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

This collection includes the published proceedings for the Daughters of The American Revolution Texas Society's Annual State Conference.

Unprocessed

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.

This collection includes a porcelain plate from 1962 in commemoration of the city of Bryan, TX. The plate contains an image of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood along with Texas Confederate emblems and Civil War images. (unprocessed)

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 includes photographs, booklets, and publications about cotton farming in Texas, as well as other materials related to the work of agriculturalist Don L. Jones. Booklets include information, directories, etc. for the First Presbyterian Church in Lubbock, TX among other Texas agricultural related publications and events. Interesting items in this collection include a welcome dinner invitation for President John F. Kennedy dated for the evening of November 22, 1963.

This collection contains letters, magazine and newspaper articles, magazines, prints, and other materials documenting the work of artist Edward Muegge "Buck" Schiwetz, as both a commercial and fine artist.

His sketches and watercolors are featured in a vast majority of the print material in the collection, from Christmas cards to sketchbooks to fine prints.

Rather than focusing on Schiwetz's life and his time at Texas A&M, the collection pays most attention to his art career and people's opinion of Schiwetz as an artist in the traditional sense of the definition.

This collection contains the contents from the scrapbook created by Becky Brewer, Mary Helen Davis, Myrtle Decker, Edna Thomas, and Alice Stubbs from the Bryan Chapter of Women in Construction.

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 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.

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 consists of AAUW publications, the president's records spanning the organization's forty-year history, and information regarding the branch's involvement in supporting the Bryan Day Care Center, as well as four scrapbooks.

Association publications include the newsletter from the local branch, as well as journals, newspapers, and bulletins published by the national and international parent organizations. Included in the president's records are branch reports, rosters, financial information, and correspondence. Also present are minutes and other records pertaining to the Bryan Day Care Center and the AAUW's contributions to it. In addition, one file in the collection contains a brief history of the local organization, beginning with its inception in 1948 and reviewing important milestones of each year up to 1980.

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 a copy of the Charter, by-laws, financial reports, correspondence, photographs, and news clippings from Community House, Inc. which was an organization in College Station, Texas for the promotion of community welfare and support of benevolent, charitable, and educational undertakings.

This collection contains a scrapbook that was made using the book "Teacher's Method and Results Book, Used with Progressive Business Accounting" prepared by L. E. Goodyear (1910), and inscribed on the book's front and back cover is "SCRAP BOOK - Baldwin". Within the book are many clippings from the 1930s related to business, religion, and Baldwin's Business College (Yoakum, TX) among other topics.

Many of the articles pasted within the book are written by Howard Baldwin of Yoakum leading one to believe the scrapbook could have been created by Howard Baldwin himself, however loose documents found within and accompanying the book suggest otherwise. Two short handwritten lists found between the pages note making hair appointments and a "dress altered" and found with the second list are two name cards for "Miss Ann Cade".

Other materials sewed or pasted into the book include recipes, Rural Pastor Conference schedule at Texas A&M (page 61), "Glenn Frank's Ideas" columns, and USDA Leaflet #68, "Roadside Markets" from October 1930.

A one-page letter dated Bryan, Texas, October 20, 1946, is also included in this collection, although it is uncertain whether the typed letter is of any relation or has been misplaced from another collection. It is addressed to "Dear Loved Ones" and there is no signature. We can assume the writer of the letter is a woman by the multiple mentions and use of "Daddy", and with the paragraph about Martha making reservations at the Baker Hotel in Dallas for a convention and wanting the writer to stay with her. There are many names mentioned in the letter that one could possibly narrow down the author.

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 genealogical history of the Affleck family, compiled by Thomas Dunbar Affleck (son of I.D. and Mary Hunt Affleck). Four members of the Affleck family are highlighted in detail.

Beginning with Thomas Affleck, covering 1824 to approximately 1872 and consists of typed copies of his personal and business correspondence, horticultural information, photographs, recipes, information on his plantation Glenblythe, articles, and various published materials such as Southern Rural Almanac.

Next is his son, Isaac Dunbar (I.D.) Affleck, a Civil War veteran who served. with Terry's Texas Rangers. This set contains the original letters sent to his parents while serving in the War, photos, and bits and pieces of information collected regarding Texas History [these are in poor -condition].

Mary Hunt Affleck's (married to Isaac) collection consists of many poems, keepsakes, and memorabilia regarding her tenure as Poet Laureate of Texas and member of the Daughters of the Confederacy.

Included is a short, but important collection of Anna Marie Affleck, daughter to I.D. and Mary Hunt Affleck. At the age of 12 [circa 1898] Anna Marie made a pressed-flower book that catalogs 203 different flowers from Washington County.

The last section of this collection is comprised of short histories of various other family members (notably, Jane Long); there is also historical information of United States history regarding pre-Civil War, the Civil War, and post-Civil War; and two handwritten manuscripts by Thomas D. Affleck regarding Jack Hays and the Hays' Texas Rangers.

This collection contains mostly correspondence dating from 1927to 1984; personal office calendars; speeches; criminal justice materials; Huntsville First National Bank materials; and clippings, especially concerning the escape attempt of Fred Carrasco, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the Ruiz v. Estelle court case.

Also present are reports, publications, reprints, and photographs relating to the several prison systems with which W. J. Estelle was associated during his career in corrections, some video cassettes, audiotapes, and souvenirs, including buttons, pins, and badges.

This collection contains letters dated between 1897-1923, primarily between brothers Max Goeth and Conrad Goeth (C. A.). The brothers opened two businesses together, La Salle Truck Farm, and Cotulla Farming and Irrigation Company. The second business was a contracting company for farm land. The two brothers leased land and sold crops, and it is inferred that Max and Conrad had two other brothers named Richard and Eddie, and that their father was Chas. Goeth (C. G.).

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.

This collection contains member lists and bulletins from the Texas Seedmen's Association (TSA) as well as bulletins from the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) and the US Department of Commerce Field Service.

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.

This collection consists mainly of correspondence, legal documents, a corporate minute book, and handwritten notes recording the litigation connected with ownership of a large tract of land (89,000 acres) in Hidalgo country known as the "Big Santa Rosa Pasture". Actual litigation took place from 1903-1910.

Individuals involved in the case were: Dillard Rucker Fant and his wife, Lucy Fant; Daniel J. Sullivan; J. C. Sullivan; James V. Upson; Wiliam R. Elliott; Conrad A. Goeth; James Webb; J. M. Chittim; Archie Parr; Kate V. Elliott; G. G. Clifford; A. E. Chavez; J. A. Galligher; W. M. Sanford; Fred Kelly; F. A. McGown; F. W. Church; H. R. Wood; F. Groos and his wife, Hulda Groos. Legal counsel involved in the proceedings were: James E. Webb and Conrad A. Goeth of Webb and Goeth, F. A. McGown of Denman, Franklin & McGown, and R. L. Ball, all based in San Antonio, Texas.

At the onset of the difficulties, D. R. Fant had leased the Big Santa Rosa Pasture to the cattle-raising partnership of Chittim and Parr. J. M. Chittim was a large rancher in South Texas and Archie Parr, was a State Senator popularly known as the Duke of Duval. Based on the large annual rent monies Fant had expected to collect from Chittim and Parr, he then also borrowed money from D. Sullivan of D. Sullivan and Company Bankers (founders and owners of the large South Texas Mariposa Ranch) and, using the same collateral, borrowed more money from the competing F. Groos and Company Bankers (later a founder of Wells Fargo Bank).

When it appears, that Chittim and Parr defaulted on their rent payment for the Big Santa Rosa Pasture to Fant, Fant was then forced to default on his own payments to both banking organizations from whom he had borrowed funds. The bankers, in return, sued and foreclosed on the Big Santa Rosa Pasture.

Through the Santa Rosa Ranch Papers extensive set of legal documents, attorneys' memoranda, telegrams, letters, and financial disclosures, the most absorbing story of Texas land politics unfolds.

Notable among the papers is the Santa Rosa Ranch Minute Book, a ledger volume with handwritten entries detailing the Articles of Incorporation, By-laws and minutes of the first stockholders' meeting of the Santa Rosa Ranch Company. Also present is a manuscript plat map in black and red ink on light blue linen, of the 1905 Maria Rodriguez survey, which has been encapsulated and is housed separately in a Map Case Drawer.