Processed by
Betty Alberty, Ruth Leukhardt,
Paul Brockman, and Pamela Tranfield
08 January 2003
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
103 boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 15 bound volumes, 1 microfilm reel, 76 boxes of photographs (16 document cases, 12 oversize boxes, 17 boxes cased images, 2 boxes lantern slides, 27 boxes glass negatives, 2 boxes film negatives), 6 boxes of graphics (1 document case, 5 oversize boxes). |
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COLLECTION |
1741–1928 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Mrs. William E. English Estate, May 1942; Indiana University, July 1944; Forest H. Sweet, Battle Creek, Michigan, August 1937, July 1945, Dec. 1953; University of Chicago Libraries, April 1957; English Foundation, Indianapolis IN, 1958; Mrs. A. G. Parker, Lexington, IN, Sept. 1969; King V. Hostick, Springfield IL, March 1970; Duanne Elbert, Eastern Illinois University, Oct. 1974; Hyman Roth, Evanston IL, Aug. 1975 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
Negatives may be viewed by appointment only. Inquire at the Reference Desk. |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
English Theatre Records (M 0451) |
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ACCESSION |
1937.0803; 1942.0512; 1944.0710; 1945.0707; 1953.1226; 1957.0434; 1958.0015; 1969.0904; 1970.0317; 1974.1018; 1975.0810 |
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NOTES: |
William Hayden English, 1822–96
William H. English was born in Lexington, Scott County, Indiana, on 27 August 1822. He was the son of Elisha G. and Mahala Eastin English. His paternal grandfather Elisha English had moved from Delaware to Kentucky in 1790, and his father moved to Lexington in 1818. On his mother’s side he was descended from Jost Hite, one of the earliest settlers of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Through Hite he was related indirectly both to George Rogers Clark and to Isaac and Joseph Bowman, two of Clark’s chief lieutenants in his campaign of 1777-1778.
William H. English was educated locally and spent three years at Hanover College. He studied law and was admitted to the bar at the early age of 18, in 1840. In the same year he began his career in politics, serving as a delegate to the Democratic state convention in Indianapolis. He soon reaped his first political award, with an appointment as postmaster at Lexington from President Tyler in 1842, when Tyler broke with the Whigs who had elected him. In 1843 English was appointed clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives.
With the election of James K. Polk as president in 1844, English began a well-organized campaign for a government post. He obtained recommendations from most prominent Democrats in the state, especially Jesse D. Bright, who at this time began his three terms as senator. This began a long correspondence with Bright, dealing both with political matters and with requests by Bright for loans to himself and his friends. As a result of his campaign English achieved his modest request—a clerkship in the Treasury Department. He held this post till the end of Polk’s term in March 1849. In 1847, while serving in Washington, English married Emma Mardulia Jackson.
The English family continued to be active in Democratic politics. At the 1848 Democratic Convention, Elisha English and his brother Revel were vice-presidents, and two other brothers were delegates. In 1850 William H. English served as clerk of the Senate committee on claims.
As early as 1847 English was making considerable business investments. These included government bonds and a land purchase in Wisconsin. In 1849 he embarked on a rather complicated real estate deal in San Francisco. This ended in a suit among English and his partners and caused a dispute which lasted over thirty years.
The year 1850 saw English debut with electoral politics. In 1850–51 he was principal secretary of the Indiana Constitutional Convention which revised the original 1816 constitution. In 1851–52 he served in the Indiana House of Representatives; in 1852 he became speaker, the youngest man ever to be elected to that office. This was a particularly productive session of the legislature, which passed many acts revising the state laws in accordance with the new state constitution.
In 1852 English was elected for the first of four terms in the national House of Representatives, representing Indiana’s second district. In his first term he served on the committee on territories, and was therefore involved in the writing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which became law in 1854. In committee English proposed an amendment embodying the principle of popular sovereignty which became the main feature of the act.
In the election of 1854 English was one of three northern Democrats who voted for Kansas-Nebraska to be re-elected. In the campaign he took a strong stand against the Know-Nothing party which was particularly violent in Kentucky and Southern Indiana.
Again re-elected in 1856, he served during the 35th Congress as chairman of the committee on post-office and post roads. Toward the end of this Congress, English became involved with the question of ‘bloody Kansas.’ After the principle of popular sovereignty was applied to the Kansas territory by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the pro-and-anti-slavery faction had been doing their utmost to fill Kansas with their adherents. In late 1857 a pro-slavery convention at Lecompton (anti-slavery men refused to vote) formed a pro-slavery constitution for Kansas; however in an election in January this Lecompton constitution was rejected at the polls (pro-slavery people having refused to vote.) The national Democratic administration was anxious for Kansas to come in as a slave state. The U. S. Senate passed a bill admitting Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution; the House rejected this bill; the Senate asked for a conference committee; and English was one of three representatives appointed to this committee, which was headed by Alexander H. Stephens.
English had originally been opposed to the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton constitution, on grounds that the people of Kansas had not had a fair chance to express their views. The conference committee came forward with a bill usually known as the English bill (though Stephens in his account of the committee’s work did not mention English). This bill in effect called for a re-vote on the Lecompton constitution, and provided that, if the constitution were approved, Kansas would be given a grant of 5 million acres of government lands. The English Bill passed both houses of Congress by narrow majorities, but Kansas voters turned down the Lecompton constitution in an election held in August 1858. Whether English’s aims were for popular sovereignty, or for legislative compromise, or for a pro-slavery Kansas, is a matter of argument. For his work in this matter, English was offered a high government post by President Buchanan, but turned it down.
Somewhat against his wishes, English was re-elected to a fourth term in Congress, in 1858. As things grew more bitter between North and South, he stood with Douglas against secession. Though not a delegate, he worked at the split-away Democrat convention at Charleston to argue against splitting the party.
In 1854, when the Smithsonian Institution was established, he was appointed to the Board of Regents as a representative of the House, and served for six years.
This ended a twenty-year period during most of which English was involved in one way or another with the Indiana or national legislature. During this period English displayed ability, efficiency, and legislative promise, but rarely was clarified with a positive idea or principle, with the possible exception of popular sovereignty in the territories, which was itself a political compromise.
At the beginning of the Civil War, English was offered a military commission by Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton, but refused it. He spent the next seventeen years in a new career, in banking. Previous to this he had had some contact with James F.D. Lanier of Madison, whose career had also moved from politics to banking. First, English began negotiations, never completed, for control of the Jeffersonville branch of the Third State Bank. Then, in 1863, with the announcement by Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase of the National banking system, he was involved, along with Lanier and John C. New, in chartering the First National Bank in Indianapolis, with a capital of $150,000. English was immediately elected president of the bank, and served until 1877. In 1865 he moved to a handsome mansion on the Governor’s Circle in Indianapolis, He became involved in extensive real estate ownership. One controversial part of his bank presidency is the degree to which he took advantage of economic conditions in the poor times of 1873-1876 to obtain more property by foreclosures. He also regained a controlling interest in the Indianapolis Street Railways Co., and served as its treasurer.
Shortly before the death of his wife in 1877, English resigned his bank presidency, and sold his stock in the street railways. He was soon launched on a second career in politics. In 1876 he was a main speaker at the Indianapolis meeting ratifying the nomination of Tilden and Hendricks. In this period of the 1870s when the coining of silver and the backing of greenbacks were important issues, he stood for sound money, particularly in his testimony before the Senate Banking and Finance Committee in April 1876. As early as 1874 his name began to be seen in many newspapers as a possible candidate for U.S. Senator. By the spring of 1879 he was actively working for the vice-presidential nomination in 1880, and as the 1880 Democratic convention drew near, there was a flood of articles mentioning English as a likely candidate. English’s principal advantages as a prospective candidate would seem to have been sectional–as a native of Indiana in place of Thomas Hendricks who was unwilling to take second place on the ticket for a second time–and financial, as a potential backer of the National party. Meanwhile in June 1880, English was chosen chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee.
When the Democrats met at Cincinnati in 1880, they took two ballots to choose as presidential candidate Winfield Scott Hancock, a compromise ‘dark horse’ among a field of better known aspirants. Immediately afterwards, William H. English was nominated for the second position by Confederate general Edmond W. Pettus, and the vote was carried within minutes. During the 1880 campaign English was accused of misappropriating his grandmother’s pension, of hard-heartedness to survivors of a fire in Chicago, of being a ‘Great Forecloser’ of mortgages, of being a copperhead, of being a skin-flint toward the national Democratic committee, of being unpopular. Personally English did not take an active part in answering these charges, but Democratic papers were active in defense. In the end Garfield and Arthur won, 214 electoral votes to 155.
Just at this time, in 1880-1881, English embarked on a major real estate development, the construction for the northwest quadrant of the Circle in Indianapolis of a large building containing both a hotel and an opera house. This project both provided personal prominence for English and jobs for many workers.
In the years following, English took an active interest in politics. He was perhaps over-enthusiastic in promoting the election of his son, William E. English, to Congress in 1882. He was again mentioned as a possible senatorial candidate in 1885–1886. In a rather noisy lawsuit in 1882, one W.D. Murphy of New York claimed that English had welshed on paying his campaign expenses in 1880. English was active in the presidential campaigns of 1884 and 1888. He spoke up for sound money in 1890 and 1893, and was mentioned as a possible Secretary of Treasury for Cleveland’s second administration (he was in active correspondence at the time with Walter Q. Gresham, who did serve Cleveland at the Treasury—but about a diplomatic appointment for William E. English rather than about financial matters.)
But mainly in the years after 1880 and until his death in 1896, William H. English developed a new interest as an historian. In 1885 he organized a reunion of members of the state Constitutional Convention of 1850–51. In the course of doing so, he prepared a collective biography of the members and became aware of the poor state of historical materials in Indiana. He joined with Daniel Waite Howe and Jacob Piatt Dunn, Jr., in reorganizing the Indiana Historical Society, and became its president. In its new form the Society became an exclusive gentleman’s club, whose principal aim should be to publish the writings of its members. Financial appropriations were sought from the state. A close connection has formed with the State Library and Librarian (Dunn became State Librarian in 1888), and the Society concentrated on building up the collection of the State Library, rather than its own collection.
In his own historical work English delegated his research. He not only carried on a wide correspondence in search of material, but hired others to copy documents and newspaper articles. He collected several hundred early documents—some of which he did not hesitate to mutilate if he wanted a signature or a sample of handwriting. In connection with his research on George Rogers Clark and with his strong interest in family history, he collected a large amount of material on the Hite and Bowman families.
In the year of his death, 1896, English published a two-volume Conquest in the County Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783. He projected a complete history of Indiana of which this would have been a part; he also collected material for a collective biography of territorial judges and legislators; a collective biography of all members of the Indiana legislature from 1816 on; and a history of Indiana counties.
During his later years, English was also involved with city politics, particularly with taxation and the management of the city judges. He also took a leading part on the commission, which eventually was responsible for erecting the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument on the Circle.
Elisha Gale English, 1798–1874
Elisha G. English was born in Kentucky. In 1818 he moved to Scott County, Indiana. On 2 November 1819 he married Mahala Eastin.
English soon became involved in politics. He served twice as sheriff of Scott County. In 1832 he began a service of twenty years, off and on, in the Indiana legislature. He was active in the local Democratic organization. In 1848 he was one of the vice-presidents of the Democratic national convention, and in 1849 and 1851 he was mentioned as a possible candidate for Congress. In 1860 he served as U.S. marshal for Indiana.
Through his early life in Scott County, English had extensive dealings in real estate and livestock. He became sufficiently wealthy to make loans to local farmers, and to give his son William H. English a comfortable stake to begin his career.
In his later years he moved to Indianapolis, and shared financial interests with is son. He had shares in the Fort Wayne and Southern Railroad, and served as its vice-president and agent; he served as vice-president of the Citizens Street Railway in Indianapolis; and he was a director of the First National Bank.
He died on 14 November 1874.
William Eastin English, 1850–1926
William Eastin English was born 3 November 1850 (other sources give the year as 1851 and 1854) near Lexington, Indiana, the son of William Hayden English. Educated locally and in private schools, he entered and graduated from the law department of Northwestern Christian University (now Butler) in Indianapolis.
For five years he practiced law; then he traveled for three years, writing a series of articles for the Indianapolis Sentinel. His slowness in settling down was a source of worry to his father. In 1877 he entered politics. Probably with his father’s help, he was elected chairman of the Indianapolis and Marion County Democratic committees for 1878. In the same year he was elected to the state legislature for Marion and Shelby counties.
In 1882 English ran for Congress, and was finally declared elected after a contest with his opponent, Stanton J. Peelle. During the arguments before the House of Representatives, English’s backers accused the Republicans of intimidating voters, of fraudulently voting paupers and prisoners, and the printing fraudulent Democratic ballots which substituted Peelle’s name for English’s. Peelle’s backers countered by accusing English’s father of abusing the privileges of the House by lobbying on the floor of the House. English served one term as representative.
During the later 1880’s English seems to have been absorbed mainly with the management of English’s Theatre, built in 1880–81. He also traveled and wrote more articles.
In 1892 he re-emerged in national politics. At the Chicago convention, he spoke for Indiana in seconding Cleveland’s nomination. His father worked hard to secure him the ministry to Switzerland as a reward—without success—but he was Democratic national committeeman from 1892 to 1896. He refused to campaign for Bryan in 1896.
1898 was an important year in English’s life. In January he married his second wife, Helen Orr Tufnell. Also he extended the Hotel and Opera House southward to cover the whole northwest quadrant of the Circle. Finally, 1898 saw English participating in the Spanish-American War. He was offered a series of desk jobs, but held out for active service, and was placed on the staff of Maj. Gen. Wheeler, commanding the cavalry in Cuba. At the battle of San Juan Hill he had the fortune to be struck with the same bullet which hit Theodore Roosevelt. After the war he helped organize the Spanish-American War Veterans, and was elected their first commander-in-chief. This organization remained one of this primary interests.
Another of English’s continuing interests was the Masonic order, of which he was a very active member. In 1902 he published a History of Early Masonry in Indiana.
As has been noted, English refused to support Bryan in 1896. Bryan’s anti-colonial stand appealed even less to English than free silver. In the summer of 1900 John C. New, a prominent Republican who had been a partner of English’s father in the First National Bank, urged English to admit that he was now a Republican. English agreed and made his views known in a long letter to Mayor Thomas Taggart. From this time forward, he was an active Republican. He campaigned with Theodore Roosevelt in 1900; he covered the state with Charles W. Fairbanks in 1904; he was active in the 1908 and 1912 campaigns; he served on the state Republican committee from 1902 to 1916. In 1916 he was elected to the State Senate and served four terms.
English lived partly in a large apartment in English’s Hotel and partly at the family estate Englishton Park, outside Lexington, Indiana. He had a continuing interest in the theater. He had a collection of programs from other theaters, and made a point of appearing nightly in his box at English’s and in inviting important people to share the box. He spent large amounts of money repairing and adding to the mansion at Englishton Park. His life there was modeled on that of a country gentleman. His business interests included the theater and opera house, and real estate in Indianapolis and Scott County, as well as in other states. An appraisal of his property in Indianapolis shortly before 1900 showed 160 properties with a total rental of $28,745. Between 1905 and 1914 he also had an interest in several companies in Oregon. At the time of his death his fortune was estimated at $3 ½ million and his yearly income at $85,000.
By his second marriage English had one daughter, Rosalind Orr English. At her birth on 10 March 1903 she was hailed as Indiana’s richest heiress. It was a great sorrow to English when she was killed in an automobile accident on the National Road in 1924.
English died in his apartment at the hotel on 29 April 1926.
Sources:
Dunn, J. P., History of
Greater Indianapolis. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1910.General
Collection: F 534 .I55 D8 1910 vol. 2, pp. 887-893.
Dunn, J. P., Indiana and Indianans. Chicago: American Historical
Society, 1919. General Collection: F526 .D85 I53 1919 pp. 2158-2162.
Indiana Biography Series, Indiana State Library, vol. 2, p.50, p. 109; vol. 14,
p. 19.
Information in Collection.
Helen Orr English (Mrs. William E. English), 1873–1932
Helen Orr English was born 22 June 1873 in Lima, Ohio, the daughter of John A. Hufnall and Emma Orr Hufnall. She married William E. English on 5 January 1898. Their daughter, Rosalind Orr English, was born 10 March 1903 and died in an accident in 1924.
During her marriage to English, who died in 1926, Mrs. English lived partly at English’s Hotel, partly at Englishton Park, and partly at Leland, Michigan. She seems to have taken primary responsibility for the physical plant at Englishton Park. She was of a volatile temperament, and seemed to enjoy a good argument with a tradesman.
At Leland, Mr. and Mrs. English had separate cottages, on the south shore of Lake Leelanau about two miles from town. There was an arched gate between the two cottages, and an outside staircase up to Mrs. English’s bedroom.
In 1928, two years after Mr. English’s death, Mrs. English married Frank J. Prince. Mr. Prince seemed to have some connections with the underworld, and is said to have let members of the Capone gang use the Leland cottages at times.
Mrs. English died at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on 14 June 1932, apparently of an overdose of sedatives. After her death the estate went to set up the English Foundation.
Sources:
The English Family Papers, containing the personal, political, and financial records of William H. English and his family, are divided into eleven series:
Series 1 (Boxes 1–5). English’s personal and political correspondence, 1839–96, begins when he is 17, with some rather juvenile love letters from several young ladies; these continue until his marriage in 1847, and are succeeded by a few letters to his ‘dear Mardy’ (Emma Mardulia Jackson.). From 1841 on, the correspondence follows his career: his admission to the Indiana bar in 1841; work in local politics starting in 1843; and the beginnings of a long interchange with Jesse D. Bright.
English’s years in Congress, 1853–61, bring many requests for appointments and use of influence; considerable correspondence with Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian Institution; comments on English’s stand regarding Kansas in 1854; comments concerning Indiana politics. Much of the correspondence from the year 1858 centers on the ‘English Bill.’ Other political correspondence regards appointments to post offices and letters from William W. Wick regarding Indiana politics. The correspondence of 1872–79 contains personal letters to and from William E. English concerning his settling down to work; as well as many interchanges, especially with W. B. Phillips, concerning English’s rise to prominence again in national politics before 1880. There also is a significant amount of material regarding the 1880 campaign including several letters from Winfield S. Hancock regarding details of the campaign. Also included is correspondence related to English’s work on the state Democratic central committee, of which he was chairman—a matter of some interest since the amount of his financial backing later became a subject of controversy.
In English’s last years, until his death in 1896, the largest body of correspondence deals with his work on the commission for a war memorial on the Circle in Indianapolis. There are several personal letters to his wife and son, and some in 1892–93 showing his relations with Grover Cleveland and his attempt to get his son a diplomatic post in the second Cleveland administration. There also are some printed items in this series that pertain to William H. English’s political and historical interests. Included are a list of books at his home in Lexington; three manuscript speeches, one on the Kansas question in 1854, one at a Democratic convention, one (never delivered) greeting Thomas A. Hendricks; the printed texts of his speeches in Congress in 1858–60; correspondence concerning the Yorktown (Virginia) Centennial in 1881; and material on the press controversy concerning his donation to victims of the Chicago fire. There also are a number of portraits and engravings of English from the 1860s to the 1880s.
Series 2 (Boxes 6–20 and 101–103) contains a significant portion of William H. English’s financial records. Among the financial dealings are papers dealing with two lists of horses and mules bought and sold; thirty years of correspondence concerning an ill-fated venture in California in 1849; real estate records involving plots of the Circle; Plymouth Congregational Church, ending with purchase of their property at Meridian and Ohio Streets.; tax receipts, 1879–96; material on land holdings in Scott County; correspondence with E.B. Martindale concerning a deal in 1886–87; real estate deeds and titles; bills for construction and repair; purchase and repair of a house on the Circle, 1864–71; construction of six houses at Washington and Noble Streets., 1866–70; moving and reconstruction of Circle Hall, 1872; construction of 15 houses, 1875; and an account with A.H. Jackson Co. for repairs in Louisville, 1887–90. There also are records and visual items regarding English’s Hotel and Opera House. Among these items are bills for construction and repair, 1881–86, an agreement for lease of the Hotel, 1884–85, and programs, 1881–96. Visual items include cartes–de–visite of nineteenth century theater performers (including John Wilkes Booth), interior and exterior views of the hotel and opera house, and a series of images of a performing horse. Other corporate dealing include the relation of English and his father to the Fort Wayne and Southern Railroad, 1854–56; the organization and operation of First National Bank in Indianapolis, 1863–77; the minutes of Citizens’ Street Railway Company in Indianapolis from its organization in 1864 and correspondence showing English’s role as treasurer, 1866–76. The records also include a large amount of the accounts of Walter Rivers, English’s agent, 1877–86. The majority of the items are checks and vouchers for River’s own salary and that of a janitor at the Opera House, and bills for insurance and repairs of rental properties. Other business items include a substantial number of English’s bankbooks, receipts, and cancelled checks, 1863–95.
Series 3 (boxes 21–25) deals with primarily printed materials from William H. English’s political career. Items include clippings and other printed items regarding English’s national political career focusing largely on his speeches regarding Kansas, 1854 and 1858, and his involvement in the1880 presidential campaign. There also are clippings about English’s personal life, his activity in local and state politics, and his work on the commission for the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, 1889–92. Also included are a few political items, but mainly business dealings: notes held by English; items concerning his extensive land holdings in Scott County; and his estate—including claims he bought up for livestock taken in Morgan’s raid in 1863.
Series 4 (boxes 26–29, OMB 0002, box 1) contains correspondence and other material on the English, Hite, Bowman, Jackson, Eastin, and Scrogin families. Items include the papers of Elisha English and materials relating to his estate, 1834–92. Through his mother, English was related indirectly to George Rogers Clark and to Joseph and Isaac Bowman, two of Clark’s chief officers in the Kaskaskia–Vincennes campaign of 1778–79. The relationship goes back to Jost Hite, one of the early settlers of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. The Hite-Bowman papers largely concern the business affairs of the family, especially Jost Hite, the two Isaac Hites, Joseph and Isaac Bowman, and Jonathan Clark. There are a few references to military matters about 1780. Also contained are several visual images of the English family including Elisha English and Mahala Eastin English, primarily from the 1860s through the 1880s.
Series 5 (boxes 30–32) deal with original historical documents collected by William H. English for his research. Apparently in the course of his research for a history of Indiana, English collected a number of early documents of Indiana history. The bulk of the collection falls between 1780 and 1830. The most significant papers are official documents of Governors William Henry Harrison, John Gibson, Jacob Posey, and James B. Ray. Also included are election returns, some original and some copied, 1809–14.
Series 6 (boxes 32– 68, OMB 0002, boxes 2–3) includes material for a collective biography of men who held office in Indiana Territory, the Indiana State Legislature, and some notable historical figures in early American history. The bulk of this portion deals with research material and tentative biographical accounts and is arranged alphabetically. For a collective biography of men of both houses of the Indiana state legislature, 1816-93, English included tentative biographies, and correspondence with relatives and others. There also are lists of legislators by session, by county and by tenure. In addition, there is a significant number of visual images of legislators and other historic figures alphabetically arranged in several formats as well as composite images of assemblies from the 1830s to the 1890s.
Series 7 (boxes 69–71) contains biographical material on members of the Constitutional Convention of 1850–51 and follows an alphabetical arrangement with similar types of notes, letters, and clippings as those of the legislators.
Series 8 (boxes 72–74) includes material on county officers, 1815–90, arranged by county. The files initially included correspondence and rough drafts that English put together for a reunion held in 1885.
Series 9 (boxes 75–80) pertains to research material English collected for a county-by-county history of Indiana.
Series 10 (boxes 81–95) contains research material for an unpublished history of Indiana. English aspired to write a complete history of Indiana, of which Conquest of the Northwest would have been a part. He wrote a manuscript, now at the University of Chicago, carrying the narrative to the year 1800. These boxes contain his research material—excerpts copied (not by English) from early newspapers, documents, letters, and histories. Themes which seemed to interest English include Indian policy, slavery in the Northwest Territory, the Burr Conspiracy, the War of 1812, and Indiana statehood. Also included are a significant number of graphic drawings by Will Vawter which were intended for use in the book
Series 11 (boxes 96–100) contain the papers of William Eastin English and Helen Orr English, 1883–1927. The papers include general correspondence, writings on history and travel, correspondence with John C. New about a switch to Republican Party in 1900, and material on service in Spanish-American War and formation of a veterans organization. Among the political items are briefs concerning his contested election to Congress in 1882 and texts of speeches in Congress. Business records encompass real estate taxes and mortgages, interests in Oregon, Rogue River Public Service Corp., Gold Hill Canal Co., and the Golden Drift Mining Co. Other William E. English items include papers regarding the estate of William H. English, lists of real estate holdings, disagreements and suits, life at Englishton Park, taxes, land purchases, mortgages to neighbors, hunting, pedigreed cattle, a statue of William H. English, clippings, travel articles, and biographical sketches. Political materials include travels with Charles Fairbanks in 1904 and the Fairbanks “cocktail picnic” in 1908. Helen Orr English’s papers include correspondence with the telephone company, Fairbanks Morse Co., and the caretaker at Englishton Park. Also contained are bills and housekeeping details on a baronial estate. There also are a number of visual items of William E. English, Englishton Park, members of the English family and general historical images, 1890s–1920s.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Correspondence, 1839–53 |
Box 1, Folder 1 |
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Correspondence, 1836–40 |
Box 1, Folder 2 |
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Correspondence, 1841–42 |
Box 1,Folder 3 |
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Correspondence, 1843 |
Box 1, Folder 4 |
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Correspondence, 1844–45 |
Box 1, Folder 5 |
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Correspondence, April 1845–Dec. 1846 |
Box 1, Folder 6 |
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Correspondence, 1847 |
Box 1, Folder 7 |
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Correspondence, 1848–49 |
Box 1, Folder 8 |
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Correspondence, Jan.–April, 1850 |
Box 1, Folder 9 |
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Correspondence, Dec. 1850 |
Box 1, Folder 10 |
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Correspondence, 1851 |
Box 1, Folder 11 |
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Correspondence, 1852 |
Box 1, Folder 12 |
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Correspondence, Jan.–July 1853 |
Box 1, Folder 13 |
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Correspondence, Aug.–Dec. 1853 |
Box 1, Folder 14 |
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Correspondence, Jan.–May 1854 |
Box 1, Folder 15 |
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Correspondence, June–Dec. 1854 |
Box 1, Folder 16 |
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Correspondence, 1855 |
Box 1, Folder 17 |
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Correspondence, Jan.–June 1856 |
Box 2, Folder 1 |
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Correspondence, July–Dec. 1856 |
Box 2, Folder 2 |
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Correspondence, 1857 |
Box 2, Folder 3 |
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Correspondence, Jan.–Feb. 1858 |
Box 2, Folder 4 |
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Correspondence, March 1858 |
Box 2, Folder 5 |
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Correspondence, April 1858 |
Box 2, Folder 6 |
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Correspondence, May–June 1858 |
Box 2, Folder 7 |
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Correspondence, 2 July 1858 |
Box 2, Folder 8 |
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Correspondence, July–Aug. 1858 |
Box 2, Folder 9 |
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Correspondence, Sept.–Dec. 1858 |
Box 2, Folder 10 |
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Correspondence, Jan.–July 1859 |
Box 2, Folder 11 |
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Correspondence, Aug.–Dec. 1859 |
Box 2, Folder 12 |
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Correspondence, Jan.–March 1860 |
Box 2, Folder 13 |
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Correspondence, April–June 1860 |
Box 2, Folder 14 |
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Correspondence, July 1860–June 1861 |
Box 2, Folder 15 |
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Correspondence, July 1861–63 |
Box 2, Folder 16 |
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Correspondence, 1865–71 |
Box 2, Folder 17 |
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Correspondence, 1872–1874 |
Box 2, Folder 18 |
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Correspondence, 1875–June 1876 |
Box 3, Folder 1 |
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Correspondence, July 1876–79 |
Box 3, Folder 2 |
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Correspondence, Jan.–March 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 3 |
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Correspondence, March–April 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 4 |
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Correspondence, May–June 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 5 |
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Correspondence, 1–19 July 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 6 |
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Correspondence, 20–31 July 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 7 |
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Correspondence, 1–12 Aug., 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 8 |
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Correspondence, 13–20 Aug., 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 9 |
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Correspondence, 21–31 Aug., 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 10 |
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Correspondence, 1–16 Sept.,1880 |
Box 3, Folder 11 |
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Correspondence, 18–30 Sept., 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 12 |
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Correspondence, 1–9 Oct., 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 13 |
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Correspondence, 11–31 Oct., 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 14 |
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Correspondence, Nov.–Dec. 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 15 |
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Democratic Central Committee, Oct. 1878–1880 |
Box 3, Folder 16 |
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Democratic Central Committee, 1–20 Sept., 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 17 |
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Democratic Central Committee, 21–30 Sept., 1880 |
Box 3, Folder 18 |
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Democratic Central Committee, Oct.–Nov. 1880 |
Box 4, Folder 1 |
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Democratic Central Committee, 1878–1880 |
Box 4, Folder 2 |
|
Democratic Central Committee, 1880–83 |
Box 4, Folder 3 |
|
Democratic Central Committee, 1880–85 |
Box 4, Folder 4 |
|
Democratic Central Committee, n.d. |
Box 4, Folder 5 |
|
Personal Correspondence, n.d. |
Box 4, Folder 6 |
|
Personal Correspondence, 1881 |
Box 4, Folder 7 |
|
Personal Correspondence, 1882–83 |
Box 4, Folder 8 |
|
Personal Correspondence, 1884–85 |
Box 4, Folder 9 |
|
Personal Correspondence, 1886 |
Box 4, Folder 10 |
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Personal Correspondence, 1887 |
Box 4, Folder 11 |
|
Personal Correspondence, 1888–89 |
Box 4, Folder 12 |
|
Personal Correspondence, 1890 |
Box 5, Folder 1 |
|
Personal Correspondence, 1891 |
Box 5, Folder 2 |
|
Personal Correspondence, Jan–June 1892 |
Box 5, Folder 3 |
|
Personal Correspondence, July–Dec 1892 |
Box 5, Folder 4 |
|
Papers Relating to Erection of Soldiers Monument 1892 |
Box 5, Folder 5 |
|
Personal Correspondence Jan–June 1893 |
Box 5, Folder 6 |
|
Personal Correspondence, Sept. 1893–94 |
Box 5, Folder 7 |
|
Personal Correspondence, 1895–96 |
Box 5, Folder 8 |
|
Obituary Notices of William H. English, 1896 |
BV 1138 |
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Indianapolis Light Infantry Journal, 1877–89 |
BV 1139 |
|
Autograph Album, n.d. |
BV 2571 |
|
Autograph Album, n.d. |
BV 2572 |
|
“Mementos,” W. H. English, n.d. |
BV 2574 |
|
6 engravings of William H. English |
Visual Collections: OVA Graphics, Box 4 |
|
5 engravings of William H. English |
Visual Collections: OVB Graphics, Box 1, Folder 1 |
|
W. H. English |
Visual Collections: Upright Graphics, Folder 1 |
|
Engravings, William H. English |
Visual Collections: OVA Graphics, Box 4, Folder 13 |
|
Fragment re: William H. English’s Appointment as Clerk, Indiana House |
Visual Collections: OVA Graphics, Box 4, Folder 14 |
|
William H. English (2 images) |
Visual Collections: OVA Photographs, Box 1, Folder 20 |
|
William H. English; William E. English |
Visual Collections: OVA Photographs, Box 1, Folder 21 |
|
Portrait of W. H. English |
Visual Collections: OVA Photographs, Box 3, Folder 6 |
|
English Monument at Crown Hill Cemetery |
Visual Collections: OVA Photographs, Box 3, Folder 7 |
|
William H. English |
Visual Collections: OVC Photographs, Box 1, Folder 2 |
|
William H. English, ca. 1860s-70s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 13, Folder 1 |
|
William H. English, ca. 1860s-80s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 13, Folder 2 |
|
William H. English, ca. 1880s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 13, Folder 3 |
|
William H. English, ca. 1860-1880s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 14, Folder 1 |
|
William H. English; English’s Opera House, English Hotel, John Stephenson, Stafford, John Kennedy |
Visual Collections: Copy Negatives, Box 1 |
|
Lists of Books, Trees at Lexington |
Box 5, Folder 9 |
|
Speeches, 1854 |
Box 5, Folder 10 |
|
Speeches in Congress, 1858–60 |
Box 5, Folder 11 |
|
Yorktown Centennial |
Box 5, Folder 12 |
|
Press Controversy re. Donation Chicago Fire |
Box 5, Folder 13 |
|
Democratic Committee, 1888 |
Box 5, Folder 14 |
|
CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
|
Youthful Scrapbook, Acceptance Speech |
Box 6, Folder 1 |
|
Horses and Mules Bought at Auction, 1863 |
Box 6, Folder 2 |
|
Horses Bought and Sold |
Box 6, Folder 3 |
|
Correspondence, 1849–81; Partnership in Cal. English, Field Jackson, Howison |
Box 6, Folder 4 |
|
Business-Plots of N.W. Quadrant of Circle, 1873 |
Box 6, Folder 5 |
|
Business-Plymouth Congregation Church 1876–81 |
Box 6, Folder 6 |
|
Business-Misc. Paper re:-Real Estate |
Box 6, Folder 7 |
|
Business-Real Estate Taxes, 1879–96 |
Box 6, Folder 8 |
|
Business-Deed, Judgments Scott County 1853–82 |
Box 6, Folder 9 |
|
Business-Correspondence English to Martindale re: a Trade of Real Estate for Bank Stock 1886–87 |
Box 6, Folder 10 |
|
Business-Misc. and Updated Papers |
Box 6, Folder 11 |
|
Business-Account With Moss Engraving |
Box 6, Folder 12 |
|
Deeds and Titles, Judgments, 1854–71 |
Box 7, Folder 1 |
|
Deeds and Titles, Judgments, 1872–94 |
Box 7, Folder 2 |
|
Deeds and Titles, Judgments, 1871–79 |
Box 7, Folder 3 |
|
Deeds and Titles, Judgments, 1876–78 |
Box 7, Folder 4 |
|
Deeds and Titles, Judgments, 1870–90 |
Box 7, Folder 5 |
|
Deeds and Titles, Judgments, 1870s |
Box 7, Folder 6 |
|
Deeds and Titles, Judgments, 1870s–80s |
Box 7, Folder 7 |
|
Deeds, Granville Wright, 1873 |
Box 7, Folder 8 |
|
Deeds, Granville Wright, 1873 |
Box 7, Folder 9 |
|
Deeds, Granville Wright, 1871 |
Box 7, Folder 10 |
|
Business, 1880–90 |
Box 8, Folder 1 |
|
Business, 1870 |
Box 8, Folder 2 |
|
Business, 1873–77 |
Box 8, Folder 3 |
|
Business, 1837–71 |
Box 8, Folder 4 |
|
Construction and Repair, 1864 |
Box 8, Folder 5 |
|
Construction and Repair, 1862–68 |
Box 8, Folder 6 |
|
Construction and Repair, 1868 |
Box 8, Folder 7 |
|
Construction, House on Noble St., 1870 |
Box 8, Folder 8 |
|
Construction, Reconstruction of Circle Hall, 1872 |
Box 8, Folder 9 |
|
Construction, Receipts for Fifteen Houses, 1874 |
Box 8, Folder 10 |
|
Construction, Accounts of A. H. Jackson, 1887–1890 |
Box 8, Folder 11 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, 1881–1882 |
Box 9, Folder 1 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts |
Box 9, Folder 2 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts, 1880 |
Box 9, Folder 3 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts, 1880 |
Box 9, Folder 4 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts, 1880 |
Box 9, Folder 5 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts, 1880 |
Box 9, Folder 6 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts, 1880 |
Box 9, Folder 7 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts, 1880 |
Box 9, Folder 8 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts, 1882–86 |
Box 10, Folder 1 |
|
Hotel and Opera House, Accounts, 1884–85 |
Box 10, Folder 2 |
|
Programs, 1881–1900 |
Box 10, Folder 3 |
|
Programs, 1900 |
Box 10, Folder 4 |
|
Programs, 1896 |
Box 10, Folder 5 |
|
English Hotel and Opera House, ca. 1890s |
Visual Collections: Upright Graphics, Folder 2 |
|
English Hotel and Opera House, 1888-ca. 1910 |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 13, Folder 17 |
|
English Hotel and Opera House, ca. 1890s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 13, Folder 18 |
|
Theater Personalities: Notes |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 1 |
|
Theater Personalities: Adams, Allen, Anderson, Bandmann, Barrett, Bateman, Benedict?, Bishop |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 2 |
|
Theater Personalities: Boniface, John Wilkes Booth, Edwin Booth, Bovitt, Bowers (with Conway), Buchanan, Chaufreau, Collins, Coombs, Couldoke |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 3 |
|
Theater Personalities: Cushman, Daley, Davenport, Denin, Dickenson, Dumas, Fisher |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 4 |
|
Theater Personalities: Florence, Forrest, Fox, Gladstone, Gilbert, Harrison, Herring, Herron, Hosmer, Howard, Hudson |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 5 |
|
Theater Personalities: Jones, Keatie (Neafie?), Keene, Kellogg, Kingsbury, LaGrange, Lander, |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 6 |
|
Theater Personalities: Lee, Logan, Lou Menken, Mitchell, Newton, Nixon, |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 7 |
|
Theater Personalities: Owens, Penoyer, Picolomini Placide, Proctor, Provost, Reynolds, Richings, Riley, Ristori, Rivers, Ross, |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 8 |
|
Theater Personalities: Stockton, Svestage, Thompson Thorne, Vestvali, Vincent, Wallach, Webb, Western, Wednesday,Williams, Wood, Zoe, Ximinies? |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 9 |
|
Theater Personalities: Unidentified |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Box 16, Folder 10 |
|
Man with Performing Horse |
Visual Collections: OVA Photographs, Box 4 |
|
Railroads-First National Bank; Indianapolis-Citizens Street Railway, 1870–76 |
Box 10, Folder 6 |
|
Indianapolis-Citizens Street Railway, 1864–67 |
Box 10, Folder 7 |
|
Checks Drawn to John New, President First National Bank |
Box 10, Folder 8 |
|
First National Bank |
Box 10, Folder 9 |
|
Railroads; Fort Wayne-Southern Railway |
Box 11, Folder 1 |
|
Accounts of W. Rivers, 1877 |
Box 11, Folder 2 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents, Jan.–Feb., 1878 |
Box 11, Folder 3 |
|
N. Rivers, Agents, 3March 1878 |
Box 11, Folder 4 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents, 8 March–3 April 1878 |
Box 11, Folder 5 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents, April–May 1878 |
Box 11, Folder 6 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, May–July 1878 |
Box 11, Folder 7 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Aug.–Oct. 1878 |
Box 11, Folder 8 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Oct.–Nov. 1878 |
Box 12, Folder 1 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Jan.–Feb. 1879 |
Box 12, Folder 2 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, March 1879 |
Box 12, Folder 3 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, April–May 1879 |
Box 12, Folder 4 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, May–June 1879 |
Box 12, Folder 5 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, July–Aug. 1879 |
Box 12, Folder 6 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Sept.–Oct. 1879 |
Box 13, Folder 1 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Nov.–Dec. 1879 |
Box 13, Folder 2 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Jan.–Feb. 1880 |
Box 13, Folder 3 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Mar.–Apr. 1880 |
Box 13, Folder 4 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, May–June 1880 |
Box 13, Folder 5 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, July–Aug. 1880 |
Box 13, Folder 6 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Sept.–Oct. 1880 |
Box 13, Folder 7 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Nov.–Dec. 1880 |
Box 14, Folder 1 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Jan.–Feb. 1881 |
Box 14, Folder 2 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, March–April 1881 |
Box 14, Folder 3 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, June–July 1881 |
Box 14, Folder 4 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Aug.–Sept. 1881 |
Box 14, Folder 5 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Oct.–Nov. 1881 |
Box 14, Folder 6 |
|
W. Rivers, Agents Vouchers, Dec. 1881 |
Box 14, Folder 7 |
|
Accounts for W. Rivers, Jan.–Feb. 1883 |
Box 15, Folder 1 |
|
Accounts for W. Rivers, March–April 1883 |
Box 15, Folder 2 |
|
Accounts for W. Rivers, May–July 1883 |
Box 15, Folder 3 |
|
Accounts for W. Rivers, Aug.–Sept. 1883 |
Box 15, Folder 4 |
|
Accounts for W. Rivers, Oct., Nov. 1883 |
Box 15, Folder 5 |
|
Accounts for W. Rivers, Dec. 1883 |
Box 15, Folder 6 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, Jan. 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 1 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, Feb. 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 2 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, March 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 3 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, April 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 4 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, May 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 5 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, June 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 6 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, July 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 7 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, Aug. 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 8 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, Sept. 1884 |
Box 101, Folder 9 |
|
Business Accounts of W. Rivers, Agent Vouchers, Oct. 1884 |