Manuscripts

Oliver Frank Wilson letters to Ursula L. Wilson

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Description: HM 80954: Letter from Oliver Frank Wilson to Ursula L. Wilson from Willapa, Washington Territory on March 16, 1887. Wilson begins the letter with common pleasantries concerning the family's health and news. Concerning the weather he writes, "This is Wednesday and it has rained since Sunday morning that is the only falt with this country, when it is bad it is to bad and when it is good it is good all over" (p. 2). Ursula reports that their mother is currently in debt and owes approximately $400. Wilson offers suggestions and states that the cow "should be the last thing to part with..." (p. 3). He closes the letter "Give my respects to all the young folks that I used to know and excuse bad writing & so" (p. 4).
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1887-1889.
Call number: mssHM 80954-80958
Creator: Wilson, Oliver Frank(Opens in new tab)
Provenance

John B. Wilson letter to Emma Moore Wilson

Manuscripts

Letter from John Bordeaux Wilson to his mother Emma Moore Wilson, written shortly after Wilson had joined the engineering corps of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868. In the letter, written at Fort Sanders, Dakota Territory, Wilson writes of his dissatisfaction with being removed from Colonel Joseph Opdyke Hudnutt's company and placed instead with a Mr. Lawrence's party, which he writes will "operate much further west" than the other and work east for 250 or 300 miles from the Green River until they meet the other parties. He notes that Colonel Hudnutt's party was headed for the North Platte while John O'Neill's party would work at Medicine Bow, and gives a description of the various supplies carried by each party. The remainder of the letter describes Wilson's attempts to stay warm in his tent and the meals that he has been given. With envelope, marked "Union Pacific Railway Company, Engineer's Office, Fort Sanders - Dakota."

mssHM 74318

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Mary Olive Karr Gilkey diary

Manuscripts

The diary begins in October 1877 when Mary, at the age of 12, is in Tumwater, Washington on her way to Olympia; it is here that she decides that she is going to start keeping a diary. The diary then skips to July 1884 when Mary is a teacher in Scappoose, Oregon. She discusses her students, her feelings for a man she refers to as "C.J.," and her continuing effort to be a good Christian woman. In October she moves back to Forest Grove, Oregon to be with her family, the Karrs and Walkers. While there, she spends her time attending prayer meetings and catching up with her family. She also takes a trip to Portland where she attends a reception for a missionary friend; she briefly talks of becoming a missionary herself, but decides to return to school instead. The last entry is August 9, 1885, and Mary is back at home after deciding to leave school

mssHM 64595

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William Wilson Cowan letters

Manuscripts

In the letters, which Cowan wrote to his wife, daughter and father, he describes his eight-month overland journey from Indiana to California. He includes details regarding the hardships of the trip including disease and the death of several of his traveling companions, problems with the captain of the company, lack of provisions along the way, and delays due to bad weather. In the one letter he wrote from California, he describes California and his life in Weaverville, the conditions in the city, the high prices of food and supplies, the behavior of his fellow gold miners, and the difficulty of mining for gold. Included with the nine letters is a poem, written by Cowan, entitled "A Memento on Leaving for Calafornia [sic]," and a manuscript, written by an unknown person, which gives details about Cowan's life and his sudden death from typhoid fever in December 1849. Also included are negative photostats of all eleven items.

mssHM 68061-68071

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Flora Wilson letter to Charles Grant Brown

Manuscripts

In this letter to C.G. Brown on Van Nuys Hotel, Los Angeles stationery, Wilson announces a recital she is to give in the ballroom of the Hotel Maryland in Pasadena on Friday evening, April 7th. She lists her sponsors and asks for the support of Iowa friends. She asks if Brown would care to purchase several tickets and invite interested friends to a "purely all invitational affair."

mssHM 43370

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L. Adams. Letter to [Annie Wilson and Ruth Wilson Patton]

Manuscripts

The collection consists of letters, manuscripts, documents and maps related to the life and business affairs of Benjamin D. Wilson. Subject matter includes business and social life in California (1850-90), Indian affairs in Southern California (1852-56), the wine industry, the Santa Fe trade, the estate settlement of Solomon Sublette, and the early history of Pasadena, San Marino, and Wilmington, California. There is also a great deal of personal correspondence from Wilson's wife Margaret S. Hereford Hereford Wilson, his daughters Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb, Ruth Wilson Patton, and Annie Wilson, his son John B. Wilson, Ruth's husband George S. Patton, Sr., and many of Margaret's Hereford relatives. Also included are diaries kept by Margaret, Ruth, and Annie Wilson. Other individuals represented in the collection include Phineas Banning, Edward Fitzgerald Beale, Joseph Lancaster Brent, Cave Johnson Couts, Stephen Clark Foster, John Charles Fŕemont, John S. Griffin, William McKendree Gwin, Benjamin Hayes, Henry Edwards Huntington, George S. Patton, Jr., and Jonathan Trumbull Warner.

WN 1143.

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Jane Elizabeth Bayard Wilson letter to Caroline A. Bayard

Manuscripts

In her letter written from Monrovia, Liberia, Jane Elizabeth Bayard Wilson describes her life in Monrovia and her travels in Liberia, including a visit to New Georgia. She also mentions James Eden, a Black missionary who came to Liberia in 1833. The letter is addressed to her cousin Caroline A. Bayard in Philadelphia.

mssHM 84006

Oliver Frank Wilson letters to Ursula L. Wilson

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John B. Wilson letter to Emma Moore Wilson

Mary Olive Karr Gilkey diary

William Wilson Cowan letters

Flora Wilson letter to Charles Grant Brown

L. Adams. Letter to [Annie Wilson and Ruth Wilson Patton]

Jane Elizabeth Bayard Wilson letter to Caroline A. Bayard