Processed by
Kathryn M. Wilmot
21 September 2005
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 |
Manuscript Materials: 2 boxes |
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COLLECTION |
ca. 1866–1964 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Lynn E. Jones, Orinda, CA, September 2002 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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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 |
None |
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RELATED |
W.R.C. convention badges and ribbons: R0190, R0337-42, R0344-67, R0375, R0387-90, R0394, R0397, R0510, R0607, R0905, R0907–R0910, R0912–R0915, R0918-19 Reports of W.R.C. officers, E462.15.I6 A35; W.R.C. Rosters, E462.15.I6 A4 and E462.15.A4; Convention rolls and reports, E462.15.A2; Department of Indiana Convention, E462.15.I6 D2; Journal of the Department of Indiana, E462.15.I6 A3; Ritual of W.R.C., E462.15.A37; Officers and members, E462.1.I6 S66; Journal of National Convention, E462.15.A3; M0620, Grand Army of the Republic records, 1883–1901; Souvenir of 27th National Encampment, E462.1.N293 S68 |
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ACCESSION |
2002.0733 |
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NOTES: |
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Daughter of Orisa Stetson and George W. Roberts, Eva Roberts was born ca. 1868 in Indiana. According to the 1880 census, Eva lived with her mother and father in Williamsburg, Wayne County, Indiana. From 1888–1899 Eva was certified to teach school in Cass, Wayne, and Randolph counties. She was associated with the Richmond Normal School and the Wayne County Teacher’s Association. On 16 June 1901, Eva married Cyrus Betts Courtney (b. 20 August 1853). The couple had one son, George William Courtney. The 1920 census shows the family living in Randolph County, Winchester City, Indiana.
For many years, Eva served in the Woman’s Relief Corps (W.R.C.) in various capacities, including Secretary, Senior Vice President, and Department President of Indiana. An auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) veterans’ organization, the Woman’s Relief Corps was established in 1883. The motto of both organizations is “Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty.”
Sources:
Information in the collection
“Family Search.” Website search for “Eva Roberts.” Available from http://www.familysearch.org. Cited 18 September 2005.
“HeritageQuest Online.” Search for “Cyrus B. Courtney.” 1920 U.S. Federal Census for Indiana, Randolph County, Winchester City. Series T625, Roll 464, Page 267. Cited 18 September 2005.
This collection consists of Eva’s teaching licenses from 1888–1899, a combination grammar book and songbook, a family history book, and four scrapbooks. Separate folders hold loose materials removed from the books, including ribbons, postcards, and photographs.
The grammar book and songbook dates to ca. 1882–1894 and contains handwritten grammar lessons as well as handwritten ballads about love and motherhood. This book includes an interesting song concerning the Johnstown Flood of 1889 entitled “The Torrents Came Upon Them or The Johnstown Disaster.”
The family history book is comprised of a few pages of genealogy for the Stetson, Protsman, Courtney, and Roberts families. Loose material removed from this book includes further genealogical information, a 1913 letter to Cyrus from Mrs. A. V. Danner requesting copies of family records from the Protsman family Bible, and a pencil sketch of a potted plant.
The Woman’s Relief Corps scrapbook, ca. 1918–1934, for the Department of Indiana consists of newspaper clippings detailing W.R.C. receptions, meetings, patriotic programs, and memorials, and images and obituaries for W.R.C. and G.A.R. officers and presidents. Eva is mentioned in many of these newspaper clippings. In addition, the scrapbook contains two letters addressed to her from the G.A.R. and the W.R.C. There is one 1936 photograph, presumably of W.R.C. ladies, taken in Bloomington, Indiana. Loose material removed from this scrapbook includes a postcard labeled “Josephine Walmer,” a note regarding the presentation of a flag to Eva at the State Convention, a 1921 article entitled “Thrift” written by Eva, and a letter to the 52nd W.R.C. National Convention members detailing the audit of the W.R.C. National Treasurer’s books.
The ca. 1887–1946 diary and scrapbook consists of diary entries and newspaper clippings pasted into a G.A.R. account book. Pages 1-20 and page 192 of the account book contain member names, dues paid, and expenses for G.A.R. Post No. 190 in Williamsburg, Indiana. The rest of the book is devoted to diary entries and newspaper clippings. Eva penned daily diary entries from January 1887 to April 1887. The entries resume from January to February 1890 with a few sporadic entries until 1904. Topics addressed include weather, social calls paid and received, illnesses, church attendance, marriage, funerals, chores, letters written and received, school activities and examinations, and lectures attended. The Normal School is mentioned in some of the entries. Separate sections of the diary are devoted to a listing of deaths (including those of Generals Grant and McClellan and Henry Ward Beecher), marriages, and books read from ca. 1885–1904. Newspaper clippings from the mid-1940s focus on births (especially twins), marriages, soldiers’ reunions with their children, war casualties, obituaries, and general articles of interest to Eva. Eva is mentioned in some of these newspaper articles. In addition to newspaper clippings and diary entries, this book includes pamphlets on the Progressive Party of Indiana and the Educational Reform Party, poems, postcards, memorial cards, and Eva’s report card for 1882. Loose material removed from the diary and scrapbook consists of various newspaper clippings, including deaths of local and national figures, a 1949 letter from Eva’s friend, a W.R.C. ribbon, as well as two G.A.R. postcards.
The ca. 1870s–1964 scrapbook contains illustrated newspaper clippings and biographies for members of the National Tribune Conversation Club to which Eva belonged in the 1870s. These biographies describe the members’ physical characteristics and their interests. Other Conversation Club clippings relate to topics such as teaching, morality, history, books, behavior, and attitudes towards different ethnic groups. Eva collected poems on topics such as Civil War soldiers, temperance, alcohol, children, and mothers; ca. 1880s–1890s obituaries for local Williamsburg and Winchester residents; activities of the G.A.R.; and articles about the fire at the Indiana State Normal school. Page 132 includes Eva and Cyrus B. Courtney’s wedding announcement and Cyrus’s obituary appears on page 296. Scattered throughout the album are a few photographs and a few pages of old stamps. Other ephemera such as rewards of merit, school souvenirs, bible cards, and valentines are located on pages 340–346. Loose material removed from this scrapbook includes three small tintypes, a postcard of schoolchildren, W.R.C. and G.A.R. ribbons, advertisements, and an article written by Eva on Colonel Nelson Trusler.
The last scrapbook is an 1876–1880 Teacher’s Contract & Report Book for Randolph County, Indiana. Eva glued over some of these reports, but many are still visible and reveal lists of textbooks used, number of pupils, teacher’s names, and wages paid. Newspaper clippings focus on weddings, wedding anniversaries, obituaries, sensational murders, explosions, history, W.R.C. and G.A.R. meetings, the 1893 World’s Fair, and George W. Courtney’s business. A few black and white photographs and one small tintype are scattered throughout. Other ephemera includes a ca. 1930 James Whitcomb Riley postcard, advertising cards, 1893–1894 ribbons for the Convention of the Richmond District Epworth Leagues, W.R.C. dues receipts for 1908–1909, and an 1887 Richmond Normal School commencement program. Loose material removed from this scrapbook consists of newspaper clippings, receipts, an Epworth League prayer meeting card, a 1925 program for the observance of Indiana Day, a 1902 issue of Sunshine Magazine and Entertainer, and two political poems criticizing President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt. A letter to Eva from “Georgie” discusses the loss of young men due to World War II; three 1946 letters from the Palladium-Item newspaper thank Eva for her contributions to the history column.
The last folder in the collection contains handwritten biblical notes and historical notes on significant events in American history. There is also a summary of the W.R.C.’s contributions to the G.A.R.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Teaching licenses, 1888–1899 |
Box 1, Folder 1 |
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Grammar book and songbook, ca. 1882–1894 |
Box 1, Folder 2 |
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Family history book, n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 3 |
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Loose items removed from family history book, 1913–1947; n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 4 |
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Woman’s Relief Corps scrapbook, ca. 1918–1934 |
Box 1, Folder 5 |
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Loose items removed from W.R.C. scrapbook, 1920–1941; n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 6 |
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Loose clippings removed from W.R.C. scrapbook, 1929–1956; n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 7 |
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Loose postcard removed from W.R.C. scrapbook, n.d. |
Visual Collections: |
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Diary and scrapbook, ca. 1887–1946 |
Box 1, Folder 8 |
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Loose items removed from diary and scrapbook, 1949; n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 9 |
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Loose clippings removed from diary and scrapbook, 1894–1948; n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 10 |
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Loose postcards removed from diary and scrapbook, n.d. |
Visual Collections: |
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Scrapbook, ca. 1870s–1964 |
Box 1, Folder 11 |
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Loose items removed from 1870s–1964 scrapbook, 1942–1949; n.d. |
Box 2, Folder 1 |
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Loose clippings removed from 1870s–1964 scrapbook, n.d. |
Box 2, Folder 2 |
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Loose tintypes removed from 1870s–1964 scrapbook, n.d. |
Visual Collections: |
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Loose postcard removed from 1870s–1964 scrapbook, n.d. |
Visual Collections: |
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Scrapbook, ca. 1880s–1947 |
Box 2, Folder 3 |
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Loose items removed from 1880s–1947 scrapbook, 1892–1946; n.d. |
Box 2, Folder 4 |
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Loose clippings removed from 1880s–1947 scrapbook, 1866–1948, n.d. |
Box 2, Folder 5 |
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Loose photograph removed from 1880s–1947 scrapbook, n.d. |
Visual Collections: |
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Loose writings, n.d. |
Box 2, Folder 6 |
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Loose clippings, n.d. |
Box 2, Folder 7 |
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10 Woman’s Relief Corps and Grand Army of the Republic ribbons, 1920–1948 |
Artifacts: R 2266–R2275 |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M0856).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.