Dayton Manufacturing Company Records

The records within the Dayton Manufacturing Company fall into six series: (1) Administrative Records; (2) Legal Records; (3) Financial Records; (4) Miscellaneous Records; (5) Oversized Records; and (6) Photographic Material.

Series 1 contains reports about the activities of the Dayton Manufacturing Company. Included in these records are the amount of Car Lamps shipped from 1887, Trustee's statements of patent royalties, Employee oaths which declare their monthly reports to be accurate and true, and quarterly and annual reports to outside companies and the State of Ohio. These records span from 1887-1909.

Series 2 is comprised of agreements and contracts between the Dayton Manufacturing Company and outside companies. The majority of the legal documents concern the ownership of, petitions for, or royalties from patents. These materials date from 1895-1929.

Series 3 consists of various financial reports including: inventories, stock reports, loan notes, and commission reports, and covers from 1897-1919.

Series 4 contains various types of records, among them the records of companies with which the Dayton Manufacturing Company did business. These companies include: A.J. English Company, H.C. Hart Manufacturing Company, U.S. Headlight Company, and Covington Brass Manufacturing Company. Also included in this series are the licensing, manufacturing, and sales reports of Car Lamps and Signal Lamps by the various companies, miscellaneous newspaper articles, and a biography of General Manager John Kirby, Jr. An important component of this series is the documentation concerning the Metal Polisher's Union strike from 1900-1901. These records contain names of union members and their addresses, police blotters with brief accounts of Union demonstrations, and details of attacks on replacement workers and boycotts of non-Union establishments. The newspaper articles contain information about the legal action taken against the Dayton Manufacturing Company and the striking Union members. The documents date from 1867-1901.

Series 5 provides information about the daily operating activities of the Dayton Manufacturing Company through ledgers, journals, and other financial records. The documents date from 1883 to 1956.

Series 6 contains 11 glass plate negatives of an unknown neighborhood. The photographs are of houses, street scenes, and people. The negatives are undated, but based on the people's dress appear to be of the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.