
Fd 7: Crop reporter reports, 1907.
Fd 8: Crop reporter reports, 1908.
Fd 9: Crop reporter reports, 1909.
Fd 10: Crop reporter reports, 1910.
Box 9:
Outgoing and incoming correspondence.
Fd 1: Outgoing, 1862—1901.
Fd 2: Incoming, Bullen, Herschel Jr., 1894—1906.
Fd 3: Incoming, A—G.
Fd 4: Incoming, H—L.
Fd 5: Incoming, M—R.
Fd 6: Incoming, S—Z.
Fd 7: Correspondence associated with Bullen family, 1886—1901.
Fd 8: Incoming correspondence of Clarissa Bullen (mother of H. Bullen, Sr.), 1848—1878.
Fd 9: Letter/tribute concerning the death of Emma Bullen, 1892.
Fd 10: Incoming correspondence of Marry J. Bullen, 1909.
Box 10: Bankbooks, check registers, and other financial record booklets, 1886—1910.
For more information: 435/797-2663; Manuscript Librarian.
Special Collections & Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University Libraries, Utah State University 84322-3000
