Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Wagner family letters
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Wagner family letters
- Date
- 1876-1948 (inclusive)
- Creator
- Wagner, Lawrence Cable, 1883-1958
- Extent
- 0.35 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Business enterprises
- Commerce -- United States
- Family.
- Letters.
- Recreation -- United States.
- St. Mary's Institute
- Tourism -- United States.
- Travel costs.
- Travel -- Personal narratives.
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged alphabetically by recipient's last name. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
- Preferred Citation
- 2009ms132.0174: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Wagner family letters, 1876-1948, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Lawrence Cable Wagner (1883-1958) was born in Sidney, Ohio to William H. Wagner (1855-1929) and Sophia Cable (1854-1883); he was known by his middle name, Cable, rather than his first name. His father owned Wagner & Son, which was a shelf and heavy hardware enterprise that sold merchandise all over the country. His parents married in 1880, and Cable's mother passed away in 1883 shortly after his birth. Cable's father remarried in 1887 to Ina M. Graber (1862-1912), and had six children together, Mathias, Robert, William, Alfred, Richard, and Rose. Cable graduated from St. Mary's Institute (now the University of Dayton) in 1904, and spent three months touring the western part of the United States and conducting business for his father's company. About 1909, Cable married Anna Louise Fitzgibbon (1886-1982), with whom he had three children, Mary Jane (1909-1981), James E. (1911-1980), and Lawrence C. (1916-1992). In 1914, after the passing of his step-mother, Cable's father remarried a third time to Esther Owens (1881-1963).
- American Letters collector Wade Hall (1934-2015) was a native of Union Springs, Alabama. Starting in 1962, he lived in Louisville, where he taught English and chaired the English and Humanities/Arts programs at Kentucky Southern College and Bellarmine University. He also taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida. He held degrees from Troy State University (B.S.), the University of Alabama (M.A.), and the University of Illinois (Ph.D.). He served for two years in the U.S. Army in the mid-fifties. Dr. Hall was the author of books, monographs, articles, plays, and reviews relating to Kentucky, Alabama, and Southern history and literature. His most recent books include A Visit with Harlan Hubbard; High Upon a Hill: A History of Bellarmine College; A Song in Native Pastures: Randy Atcher's Life in Country Music; and Waters of Life from Conecuh Ridge.
- Scope and Content
- The Wagner family letters (dated 1876-1948; 0.35 cubic feet; 10 folders) comprise letters between members of the Wagner family that document their lives, education, families, and business in Ohio during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The majority of the letters are from Cable Wagner to his aunt, Mary E. Wagner; grandmother, and father after his graduation from St. Mary's Institute that discuss his sightseeing trips in the West, business dealings for his father's company, people he encountered, his finances, and the weather in the various places he stopped in. There are also letters to Cable's mother, Sophia and her sister, Carrie, from their father that discuss social visits, his work at a bank, and checks sent to his daughters. There are a variety of letters to William Wagner and his first two wives, Sophia and Ina, which convey condolences for the loss of a child and discuss housing prices around Sandusky, Ohio. Additionally, there are letters to Sophia Cable from friends and family, mostly prior to her marriage to William, that describe social visits, asking her to come visit them, and events on St. Mary's Institute campus.
- The Wagner family letters ares part of the Wade Hall Collection of American letters, which includes correspondence and diaries from all over North America covering the time period of the Civil to Korean Wars. The materials were collected by Wade Hall and document everyday men and women.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- The collection is open to researchers by appointment.
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Letters to Carrie and Sophia Cable, 1881-1882
Letters to Lawrence Cable Wagner, 1929-1948
Letters to Mary E. Wagner [aunt] and grandma from Cable Wagner, 1904-1905
Letters to Sophia (Cable) Wagner, 1876-1881
Letters to Mr. and Mrs. William Wagner [Ina M. Graber], 1895
Letters to William and Sophia Wagner, 1882
Letters to William Wagner, 1878-1908
Wagner family letters, 1904, undated
UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
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Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Table of Contents
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
