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George W. Ingram Letters

  • US TxAM-C 1218
  • Collection
  • 1861-1865

This collection contains original letters exchanged between George W. Ingram and his wife, Martha F. Ingram, while George was serving as an officer in the 12th Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. Typed transcripts of the letters are included.

Yeager Family Civil War Papers

  • US TxAM-C 391
  • Collection
  • 1862-1892; 1986

This collection contains over twenty-two letters mainly from James to Caroline Yeager. The letters began on January 22, 1862, to Yeager's siblings telling them about the war, asking them to write, and including information on the Union army. There are also some letters with unknown dates and copies, detailed genealogies of the Yeager family including a chart of James Evans Yeager, a publication titled "The Nicholas Yager-Yeager Descendants: A Genealogy 1678-1986" by Odesa Collins, photographs of flatware, glassware and place settings owned by the Yeager's, and two old money bills.

James Evans Yeager was born November 28, 1750, in Alabama and died in a Northern Prison Camp during the Civil War. Other members of the Yeager family are noted in the genealogy publication, but the information is primarily about Nicholas Yager (the original spelling of the surname), patriarch of the family. Very little information on the personal or professional lives of the individuals is included, but the publication does contain photographic copies of family members with captions.

D. Hobart Taylor Diary

  • US TxAM-C 390
  • Collection
  • 1862

This collection contains the original handwritten diary of D. Hobart Taylor from January 1 to May 30, 1862. Taylor was a northern soldier during the Civil War. Also included in a transcription of the diary.

Benjamin M. Linsley Letters

  • US TxAM-C 156
  • Collection
  • 1862-1863

These six letters, dated December 12, 1862 - August 6, 1863, are from Benjamin M. Linsley to his friend Mrs. Lucy G. Palmer in Suffield, Conn. Each letter is written in ink on both sides of a single folded sheet, except for the first one, which is on two folded sheets, sewn together in the center with cloth thread at some point after they were composed. All are addressed by Linsley from the camp near Falmouth, Va., where his regiment, the 14th Infantry of the Army of the Potomac was based, except the last one, which is addressed from McKinnis Hospital in Baltimore, Md., where Linsley was sent to recover from typhoid fever.

In the letters, Linsley comments on the failure of the Union army to obtain substantial victories ever since the Union defeat at Fredericksburg; inflated prices for postage stamps and sutler's goods; the despair he feels at the poor treatment in general of the sick in military hospitals, not only by medical personnel but by fellow soldiers; strategies for obtaining better food and bedding for his brother while nursing him through a severe fever, probably typhoid; the need for statesmen of moral standing more like George Washington than the much clamoured for "little man" George MacClellan; the trials of long marches in either rain and mud to cross the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, only to retreat back over them after the battle of Chancellorsville, or the intense heat of marches toward Warrenton Junction, Va., from which Linsley was transported with the sick and wounded to recover from typhoid himself in McKinnis Hospital at Baltimore; the desperation of deserters being taken to their punishment; the immoral behaviour of men in camp; the need for more good chaplains like Clay Trumbull of Hartford, Conn., who served with his brother's regiment of Volunteers; and perhaps, more poignantly, the eerie sound of drums during funerals for the many soldiers who died in camp from sickness in their poor living conditions.

The letters are now each encased in a clear plastic sleeve. A one-page report from the National Archives and Records Administration is included with the first letter. This NARA report (2 July 2001) replies to a request made by Professor Dale Baum of Texas A & M University in April 2001 to locate and make a copy of Benjamin M. Linsley's pension documents packet, stating NARA staff could not locate the materials. Baum had listed Linsley as an enlistee of the U.S. Army in Company A, 1st Battalion, 14th U.S. Infantry.

Linsley, Benjamin M.

John Henry Bliler Diary

  • US TxAM-C 97
  • Collection
  • 1862-1875

This diary serves as John Henry Bliler's account of the Civil War. It was kept in the Bliler family, in some form since the Civil War, up until it was acquired by the repository.

It looks that Bliler copied over his original diary several times himself, and this last copy occupies all but a few leaves of the five exercise tablets. As noted in the description of Series 1, these first five exercise books could not possibly have contained a copy made any earlier than 1890. The only exception seems to be a portion of the last tablet, which is filled by entries copied over in pencil in 1944 by one of Bliler's descendants, Ardath Bliler Kelly, reportedly since the family copy had become quite damaged by then.

Thus, according to p. 56 of the typewritten transcript of the diary entries in the five exercise books, "[John Henry] Bliler copied his account of the Civil War three times during his lifetime. The last copy was made shortly before his death in 1924." On page number 116 in pencil in the fifth exercise book, an entry from March 31, 1944, made in different handwriting reads "The following copied from by [sic.] originally by Ardath Bliler Kelly, granddaughter of the narrator [sic.]. The original is ragged and yellowed and crumbling." Entries which are thus copied on p. 116-123 of this last exercise book are out of order, dated June 24, [1865] - June 29, 1865, followed by a note in Ardath Bliler Kelly's hand, "A portion of the original omitted in the copy," then the dates January 24 - January 31, 1865.

The typed transcript and index were probably made by Roy K. Bliler later than 1944, and not too long previous to when it was received by the repository. This transcript preserves the original order of John Henry Bliler's diary entries.

Bliler, John Henry, 1844-1924

J. F. Rowley Diary

  • US TxAM-C 389
  • Collection
  • 1863-1865

The collection contains the original handwritten diary of southern rebel J. F. Rowley from 1863 to 1865 in a protective engraved box and a transcription of the diary.

Charles Levy Civil Rights Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000013
  • Collection
  • 1863-1975

This collection contains nearly 1000 items related to the civil rights movement from 1955-1975. The early part of this collection (1955-67) formed the basic research for Levy's book Voluntary Servitude, Whites in the Negro Movement, (New York: Appleton-Century, 1968). The collection includes hundreds of pages of writings, publications, bulletins, internal memos, broadsides, hand-printed magazines, etc. Prominent figures of the civil rights and revolutionary movements, organizations, and committees are covered in the collection. The collection also includes two photographs of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act with Rev. Martin L. King, Jr. and other luminaries of the civil rights movement.

Sterling C. Evans Papers

  • TxAM-CRS 590
  • Collection
  • 1864-2003

This collection contains the papers of Sterling C. Evans including personal correspondence with friends, family members, and business associates; personal notebooks; plat maps, blueprints, diagrams of land: legal and financial documents surrounding real estate transactions; favorite quotations and poems; manuscripts; a travel diary; notes, notebooks of advertising and commercial brochures; photographs, newspaper clippings, receipts for gifts, and personal artifacts. The collection also contains the papers of his lifelong assistant, Dorothy Whitley.

The papers reflect Evans' personal life, his early career in the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, his professional career with the Federal Land Bank, and his retirement to a second career of investments in and operating large ranches and plantations in Texas, New Mexico, and Louisiana. In addition, the papers reflect his generosity and his involvement with Texas A&M University through his service to the Board of Regents during a pivotal time in the university's history as well as his support of the university library.

While the papers record Evans' early career, they more extensively detail his agricultural business after his retirement from the Federal Farm Credit Administration and the Federal Land Bank. This post-retirement career is highlighted by a growing friendship with Gus Wortham of Houston, Texas, and their joint real estate ventures such as Randle Lake Plantation in Milam County, Texas, Bear Lake Plantation in Tallulah, La., Crescent Plantation in Louisiana, Little Eva Plantation in Chopin, La., Nine Bar Ranch in Cypress, Texas, and the U Bar Ranches in Medina County, Texas and Hidalgo County, N.M., as well as other smaller operations. These subject files include personal correspondence, legal documents, financial documents, photographs, brochures, advertising materials, and news clippings.

Correspondence includes Evans' exchanges with his wife, Cathrene Thomas Evans, and well-known professional associates such as Gus Wortham, W. N. Stokes, John Wasson, Eugene Butler, Mildred McCoy, Carl Detering, John Lindsey, Earl Rudder, Frank Vandiver, William Mobley, Perry Atkission, Ray Bowen, Irene Hoadley, Fred Heath, Ambassador Edward Clark, and Dolph Briscoe. Also included is correspondence from many family members, and close friends, as well as students from Texas A&M University and Evans' former employees.

D. Port Smythe Family Papers

  • US TxAM-C 1242
  • Collection
  • 1864-1894

This collection includes letters, genealogical data, notebooks, pictures, and picture postcards (1888-1909) of members of the family of D. Port Smythe.

Smythe, D. Port

James Samuel Hart Civil War Letters

  • US TxAM-C 1587
  • Collection
  • 1865

This collection contains two letters with transcriptions from James Samuel Hart to Julia Nancy Foster in 1865 along with a brief biography of the two and photocopies of photographs.

Transcriptions of the letters were created and provided by Elaine Matheney Gibson.

William Harrison Mays Papers

  • US TxAM-C C000003
  • Collection
  • 1866-1982

This collection contains a variety of documents related to William Harrison Mays, an African American cowboy living in Corpus Christi, TX during the late 19th and early 20th century, and his family. The collection consists of tax receipts, promissory notes, land deeds, and receipts for lumber and building loan payments, photographs, and correspondences from which the researcher is able to track the development of a family over the course of three generations.

Of particular interest is a letter written by W. H. Mays' grandson, Roby Williams, dated September 12, 1982, in which he claims that his grandfather, "was a gun toten cow puncher with the Kings and Kennedys who used to ride over the border and steal Mexican's cattle and bring them back to Kings ranch and brand them KR. Grandpa knew he was living such a hard and risky life, he knew he was subject to being killed on some of these adventures and cattle drives up to Abilene, Kansas, so he didn't buy anything in his name. If he was arrested for cattle rustling, they couldn't take his property." One of the deeds dated 1872 may dispute this claim as it conveys to "Harrison Mays, Colored" a property in Corpus Christi for the sum of twenty-five gold dollars. However, all the tax receipts thereafter for the property are made out to a Clarissa Sinclair (also known as Alice Sinclair, William Harrison Mays' wife).

Other items of interest include a photograph, circa 1865, of two African-American men each standing with a leg up on a wooden box with a large bag marked "$1,000." The handwritten caption on the back reads: "Uncle Willie Cox on left. Just after a win in a cock's fight. Bag contains $1,000.00 in gold. San Luis Portisi, Mexico."

Mays, William Harrison

Robert Browning Letters

  • TxAM-CRS 660
  • Collection
  • 1867-1980

This collection contains seven original handwritten letters by Browning, two copies of letters to Browning, one original handwritten letter to Browning from artist John Nettleship and one letter fragment with Browning's signature.

Also included is a program for the Armstrong-Browning Library Dedication, newspaper clippings regarding a stolen Browning relic and Dr. Frederick Furnivall, and a magazine article "Browning on the Brazos".

Ku Klux Klan Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000321
  • Collection
  • 1868-1870, 1916-1970, undated

This collection consists of historical materials relating to the early 20th-century history of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan. Although it began existence after the Civil War and ebbed away with the end of Reconstruction, the Klan re-emerged following World War I and gained a great deal of political and social influence across the United States into the early 1920s. The materials in this collection are drawn from that period when the Klan came out into the semi-public eye as a formal organization. A few items date from later in the 20th century.

In addition, the collection contains a number of issues of the American and Commercial Advertiser newspaper from 1868-1870, documenting the campaign of violence initiated by the first iteration of the Klan, from immediately after the Civil War.

Materials in the collection include newspaper and magazine articles on the Klan, Klan-sympathetic and Klan-run newspapers and other publications, photographs, organizational materials, and assorted examples of Klan literature and propaganda. They reflect the deep reserves of hate, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, ignorance, and nonsensical beliefs of the Klan and its members, as well as the comically risible vocabulary that was a part of Klan culture and practice.

Materials come from various Klan "klaverns" in Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia, with additional materials from Maine, Minnesota, and other locations.

Las Moras Ranch Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000046
  • Collection
  • 1869-1913

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.

Las Moras Ranch, 1869-1913

Cavitt Family Papers

  • US TxAM-C 805
  • Collection
  • circa 1870s-post 1900s

The collection consists of personal correspondence and documents of J. F. Cavitt and other documents of significant importance. Included is the correspondence of and articles about Ann Cavitt Armstrong, that sheds a light on the early settlement period of Texas. Financial documents also shed a light on the early history of Texas, including court documents and receipts of slave purchases.

Cavitt, Joseph Franklin

J. R. Cole Papers

  • US TxAM-C C000040
  • Collection
  • 1871-1971

This collection contains clippings, news articles, and photographs of J. R. Cole, Sr., as well as the resources that he used to write his autobiography (included). Also included is correspondence from J. R. Cole, Jr. and correspondence between the archives and donors.

Cole, James Reid, 1839-1917

Louis L. McInnis Papers

  • US TxAM-C 1357
  • Collection
  • 1872-1908

The Louis L. McInnis Papers contains correspondence, along with other miscellaneous papers relating to Louis Lowry McInnis’ time in office at Texas A&M College. Items include some personal correspondence, along with university correspondence from Texas A&M College and Prairie View College during the period of 1872 to 1908.

McInnis, Louis Lowry, 1855-1933

Samuel Erson Asbury Papers

  • TxAM-CRS 33
  • Collection
  • 1872-1960

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.

Asbury, Samuel E. (Samuel Erson), 1872-1962

Henri Dron's United States of Earth Imaginary Utopia

  • US TxAM-C C000503
  • Collection
  • 1876 - 1903

This collection contains the maps of The United States of Earth dated 1876-1903, by Henri Dron, who was a geographer that envisioned a utopia of the world united into several states.

Dron's utopia consists of six maps of each continental confederation with annotations of his utopia visions. The goal of unity is depicted in three maps of Europe with connective highways along the Danube river and with Dron's Universal Renovating Academy. The world map shows all twelve states under the United States of Earth to end international strife.

The collection also includes three newsletters, the Ideograph, where Dron shared his utopia ideas by giving examples of his maps and explaining them in detail. Lastly, there are two documents where Dron is attempting to recruit and register subscribers to his newsletters and ideals. Dron's archive displays map development and how it ties to political ideologies at the turn of the century.

Dron, Henri

Gathright Hall Gavel

  • US TxAM-C 1316
  • Collection
  • 1876

This collection contains one wooden gavel with a medal inscription reading "Gathright Hall, 1876."

Texas A&M Speeches

  • US TxAM-C C000284
  • Collection
  • 1877-1997

This collection contains speeches that function as records of prominent speakers and mark the days of Commencement, Muster, and dedications at Texas A&M. This collection covers a range of years as far back as 1877 to 1997. The location of every speech given was at the A&M Campus.

Bernard Sbisa Family Collection

  • US TxAM-C 1377
  • Collection
  • 1877-1919

The Bernard Sbisa Family Collection consists of photographic scrapbooks, personal correspondence, photographs of the Sbisa Family, and early Texas A&M College photographs along with other early college photographs of the campus of Perdue. The items included either have no date or are dated from between 1877 to 1919.

Bernard Sbisa was one of the first Texas A&M College professors who lived and taught the early Texas A&M College.

Sbisa, Bernard

Texas A&M Commencement Programs

  • US TxAM-C C000285
  • Collection
  • 1877-2021

This collection consists of Commencement Programs of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (TAMC) and Texas A&M University (TAMU).

Texas A & M University. Office of the Registrar

Texas A&M Grade Reports Collection

  • US TxAM-C 1241
  • Collection
  • 1877-1955

This collection includes some personal grade reports from former students at Texas A&M. It also includes average semester grades for freshmen, sophomores, or by department for sessions 1925-1926 to 1939-1940.

Texas A&M College Student Correspondence Collection

  • US TxAM-C 1197
  • Collection
  • 1877-1878

This collection contains letters written by two A&M College students and general information about the collection. The first two letters are written by David Gordon Miller to his mother in 1877 (folder 2), and tell of Gordon's desire to be with his family at Christmas including a few words about A&M College and life. The third letter (folder 3) was written by E. G. Mills to his sister A. H. Sears on March 30, 1878, with a small section expressing the tedious life of an A&M student at the time.

Commencement Invitations Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000287
  • Collection
  • 1878-1992

This collection contains the formal invitations to commencement ceremonies. The invitations record the time, day, and place of each commencement ceremony. This collection has invitation from the late 19th century till the early 1990s. These invitations were not exclusively made in College Station/Bryan, Texas. These invitations were formerly owned by students, their family, and friends.

W. R. Cavitt Journal

  • US TxAM-C 1200
  • Collection
  • 1878-1879

This collection consists of a bound journal belonging to William Richard Cavitt from the late 1800s describing his law practice and the Cavitt House in Bryan, TX. Also included is a typed transcript of the journal and notes on it.

Cavitt, Howard R.

Texas A&M Dance and Banquet Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000286
  • Collection
  • 1878-1992; Undated

This collection consists of the university's dance and banquet invitations dating back to the beginning of Texas A&M College. These invitations were once owned by students who attended the university/college.  Most invitations were produced as a means of communication, due to the limited means of communication in some eras. The invitations cover dates and times that were important to the TAMU/TAMC student body. They can be used to research the sociality of people of the 20th century as well as the late 19th century.

James Hart Davis Letters

  • US TxAM-C 693
  • Collection
  • 1879

This collection consists of three letters from James Hart Davis, who was attending Texas A&M College at the time, to his sister Martha Powe Davis (great grandmother of the donors for these letters), his father Judge N[athaniel] H[art] Davis, and to his uncle J. R. Davis.

Robert Duncan Milne Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000261
  • Collection
  • 1879-1889

This collection consists of a group of thirty issues of The Argonaut (1879-1889) containing twenty-three science-fiction stories by Robert Duncan Milne, some in two or three parts. References to "Moskowitz" indicate his edition of eleven stories by Milne, Into the Sun (West Kingston, RI: Donald M. Grant, Publisher, 1980). Eighteen of the stories in this lot were not published in Moskowitz's edition and have never been reprinted, to the best of our knowledge.

The time period covered in this lot is 1879 to 1889. The Argonaut was generally printed on good, non-pulpy paper and, barring abuse, remains in good condition and can be handled with due care without fear of crumbling paper. The Argonaut was a weekly literary newspaper published in San Francisco starting in 1878 and running well into the 20th century. It contained political commentary as well as departmental reviews of books, drama, food, fashion, etc. Ambrose Bierce wrote weekly columns during the first two and a half years of its existence. The editors had a penchant for weird and fantastic fiction and published such material by W. C. Morrow, Emma Frances Dawson, Robert Duncan Milne and a host of other minor authors, as well as offering translations of European material in this vein. Milne was evidently popular among The Argonaut readers, for his stories are often featured on the front page.

Milne, Robert D.

H. B. Stoddard Collection

  • US TxAM-C 1152
  • Collection
  • 1880-1912; Undated

This collection contains items pertaining to the life of Henry Bates Stoddard. Stoddard served on a committee designed to head the local effort to locate a proposed girls' industrial school at A&M. Stoddard was once considered for the Presidency of A&M College of Texas in 1902.

The collection contains many petitions from various citizens of Texas to the Board of Directors of Texas A&M. The petitions request the consideration of H. B. Stoddard to fill the vacant position of President of the College. (Stoddard did not, ultimately, become President.) Included herein is also Stoddard's handwritten will to his daughter and sister-in-law, a picture of Stoddard, two letters written to him, and several other items.

Register of State Students at Texas A&M College

  • US TxAM-C 1296
  • Collection
  • 1881-1882

This collection consists of one register notebook containing the students admitted for the 1881-1882 school year at A&M College of Texas. The register includes the name, parent or guardian, post office, birth date, county of residence, and remarks.

Pennybacker's Herbarium

  • US TxAM-C 322
  • Collection
  • 1881

This collection contains 26 botany samples and information compiled by Julian Pennybacker, a student at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. The herbarium was a class project for a Texas A&M College botany class project in 1881 and the samples were collected in the Brazos Valley.

In November 2003, the herbarium was examined by M. D. Reed of the Texas A&M University Biology Department. She made the following note which is attached to the herbarium:

This was a student collection made for a botany class. Pennybacker appears on student rolls of the era.
The book used to identify the plants was probably something by Asa Gray and not meant to cover Texas. Since there was no complete treatment of the Texas flora at the time, this cannot be considered a fault.
When examined in 2003, the specimens were found to be fragmentary, mixed together, and separated from their sheets. To the extent possible, they were identified, remounted, and databased by Monique Dubrule Reed of the Biology Department Herbarium.

Pennybacker, Julian

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