William Wilson Papers
-
Select files to request
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, legal documents, financial records, and photographs pertaining to the William Wilson family. Significant correspondents include Alfred McIlroy Wilson, Augustus H. Garland, Samuel P. Pittman, Jesse Turner, and Wilson family relatives in Texas.
Many of the documents in this collection were published by Walter J. Lemke in a booklet titled The William Wilson Records (Fayetteville: Washington County Historical Society, 1960). In 1981 some of the same materials were loaned to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Archives and Special Collections for photocopying and arrangement, all of which were returned.
A number of documents, particularly those from the Civil War years, are not found in the collection, but they are included in the 1960 Lemke publication, and the dearth of materials dating between 1861-1865 reflects these losses.
Dates
- 1824-1982
Creator
- Wilson, William, 1807-1886 (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials are in English.
Access Information
Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.
Use Information
No Use Restrictions Apply.
No Interlibrary Loan.
Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).
Biographical Note
William Wilson (1807-1886) was a prominent landowner, enslaver, and stock raiser in the Prairie Grove area of Washington County, Arkansas. Wilson, a Georgia native, came to Arkansas in the late 1830s, settling first in Pulaski County, and then moving to Washington County around 1855. Wilson and his wife, Eliza, acquired over 2,000 acres near the present-day town of Prairie Grove, building a home able to accommodate their large family with thirteen children. They included Benjamin, Ann, William Augustus, Eliza, John, Emily, Anthony, Mary, William, Harriet, Albert, Andrew, and George. Not all lived to adulthood, with nine having died by the end of the Civil War.
Around 1859, construction began on the Wilson farm of a large home William planned to name "Excelsior." The Civil War interfered with its completion, and for a time the place was occupied by Unionist refugees organized into a cooperative colony under the command of Captain William Rutherford, First Arkansas Home Guard Militia. Two of Wilson's sons, Andrew and Albert, served in the Confederate Army, while another, William, enlisted on the northern side. After the end of the war, William Wilson returned to Washington County from an unknown location and filed suit to regain possession of his farm.
In the latter decades of the nineteenth century, Excelsior farm was run by Albert and Andrew Wilson. Andrew married Nannie McCulloch in 1889, and their four children included Rollans M. Wilson, the donor of the collection. William Wilson had at least four brothers and sisters, one of whom figures prominently in the collection's correspondence: John Wilson, who lived in Homer, Louisiana.
Extent
2.25 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Arrangement of the Papers
The William Wilson papers have been arranged in eight series according to document type. Since most of Wilson's correspondence was closely tied to his business interests, the criterion for separating correspondence from financial records is based entirely on the contents of the document. If a letter contains nothing more than a memorandum for payment, it has been placed with the financial records. However, if more information is included, such as personal comments, references to a third party, or specific instructions for activity other than payment, it has been retained under correspondence. A complete outline of series and subseries follows.
- Series 1. Correspondence, 1842-1982. (Box 1)
- Series 2. Memorandum Books, circa 1850-1880s. (Box 2)
- Series 3. Literary Productions, circa 1860-1970s. (Box 2)
- Series 4. Legal Documents, 1824-1938. (Box 2)
- Series 4. Subseries 1. Real Estate Tax Receipts, 1824-1914.
- Series 4. Subseries 2. Poll Tax Receipts, 1876-1912.
- Series 4. Subseries 3. Mortgages and Deeds, 1824-1908.
- Series 4. Subseries 4. Contracts, 1824-1938.
- Series 4. Subseries 5. Miscellaneous Legal Documents, 1865-1930.
- Series 5. Financial Records, 1853-1959, undated. (Box 3)
- Series 6. Maps and Drawings, undated. (Box 4)
- Series 7. Printed Materials, 1856-1957. (Box 4)
- Series 8. Photographs, circa 1860s-1980s. (Box 4)
Acquisition Information
The William Wilson Papers were donated to Special Collections by Rollans M. Wilson, of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, on February 12 and April 8, 1983.
Additional materials (Box 5) were donated by Bill Wilson of Salina, Kansas circa 1983-1991.
Processing Information
Prepared by Kim Allen Scott, Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas, in September 1988.
Additional materials (Box 5) were integrated into the collection by Katrina Windon in October 2020.
Finding aid revised by Todd E. Lewis in June 2023 as part of a project to update outdated or harmful description related to slavery or enslaved persons.
- Confederate States of America. Army -- Supplies and stores
- Garland, A. H. (Augustus Hill), 1832-1899 (Correspondent)
- Insurance
- Pittman, Samuel Pinckney (Correspondent)
- Savings bonds
- Slave bills of sale
- Turner, Jesse, 1805-1894 (Correspondent)
Creator
- Wilson, William, 1807-1886 (Person)
Source
- Wilson, Rollans (Donor, Person)
- Wilson, Bill (Donor, Person)
- Title
- William Wilson Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Kim Allen Scott
- Date
- September 1988
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Department Repository
University of Arkansas Libraries
365 N. McIlroy Avenue
Fayetteville AR 72701 United States
(479) 575-8444
specoll@uark.edu