This collection consists of the following materials:

• Texas colonization land grant between Stephen F. Austin and William Cooper (dated July 1824) for acreage near the town of San Felipe de Austin, Texas. (4 pages, Spanish).
• Transcription of Texas colonization land grant between Stephen F. Austin and William Cooper (dated July 1824) for acreage near the town of San Felipe de Austin, Texas. With additional information regarding the location of the land grant. Transcription includes some errors in translation. (4 pages, English).
• Holograph letter from Lucinda M. Cooper to William [Cooper], January 24, 1864. Letter from wife to her husband who is fighting in the United States Civil War expressing concerns about the conditions at home.

This collection consists of one 5" box and includes the following publication titles:

• Germania Farm Mutual Aid Association, 1975-1981
• Germania Today (formerly Germania Farm Mutual Aid Association), 1982-2001
• Germania Insurance Companies Annual Reports, 1999-2001

This collection contains property rolls, 1896-1906; constitution and by-laws, 1903-1979; financial statements, 1975; seven applications, 1963; certificate of enrollment; newsletter 1975-1979; and a file of approximately 150 letters and cards, September 25, 1896 - October 11, 1899, mostly to L. A. Niebuhr, secretary of the Association.

This collection contains correspondence throughout the life of Hernan H. Contreras, both personal and professional, descriptions of his family home, a warranty deed on property owned by the Contreras family in Starr County, a map of these lots, photographs of family and coworkers in the U.S. Department of Immigration office in Starr County, an autograph book from his public school career, utility bills, receipts, junk mail, and oil and gas leases.

The collection also contains a multitude of papers from Mr. Contreras' wife's family, particularly those of her father, Casamiro Perez Alvares. The contents of these papers include oil and gas leases, utility bills, newspaper articles, correspondence with the U.S. Marshal's office in Galveston, subpoenas, arrest warrants, witness testimonies, receipts, government bulletins, poll tax receipts, land and city tax receipts, family photographs, marriage licenses, wedding invitations, funeral notices, personal letters, business letters, bank statements, checks, deposits, Christmas cards, a pamphlet on communism, a report card, ration sheets from World War I, Letters to the Editor of Newsweek magazine, articles on Estela Contreras' run for political office, and a picture of Estela Contreras from 1993. There is also a collection of reels accompanying all the paper items.

This collection contains a brief history written in 1959; constitution and by-laws, 1943-1975; applications for insurance, 1922-1929; benefit certificates, 1911-1936; proceedings of annual meetings, 1925-1974; newsletters, 1954-1968; and an insurance policy from 1955.

This collection contains correspondence, lists, meeting minutes, and notices of meetings along with other documents produced in relation to the Houston Civil War Round Table (CWRT).

This collection contains newspaper articles from the Huntsville Item about the Huntsville Prison Siege that lasted from July 24th to August 3rd, 1974. Fred Carrasco, a life sentence inmate, smuggled firearms into his cell, and with two other inmate accomplices, he took fifteen hostages, 11 being prison workers and 4 being inmates. The convicts walked the hostages to an escape car they had arranged, but officers and FBI agents shot them with a fire hose, compelling the convicts to kill two hostages and then for Carrasco to apparently kill himself. The other two convicts were sentenced to death row and the siege would become the longest prison siege in US history.

This collection contains the personal and business documents of Joseph Woodyard Batts. The majority of the documents, around 600, are handwritten duplications of land abstracts that track the distribution of land from the founding of Texas. Other documents included are correspondence of land and loan agreements from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Lastly, there are personal tax receipts for himself and his son, J. W. Batts, Jr.

Notable documents include land granted to Texas A&M, land granted from the Mexican government before Texas was a part of the U. S., land granted to the Confederate war efforts during the Civil War, and land granted from Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin.

This collection includes a ledger and a diary from John B. Zimmerman. The ledger contains mostly handwritten speeches and essays by John, also found within the ledger are notations of "flour received from Dailley & Co." for May to July 1867, two commencement programs attached in the back for Sam Houston Normal Institute (1880) and the University of Nashville State Normal College (1883), both where John graduated from. The diary was written later during the year 1891, though the physical diary itself was meant for the year 1890. Notes concerning this can be seen on the inside of the front cover, as well as the following notation, "Diary E - For abbreviations and explanations, see diaries B & C". However, there are no other diaries included in this collection.

This collection is comprised of correspondence, publications, writings, listings, directories, manuscripts, photographs, and research material for the Powers publication on Texas art and artists, titled, "Texas Painters, Sculptors & Graphic Artists: A Biographical Dictionary of Artists in Texas Before 1942", Austin, TX: Woodmont Books, 2000. The collection is primarily photocopies and writings of the Powers with some published materials.

The original order has been maintained as much as possible. Correspondence is dispersed throughout the collection with most concentrated in box 1. Those artists with significant information have been given a single file. The artists' information files are arranged in alphabetical order by artist's last name and are inclusive of all artists within the alphabetical listing. Each of these files begins with one artist and ends with the last artist information in the file. Artists' information can consist of one news item to several pages of information. To find an artist's name not listed on the file, please look at the file where his name would be in the alphabet.

This collection (1884-1893) contains financial and legal documents related to the cattle industry and the range war in Johnson County, Wyoming, in April 1892. The financial documents include a bill of sale written in compliance with the Maverick Law of 1884 and a promissory note. The legal documents were produced in connection with the criminal proceedings against the participants of the range war.

This collection consists chiefly of correspondence regarding the Runge family of Galveston, Tex. and Menard, Tex., including Henry Runge, his sons Henry J. Runge and Louis Hermann Runge, their cousin Julius F. Runge, as well as family members in Hannover, Germany, including heirs Hans Eyl and his wife Meta Eyl; German immigrant and Texas businessman Walter Tips (1841-1911) who, after the death of Henry Runge, had formed the Las Moras Ranch Company (December 21, 1879) with his wife's aunt Julia Runge, wife of Henry Runge, and Runge's sons Henry J. Runge, and Louis H. Runge; German Emigration Company lands, lawyers and law firms in Austin, Tex. and San Antonio, Tex., including C. A. Goeth, the firm of Webb & Goeth, Adolph Goeth, the business partner of Walter Tips and brother of C. A. Goeth.

Also present are: legal documents, including deeds, wills, powers of attorney, some ranch operations records, including ranch inventories, accounting ledgers, and handwritten notes. These papers record the operations and transfers of ownership of over 130,000 acres of property, principally in the Texas counties of Comal, San Saba, Tom Green, Concho, and Menard, collectively known as the Las Moras Ranch.

Beyond the acquisition, operation, and ultimate liquidation of this ranch property, however, an interesting part of Texas history, that of the Adelsverien or German Emigration Company, and early German immigrant settlement are illuminated through the documents in the collection.

The collection series reflect the history of the ranch from its foundation until its sale in 1913.

• Series 1 begins with an 1867 legal document showing a transfer of ownership of many thousands of acres of land from Hermann Arnold Henry (Heinrich) Runge (1821-1861) of Funchal, Madiera, Portugal to his brother and business partner, Henry Runge (1816-1873). Henry Runge paid for the land in American Gold. Other documents in the papers include a very large judgment against the Adelsverien or German Emigration Company, a copy of the lengthy handwritten "Last Will of Henry Runge," probated April 2, 1873, and that of his wife, Julia, dated March 23, 1896.
• Subsequent documents in Series 2-Series 4 of the papers highlight the operation and eventual liquidation in 1913 of the Las Moras Ranch, including transcontinental communications between Germany and Texas among heirs to the Runge fortune. Several of these family letters scattered through the papers may be particularly difficult to translate since they are written in Kurrentschrift, a Gothic handwriting style.
• Playing important roles in the later transactions concerning the ranch properties were the sons of Henry Runge (1816-1873): Henry J. Runge (1859-1922), Louis Hermann Runge (1861-1936), and his nephew Julius F. Runge (1851-1906). Henry J. Runge and Julius F. Runge were financial advisors, while Louis Runge served as the ranch manager and lived on the Las Moras Ranch property. Walter E. Tips (1841-1911), another German immigrant, Texas Senator, and successful hardware merchandiser, who married into the Runge family, along with C. A. Goeth (b. 1869), a San Antonio attorney, were involved in the ranch operations and legal issues concerning the eventual dispersal of Las Moras Ranch property.

This collection contains booklets, correspondence, mailing announcements, League of Women Voters of Brazos County bylaws, and the newsletters "The Voter" and "The Brazos Valley Voter".

This collection contains notes, proofs, and edits for Ellerbee's manuscript, And So It Goes.

This collection includes letters saved by Mamie Haden Waller. They span 40 years of her life; not only do they encompass her life, but those of her mother Priscie (P. Haden) and father, James E. Haden as well. The collection also includes letters from Waller's siblings, in-laws, husband, and many other relatives and friends.

The Haden family lived on a farm near Dresden, TX. Of Mamie's six siblings, her second oldest brother, Joel H., attended A&M College from 1876-1878. Several of her brothers were military officers and her sister Priscie married Gideon Taylor in 1875. Mamie Haden Waller had five grandchildren.

Sisters: Clemmie Haden, Priscie Haden, Pattie Haden, Florence P. Haden Brothers: Johnny (John) J. Haden, Joel H. Haden

This collection contains the Boone and Bryan family history in a compilation of biographies, clippings, and photocopies from books and newspapers, and other topics on the history of Boonville, TX. Also included are land acre maps of the town of Boonville and several genealogies including the genealogy of the Harvey Mitchell family.

This collection contains correspondence to and from Margaret Rector, copies of articles, book reviews and other materials related to the publication of the book Cowboy Life on the Texas Plains: the Photographs of Ray Rector as well as a letter from Margaret to David Chapman regarding the donation of the materials.

This collection contains personal letters of the McDaniel family from 1855-1916 along with civil war letters from Confederate soldiers. The letters originate from the McDaniel family in Texas and Mississippi during and after the civil war. Many of the items in the collection are fragile, and transcriptions were made of the letters. This collection also contains family recipes, remedies, along with stereoscopic view plates.

The McDaniel family spans across Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Julius and Minerva (Rodgers) McDaniel were farmers who lived in Ben Hur, Texas during the 1800s.

The Mercurio Martinez Papers (1797-1963 (bulk: 1910-1963)) include correspondence, copies of legal documents such as wills, deeds, affidavits and courtroom briefs, maps, a few photographs, field notes for land surveys, genealogical charts, accounts of family and regional history by Mercurio Martinez, and historical accounts from other sources, principally newspapers. There are also financial records of various kinds including tax records, bills and receipts, books of check stubs and account sheets.

The vast majority of the papers relate to families, places and events in Zapata County. Webb County is also well represented, as is the region surrounding the town of Guerrero, Tamaulipas located on the south bank of the Rio Grande opposite Zapata County, Texas. A few papers deal with families, places and events in Starr County and further south in the Rio Grande Valley and a few files deal with Mexican, United States and world affairs. Unless otherwise noted in the inventory, files deal with Zapata or Webb County matters.

The oldest original papers date from the latter part of the nineteenth century and include such documents as Mercurio Martinez's Texas Teachers Certificate, 1898 (Series 1-3/4); a General Land Office map of Zapata County, 1885, (Series 3-14/25); and a certificate appointing Proceso Martinez, Sr., Mercurio's father, to the Zapata County Board of Appeals, 1870, (Series 3-25/23). There are also copies and translations of nineteenth-century documents including partition deeds, deeds of sale, birth records, and maps. Accounts of family and local history written by Martinez in the 1950s and early 1960s deal with events dating back to the Spanish settlements along the lower Rio Grande in the 1750s. Genealogies are generally traced back to the first colonists to arrive in the region. Family records, therefore, cover a time span of more than 200 years, from the settlers who arrived on the banks of the Rio Grande in about 1750 to their descendants in the early 1960s. Each decade from 1900 onward is represented in the papers. There are more files from the 1950s than any other single decade.

Among the most important files in the collection are those on the relocation of the town of Zapata due to the construction of Falcon Dam on the Rio Grande in the early 1950s, the salvation of the community of San Ygnacio from destruction during this period, the accounts of family history and genealogy from Zapata County, and the papers related to the division of lands between descendants of original holders of Spanish grants and sales of family lands. Maps, genealogies, and legal documents provide a clear picture of the rapidity with which even extensive landholdings can be reduced to tracts hardly adequate to support the families of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original owners. Reconsolidation of holdings through the purchase of interest from siblings and through cousin marriage are also documented. It is also possible to trace shifts in settlement and land-use patterns. For example, the original grantees of porciones along the Rio Grande held land in long narrow blocks extending inland from the river. Over the generations, these blocks were subdivided among heirs and parts of them were sold outside the families. Through separate inheritance from parents, through marriage, and through purchase, individuals came to own small pieces of land located in widely separated tracts. This pattern of dispersed holdings, each of economically inefficient size and too far apart to be worked as units, has been noted for many peasant societies. These papers clearly reveal the processes whereby such a land-holding pattern developed out of the more economically efficient block holdings within a few generations. The most completely documented tract of land is the vast Jose Vasquez Borrego Grant made in 1750. It was later divided into the Dolores, Corralitos, and San Ygnacio Subdivisions. The first settlement was made at the Hacienda de Dolores on August 22, 1750. This settlement was abandoned, apparently during Indian troubles in the early 19th century. A settlement or Rancho of Dolores was founded nearby in the Dolores subdivision of the Borrego Grant by Cosme Martinez in 1859. Meanwhile, the town of San Ygnacio had been founded in the San Ygnacio subdivision in 1830. Until the early 20th century, an hacienda in the Corralitos subdivision was occupied by members of the Vidaurri family, who were descendants of the original grantee's daughter, Alejandra Vasquez Borrego de Vidaurri.

Also of interest are the Corridos, or ballads, composed by Mercurio Martinez and dealing with dramatic events in Zapata County history such as an escape from prison, a contested election and the destruction of Zapata by the rising waters of Falcon Reservoir.

This collection includes school records and teacher's daily registers from around Milam County, Texas.

This collection consists of some correspondence, a significant number of mostly typed manuscript drafts, both published and unpublished, and a printer's galley for her book, Coryell County Scrapbook, published in 1963 by Texian Press of Waco, Texas. Also present are a few newspaper clippings, as well as handwritten and typed research notes for her published book.

The manuscript drafts reveal an engaging blend of scholarship, personal recollection, and anecdotal history chronicling the development of Coryell county from when the area was part of Coahuila, Mexico, through to its formal organization as a county in the state of Texas in 1854. Included is an account of the growth of Fort Hood as a military base in the early 1960s.

Stories are cited from early twentieth-century newspapers recounting Indian skirmishes with pioneering settlers, deeds of cattle rustlers and trail drivers, as well as events surrounding prohibition and various political rivalries. The early days of Fort Gates, now Gatesville, and the later development of Camp Hood, now Fort Hood, one of the nation's largest military installations, are described. Statistical tables and records present expenditures for, and descriptions of, buildings, jails, courthouses, prominent homes, banks, and businesses in Coryell county.

Interspersed among the political and economic accounts of the county's progress are more personal stories of weddings, births, parties, church events, legendary horses, dogs, local heroes, and even the county's centennial celebration in 1954. Mears' relatively unadorned narrative describes in some detail the increasing social, economic, and political prosperity and influence, as well as the setbacks, of Coryell County. Mears' work brings to life frontier Texas culture during the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century.

Includes County Clerk Case Papers, 1838-1911

This collection contains one Treasury Warrant (February 13, 1861), one $100 share in the Consolidated Fund of Texas (September 1, 1837), one $10 treasury note (December 10, 1838), one $100 stock certificate in the 10 percent Consolidated Fund (June 15, 1840), and one $2 Confederate note and a $3 Confederate note (both dated July 7, 1862).

This collection contains correspondence (1917-1918) from Rev. Franklin Condit Thompson to his wife (mostly) and family from when he was at Camp Travis in San Antonio, Texas. Also included are many black and white (B&W) photographs with inscriptions, ten color postcards, and a few B&W picture postcards taken at Camp Travis and Camp Mercedes, Texas.

This collection contains materials collected in relation to the dedication and celebration of the Historical Marker for Rev. Jindrich Juren, though the materials range in date from 1900 to 2014, the bulk of the materials are from 1995.

Materials include correspondence, historical and biographical data regarding both Fayetteville Brethren Church and Houston Brethren Church, publications in English and Czech, a copy of the Texas Historical Marker application to the Texas Historical Commission, and multiple news clippings about the dedication celebration that took place on October 1, 1995.

The collection includes articles, books on gas measurement, and materials relating to the awards and achievements of Dr. Roland O. Cox.

The Samuel Erson Asbury Papers consist of research materials, correspondence, mainly original contemporary letters and copies of the older historical correspondence, Asbury's writings and copies of state and national documents, held in eight boxes and one map case drawer occupying approximately twelve linear feet of shelf space. Asbury's broad range of interests is reflected in the variety of topics contained in these papers. Foremost among them are the files of correspondence, historical documents, articles and research notes concerning various aspects of Texas history.

Also included in the Asbury papers are articles, short stories, essays, plays, poetry, and a Texas Revolution opera written by Asbury; research notes and correspondence on the cultivation of roses and the growing of plants without soil; articles written about Asbury; correspondence with family members; general correspondence; and photographs of Asbury, his family and friends, and North Carolina A & M College.