Guide to the Thomas Vincent Cator Papers,
1881-1941
Processed by Susan McLaughlin; machine-readable finding aid created by Patricia White
Department of Special Collections
Green Library
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, CA 94305-6004
Phone: (650) 725-1022
Email: speccollref@stanford.edu
URL: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/
© 1997
The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Thomas Vincent Cator Papers,
1881-1941
Collection number: M032
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, California
Contact Information
- Department of Special Collections
- Green Library
- Stanford University Libraries
- Stanford, CA 94305-6004
- Phone: (650) 725-1022
- Email: speccoll@sulmail.stanford.edu
- URL: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/
- Processed by:
- Susan McLaughlin
- Date Completed:
- May 1988
- Encoded by:
- Patricia White
© 1997 The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Thomas Vincent Cator Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1881-1941
Collection number: Special Collections M032
Creator:
Cator, Thomas Vincent
Extent:
1 linear ft.
Repository:
Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions:
None.
Publication Rights:
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.
Provenance:
Gift of Harold F. Taggart, 1960, 1962, and 1963.
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of item] Thomas Vincent Cator Papers, M032, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Vincent Cator was born in Roxbury, New York on July 18, 1851. He spent his early years on a farm, attending the local
academy when possible. After having taught school at the age of seventeen, Cator attended Cornell University. Upon graduation
he entered a New York law firm and soon developed political interests. In 1880 Cator established residence in Jersey City
and held an alderman's office for two years.
Having been bothered with malaria fever for some time, Cator journeyed to San Francisco, California in 1887. It was not long
until he was involved in politics again, and in 1889, Cator married Miss Ethel Chapman.
Politically, Cator was at one time or another an Anti-Monopolist, a Republican, a Democrat, a Prohibitionist, a Nationalist,
and a Populist. His most significant political contribution was as the leader of the Populist Party in California from 1890
until its dissolution in 1898. Cator ran for the U.S. Senate on the Populist ticket in 1892, 1894, and 1896, unsuccessfully
in each effort. In 1901 he was appointed to the Elections Commission of the city of San Francisco and he served until his
death, most of the time as president of the commission. He died on Sept. [19], 1920 of a heart attack.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Cator Papers are largely the correspondence received by Vincent Cator at the time of his involvement in the People's Party
and afterwards, 1883-1915. Included in the collection are 16 letters written by Cator on various political subjects from 1894-1915.
In addition, there are several papers of a legal nature and a biography written by Harold F. Taggart. There are also newspaper
clippings of Cator's activities.
Of primary interest is the correspondence concerning Cator's relationship with the Populist Movement in California and New
Jersey, and Cator's position on such issues as government ownership of railroads, free silver, anti-monopoly, and women's
sufferage.
CONTAINER LIST
SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE,
1882-1941
Box 1, Folder 1
Dec. 1, 1893-Dec. 27, 1915
Box 1, Folder 2
Abbott, Leon - Barbee, J.S.,
1885-1897
Box 1, Folder 4
Barry, Irwin - Butler, Marion,
1883-1912
Box 1, Folder 5
Cain, Dr. J.H. - Cook,
1883-1896
Box 1, Folder 6
Cornell, Burdette - Donnelly, Ignatius,
1892-1910
Box 1, Folder 7
Dore, John S.,
Aug. 7, 1892-Dec. 31, 1892
Box 1, Folder 8
Dore, John S.,
Jan. 2, 1893-Apr. 12, 1896
Box 1, Folder 9
Drake, Herbert A. - Gilbert, J.L.,
1881-1898
Box 1, Folder 10
Gillespie, George D. - Landrum, Mark,
1886-1917
Box 1, Folder 11
Lawlor, William D. - Norman, W.D.,
1882-1911
Box 1, Folder 12
Perkins, George - Southern Pacific Co.[William Sproule],
1883-1918
Box 1, Folder 13
Standish, William - U'Ren, Milton,
1883-1912
Box 2, Folder 1
Van Dervoort, Paul - Vogelsarge, Charles A.,
1883-1913
Box 2, Folder 3
Wayland, James A. - World, The,
1884-1898
Box 2, Folder 4
Baker, G.W. - Wilson, [H.C.?],
1892-1941
SERIES II: SECONDARY SOURCE MATERIALS,
1881-CA, 1941
Box 2, Folder 5
Legal documents,
1892-1898
Box 2, Folder 6
Newsclippings,
Sept. 22, 1874-Apr. 22, 1887
Box 2, Folder 7
Newsclippings,
1889-Dec. 17, 1893
Box 2, Folder 8
Newsclippings,
Feb., 1894-Dec. 8, 1895
Box 2, Folder 9
Newsclippings,
Dec. 14, 1895-Oct. 29, 1896
Box 2, Folder 10
Newsclippings,
Jan. 7, 1897-Jan. 11, 1934
Box 2, Folder 12
Printed matter on which Cator's name appears as author or participant,
1881-1897, and n.d.
Box 2, Folder 13
Other printed matter,
1881-1896, and n.d.
Box 2, Folder 14
Biography of Thomas Vincent Cator, by Harold Taggart,
ca. 1941
