Ebenezer Magoffin Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss 950

Staff Only

Scope and Content

This collection consists of correspondence and subject files arranged alphabetically. In the correspondence is ·a letter of introduction as Senate page, letters in regard to a land title and the Monango Store name change and personal correspondence from friends and relatives. The correspondence is all incoming and arranged chronologically. There's also numerous correspondence in regard to his role as executor of the Joseph Handel estate.

In the subject files is biographical information on the Magoffin, Thomson and Northrop families. There's a velvet bound autograph book from 1884, also several notebooks and diaries of Amy Magoffin from 1890 and 1939 to 1949. There's material on the 1937-39 North Dakota State Legislature including bills, rules and a speech by Governor Moses. Among historical material from Dickey County is much on the Battle of Whitestone Hill. There's a Record book from the Keystone Bond - 1888. There are numerous teacher's certificates and contracts, 1889-1902 and material from Spencerian Business College. Of interest are a Mason's certificate, ca. 1840, an 1858 widow's army pension certificate, Confederate army passes, old veterinary remedies, an 1868 mortgage, and a boyhood "business book” of Mr. Magoffin from 1881. There are ledgers and papers from the Modern Woodmen and the Monango Cash Store. Among the financial papers is the contract from the Cheese Factory, wills, stocks and deeds. There are also numerous papers from the Handel Estate especially regarding some Canadian land. Also, of note is a book of routes of the U.S. Post Office, 1884-1888.

Dates

1840-1958.

Creator

Magoffin, Ebenezer, 1868-1953. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSU Archives.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection is held by the NDSU Archives.

Biographical sketch

Ebenezer Magoffin was born in Missouri on November 4,1868 to Beriah and Manlius Magoffin. He was descended from Governor Beriah Magoffin of Kentucky, and General David Thomson. These were wealthy slaveholding families until the Civil War. In 1883 the family moved to Washington, D.C., and then to Dakota Territory near Redfield, South Dakota where Beriah Magoffin had contracts on several mail routes. During 1883-84 Ebenezer served as a page boy in the U.S. House of Representatives and also attended Spencerian Business College. In 1886 the family moved to Monango in Dickey County and established the Monango Mercantile Cash Co. In 1895 they established briefly the Magoffin and Son Cheeze Factory. In June 1897 Mr. Magoffin married Fannie Helferty of Monango and they had a daughter, Fannie. In 1898 his wife died, and in 1902 he married Amy Northrop, a teacher. She was the daughter of Theodorus Northrop, a Dickey County pioneer and a member of North Dakota's Constitutional Convention. They had one daughter, Lois. Mr. Magoffin died January 31, 1953 in Evanston, Illinois and Amy Magoffin died ca. March 28, 1957 in Texas. They are both buried in Monango.

Mr. Magoffin was camp clerk and Secretary of Modern Woodmen of America for over 50 years going back to 1893. He was elected State Senator from Dickey County on the Democratic ticket in 1936 and 1938. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Monango and a Mason.

Extent

1.2 Linear Feet (1.2 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Ebenezer Magoffin was a merchant and state legislator, of Monango, N.D.

Provenance

Donated by Fannie E. Magoffin, 1958 (Acc. 950).

Separated Materials - Photographs (Photo 2202)

2 photographs, Manlius V. Thomson and Mary A. Thomson, Lexington, Kentucky

1 photograph Lieut. Governor Jack Patterson

1 album - photos from Civil War period of Magoffin family in Kentucky and Missouri, and of many government leaders and generals of the Confederacy. (44 photos)