Collection context
Summary
- Abstract:
- Book, photographs, letter of farewell to Williams, a location engineer for the Western Pacific Railway from his colleagues, and a letter addressed his daughter from the Western Pacific transmitting a photograph of "Williams Circle" on the railroad.
- Extent:
- .167 Linear Feet 1 folder
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], John Thomas Williams Papers, MS 383, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Book, photographs, letter of farewell to Williams, a location engineer for the Western Pacific Railway from his colleagues, and a letter addressed his daughter from the Western Pacific transmitting a photograph of "Williams Circle" on the railroad.
- Biographical / historical:
-
John Thomas Williams (1855-1916), a native of Iowa, was a prominent railroad engineer and the originator of the "Williams Loop" on the Western Pacific Railroad. When he died on November 1, 1916, he had been employed as the chief engineer in locating and constructing the Indian Valley Railroad, a branch of the Western Pacific Railroad. Earlier in his career, Williams has been the chief engineer for the Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railroad. He was the civil engineer who was in charge of the surveying party that came to the Anacortes in 1886 and survyed the present Anacortes Rockport Branch of the Great Northern and platted the townsite of Anacortes.
In Des Moines, Iowa, on May 6, 1880, Williams married to Emma M. Archer (1859-) and they had two daughters, Mrs. Mamie E. Ostrom/Patterson (1881-) and Mrs. Olga Hebberd/Boyd (1886-1931).
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Frederick A. Meyer, 1986
- Processing information:
-
Formerly part of MS 1.91
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
- Physical location:
- Statewide Museum Collections Center
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], John Thomas Williams Papers, MS 383, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
111 I StreetSacramento, CA 95814, US
- Contact:
- (916) 323-8073