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Finding Aid to the Bolton Family Papers, 1828-2000, bulk 1885-1980
BANC MSS C-B 841  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
Contains correspondence, Bolton family history, materials by and about Herbert Eugene Bolton and Frederick Elmer Bolton, and personal papers of Frances Appleton, and Jane Adams. Correspondents include Herbert E. Bolton, Frederick E. Bolton, Frances Appleton, and Jane Adams as well as other members of the Bolton family. Letters discuss education, finances, career, family, and genealogical history. Included with Bolton family history are biographies of Bolton family women, many written by Meredith Bolton Smith. Herbert E. Bolton materials include galleys and a Spanish translation of his Padre on Horseback, and other publications, speeches and biographical material. Frederick E. Bolton materials include his unpublished manuscript of the History of the University of Washington, 1855-1961.
Background
Edwin Bolton emigrated from England to the United States around 1850 with his parents John and Harriet Latham Bolton, eventually settling as farmers near Wilton, Wisconsin in 1856. In the early 1860's Edwin Bolton married Rosaline Cady, the daughter of James Cady, a Methodist pastor in Tomah, Wisconsin and Mary Dolbear. The Cady family can trace their ancestors to the Mayflower family of Richard Warren. In 1863 after his first son was born, Edwin Latham joined a Wisconsin regiment in the Civil War. After the war, in 1866 a second son, Frederick Elmer was born. Herbert Eugene, the fourth son was born July 20, 1870. After a short time in Nebraska in 1873, the Edwin Bolton family settled on La Grange Farm near Tomah, Wisconsin. On March 30, 1885, while Rosaline Bolton was pregnant with their last child, Edwin Bolton died suddenly.At the time of his father's death, Herbert was ready to enter high school in Tomah. This is where he met Gertrude Janes, his future wife. During the years that followed the death of their father, Frederick and Herbert helped to put each other through school, taking turns teaching and studying. In 1895 Herbert Eugene Bolton received a Bachelor of Letters from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he studied under Frederick Jackson Turner. In that same year Herbert married Gertrude Janes. Their first child, Frances Latham Bolton, was born in Jan. 1897, during Herbert's first year in graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. He finished his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in 1899. The family returned to Wisconsin where Herbert taught and where the next two Bolton daughters were born. Herbert Bolton landed a position at the University of Texas in 1901. Frederick E. Bolton became interested in teaching early on in his education. Many of his writings involved education and he worked towards establishing more junior colleges in Washington State. He was dean of the College of Education at the University of Iowa and then at the University of Washington. He spent ten years researching and writing a history on the University of Washington in anticipation of their centennial celebration. Frederick E. Bolton died on March 10, 1963 in Seattle, Washington.Frances Latham Bolton was the eldest daughter of Herbert and Gertrude Bolton, born in Madison, Wisconsin on January 21, 1897. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, Frances met Ted Appleton, who was in Army training at the campus for World War I. They married in April 1920 and moved to Boston, Mass. to live with his parents. They lived in different locations throughout the United States settling in southern California. Frances worked principally in the medical social service field. During World War II, she worked two years at the Tule Lake Relocation Center, a Japanese internment camp. Before her death on August 27, 1978, she moved in with her youngest sister Jane Adams. A bequest was made by Frances, leaving a redwood grove dedicated to her parents at Portola State Park, in La Honda, California.Jane Gale Bolton was born December 5, 1909 in Palo Alto, California while her father was a professor at Stanford. Jane went to college at UC Berkeley, as did most of her siblings, majoring in History with minors in English and Spanish, graduating in 1931. While working in the UC Berkeley alumni office she met Francis Adams, whom she eventually married. After their son David was old enough Jane returned to teaching. Jane Bolton Adams died in January 1993.
Extent
Number of containers: 3 cartons, 4 boxes and 2 oversize folders Linear feet: 4.7
Restrictions
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Availability
Collection is open for research.