In 1859, Joseph Hackley established the lumber firm of J. H. Hackley & Co. with his sons Edwin, Porter, and Charles as partners. This company worked lands it had acquired through federal land patents and private purchases, lands accessible by way of the Muskegon River and its tributaries (in Michigan). The corporate papers of C. H. Hackley & Co. consist almost exclusively of the financial records held in eleven bound volumes. A day-by-day account of the firm's business activities during the Civil War period seems to indicate that manpower was available for logging operations despite the demand of the war. Because extant correspondence in the Hackley and Hume Papers begins only in 1870 with the first letter press books, detailed investigation of the C. H. Hackley & Co. is limited to the ledger entries.

In 1864, Hackley and other prominent Muskegon lumbermen organized the Muskegon Booming Co., which served as the principal depot for the timber industry in western Michigan until the end of the 19th Century. C. H. Hackley & Co. was dissolved in 1866 and its assets were transferred to the newly created firm of Hackley & Sons, which was composed of essentially the same owners as J. H. Hackley & Co. and operated out of the same mill office in Muskegon, Michigan. Lands were added to the holdings of this firm and operations continued in the post-war decade. In 1866, Charles Henry Hackley and James McGordon formed the lumber firm of Hackley & McGordon, with Hackley contributing three-quarters of the capital and McGordon the remainder. Hackley & McGordon was to become one of the most important timber operations in West Michigan. Both C. H. Hackley and James McGordon made their fortunes with this new firm and expanded their holdings further along the Muskegon River system. The two firms of Hackley & Sons and Hackley & McGordon were headquartered in the same Muskegon offices, but each maintained separate corporate existence. The records for Hackley & Sons are more abundant than are those of its immediate predecessor. Letterpress books from 1870 provide a more complete history of the companies than do the financial records alone in the case of J. H. Hackley & Co. Business expanded rapidly for both firms with Hackley & McGordon becoming the more successful firm in the 1870s. Eventually, Hackley & Sons was dissolved and its records were taken over by the new firm of C. H. Hackley & Co. in 1877. This new arrangement was probably instigated by the death of Joseph Hackley and the need to reorganize the capital of the Hackley brothers. Joseph Hackley's estate settlement papers are contained in the section on estates in the Hackley and Hume papers.

Once again, the new firm of C. H. Hackley & Co. did business alongside the older business of Hackley & McGordon. C. H. Hackley & Co. was composed of Thomas Hume and Porter Hackley, each with a one-quarter interest, and C. H. Hackley with a one-half interest. More than any of the previously mentioned lumber businesses, C. H. Hackley & Co. penetrated further into Michigan's seemingly endless white pine forests. They undertook extensive logging drives into the Houghton Lake area and had several logging camps to house operations. Hackley was associated with the well-known timber investor, Winfield S. Gerrish, in many deals. In the mid-1870s, Gerrish had developed what was the world's first technically successful logging railroad. This important innovation was known as the Lake George and Muskegon River Railroad and allowed timbering to reach deeper into the woodlands. After Gerrish's untimely death, C. H. Hackley & Co. bought the railroad in 1882 from John Woods, who then had control of the railroad. The contract and the inventory of the entire railroad and the logging camp at its terminus are preserved in the section on C. H. Hackley & Co.

After James McGordon's death on December 27, 1880, the firm of Hackley was dissolved and the firm of Hackley & Hume organized on June 4, 1881. Hackley retained three-quarters of the assets and Hume purchased the remaining one-quarter for a nominal sum. Several years after James McGordon's death, an heir to his estate challenged the validity of the Hume purchase but was denied relief from the courts.

The Hackley & Hume Company, which operated actively from 1881 until Hackley's death in 1905, was perhaps the most important of the nineteenth century lumber firms in the papers. Along with the extensive holdings of Hackley & McGordon, Hackley & Hume also acquired the assets of C. H. Hackley & Co. when that firm was dissolved in the 1890s.

In 1886 Hackley & Hume expanded its interests into several other states and British Columbia, Canada. In association with James D. Lacey, a prominent Grand Rapids, Michigan timber broker, lands were purchased throughout the southern portion of the United States. Hackley & Hume originally planned to log these lands in the yellow pine and cypress belts, but they proved much more lucrative as timber investments. Many of the holdings were sold before the turn of the century for enormous profits. In 1903, Hackley & Hume Co., Ltd. was formed out of the remaining Louisiana lands that Hackley & Hume had held there since the 1880s. The William Joyce Company of Chicago also had lands in Louisiana and often worked with Hackley and Hume.

Hackley and Hume had significant land holdings in the South, especially in the Carolinas. They owned land in the Great Santee Swamp where these lands and the South Carolina lands were sold as required by the terms of the Hackley will in the 1930s. Although sold to private investors, the Santee Swamp region attracted attention from the federal government during the Great Depression. Hydroelectric projects were proposed for this region as part of the New Deal's rural electrification endeavors. Thomas Hume's sons, who took over the family business after the elder Hume's death in 1920, were involved in this debate over the future of their swamp lands.

The range of Hackley & Hume interests was not confined to the South. Large profits made in land investments were put back into new ventures. In Minnesota, Hackley and Hume owned a large interest in the Itasca Lumber Company which was controlled by the William Joyce Company. H. C. Akeley of Grand Haven, Michigan, who was associated with Hackley & Hume in other enterprises, also had an interest in the Itasca Lumber Company, as well as his own company in Minnesota. Itasca was said to have the world's most productive mills, cutting million of board feet per year. The Minneapolis & Rainy River Railroad was part of the Minnesota-Itasca project as well. When the Minnesota lands were finally cut over, Hackley & Hume and partners sold these rich lands to immigrants many of them Scandinavians, who turned them to agricultural production.

Other Hackley & Hume projects involved investments in Muskegon manufacturing plants. The depression of the 1890s undermined many newly established firms. In some cases, Hackley & Hume increased their investments and took over controlling interest. The Chase Brothers Piano Company became the Chase-Hackley Piano Company. Thomas Hume served as president of the Alaska Refrigerator Company for some years until it was absorbed by the Norge Corporation. The Muskegon National Bank, chartered in 1870, was rechartered and renamed the Hackley National Bank in 1890. As of 1976 it was called the Hackley Union National Bank. Both Charles Hackley and Thomas Hume served as presidents of the bank. Hackley & Hume were involved in many aspects of Muskegon life from the country club to relief services for the poor.

Around 1890 Muskegon's first Board of Trade was organized. C. H. Hackley and Thomas Hume were among its founders and major supporters. As Michigan's timber resources were depleted, the economic health of the "Lumber Queen" declined. Many important lumbermen closed their mills and left the city, some for the southern forests, but most for the western forests. The Board of Trade, later renamed the Chamber of Commerce, sought to revive business and job opportunities by devising a system in which industry would be attracted to Muskegon through a bonus fund. Thomas Hume for many years served as one of the trustees of the Chamber Bonus Fund. Altogether, forty-three industries were brought to Muskegon under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce. A record of the Chamber's activities in this period (1893-1927) is preserved in the Hackley and Hume papers.

Charles Henry Hackley died early in 1905. Under the terms of Hackley's will, the firm of Hackley & Hume was to discontinue its business within ten years and make no new major investments in that period. As three-quarters owner of the assets of the company, Hackley had decided that his estate of nearly ten million dollars (the largest ever probated in Michigan up to its time) be administered by the Michigan Trust Company of Grand Rapids, and his partner, Thomas Hume. The majority of the capital assets of Hackley & Hume were hence distributed among relatives of Hackley, charitable bequests, and long-term bond investments. The remainder of the firm's capital was controlled by Thomas Hume, who was forced to find a new outlet for his own capital due to the restrictions of Hackley will.

In 1907, Thomas Hume incorporated two firms completely independent of association with the Hackley financial interests. The first of these new business projects was Thomas Hume & Co., which was formed as an investment holding company for the Hume interests. Thomas Hume & Co. invested in stock and bond issues as well as holding large and direct controlling interest in many industries in Muskegon and throughout the nation. The Humes owned large blocks of shares in Ohio coal lands in the No. 8 Coal Co., of which Thomas Hume served as president. They were also involved in the Vipont Mining Co., a silver mining venture. In Muskegon Thomas Hume & Co. held an important interest in the Sargent Manufacturing Co., and owned the Amazon Hosiery Co.

Thomas Hume also founded Hume, Hefferan & Co. in 1907 in conjunction with his son George A. Hume and George Hefferan, a Grand Rapids businessman. Thomas Hume owned 80 percent of the company, while George A. Hume and George Hefferan owned 10 percent each. Hume, Hefferan & Co. was designed as a land holding company and included in its holdings the Hume-Bennett Lumber Co., Mt. Home Tract and the Carolina Timber Co., and these in turn held land in California and North and South Carolina. The lands held in the Carolinas were never cut and were eventually sold to several buyers, including the Singer Manufacturing Co. of New York.

In California, an enterprise was established in the redwood forests of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Thomas Hume with Ira Bennett as a partner bought the Sanger Lumber Co. which held more than 20,000 acres of timberland in Fresno County and 320 acres in adjoining Tulare County. The new owners immediately changed the name of the company to the Hume-Bennett Lumber Co. When Thomas Hume established Hume, Hefferan & Co. in 1907 he placed his stock in Hume-Bennett under the control of Hume, Hefferan & Co. The Hume-Bennett Lumber Co. carried on an extensive logging operation and was an important factor in the economy of the area. Years later, Bennett sold his interest and the name of the company was changed to the Sanger Lumber Co. Thomas Hume poured large sums of money into this California venture in an effort to maintain its financial solvency. His son, George A. Hume, managed the company through most of its existence. Operations continued until 1917 when a fire at the mill in Hume, California and the wartime labor shortage halted work. (See vol. 254 They Felled the Redwoods, by Hank Johnston).

As early as 1911 the Humes had attempted to divest themselves of their western properties, and a renewed effort was made in the late 1920s, but the ensuing depression created difficulties. After many unsuccessful attempts to dispose of these lands, a sale was made to the federal government in 1935. This sale incorporated the Sanger Lumber Co. lands into the Sequoia National Forest. The remaining California holdings were sold in 1945 to the state of California after an intense effort by environmentalists to save the largest tract of Sierra Redwoods still in private hands. By the time of the sale to the State of California, Hume, Hefferan & Co. had dissolved (1942) and its assets transferred to Thomas Hume & Co.

The California operation was unique in many respects. The flume that the Sanger Lumber Co. operated was nearly sixty miles long, reputedly the world's longest. The photographs in the Hackley & Hume Photograph Collection show the extent of many sections of the flume as it winds its way through some of the steepest parts of the Sierra Nevadas. Another aspect of the California holdings is the dam that was constructed at Hume Lake in the early part of the 20th century. According to sources in these papers, the Hume Lake dam, apparently the first poured concrete dam in the world, was unique because of its hollow concrete and arched design. John Eastwood, the dam's engineer, designed the structure on a cost-efficient basis. Eastwood argued that if designed correctly, a hollow concrete dam would be much less costly and stronger than earlier designs (See vol. 254 They Felled the Redwoods, by Hank Johnston). The photograph files also contain many prints of the dam under construction and after completion.

After the sale of the lands in California the business of Thomas Hume & Co. was gradually concluded. In 1954 its books were closed and the firm was dissolved. In the early 1950s the last of the Hackley & Hume Co. lands in British Columbia were sold.

George Hume and The Michigan Trust Company were co-executors responsible for the estates of both his father Thomas Hume, and his friend George Hefferan. Because the distributions of the estates were at cross purposes, a friendly lawsuit was instituted so that the court could direct George A. Hume's duties as executor of George Hefferan's estate.