Gross, Kelly & Company, Inc.

Gross, Blackwell and Company storefront in Las Vegas, New Mexico.Part of Pictorial Collection, PICT 000-096-0001-0014 (Box 1, Folder 1).

Gross, Kelly & Company, with its predecessor firms of Otero, Sellar & Company, and Gross, Blackwell and Company, was one of the pioneer wholesale and retail mercantile companies in the Southwest. Otero, Sellar &Co. actually began operations in New Mexico before the railroads reached the area, making freight hauls by wagon from the end of the Kansas Pacific and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, as they were built west through Kansas. When the Santa Fe Railroad reached Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1879, Otero, Sellar &Co. established Las Vegas as its permanent headquarters and base of operations. Otero, Sellar and its successor companies, while keeping the main office at Las Vegas, established a number of branches in other New Mexico towns and cities and even one in Trinidad, Colorado. A table showing the locations and dates of operations of these branches, along with a list of subsidiary companies, follows this history.

The three main companies were: Otero, Sellar &Co., 1867-1882; Gross, Blackwell &Co., 1882-1902; and Gross, Kelly &Co., 1902-1954. In addition, both Gross, Blackwell and Gross, Kelly eventually operated a number of more-or-less directly controlled subsidiary companies. Because of their roles as providers of credit for individuals and partnerships engaged in small ranching and lumbering operations, the parent companies often acquired control of such small operations in settlement of debts. A latter-day example on a rather large scale was Gross, Kelly &Co.'s acquistion of Con W. Jackson's, Jackson Cattle Company in 1935.

Besides wholesale and retail groceries which the parent companies dealt in from the beginning, Gross, Kelly &Co. was heavily involved in hides and pelts, wool, sheep and lambs, and cattle--all of which it bought from local producers and shipped and to consumers in the East and Midwest. Gross, Kelly &Co., financially supported by Eastern banks, provided credit for local ranchers and merchants. It also bought and sold railroad ties and finished lumber.

Although Gross, Kelly &Co. was still operating from five New Mexico locations in the post-World War II period (Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Gallup and Roswell), the company's stockholders voted in 1954 to sell out to the Kimbell Products Company of Fort Worth, Texas. Shortly after this decision, Daniel T. Kelly donated the firms records to Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.

Some of these holdings in which Gross, Blackwell &Co. held a substantial managerial and financial interest between 1882 and 1902, were transferred to A. M. Blackwell as part of his price when he sold out to the partners of Gross, Kelly. Others were sold to various partners, and a few continued in business under subsequent owners until the early 1930s when depressed economic conditions forced their liquidation.

Individual partners of the firm held stock in various companies, which may have been owned for the benefit of Gross, Kelly and Co., but those listed above are shown by the records to have been financially controlled by Gross, Kelly &Co. at some time between 1902 and 1954.

From the guide to the Gross, Kelly & Company Records, 1863-1996, (University of New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research.)

Gross, Kelly & Company, with its predecessor firms of Otero, Sellar & Company, and Gross, Blackwell and Company, was one of the pioneer wholesale and retail mercantile companies in the Southwest. Otero, Sellar & Co. actually began operations in New Mexico before the railroads reached the area, making freight hauls by wagon from the end of the Kansas Pacific and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, as they were built west through Kansas. When the Santa Fe Railroad reached Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1879, Otero, Sellar & Co. established Las Vegas as its permanent headquarters and base of operations. Otero, Sellar and its successor companies, while keeping the main office at Las Vegas, established a number of branches in other New Mexico towns and cities and even one in Trinidad, Colorado. A table showing the locations and dates of operations of these branches, along with a list of subsidiary companies, follows this history.

The three main companies were: Otero, Sellar & Co., 1867-1882; Gross, Blackwell & Co., 1882-1902; and Gross, Kelly & Co., 1902-1954. In addition, both Gross, Blackwell and Gross, Kelly eventually operated a number of more-or-less directly controlled subsidiary companies. Because of their roles as providers of credit for individuals and partnerships engaged in small ranching and lumbering operations, the parent companies often acquired control of such small operations in settlement of debts. A latter-day example on a rather large scale was Gross, Kelly & Co.'s acquistion of Con W. Jackson's, Jackson Cattle Company in 1935.

Besides wholesale and retail groceries which the parent companies dealt in from the beginning, Gross, Kelly & Co. was heavily involved in hides and pelts, wool, sheep and lambs, and cattle--all of which it bought from local producers and shipped and to consumers in the East and Midwest. Gross, Kelly & Co., financially supported by Eastern banks, provided credit for local ranchers and merchants. It also bought and sold railroad ties and finished lumber.

Although Gross, Kelly & Co. was still operating from five New Mexico locations in the post-World War II period (Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Gallup and Roswell), the company's stockholders voted in 1954 to sell out to the Kimbell Products Company of Fort Worth, Texas. Shortly after this decision, Daniel T. Kelly donated the firms records to Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.

From the guide to the Gross, Kelly and Company pictorial collection, 1880-1970, (Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico.)