The Lewis, Stephens, and McKay family collection consists of family papers of three generations of Welsh and Irish immigrants who settled in western Wisconsin. Daniel Lewis (1821-1887) emigrated from Wales, first settling in Green Bay and working in the logging business. In 1854, he moved to Hudson, Wisconsin continuing in the logging business before becoming a full time farmer. In 1859, he married Catherine Walsh (1836-1926) with whom he had six children, Hannah Eliza, Margaret Ann, Evan Walter, David James, Mary Frances, and Elizabeth Jane. Mary Frances (1873-1961) married John Stephens and had two children, Elizabeth and Mary Esther. Only Mary Esther (1906-1990) survived to adulthood and in 1936, she married Gerald Eugene McKay and they had six children. The collection consists of correspondence (both within the United States and family members in Wales), land transfers, tax receipts, obituaries, cemetery records, oral history transcripts, restoration records, class notebooks, certificates, diplomas, and photographs.

Memoir by Cotter describing her 1910-1917 experiences during threshing times on a farm near Grange Hall, Wis. (Ono, Wis.) in Pierce County; plus a 1982 cover letter from Cotter.

District Records (1928-1953) including minutes of district meetings, listing of orders drawn on the treasurer, and teacher's contracts. There are also a few miscellaneous papers related to school district financing and student records.

[1] School District Records (1953-1957) containing record of receipts and disbursements, minutes of school board meetings, teachers' contracts, and school censuses; [2] Treasurer's Book (1948-1957) showing receipts and disbursements; and [3] School Registers (1930-1958) including pupils names, standing and attendance records, daily programs, visitors records, and state reading circle record.

This collection consists of three scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings of articles about the River Falls State Normal School. The scrapbooks were compiled by Lovila M. Mosher, who taught history and geography at the Normal school from 1892-1893 and was Librarian from 1907-1923.

Typewritten Civil War memoirs of Pvt. Bennett, Co. 1, 4th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, including descriptions of the siege of Vicksburg, battle for Natchez, and occupation of Baton Rouge. Some pages are missing.

Letter, May 28, 1882, from Lucinda (Mrs. Moses S.) Gibson of Washington, D.C., describing social life in Washington at that time, written to Mrs. Garrett Lacy of Hudson, Wis.; plus a clipping, June 3, 1965, concerning the letter and the correspondent.

Minute book, 1885-1890, of the Luck Creamery Company, a cooperation; also including some financial materials; written in English and Norwegian.

Papers of a one-time Maine mill worker and a speaker and writer on behalf of women's rights. A teacher in Prescott, Wisconsin, in 1861, Mrs. Whitaker then farmed with her husband in Point Douglas, Minnesota until 1904. Documenting her personal life and her opinions on women's rights, the collection consists largely of letters from family and friends in Maine, Prescott (Wisconsin), and St. Anthony (Minnesota). Also present is one 1865 letter from William Lloyd Garrison, family memorabilia, and a notebook from her lectures on women's rights.

Three deeds, 1829, 1832, and 1840, and one mortgage certificate, 1850, concerning business transactions by Luther Rice, Hawley, Massachusetts.

Photocopy of a letter, March 29, 1918, written by Mrs. Luther Spalding, River Falls, Wisconsin, to her daughter in California, in which she describes the burning of the River Falls Episcopal Church.

A journal of Chapman's voyage from Maine to California, giving details of stops in South America and sailing through the Strait of Magellan.

Reminiscences of Holt, a Pierce County farmer from 1859 on and a founder of Ono, Wisconsin.

Copies of Civil War letters written to his mother by Wescott, Company E, 17th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, discussing the Vicksburg campaign and Sherman's march to the sea; including an explanatory note written by Wescott in 1909.

A history of the schools of Burnett County, Wisconsin, by Mabel Ahlstrom, County Superintendent of Schools; and two cards from her campaigns for the office.

Meeting records and programs of the MacDowell Music Club, River Falls, Wisconsin.

Reminiscences by Cronk, describing her impressions of the Depression and her experiences as a student at River Falls State Teachers College (Wis.) in 1932-1934.

Five letters to Magnusson of Dresser Junction, Polk County, Wisconsin, including two from Johan Magnusson. In Swedish and English.

A typescript by Cutting, St. Paul Office, U.S. Engineers, of an explanatory article discussing the history of measuring river water levels, gauges used, procedures, and the federal agencies involved.

Photocopied recollections, undated, entitled "In Old Mann Valley" by Oscar J. Weberg, giving information on farm life near River Falls, Wisconsin, in the 1890's; letters, 1961, to Weberg containing reminiscences by former Valley residents; a biography of Weberg written by his daughter; and photocopies of photographs of the Weberg family and home.

Partial records of a Pierce County Lutheran church founded about 1881. The records include a photocopied minute book, with minutes of church meetings, 1886-1931, and a short history of fundraising and building plans for the first church, 1881-1885 (both in Swedish); a membership roll listing members born as early as 1848; Ladies' Aid Society minutes (mainly listing newly-elected officers) and an expense book; and miscellaneous papers.

Norwegian song with translation sung by the grandmother of Margaret Anderson, a student at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls in 1973.

Papers of Marion E. Hawkins, 1939-1993, an English professor at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, containing personal correspondence; photographs; information on Grace Pilgrim Bloom, the oldest graduate ever of the university; lectures given at National Taiwan Normal University; and extensive travel journals from trips to Europe and Taiwan, 1969-1984. A 2013 addition contains her correspondence, personal diaries, travel diaries and journals, coursework and speeches, personal materials and photographs. Arranged by date and consisting primarily of letters sent to Hawkins by her friends and employers, her correspondence comprises the majority of this collection. Information in the letters reveals how Hawkins' work as a professor and additional volunteer activities influenced the university. Hawkins' home diaries record both her daily personal and professional activities including the classes she taught. Her travel diaries document her trips both abroad and in the United States and detail her personal travel experiences, description of the various locales, and contemporary news of the countries in which she is visiting. She later used these travel diaries as background material while writing her travel journals which she compiled to formally express how she experienced these foreign lands.

Research and annotated resources related to two of Wyman's publications: "The Wisconsin Frontier", published 1998 by Indiana University Press and "Kinnickinnic Country : River Falls in the forties and fifties", published in 2010 by PrintArt, with assistance from Don Richards.

Walker "Mark" Demarquis Wyman, Jr. (1939-) was born in River Falls, Wisconsin to Walker D. and Helen B. (nee ) Wyman. He attended the Ames Laboratory School on the campus of what was then called the River Falls State Teachers College (RFSTC), now known as University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF), where his father served in several leadership roles.

Dr. Wyman served 35 years as a professor in the Department of History at Illinois State University and is the author of eight books and numerous essays and articles. Wyman's scholarly focus is on labor, cultural, and social history.

Records including articles of association, by-laws, minutes of annual and directors' meetings, policies issued and cancelled, and treasurer's accounts. Also included is one volume (1908-1945) containing bylaws, minutes, lists of subscribers, and expenditures and settlements with policy holders.
The mutual insurance company was organized in 1878 primarily to serve farmers in Pierce County's towns of Martell, Gilman, and Ellsworth.

Proceedings of town and board meetings, register of town and school officers, oaths of office, constables' bonds, records of chattel mortgages, apportionment of school funds, financial reports of the board, town treasurer's bonds, a record of school district boundaries, records of the superintendent of highways, registers of orders drawn on the town treasurer, election reports, burial permits, and scattered marriage, death, and birth registrations.

Record of town elections, 1869-1883 and 1900-1917, including poll lists and results of voting at township annual meetings; general election registers, 1868-1916 and 1932-1936, including poll lists and results of general elections; and unbound poll lists, 1918, 1920, 1924-1926, 1928, and 1932-1936.

Petitions, proceedings, and other records relating to the authorization, alteration, discontinuation, and maintenance of public and private highways in the Town of Martell. Also included are highway district tax lists, 1912 and 1919.

Autobiographical reminiscences by Martha Weitkamp, written between 1965 and 1969 for the edification of her descendants. She describes her childhood on farms near Neckerson, Fontonelle, Pender, and Bancroft, Nebraska, neighbors, school experiences, medical matters, her maternal relatives in the Daiss family and paternal relatives in the Blome family, and the family of her husband, Bill Weitkamp.

Biography, 1968, of John Henry Williams (1851-1930) by his granddaughter, Mary A. Williams, Los Angeles, California Williams was the proprietor of the Hudson (Wisconsin) Carriage Works, circa 1870-1887, and spent the remainder of his career as a railway mail clerk on the Chicago and Northwestern line.
The Williams family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, circa 1906. The collection also includes photographs and copies of handbills and miscellaneous family documents.

Papers of Mary Etta Hagan, a descendant of early settlers of New Richmond, Wis. (St. Croix Co.). The collection consists mainly of Hagan's genealogical research into her mother's and father's families (Donohue and Hagan, respectively) and collected family papers. Both families have roots in Ireland. Included are brief family histories and group sheets; both family correspondence and Hagan's research correspondence; clippings; photographs; copies of pages from family Bibles recording births, deaths, and marriages; and collected miscellaneous items relating to various family members. Other family names represented in the papers include Barger, Carroll, McGoldrick, McConville, Mahoney, Scott, and Martin. In addition, there is a scrapbook compiled by S. N. Hawkins containing clippings about an 1899 cyclone that devastated New Richmond, and obituaries of prominent New Richmond citizens.

Reports submitted in 1972 by teacher Mary MacLeod's ninth grade speech students, River Falls, Wisconsin, on various aspects of local history. Included are interviews with local farmers and other area residents, epitaphs copied from local cemeteries, descriptions of old houses, biographies, and information on social life, schools, and other aspects of life between 1910 and 1930.

Two letters, 1885, from Mrs. Mattie Worden to Mrs. Mattie Lamson, Roberts, Wisconsin, containing family news and details of life in northern Minnesota; plus two poems by Sarah Haseltine, Mrs. Worden's mother.

Letters, written by Maud Little Hoag of Everett, Wash. (formerly of River Falls, Wis.) to Sadie Johnson of River Falls, containing details of daily activities, punctuated with a collage of recipes, photographs, newspaper clippings, invitations, fabric swatches, and other memorabilia.

Incomplete, photocopied German-language diaries with partial translations, a notebook, and related papers, 1886-1920, kept by a Plum City, Pierce County, Wisconsin, area farmer primarily concerning agricultural activities, financial matters, and family health.
A Swiss immigrant in 1866, Staehli recorded his activities prior to and while farming near Pittsville, Wood County, 1879-1892, and then while living near Plum City, 1895-1899 and 1904-1911. Linguistically interesting is Staehli's use of conservative spelling and German script and his gradual conversion to using English.

Red jacket with 7 buttons down the front; "Falcons" written in white with blue shadow on the back; a falcon on the top of the left sleeve and the number "23" at the bottom; a white oval with a red "R" and a red line around the inside of the oval on the top of the right sleeve; manufacturer tag on the inside: "Lowe & Campbell Athletic Goods, Stores in Principal Cities"

Red jacket with 7 buttons down the front; "Falcons" written in white with blue shadow on the back; a falcon on the top of the left sleeve and the number "23" at the bottom; a white oval with a red "R" and a red line around the inside of the oval on the top of the right sleeve; manufacturer tag on the inside: "Lowe & Campbell Athletic Goods, Stores in Principal Cities"

Attendance record and monthly and term summaries showing pupils' classification numbers, sex, age, names, and attendance; record of standing and report of work accomplished; daily program; record of visitors; state reading circle record; and lists of graduates.

Minutes of meetings, 1894-1902; the society's constitution and a list of members; and a list of significant dates in the church's history, ca. 1904.

Letters from Ragsdale, a captain during the Civil War, probably with a South Carolina regiment, and a member of the Texas House of Representatives in the 1880's; plus two letters, 1863-64, from his nephew, Joseph S. Ragsdale, Jr., Co. F, 54th Regiment North Carolina Volunteers; all written to Michael's wife.

Papers of the pioneer family of John Shaw Moffat who settled at Hudson, Wis. in 1854 and of his son-in-law Thomas Hughes who joined Moffat in his law practice and business ventures.
The collection includes letters of Moffat's father Samuel on New York land speculations, the personal correspondence of his wife Nancy Bennet Moffat, 1863 letters from his daughter Mary while a teacher in St. Croix Falls, Wis., and materials on his father-in-law Phineas Bennet and early steamboat inventions. The bound volumes include the store accounts of John Moffat after he settled in Hudson; the records of his law firm; records of the Hudson Produce Company and its successor, the St. Croix Valley Produce Company; and the accounts of his brother William, who had settled at Jewett, Wisconsin. Genealogical information concerns the Moffat, Hughes, and Ingram families through 1949.

Typewritten reminiscences of River Falls State Teachers College, 1930-1934, written about 1970 by Morris Buske, a former history student who became a writer of high school textbooks.

Reprint of an article by Halvorson on the Ole Halvorson and Amund Amundson families, their 1868 immigration from Christiana, Norway to Blair, Wisconsin, and their pioneer and logging experiences in their new home.

Letter, 1968, to Mrs. Timmerman from her mother containing recollections of logging activities in the Ladysmith, Wisconsin, area; including a sketch of a logger and a 1908 postcard showing floating logs.

Typewritten account of life in post-World War II Germany and of the immigration of the Schubert family from Germany to the United States, about 1951, written by Mrs. Ines Schubert in 1961.

Article by Mrs. Bock concerning early settlers in Spring Lake Township, Pierce County, Wisconsin.

Photocopied letter, May 23, 1970, written by Mrs. L. LeRoy Cowperthwaite, wife of the head of the School of Speech, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, in which she describes events subsequent to the killing of four Kent State students by National Guardsmen during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration.