Woolson family papers
Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Woolson
Scope and Content of the Collection
Letters, genealogical research, photographs, scrapbooks, and other items related to the Woolson family of Chicago, Ohio and New Hampshire.
The papers include materials related to Woolson family members, primarily Alvin M. Woolson and his daughter Weona Woolson Engle. Included are a diary, a memoir, a volume of Civil War stories and a travelogue of a trip to Florida written by Alvin M. Woolson, and also correspondence related to him. There is a short story written by Weona Woolson Engle, as well as correspondence from her husband Walter Engle, mementos from various travels, and items from her childhood. Also included is the Life of Elijah Woolson, written entirely in cipher by his son Ira Knight Woolson and translated by Alvin M. Woolson, Elijah Woolson's grandson. There are also transcribed copies of some Woolson family historical documents.
The collection also contains genealogy materials collected by Ira H. Woolson, including family trees, questionnaires, and other research, Woolson family photographs, and scrapbooks kept by Weona Woolson Engle and her mother and grandmother, Frances Delia Woolson and Eliza Squire Tillinghast.
The papers include materials related to Woolson family members, primarily Alvin M. Woolson and his daughter Weona Woolson Engle. Included are a diary, a memoir, a volume of Civil War stories and a travelogue of a trip to Florida written by Alvin M. Woolson, and also correspondence related to him. There is a short story written by Weona Woolson Engle, as well as correspondence from her husband Walter Engle, mementos from various travels, and items from her childhood. Also included is the Life of Elijah Woolson, written entirely in cipher by his son Ira Knight Woolson and translated by Alvin M. Woolson, Elijah Woolson's grandson. There are also transcribed copies of some Woolson family historical documents.
The collection also contains genealogy materials collected by Ira H. Woolson, including family trees, questionnaires, and other research, Woolson family photographs, and scrapbooks kept by Weona Woolson Engle and her mother and grandmother, Frances Delia Woolson and Eliza Squire Tillinghast.
Dates
- 1856-1950
- Majority of material found within 1889 - 1910
Creator
- Woolson family (Family)
Language
Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The Woolson family papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Woolson family papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
Biography of Woolson Family
The materials in this collection are related primarily to Alvin M. Woolson (1841-1925), a merchant and businessman in Toledo, Ohio, and his daughter Weona Woolson Engle (1879-1970), who lived in Chicago after her marriage to Walter J. Engle.
Alvin Mansfield Woolson was born in Huron, Erie County, Ohio, in 1841, the son of Ira Knight and Arietta Mansfield Woolson. As a boy he worked on his family's farm and was also hired out as a printer's apprentice. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteers Heavy artillery, formerly the 117th Regiment of Infantry, Ohio Volunteers, and attained the rank of sergeant major. After the war, Woolson worked with the Union Pacific Railway in Kansas and traveled extensively in the west before returning to Ohio in 1868 and establishing a store in the town of Berlin Heights. Woolson married Frances Delia Tillinghast in 1870, and the couple lived briefly in Wauseon, Ohio, before relocating permanently to Toledo in 1875. Woolson established the Woolson Spice Company in 1882, and built it into a successful coffee business which became well known for its printed trade cards. Woolson sold the company in 1897, and for the remainder of his life was active in many civic activities and clubs in Toledo. Alvin and Frances Woolson had three daughters: Maude (1873-1929), married to Herman Brand; Weona (1879-1970), married to Walter J. Engle; and Constance (1885-1970), married to John Barney. Constance was named for her father Alvin's cousin, the novelist Constance Fenimore Woolson, a grand-niece of James Fenimore Cooper.
Weona Woolson Engle was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1879. She grew up with her sisters Maude and Constance in an affluent environment made possible by her father Alvin's successful coffee business. After her marriage to Walter J. Engle, the couple settled in Chicago, where they maintained a home on East Division Street. The Woolson family owned automobiles and took many driving trips which are documented in the photo album Weona Woolson Engle kept. Weona and Walter Engle had one daughter, Weona Charlotte (1902-2001). Weona Charlotte married William Armstrong and had one daughter, Weona, born in 1925 and married to Henry Sutton in 1944. Weona Sutton lives in the Chicago area and is a member of Ballet Chicago's Board of Directors.
The Woolsons are descended from Thomas Woolson, born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1630, and his wife Sarah Hyde, and can trace the family lineage to Great Britain. Branches of the family settled in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, California and Ohio, and include the McFarland, Yerington, Claflin, and Hunt families. Other family members include the novelist Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840-1894), and Albert Woolson (1850-1956), the last surviving Union veteran of the Civil War.
Alvin Mansfield Woolson was born in Huron, Erie County, Ohio, in 1841, the son of Ira Knight and Arietta Mansfield Woolson. As a boy he worked on his family's farm and was also hired out as a printer's apprentice. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteers Heavy artillery, formerly the 117th Regiment of Infantry, Ohio Volunteers, and attained the rank of sergeant major. After the war, Woolson worked with the Union Pacific Railway in Kansas and traveled extensively in the west before returning to Ohio in 1868 and establishing a store in the town of Berlin Heights. Woolson married Frances Delia Tillinghast in 1870, and the couple lived briefly in Wauseon, Ohio, before relocating permanently to Toledo in 1875. Woolson established the Woolson Spice Company in 1882, and built it into a successful coffee business which became well known for its printed trade cards. Woolson sold the company in 1897, and for the remainder of his life was active in many civic activities and clubs in Toledo. Alvin and Frances Woolson had three daughters: Maude (1873-1929), married to Herman Brand; Weona (1879-1970), married to Walter J. Engle; and Constance (1885-1970), married to John Barney. Constance was named for her father Alvin's cousin, the novelist Constance Fenimore Woolson, a grand-niece of James Fenimore Cooper.
Weona Woolson Engle was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1879. She grew up with her sisters Maude and Constance in an affluent environment made possible by her father Alvin's successful coffee business. After her marriage to Walter J. Engle, the couple settled in Chicago, where they maintained a home on East Division Street. The Woolson family owned automobiles and took many driving trips which are documented in the photo album Weona Woolson Engle kept. Weona and Walter Engle had one daughter, Weona Charlotte (1902-2001). Weona Charlotte married William Armstrong and had one daughter, Weona, born in 1925 and married to Henry Sutton in 1944. Weona Sutton lives in the Chicago area and is a member of Ballet Chicago's Board of Directors.
The Woolsons are descended from Thomas Woolson, born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1630, and his wife Sarah Hyde, and can trace the family lineage to Great Britain. Branches of the family settled in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, California and Ohio, and include the McFarland, Yerington, Claflin, and Hunt families. Other family members include the novelist Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840-1894), and Albert Woolson (1850-1956), the last surviving Union veteran of the Civil War.
Extent
2 Linear Feet (3 boxes and 4 volumes)
Abstract
Letters, scrapbooks, photographs, diaries, clippings, and genealogical materials concerning the Woolson family of New Hampshire, Ohio, and Chicago.
Organization
Papers are organized in the following series
- Series 1: Family papers, 1856-1950
- Boxes 1-2
- Series 2: Genealogy materials, 1896-1928
- Boxes 2-3
- Series 3: Photographs, 1888-1934
- Box 3, 1 volume
- Series 4: Scrapbooks, 1889-1911
- Volumes 1-3
Collection Stack Location
1 36 7
Provenance
Gift of Weona Sutton, 1989.
Processed by
Kelly Kress, 2009.
Acknowledgements
This inventory was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this inventory do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- Automobile ownership -- Ohio
- Automobile travel -- Florida
- Automobile travel -- Ohio
- Automobile travel -- United States
- Businessmen -- Ohio -- Toledo
- Businessmen -- United States -- History -- 19th century
- Ciphers (codes) -- 1851-1900
- Coffee industry -- Ohio -- Toledo
- Europe -- Description and travel
- Genealogies (histories)
- Lincoln Park Zoo -- Photographs
- Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Middle Bass (Ohio)
- Ohio -- History -- 19th century
- Photograph albums
- Photographs -- 1851-1900
- Photographs -- 1901-1950
- Put-in-Bay (Ohio)
- Scrapbooks -- 1851-1900
- Scrapbooks -- 1901-1950
- Toledo (Ohio) -- History -- 19th century
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
- Woolson Spice Company
- Woolson family
- Woolson, Alvin M.
- Woolson, Ira H. (Ira Harvey)
Creator
- Woolson family (Family)
- Title
- Inventory of the Woolson family papers, 1856-1950, bulk 1889-1910
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Kelly Kress
- Date
- ©2009.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2022-05-20: Materials donated by Bonnie Serra in 2019 added to collection.
Repository Details
Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts Repository
Contact:
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512
reference@newberry.org
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512
reference@newberry.org