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McLean Brothers Fisheres Company - GLMS 77

Introduction | Organizational History | Scope and Content | Series Description | Order of Microfilming

Introduction

The original company records for this seven microfilm reel collection were loaned to Bowling Green State University for microfilming in 1973 by the Province of Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources. Steven Nepszy coordinated this project for the government of Ontario.

Literary and property rights were dedicated to the public. Photocopying from microfilm is permitted for research purposes.

Organizational History

The turn of the twentieth century witnessed a rapid growth in commercial fishing centered in Ontario's Lake Erie ports. Founded in ca. 1895, Enoch McLean and Son began operations at Wheatley, Ontario in the western end of the lake near the Pelee Peninsula. This company became known as McLean Brothers Fisheries by the 1920s.

The McLean company began as a principal pound net operation for Ontario. Construction of rail lines such as the Tillsonburg, Lake Erie and Pacific Railroad in the 1890s allowed Canadian fishing companies to rapidly ship their catch to distributors. The boom of the 1890s and early 1900s was sparked in large measure by the herring catch. In 1904 a record harvest for herring was noted at 2,644,300 pounds. Records for the fishing industry showed 648 men licensed in the Canadian Lake Erie fisheries in 1904. Increasingly large catches were making substantial incomes available to these men.

George McLean's company in the 1920s followed the trend toward use of steam tugs as replacements for pound nets to improve efficiency of operations. Survival depended on successful economizing in order to meet the competition from other companies.

Increased use of local markets for sale of products was recognized as desirable in efforts to keep greater profits in Canadian hands. In the 1890s the New York City-based Peek Slip Market bought most of the Lake Erie catch and paid the fishing companies a fixed rate determined in annual contracts. The price established by Peek Slip was often subject to change at the expense of the Canadians' fee. Spoilage was often cited as the reason for cutting the share received by McLean Brothers.

Increased mechanization in processing plants in Wheatley and other ports allowed the Canadians to pull away from Peek Slip's control of the market. Large freezing and filleting plants prepared a product that could be shipped by rail quickly to other markets besides New York, eliminating spoilage and forcing buyers to make competitive offers to fishermen.

The McLean Brothers Fisheries company was part of the long term trend on the Great Lakes that saw the dominance in the fishing market of the United States over Canada begin to diminish from 1900 to 1970. Around 1900 the United States harvested 80% of the overall annual catch. This figure stayed around 75% until 1950. The United States portion of the Great Lakes is about 64% of the total. One can see the disproportionate share of the harvest obtained by the United States fishing companies. By 1970 a change had occurred to where 40% of the harvest came from Canada's 36% of the Great Lakes.

The career of fishing companies such as McLean Brothers marked a stable component of Ontario's economy for most of the twentieth century. The Lake Erie fishing industry of the early 1900s was concentrated in the western basin. Despite periodic shifts eastward, the western basin remained the focus of Canadian fishing in Lake Erie. The western Lake Erie fisheries are as relatively important today in Ontario's economy as they were in the 1880s or 1890s. Wheatley, Ontario is reportedly the largest freshwater fish-processing center in the world.

Scope and Content

This collection of seven microfilm reels of records for the McLean Brothers Fisheries Company in Wheatley, Ontario documents the activities of a Canadian Lake Erie fishing company for the years 1908-1960. Account records form the largest segments of the collection. Reels 1-5 contain forty-eight Fish Account Books for 1908-1956. These volumes records the sale of fish by the McLean Brothers to companies distributing the catch to consumers. Reels 5-7 contain thirty-one Day Books recording office expenses for company operations from 1928-1960. Six Wage Books for 1923-1955 list employees and wages on reel 7.

Smaller series present scattered information on the fishing industry. Correspondence for 1920-1952 discusses fish sales, supply purchases and stock sales. Income tax returns for 1917-1934 provide the reader with a view of the measure of success the company achieved. Gasoline tax refund information for 1935-1939, 1952-1956 describes a Canadian tax benefit available to commercial gasoline purchasers. Miscellaneous employee and supply purchase records for 1946-1956 complete the collection.

The time span covered by the account records offers a lengthy view into the expenses faced by a Great Lakes fishing company and the changes in the catch species over a forty-eight year period.

Series Description

FINANCIAL RECORDS

FISH ACCOUNT BOOKS 1-48
1908-1956
Reels 1-5
Arranged chronologically
Series contains account information regarding purchases of fish from the McLean Brothers Company of Wheatley, Ontario by other companies involved in distribution of fish to markets. Company account records show dates of purchases, purchaser, type of fish sold, quantity sold, and price. Internal accounts of daily expenses are present reflecting purchases of groceries, equipment and other daily items.

DAY BOOKS 1-31
1928-1960
Reels 5-7
Arranged chronologically
Series contains a daily record of company activities that notes trips taken by company staff, purchases of supplies and weather observations.

WAGE BOOKS 1-6
1923-1955
Reel 7
Arranged chronologically
Series contains employee names, pay periods worked, and amounts paid for the period. Some employee records also describe the nature of the work performed. The number of dependents is listed on 1940s sheets.

CORRESPONDENCE
1920-1952
Reel 7
Arranged chronologically
Series contains scattered correspondence regarding sales of fish, purchases of supuplies, and stock sales.

INCOME TAX RETURNS
1917-1934
Reel 7
Arranged chronologically
Series contains Dominion of Canada Income Tax forms for the McLean Brothers Company.

GASOLENE TAX REFUND APPLICATIONS
1935, 1939, 1952-1956
Reel 7
Arranged chronologically
Series contains applications for refunds of the gasoline tax paid in Canada by commercial enterprises.

MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS
1946-1956
Reel 7
Arranged chronologically
Series contains scattered employment records and financial documents for company supply purchases. Two maps of the Lake Erie region noting the operating area of the McLean Brothers Company are included.

Order of Microfilming

Reel 1: Fish Account Books 1-6, 1908-1920

Volumes

  1. V. 1, 04-12-1908 to 10-30-1911
  2. V. 2, 04-26-1912 to 12-03-1913
  3. V. 3, 04-11-1910 to 05-16-1912
  4. V. 4, 04-28-1914 to 11-21-1917
  5. V. 5, 04-19-1916 to 12-1927
  6. V. 6, 04-19-1918 to 12-02-1920

Reel 2: Fish Account Books 7-20, 1922-1933

Folders

  1. V. 7, undated entries to 12-1924
  2. V. 8, 05-22-1922 to 12-10-1924
  3. V. 9, 04-01-1924 to 04-13-1926
  4. V. 10, 10-01-1924 to 10-27-1928
  5. V. 11, 03-26-1926 to 12-05-1927
  6. V. 12, 05-07-1926 to 12-05-1927
  7. V. 13, 03-17-1928 to 03-12-1929
  8. V. 14, 03-11-1929 to 12-07-1929
  9. V. 15, 03-06-1930 to 03-14-1931
  10. V. 16, 03-05-1931 to 12-18-1931
  11. V. 17, 05-01-1931 to 12-01-1931
  12. V. 18, 03-03-1932 to 12-10-1932
  13. V. 19, 04-16-1932 to 11-29-1932
  14. V. 20, 03-03-1933 to 12-01-1933

Reel 3: Fish Account Books, 21-32, 1933-1941

Volumes

  1. V. 21, 04-14-1933 to 12-01-1933
  2. V. 22, 04-24-1934 to 12-05-1934
  3. V. 23, 03-14-1934 to 12-05-1934
  4. V. 24, 03-12-1935 to 12-04-1935
  5. V. 25, 04-18-1935 to 12-04-1935
  6. V. 26, 03-20-1936 to 12-04-1936
  7. V. 27, 04-17-1936 to 21-03-1936
  8. V. 28, 03-04-1937 to 12-04-1937
  9. V. 29, 03-07-1938 to 12-15-1938
  10. V. 30, 03-03-1939 to 12-20-1939
  11. V. 31, 04-06-1940 to 12-16-1940
  12. V. 32, 03-14-1941 to 12-13-1941

Reel 4: Fish Account Books, 33-43, 1942-1950

Volumes

  1. V. 33, 03-10-1942 to 12-05-1942
  2. V. 34, 04-20-1943 to 06-07-1944
  3. V. 35, 03-23-1943 to 12-07-1943
  4. V. 36, 04-1943 to 05-1945
  5. V. 37, 03-25-1944 to 12-14-1944
  6. V. 38, 03-10-1945 to 12-04-1945
  7. V. 39, 03-13-1946 to 12-06-1946
  8. V. 40, 03-21-1947 to 12-08-1947
  9. V. 41, 03-20-1948 to 12-11-1948
  10. V. 42, 03-07-1949 to 12-09-1949
  11. V. 43, 04-01-1950 to 12-02-1950

Reel 5: Fish Account Books, 43-48, 1951-1956 and Day Books 1-8, 1928-1935

Volumes

  1. V. 43, 04-01-1950 to 12-02-1950
  2. V. 44, 03-22-1951 to 12-10-1951
  3. V. 45, 04-01-1952 to 12-03-1952
  4. V. 46, 03-24-1953 to 21-112-1953
  5. V. 47, 03-29-1954 to 12-11-1954
  6. V. 48, 04-01-1955 to 12-06-1956
  7. Daybook, v 1, 01-02-1928 to 12-31-1928
  8. Daybook, v 2, 01-02-1930 to 12-30-1932
  9. Daybook, v 3, 01-02-1930 to 01-03-1931
  10. Daybook, v 4, 01-01-1931 to 01-07-1932
  11. Daybook, v 5, 01-01-1932 to 01-04-1933
  12. Daybook, v 6, 01-02-1933 to 12-26-1936
  13. Daybook, v 7, 01-02-1933 to 01-12-1934
  14. Daybook, v 8, 01-01-1934 to 01-07-1935

Reel 6: Daybooks 8-26, 1934-1951

Volumes

  1. V. 8, 01-01-1934 to 01-07-1935
  2. V. 9, 01-01-1935 to 12-28-1935
  3. V. 10, Missing from original collection
  4. V. 11, 01-03-1936 to 12-26-1936
  5. V. 12, 01-01-1937 to 12-28-1940
  6. V. 13, 01-01-1937 to 12-31-1937
  7. V. 14, 01-03-1938 to 12-30-1938
  8. V. 15, 0-1-2-1939 to 01-03-1940
  9. V. 16, 01-01-1940 to 12-28-1940
  10. V. 17, 01-01-1941 to 12-31-1941
  11. V. 18, 01-01-1942 to 12-30-1942
  12. V. 19, 01-01-1943 to 01-03-1944
  13. V. 20, 01-01-1944 to 12-30-1944
  14. V. 21, 01-02-1945 to 12-31-1945
  15. V. 22, 01-01-1946 to 01-02-1947
  16. V. 23, 01-02-1947 to 12-31-1947
  17. V. 24, 01-01-1948 to 12-31-1948
  18. V. 25, 01-03-1949 to 12-31-1949
  19. V. 26, 01-01-1950 to 01-02-1951

Reel 7: Daybooks 27-31, 1951-1960; Income Tax Returns, 1917-1934; Wage Books 1-6, 1923-1955; Correspondence 9-27-1920 to 02-11-1952; Gasoline Tax Papers; Miscellaneous Papers

Volumes

  1. Daybooks, v 27, 01-01-1951 to 12-31-1951
  2. Daybooks, v 28, 01-02-1952 to 12-31-1952
  3. Daybooks, v 29, 01-02-1953 to 12-31-1953
  4. Daybooks, v 30, 01-04-1954 to 12-31-1954
  5. Daybooks, v 31, 01-03-1956 to 12-31-1960
  6. Wage Books, v 1, 01-01-1923 to 12-27-1927
  7. Wage Books, v 2, 03-01-1943 to 12-20-1946
  8. Wage Books, v 3, 01-01-1947 to 12-17-1949
  9. Wage Books, v 4, 01-28-1958 to 12-16-1950
  10. Wage Books, v 5, 01-06-1951 to 12-27-1951
  11. Wage Books, v 6, 01-21-1952 to 12-09-1955
  12. Correspondence, 09-27-1920 to 02-11-1952
  13. Income Tax Returns, 1917-1934
  14. Gasoline Tax Papers, 1935, 1939, 1952-1956
  15. Miscellaneous Papers, 1946-1956

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