Henry Waller Papers: Finding Aid mssWaller
Gayle Richardson
The Huntington Library
November 2020
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated by Melissa Haley, November 20, 2023.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Henry Waller papers
Creator:
Waller, Henry,
1810-
Identifier/Call Number: mssWaller
Physical Description:
11.7 Linear Feet
(29 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): 1809-1943
Date (bulk): 1826-1880
Abstract: A collection of material related to the
Waller family of Kentucky and Henry Waller, American lawyer, politician, and
businessman.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Henry Waller papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Norreys O'Conor, August, 1964.
Biographical / Historical
Henry Waller (1810-1893) was a lawyer, politician, and businessman, born in Frankfort,
Kentucky. He graduated from West Point in 1833, then resigned from the army to pursue legal
studies; he practiced law in Maysville, Kentucky. In 1841, he was elected, as a Whig, to the
state legislature and retained his seat until 1847. In 1837, he married Sarah Bell Langhorne
and together they had 10 children. The Wallers lived in Maysville until Henry Waller moved
to Chicago, Illinois in 1855 and his family followed him in 1860. He continued to practice
law until 1867, as well as heavily investing in real estate there. In 1876, he was appointed
master in chancery. Like his brother James Breckenridge Waller (1817-1887) Henry Waller was
a Democrat, known for his political speeches. During the Civil War, Sarah Langhorne Waller
organized charitable works and donations to the Confederate prisoners confined at Camp
Douglas. In May 1863, William W. Waller, Jr. (1838-1874) the eldest son of Henry and Sarah
Waller, was arrested by the Union authorities in Kentucky for recruiting within federal
lines; until the end of the Civil War, he was imprisoned at Johnson's Island. Maurice Waller
(1840-1916) became a Presbyterian minister and served in Petersburg, Illinois, Helena,
Arkansas, and Manchester, Ohio. Henry Waller, Jr. (1844-) and Edward C. Waller (1845-1931)
went into the real estate business in the Chicago area. Edward C. Waller was known for his
development of a suburban home division in River Forest. John Duke Waller (1852-) was a
physician who, in the late 1870s, worked at the Illinois Central Hospital for the Insane in
Jacksonville, Illinois.
Scope and Contents
A collection containing approximately 5000 items from 1809 to 1943; the main portion of the
collection is the correspondence of several generations of the Waller family centering on
Henry Waller, his parents, siblings, wife, children, friends, and business associates. The
bulk of the collection consists of the correspondence between Henry Waller and his wife
Sarah Bell Langhorne Waller and their children. The detailed letters describe their life in
Kentucky and Chicago and discuss family matters; social news; their feelings for each other;
their religious reflections (the Wallers were devout Presbyterians); parenting; schools;
political affairs; legal practice; and business. Also included are a few pieces of political
and legal correspondence, including individual letters by John Marshall, Garret Davis, and
John J. Crittenden. Also included are Henry Waller's letters to his parents written during
his studies at West Point from 1829 to 1833, and his travels, including a trip to his
sister's plantation in Mississippi in 1835. The collection also contains letters addressed
to Sarah Bell Langhorne Waller, including those from Confederate prisoners and their
families. Also included are items related to the arrest and imprisonment of William S.
Waller, letters from Maurice Waller, John Duke Waller, Henry Waller, Jr., and other children
to their parents, a group of military records documenting Edward C. Waller's service in the
Spanish American War, and genealogical materials. There is also a small group of private and
professional correspondence of Henry Waller's father, William Smith Waller who, for more
than forty years, served as cashier of the Bank of Kentucky. Included are two letters by
George Madison describing the War of 1812 in Kentucky. Other correspondents include Henry
Waller's sister Catherine Waller Carson and her husband James Green Carson, a planter who
owned and operated Canebrake Plantation in Mississippi, and then Airlie Plantation in East
Carroll Parish, Louisiana. Their letters describe life on the cotton plantations, including
discussions of enslaved people. There are also letters written by members of other branches
of the Waller family as well as the related families of Langhorne, Breckenridge, Marshall,
and others.
Processing Information
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1970; the collection was re-cataloged by Olga
Tsapina in 2003. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from the summary
report and finding aid.
General
Former call number: mssWaller papers.
Arrangement
Organized in the following manner: 1. Correspondence; 2. Business and household papers; 3.
Ephemera. Arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bankers -- Kentucky
Businessmen -- Illinois -- Chicago
Lawyers -- Illinois -- Chicago
Lawyers -- Kentucky
Legislators -- Kentucky
Military cadets -- New York (State) -- West Point
Physicians -- Illinois
Plantation owners -- Louisiana
Plantation owners -- Mississippi
Presbyterian Church -- Clergy -- United States
Presbyterians -- United States
Prisoners of war -- Confederate States of America
Slaves -- Louisiana -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Slaves -- Mississippi -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Camp Douglas (Ill.) -- History
Chicago (Ill.) -- History
Kentucky -- History --
1792-1865
Kentucky -- History -- Civil War,
1861-1865
United States -- History -- Civil War,
1861-1865 -- Greeting cards
United States -- History -- Civil War,
1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and
prisons
United States -- History -- War of
1812
Family papers -- Illinois -- 19th century
Family papers -- Kentucky -- 19th century
Genealogies -- United States
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Military records -- United States -- Spanish-American War,
1898
Personal papers -- United States -- 19th century
Carson, Catherine Waller, 1815-
Carson, James Green, 1815-1863
Crittenden, John J. (John
Jordan), 1787-1863
Davis, Garrett,
1801-1872
Madison, George,
1763-1816
Marshall, John,
1755-1835
Waller, Edward C. (Edward Carson), 1845-1931
Waller, Henry, 1844-
Waller, John Duke, 1852-
Waller, Maurice, 1840-1916
Waller, Sarah Bell Langhorne, 1821-1883
Waller, William S. (William Smith), 1785-1855
Waller, William S. (William Smith), 1838-1874
Bank of Kentucky --
History
Johnson Island
Prison
United States Military
Academy
Whig Party (Ky.)
Box 27
Business and household papers
Box 28
Ephemera: envelopes, newspaper clippings, business cards
Folder 1
Genealogical chart
approximately 1935
Box 29
Microfilm
Scope and Contents
Microfilm of Civil War letter, originals with donor.
