The Cow Butter Store operated in downtown Tacoma at or near the corner of Pacific Avenue and Jefferson Avenue for 52 years, from 1892 to 1944. The owner and proprietor, James A. Sproule (1865-1949), an immigrant from Ireland, arrived in Tacoma after having apprenticed in the grocery business in Liverpool, England. He was en route to Australia where his sister lived when he discerned the advantages of starting a business in Tacoma. In 1914 he leased his store for two years and traveled to New South Wales, visited his sister, and promoted Tacoma as a place name there.
Mr. Sproule was active in civic affairs and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1910. He belonged to many fraternal organizations, including Woodmen of the World and the Improved Order of Red Men. When the question of the 1885 Chinese expulsion from Tacoma was revisited in 1895, he served as one of three replacements in the Committee of Fifteen. He was president of the Mount Tacoma Club, which lobbied for changing the name of Mount Rainier, and summited the mountain in 1903. He served as vice president of the Washington chapter of the American Medical Liberty League, and maintained a stance against mandatory vaccination.
He was married in 1893 to Eliza Eccles (circa 1868-1928), and had two children. A daughter Eliza, known as Ella or Babsie (1895-1999), married F. Bernard Wright. He established Wright Western Marine, a marine supply business now known as Tacoma Propeller. His son Jasper Edward, known as Ed (1899-1960) operated Ed Sproule’s Butter Store from 1925-1936 at 1110-1114 Pacific Avenue.
Published
Includes business ledgers containing financial information, store inventories, and other information about the operations of the Cow Butter Store. These ledgers also contain a wide range of enclosed material including correspondence, newspaper clippings, writings, and ephemera.
Ledgers have been arranged chronologically. Loose enclosures have been removed and rehoused in files. The material removed from each ledger may not correspond to the dates of the ledger from which they were removed.
Arranged and described by Ruth Keller, November 2021.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received.
Published
Includes receipts.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received.
Published
Includes publication titled "Board of Trustees' Report on Sites Proposed for Tacoma's New Hotel", miscellaneous receipts and letters
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received. Includes pages labelled" Cash Book for 1896" and "Cash Sales for 1897". Advertisement for Cow Butter Store from 1892 pasted in back cover.
Published
Includes miscellaneous receipts and clippings.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received. Includes record of stocktaking, January 1, 1898
Published
Includes page of Cow Butter Store letterhead with book and article titles written in pencil.
Published
Contains listing of wholesale accounts, including A. Archangelsky of Sitka, Alaska and Annie Wright Seminary
Published
Includes letter/questionaire from E.A. McDonald, Office of State Dairy Commissioner, Tacoma.
Published
Includes daily totals of cash sales, incidental weather and notations of current events.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received.
Published
Includes receipt from Northwest Wigwam Association for shares of stock.
Published
Contains listing of wholesale accounts.
Published
Includes letter from Tacoma Retail Grocers' Protective Association.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 2, 1901.
Published
Includes returned check and page titled "Bills Not Collected"
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 2, 1902
Published
Includes brochure titled "Memorial Ceremony of the Improved Order of Red Men Commemorating the Anniversary of the Death of George Washington, 14th Sleep, Hunting Moon (Dec. 14th)", two tickets to a social time at Red Men's Hall, section of the Tacoma New Herald, August 20, 1904 and The West Coast Trade, September 24, 1903.
Published
Contains listing of wholesale accounts, page titled "Money Paid on Reservation [unclear] Road".
Published
Includes pages No.2, No.3 and No. 4 issued by Tacoma Mercantile Collection and Information Bureau.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 4, 1904.
Published
Includes photograph of alley, lease of Eliza Sproule's property, letter to Railroad Commission, tax receipts.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 3, 1905.
Published
Includes clippings, receipts, letter to the editor titled "A Contemptible Freeze Out - Gypsum PLant Stockholders Lose" and sections of The West Coast Trade dated January 24, 1907 and November 14, 1907.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 2, 1906.
Published
Includes letter with bid for plumbing fixtures, cli[[ings, receipts, and penciled list of property owners.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, June 1, 1911.
Published
Includes receipts for membership in Improved Order of Red Men and Woodmen of the World, tax receipts, and thank-you letter to William Allen of Seattle.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received.
Published
Includes clippings and receipts, letter from Acme Handle Co., tax and temperance brochures.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1917.
Published
Includes clippings and receipts, membership fees for Improved Order of Red Men and Woodmen of the World.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1918.
Published
Includes clippings and tax receipts, letter from Anti-Tuberculosis League of Pierce County, report from the Mount Tacoma club.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1919.
Published
Includes clippings and receipts, draft of letter to National Geographic Magazine regarding the naming of Mount Tacoma, and worksheet for federal tax returen.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1920.
Published
Includes receipts for $2 store license for several years, dues for Improved Order of Red Men, City of Tacoma Department of Health and Sanitation certificate for clerk Maudelle Barry, clippings from Tacoma Sunday Ledger regarding vaccination order for Tacoma Public School students.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1921.
Published
Includes receipts, clippings, drafts of editorials and other articles and letters, and brochure from the National Anti-Vaccination League of England.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 2, 1922.
Published
Includes receipts, clippings, letter from American Medical Liberty League on anti-vaccination, draft of letter to the Library of Congress asking for copyright on a poem by James Hunter of Ireland, statement of squatter's rents collected by Mr. Meier for J.A.Sproul, and copy of lease agreement for land at the crossing of Sproule road and the Tacoma-Seattle Interurban.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1923.
Published
Includes receipts, clippings, some from 1913-1914, letter to the editor, letter from the Ant-Vaccination League of England, and draft of federal income tax returen
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1925.
Published
Includes newspaper clippings and handout regarding the Dill-Johnson bill about changing the name of Mount Rainier.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1926.
Published
Includes receipts and clippings, article about the name of Mount Tacoma, and reprints from the Anti-Vaccination Leaugue
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1928, list of special expenses that include nurse, funeral, and crypt in mausoleum.
Published
Includes receipts and clippings, many regarding Mount Tacoma, a letter from Frank Day of the Shull-Day Company on the name of the mountain, and the obituary for Eliza Sproule in Norwegian language.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1929.
Published
Includes clippings and receipts, including one from the Basheer Muslim Library of Woking, England.
Published
Contains check stubs from August 4, 1930 to November 21, 1930.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, and record of stocktaking, July 31, 1930.
Published
Includes receipts and clippings, regarding chain stores, Mount Tacoma, Robert Sproul of the University of California, abd a draft letter to the Chief of Police regarding the want of parking downtown.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1932, and lists the Ed Sproule Butter Store expenses on page 263.
Published
Includes clippings, brochure titled "The Independent Grocer By an Independent Wholesaler No.40 May 1, 1932", and a lettter from the Tacoma Federation of Improvement Clubs.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 2, 1933, and lists the Ed Sproule Butter Store expenses on page 274.
Published
Includes receipts, clippings, many written by J.A.Sproule, draft articles and photograph of a man standing in a city street.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1934, and lists the Ed Sproule Butter Store expenses on page 294. Pinned to page 9 is a letter from Annie Wright Seminary referring to their past due account. Pasted on page 141 is a clipping about the collapse of the Tacoma Grocery building.
Published
Includes receipts, clippings, draft articles, and a promissory note.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1936, and lists the Ed Sproule Butter Store expenses on page 291. collapse of the Tacoma Grocery building.
Published
Includes clippings, receipts, and a notice of bank account overdrawn.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 1, 1937.
Published
Includes receipts and clippings, several regarding the Mt. Tacoma naming issue.
Published
Includes record of cash paid out and goods received, record of stocktaking, January 2, 1939.
Published
Includes receipts and clippings, several editorials, and a 1896/7 tax receipt for 40 acres of land in Orange County, Florida