Arranged and described by Hansie Grignon; edited by Brenda Howitson Steeves
November 2010

Collection title: Eric M. Secord Papers
Collection number: MS 1651
Dates of collection: 1917-1946
Size of collection: 1 record carton
Restrictions on access and use: Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility; one week's notice required for retrieval.

Biography

Eric M. Secord, son of E. Maud and Frederick A. Secord, was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on March 14, 1905. It is unclear if he ever became a United States citizen. He and his wife and child lived with his parents for the first few years of their marriage at 38 Richardson Street in Portland, Maine. Frederick A. Secord died in October, 1938. The Secords built a new house at 74 Best Street in Portland in 1940.

Eric Secord worked as a contractor for the city of Portland from 1929 to 1932, as well as a cook for the Ripley Company in 1931-1932. He became a salesman for the N.J. Fox Company, a lumber and building materials firm in Portland, from 1932 to 1936 and was then hired by the Flintkote Company, selling lumber and roofing products. Flintkote was founded in 1901, and thrived for over a century. The company was largely concerned with building and construction materials, as well as paper, cement, cardboard, and asbestos products. It eventually faced enormous costs in asbestos liabilities, which forced the company into bankruptcy in 2004.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains both personal and business papers of Eric Secord and a folder of material belonging to his father, Frederick A. Secord. The earliest items in this collection belong to Frederick A. Secord, who worked for Westbrook Clay Products in Westbrook, Maine (these receipts and invoices date from 1917 to 1920). Items belonging to Eric Secord include memorandum books, insurance payment receipts, salary stubs, Flintkote salesmen reports, Secord sales records, advertising materials, correspondence (mainly business-oriented), quotes and receipts, water bill receipts, home loan records, and an order and shipment log.

Box List

Box 1

Folder

1 Frederick A. Secord materials, 1917-1921

2 Eric Secord employment information – Flintkote Company

3 Receipts, 1934-1939

4 Insurance receipts, 1936-1944

5 Correspondence, 1937-1946

6 Diamond Match Company invoices, 1937-1944

7 Sales position sheets (Flintkote), 1938-1939

8 Pay stubs, 1938-1944

9 Flintkote Company: statement: salesmen’s commissions and advances, 1938-1944

10 Home loan documents, 1938-1940

11 Water bill receipts, 1938-1944

12 Periodic salesman’s sales analysis, 1940

13 Receipts, 1940

14 Receipts, 1941-1945

15 Order and shipping logs, 1944-1946

16 Memorandum notebooks, ca. 1930s-1940s

17 Promotional materials and company announcements