J. Roberts Haggart Papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss 247

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The J. Roberts Haggart Papers chronicles the lives of two families important in the history of Fargo the Haggart family and the Roberts family. The sons of J. Roberts and Marjory Haggart donated the materials to the Institute for Regional Studies after their mother’s death and the sale of the home at South 8th Street. The collection has been arranged into four series; Haggart Family Series, Roberts Family Series, J. Roberts & Marjory Archer Haggart Series, and Subject Files Series. All of these with the exception of the Subject Files Series have been broken down into subseries and organized alphabetically by subject. The Haggart Family Series contains a subseries for Gilbert W. Haggart, and a subseries for the Haggart family. The Gilbert W. Haggart Subseries contains two handwritten accounts by Gilbert W. Haggart regarding his life and some information about his siblings, and about his life and the history of the Roberts Haggart house. The Birth Certification is an affidavit signed by Betsy J. Haggart confirming the date and location of Gilbert’s birth. The Certificate of Election concerns Gilbert Haggart’s winning of the election for senator from the 9th district of North Dakota on November 7, 1916. The diaries of Gilbert are for the years 1953, 1954 and 1958. These diaries are far from complete and contain only daily activities rather than personal thoughts. The North Dakota State Senate Memorial Resolution No. 2, 1967, is a copy of a bill passed to recognize former North Dakota senators who passed away during that year. Gilbert W. Haggart is included on this list. There are three stock certificates belonging to Mr. Haggart, for the North Dakota State Fair Association, Bismarck Country Club, and the Northern Transit Company of Fargo. The Haggart Family Subseries has a correspondence file that contains letters and telegrams to and from members of the Haggart family, ranging from the years 1926 to 1969. Notable items are a series of telegrams to Ruth Haggart regarding the death of her father in California, and a series of letters from Joseph W. Jackson to Gilbert Haggart regarding Alexander McKenzie. The diaries of Ruth Roberts Haggart are for the years 1917, 1925, and 1929. The 1929 diary is for the last year of Mrs. Haggart’s life. In the back of the diary she made a list of things that she wanted done upon her death and is rather heartrending to read. The next folder has an article from the Masonic Grand Lodge Bulletin, for September and October 1933. The article is entitled, “The First ‘Civilian’ Mason Raised in North Dakota,” and is in regard to John Eldridge Haggart’s early membership with the Shiloh Lodge No. 105. The Genealogy file has changes and additions to the Haggart family genealogy chart (Ephemera Collection of the Institute for Regional Studies, Folio HI.G46), also included in this folder are the wills of some Haggart family ancestors. These are typewritten transcriptions of the wills of Daniel Haggart, Sr. and John L. Putman from Montgomery County, New York. Correspondence between J. Roberts Haggart and his cousin Larry Hughes regarding the Haggart family history is included with the wills. The Newspaper Clippings folder has clippings regarding the families of John E. Haggart and Gilbert W. Haggart. The Roberts Family Series is divided into two subseries. The materials of Mrs. Samuel G. Robert’s father, is found in the Joseph Balls Subseries. He came to live with the family in the later years of his life. The Business expenses file contains a hand written note that lists Joseph Balls’ business expenses for the year 1846. The Correspondence file has letters to Joseph Balls ranging from years 1847 to 1890. Notable among these letters are a series of letters from his brother Benjamin and sister Mary Bowers, back in Carbrooke, Norfolk, England. The Estate papers of Samuel Haylett to Joseph Balls & Sarah Haylett Balls are original documents from 1846, due to the nature of the handwriting they are very difficult to read. There is one page of information regarding Joseph Balls and his descendants in the Genealogy folder. The Land patent, Wright County, Minnesota file holds a land patent awarded to Joseph Ball for his service in the New Mexico Volunteers, in the Apache Indian Disturbances. The Roberts Family Subseries holds information on the families of Samuel G. Roberts and others with a Roberts’ kinship. The Correspondence folder has one letter dated July 16, 1868, a letter to Augustus Roberts from his father. This is a rather interesting letter in which young Augustus is given some fatherly advice. The Court Certification folder holds three certificates allowing Samuel G. Roberts to practice law in the North Dakota State Supreme Court, District Court and Circuit Court of the United States for North Dakota. Samuel G. Roberts was granted guardianship of the daughters of Frank Marsh, upon his death in California in 1914. Frank Marsh had been a prominent Fargo businessman, the co-owner of Marsh and Loomis Livery. These guardianship papers are located within this subseries. Another interesting item in this subseries is the Household Expense Book of Ruth Roberts and her half sister, May Baldwin. This book shows the prices of household items in Fargo’s early frontier days from 1872 to 1907. The handwritten speech that Jennie Roberts delivered at the dedication of the second Presbyterian church in Fargo on September 23, 1906 is found in another folder. The Roberts family was very active in the Presbyterian church in Fargo, donating land for the church site. Jennie Roberts also appears to have been active in the founding of the Fargo Y.M.C.A. Mrs. Roberts is called “the mother of the Fargo Y.M.C.A.” in a speech transcript found within the last folder of this series. The J. Roberts & Marjory Archer Haggart Series contains material that deals specifically with the lives of this Fargo couple. This series has been broken down into three subseries: J. Roberts Haggart, Marjory Archer Haggart, and Family. The J. Roberts Haggart Subseries has a nearly complete set of diaries from the years 1921 to 1978, with the exception of the years 1923, 1935, 1961, 1962 and 1968. Mss 247 J. Roberts Haggart Papers Page 4 of 7 These diaries contain day-to-day events rather than personal feelings. A folder containing school memorabilia for Mr. Haggart’s high school and college years can be found within this subseries. Notable items in this folder are his 1919 Fargo High School Commencement program and his Certificate of Admission to Dartmouth College in 1919. In the Marjory Archer Haggart Subseries there are materials regarding her fiftieth class reunion for Central High in 1979. This consists of a reunion program a newspaper clipping, and a letter from classmate Jeanne Simmons of Chester, Connecticut. Updates on Marjorie’s college classmates can be found among the materials from the fiftieth reunion of the NDAC class of 1933. Other memorabilia from Marjorie’s high school and college years can be found in her school memorabilia folder. Items included are programs, her high school diploma, issues of the Spectrum, and the issue of Dakota Student that she edited. Two term papers she authored include “Naturalism in Selected Titles of Sinclair Lewis and Sherwood Anderson” and “Mr. Music Maker”. There are two scrapbooks in this collection, one dealing with the debate squad of Fargo Central High from 1963 to 1971. Marjory Haggart served as the debate coach. The second scrapbook is for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration for North Dakota, September 1934 – May 1935, when she served as assistant to its public relations director. In the Family Subseries, two folders contain information relating to both J. Roberts and Marjory Haggart. First the correspondence file contains letters ranging from the years 1928 to 1970. Within this file is a set of letters to J. Roberts from his mother; at the time she was a patient at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. The newspaper clipping file contains clippings about J. Roberts and Marjory as well as the Archer family. The final series in this collection is the Subject Files Series. The first file in this series contains “The Ballad of the Manse” by Rev. Granville R. Pike of first Presbyterian Church of Fargo. Rev. Pike served the Fargo congregation from the years 1888 to 1893, a period that was marked by difficult economic times for this parish. In 1892 a special canvass was set up to pay the $1,500 mortgage on the manse. This ballad was written to commemorate this time in the churches history. Another file has a copy of the Fargo Public Libraries new booklist for 1965. The cover of this booklist features a drawing of the Roberts Haggart house. In the next folder there is a program from the “Historic Pageant of the Red River Valley”, in which Gilbert Haggart played a bit part as his father. The Memorial cards file holds a mixture of funeral cards from members of the Haggart, Roberts and Archer families. Also located in this series is a 1916 annual pass issued to the Courier-News, Fargo, N.D. for the Northern League of Professional Base Ball Clubs. The last folder in this series has two Shiloh Lodge calendars for April 1927 and September 1967.

Dates

1840s-1980s

Creator

Haggart, J. Roberts (John Roberts), 1901-1979. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The Institute owns the copyrights.

Biography

John Roberts Haggart was born September 22, 1901 in Fargo, N.D. He graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1919, received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1923, and his master's in business administration from Tuck School of Business in 1924. Mr. Haggart was president of Haggart Construction until 1970, when he closed the business and became a Certified Public Accountant. He had been president of the Associated General Contractors of North Dakota, a member of several service organizations, and the Fargo Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Haggart married Marjory Archer, September 1936, and had two sons, Gilbert and James. Mr. Haggart died in Fargo on March 19, 1979. Mrs. Haggart was born in Finley, N.D. on December 10, 1911. She graduated from Fargo Central High in 1929, and NDAC in 1933. She later returned to NDSU in 1964 and received a master’s degree in English. She taught English for fourteen years at Fargo Central High School. She passed away on January 28, 1988 in Fargo. Gilbert W. Haggart, father of John Roberts, was born January 18, 1876, and was the first white male born in the Fargo city limits. He established Haggart Construction Co. in Fargo. He served in the North Dakota state senate from 1917 to 1920. He died in Fargo in 1967. John Roberts' mother was the former Ruth Roberts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel G. Roberts, pioneers of the city. She graduated from the Fargo public schools, and attended the University of Minnesota. Mrs. Haggart was prominent in social activities here for many years, including the Round Table Study Club. She died in 1929. His paternal grandfather, John E. Haggart, was a North Dakota U.S. Marshal, a Cass County sheriff, and a state senator from 1889 to 1898. His maternal grandfather, Samuel G. Roberts, was involved in the Territorial Council, and a prominent Fargo lawyer. Both of J. Roberts Haggart’s grandfathers were influential in the location of the North Dakota Agricultural College in Fargo.

Extent

3.2 Linear Feet (3.2 linear feet)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Collection of an influential Fargo family who brought the North Dakota Agricultural College to Fargo.

Provenance

Donated by Gilbert A. Haggart and James R. Haggart, 1989 (Acc. 2247).

Separation Record

The following items were removed from the J. Roberts Haggart Collection and have been sent to the section indicated.

Photographs

758 photographs separated into the J. Roberts Haggart Family Photograph Collection, Photo 2041 Broadsides

Haggart family genealogy chart into the Ephemera Collection of the Institute for Regional Studies, Folio HI.G46