Register of the Smith & Lang Co. (Stockton, Calif.) Records, 1910-1947
Processed by Daryl Morrison; revised by Don Walker; machine-readable finding aid created by
Don Walker
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University Library, University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA 95211
Phone: (209) 946-2404
Fax: (209) 946-2810
URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
© 1998
University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Register of the Smith & Lang Co. (Stockton, Calif.) Records, 1910-1947
Collection number: Mss135
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University Library
University of the Pacific
Contact Information
- Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
- University Library, University of the Pacific
- Stockton, CA 95211
- Phone: (209) 946-2404
- Fax: (209) 946-2810
- URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
- Processed by:
- Daryl Morrison; revised by Don Walker
- Date Completed:
- August 1998
- Encoded by:
- Don Walker
© 1998 University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Smith & Lang Co. (Stockton, Calif.) Records,
Date (inclusive): 1910-1947
Collection number: Mss135
Creator:
Hugh Hayes
Extent: 0.5 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Smith & Lang Co. (Stockton, Calif.) Records, Mss135,
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Biography
Smith & Lang was Stockton, Calif.'s oldest department store, established in 1899 by
Alfred B. Lang and John H. Smith. Alfred B. Lang (b.1874), a founding partner, first
worked at the Alexander Chalmers Dry Goods Store where he met another clerk, John H.
Smith, with whom he opened a store at 124 E. Main. The company was incorporated in 1910
and six years later John Smith died leaving Alfred Lang President for over thiry-five
years. The partners took over the Hale Brothers building at Main and San Joaquin Street
(1915) and, in 1939, expanded this structure by an additional 7,700 feet. In July 1945
Smith & Lang was sold to J. Wesley Hearne, a veteran buyer and merchandise manager in
California and New York, and Alfred Lang retired, but Walter Sampson continued as manager
and the name "Smith and Lang" was retained by the new owner. In February 1946 C. M.
Dicker of Redding bought J W Hearne's interest in Smith & Lang and Dicker became the
general manager. By 1950 the company employed 125. On July 22, 1958 Smith & Lang burned
to the ground in a fire called the "worst national mercantile fire of 1958." Insurance
claims totalled $3,000,000. Plans were soon made to rebuild the store and, on August 25,
1959, it reopened in a building designed by Welton, Beckett and Associates of Los
Angeles. In February 1963 Weinstock-Lubin purchased Smith & Lang and the company ceased
business.
Scope and Content
This collection includes the Smith & Lang Co.'s by-laws, a minute book (1910-1947), a
general ledger (1910-1929), stock book (1910-1943), bank statements and checks
(1945-1946), and other financial documents (1922-1946).
CONTAINER LIST
BOX 1: SMITH & LANG CO. RECORDS, 1910-1947
1.1: STAFF RESEARCH FOLDER
-Stockton Record clippings
1.2: SMITH & LANG BY-LAWS
1.3: SMITH & LANG RECORD BOOK, 1910-1947 [pasted in typescript (pp. 1-10); manuscript, 11-78, pasted in typescript (pp.79-87)
-Minutes of incorporation, 1910
-Minutes of monthly meetings, 1916-1947 [incl. resolution to honor memory of John H. Smith who died September 1, 1916; agmt.
to liquidate assets, December 18, 1947]
1.4: STOCK JOURNAL AND LEDGER BOOK, 1910-1929
1.5: BOOK OF STOCK CERTIFICATES, 1910-1943 [manuscript index to shares. Lists date issued, to whom, certificate number, and
number of shares, from 1910 to March 14, 1939]
1.6: BANK STATEMENTS AND RETURNED CHECKS, 1945-1946 [incl. ledger sheets, August through October 1945]
1.7: MISCELLANEOUS FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1922-1944
-Ledger pages of stock certificates issued
-Scattered notes on dividends paid, 1922-26; 1940-44: names, shares & amounts, 12 pp.]
-Memorandum to Mr. Sampson on stock prices, 1-19-39
-Analysis of stocks on March 1, 1940: names, shares, and dividends
-Request for consent to transfer shares to Bessie Smith Sampson and Golden Smith Bainbridge, daughter of Mary A. Smith, deceased,
4-2-41
-Premium Adjustment Statement, Insurance Co. of N. America, 1944-45
-Notes Financial Statement of 1945, cash at $296,084.00
-Bills and misc. documents
-Journal entry: liquidity payment of capital $200,000, 1-15-46
-Bonuses: 1/31/45 to 6/30/45
1.8: BLANK CHECK FORMS: #1816-1851, Bank of America, Stockton, Calif.
