Etha Mayo Woodruff Memorial Collection of Family Papers: Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Brooke M. Black, December 2, 2008.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2008
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.


Overview of the Collection

Title: Etha Mayo Woodruff Memorial Collection of Family Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1863-1925
Collection Number: mssHM 70372-70384
Creator: Woodruff family.
Extent: 35 items in 3 boxes
Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection covers the Mayo and Woodruff families from the Civil War to World War I and deals with four general topics: the American Civil War, the American West, physicians, and World War I.
Language: English.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

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]. Etha Mayo Woodruff Memorial Collection of Family Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

Gift of Edward Charles Woodruff, October 18, 2007, in memory of Etha Mayo Woodruff.

Biographical Note

William Henry Mayo was born in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, on July 16, 1845, son of William and Eliza (Smith) Mayo. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in Co. F of the 8th Regiment of Louisiana Infantry. The regiment completed its organization at Camp Moore, Louisiana, in June 1861. Sent to Virginia, they were held in reserve during the Battle of First Manassas. The regiment was attached to the Army of Northern Virginia and fought in Jackson’s Valley Campaign and the campaigns of 1862-1865 including Gettysburg. Mayo rose to the rank of the regimental adjutant. After the war he returned to St. Landry Parish and was engaged in general merchandise and farming. William Henry Mayo married Ella A. Curley in 1866; they had four children including Harry Nathaniel Mayo.
Harry Nathaniel Mayo was born in Washington, Louisiana, in 1867. In 1886, he graduated from the Manual School Training Department of Washington University in Saint Louis. He received his Bachelors degree from Loyola College, Baltimore, and his MD from Baltimore Medical College in 1895. In 1890, he married Elizabeth B. Torbett of Salt Lake City, Utah. He was medical director of the Continental Life Insurance & Investment Co., Surgeon of the Holy Cross Hospital, Salt Lake City, and was a prominent Free Mason. Harry Nathaniel Mayo’s daughter, Etha Mayo married Edward R. Woodruff, son of Edward Day Woodruff.
Edward Day Woodruff was born in 1850 and was a native of Boone County, Illinois. He studied medicine in Chicago. In 1880, while visiting his brother in Wyoming, he received an offer to become surgeon for Union Pacific Coal Co. and Union Pacific Railway Co. Woodruff spent time in the West with his brother John Dwight (J.D.) Woodruff, a trapper, prospector and Indian fighter. Edward married Minnette M. Roberts in 1882. In 1890, the family moved to Salt Lake City. Edward was President of the Utah Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and in 1913 became President of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce. He died on June 15, 1925.
Russell O. Woodruff, brother of Edward Day Woodruff, joined Co. B of the 15th Illinois Regiment, May 24, 1861. Eventually Woodruff’s regiment became part of the 17th Army Corps of the Army of Tennessee under Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut. Russell saw action at Fort Donelson and Shiloh. Captured in 1864, Russell was sent to Andersonville Prison. Russell survived both prison and the Civil War.
Lesley Day Woodruff Riter, daughter of Edward Day Woodruff, married B. Franklin Riter, the prominent lawyer known for his effort to repeal the 18th amendment, the coordinator of the boards to review the Judge Advocate General during World War II and the first Utah lawyer ever elected to the board of governors of the American Bar Association. Lesley was a family historian who published biographical sketches of her family in the Annals of Wyoming.
Edward R. Woodruff, son of Edward Day Woodruff and brother of Lesley Day Woodruff Riter was married to Etha Mayo Woodruff. In 1918, he was sent to Kelly Field outside of San Antonio, Texas, where he received training while waiting for assignment from the United States Army.

Scope and Content

The collection covers the Mayo and Woodruff families from the Civil War to World War I. The collection is arranged in the following manner: Manuscripts, Correspondence and Ephemera. Each series is arranged chronologically. The collection deals with four general topics: the American Civil War, the American West, physicians and World War I.
American Civil War

Three of the family members talk about the American Civil War. General topics covered by these authors include: President Abraham Lincoln and President Jefferson Davis; General Ulysses S. Grant and Civil War hospitals. The two diaries by William Henry Mayo detail two years of his experience with the 8th Regiment of Louisiana Infantry and Army of Northern Virginia. William talks a lot about marching from camp to camp, his feelings about the North and the war, ladies he meets along the way, the looting and burning of property, as well as fighting in battle and seeing friends of his die in front of his eyes. He specifically talks about Gettysburg (Little Round Top) and the Battle of the Wilderness, General Robert E. Lee and various other officers he sees on the battlefield and the conditions he sees while in Richmond, Virginia. William spends much of his time wounded or sick (he sprained his ankle at Gettysburg) so he writes often about traveling to and from his regiment to the nearest hospital; he travels through Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama detailing what he sees and the people he meets. (There is a tintype of William Henry Mayo in the ephemera of this collection. His third diary, written in 1868, covers his life in Louisiana as a farmer.) In the memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff, Lesley Day Woodruff Riter, talks about Woodruff’s experience in the war with the 15th Illinois Infantry Regiment and U.S. Army, Department of the Tennessee. She mentions specifically the hospital administrator Mary Ann Bickerdyke, Stephen A. Hurlbut, William Tecumseh Sherman, and the battles of Fort Donelson and Vicksburg. Russell spent time in Andersonville Prison in 1864 and Riter talks much about Russell’s recollections of his time in the prison.
The American West

Two items deal with the American West as experienced by Edward Day Woodruff. Both his own memoirs and “Through the Years. Stories that My Daddy Told Me,” by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter, detail Woodruff’s experiences in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado in the latter 19th century. In these manuscripts Woodruff and Riter talk about Fort Laramie, Wyoming, the Chinese in Wyoming and the Rock Spring Massacre, mining, outlaws, the building of railroads, mountain men and trappers, the Oregon Trail, as well as the Shoshoni Indians and Chief Washakie. Edward also talks a lot about his brother John Dwight (J.D.) Woodruff and his activities as a trapper and Indian fighter.
Physicians

The ledger of Harry Nathaniel Mayo lists patients’ names, addresses, diagnoses (mostly tuberculosis), and treatments.
World War I

In his five letters to his sister and brother-in-law, Edward R. Woodruff, talks about his time at Kelly Field waiting for an assignment from the United States Army. He talks about life at the camp, his fellow soldiers and their barracks. These letters are written on Knights of Columbus letterhead. The sixth letter in the correspondence is by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter to her brother, Edward R. Woodruff. In this letter she talks about the distribution of her parents’ property and her life in Salt Lake City. In the ephemera section, there is a photograph of Woodward Bruce Mayo in an Army uniform taken in 1920.
The ephemera includes a tintype of William Henry Mayo, a marriage certificate for William Henry Mayo and Ella A. Curley, newspaper clippings, photographs of the Mayo and Woodruff families (and two photographs of Native Americans performing sun dances) and a printed obituary of Edward Day Woodruff published by the Utah Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Arrangement

Organized in the following series: 1) Manuscripts, 2) Correspondence and 3) Ephemera. Arranged chronologically within each series.

Indexing: Subjects

Andersonville Prison
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Bickerdyke, Mary Ann, 1817-1901
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Chinese – Wyoming
  • Subject in “Through the Years. Stories that My Daddy Told Me:” [monograph] [c.1925] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70376.
Confederate States of America. Army of Northern Virginia
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1863-1864). HM 70372.
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1864-1865). HM 70373.
  • Subject in “Ephemera: Tintype of William Henry Mayo” folder [c.1863].
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1863-1864). HM 70372.
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Fort Donelson, Battle of, Tenn., 1862
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Fort Laramie (Wyo.)
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1863-1864). HM 70372.
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1863-1864). HM 70372.
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Hurlbut, Stephen Augustus, 1815-1882
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Kelly Field (Tex.)
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letters (1918, Mar.8) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter and B. Franklin Riter. HM 70379-70380.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 2) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70381.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 4) to B. Franklin Riter. HM 70382.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 28) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter and B. Franklin Riter. HM 70383.
Knights of Columbus
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letters (1918, Mar.8) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter and B. Franklin Riter. HM 70379-70380.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 2) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70381.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 4) to B. Franklin Riter. HM 70382.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 28) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter and B. Franklin Riter. HM 70383.
Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1863-1864). HM 70372.
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1864-1865). HM 70373.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Mines and mineral resources – Wyoming
  • Subject in “Through the Years. Stories that My Daddy Told Me:” [monograph] [c.1925] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70376.
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Oregon National Historic Trail
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Outlaws – West (U.S.)
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Physicians
  • Subject in Ledger by Harry Nathaniel Mayo (1900-1903). HM 70375.
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
  • Subject in “Ephemera: Obituary of Edward Day Woodruff” folder (1925).
Railroads – West (U.S.)
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Richmond (Va.)
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1863-1864). HM 70372.
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1864-1865). HM 70373.
Rock Springs Massacre, Rock Springs, Wyo., 1885
  • Subject in “Through the Years. Stories that My Daddy Told Me:” [monograph] [c.1925] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70376.
Salt Lake City (Utah)
  • Subject in Lesley Day Woodruff Riter letter (1927, July 9) to Edward R. Woodruff. HM 70384.
  • Subject in “Ephemera: Obituary of Edward Day Woodruff” folder (1925).
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Shiloh, Battle of, Tenn., 1862
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Shoshoni Indians – Edward Day
  • Subject in “Through the Years. Stories that My Daddy Told Me:” [monograph] [c.1925] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70376.
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Sun dance
  • Subject in “Ephemera: Photographs” folder (1891-1920).
Trappers – West (U.S.)
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
United States. Army. Dept. of the Tennessee
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 15th (1861-1865)
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1863-1864). HM 70372.
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1864-1865). HM 70373.
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
  • Subject in “Ephemera: Tintype of William Henry Mayo” folder [c.1863].
United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865 - Hospitals
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1863-1864). HM 70372.
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1864-1865). HM 70373.
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Prisoners and prisons
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Vicksburg (Miss.) - History - Siege, 1863
  • Subject in “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70377.
Washakie, ca. 1804-1900
  • Subject in “Through the Years. Stories that My Daddy Told Me:” [monograph] [c.1925] by Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70376.
  • Subject in “Memoirs:” [manuscript] [undated] by Edward Day Woodruff. HM 70378 (1-3).
Wilderness, Battle of the, Va., 1864
  • Subject in Diary by William H. Mayo (1864-1865). HM 70373.
World War, 1914-1918
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letters (1918, Mar.8) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter and B. Franklin Riter. HM 70379-70380.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 2) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70381.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 4) to B. Franklin Riter. HM 70382.
  • Subject in Edward R. Woodruff letter (1918, Apr. 28) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter and B. Franklin Riter. HM 70383.
  • Subject in “Ephemera: Photographs” folder (1891-1920).

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

Subjects

Riter, Franklin, 1886-1966 -- Family -- Archives.
Washakie, ca. 1804-1900.
Woodruff, J.D. (John Dwight), 1847-1925.
Woodruff family.
Confederate States of America. Army. Louisiana Infantry Regiment, 8th.
Democratic Party (La.) -- History -- Sources.
Union Pacific Railroad Company -- Officials and employees -- Archives.
United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 15th (1861-1865)
Andersonville Prison.
Chancellorsville, Battle of, Chancellorsville, Va., 1863 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
Chinese -- Wyoming -- History -- Sources.
Cold Harbor, Battle of, Va., 1864 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
Gettysburg Campaign, 1863 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
Mines and mineral resources -- Wyoming -- History -- Sources.
Outlaws -- West (U.S.)
Maryland Campaign, 1862 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
Physicians -- United States.
Railroads -- West (U.S.)
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) -- Louisiana -- Personal narratives.
Rock Springs Massacre, Rock Springs, Wyo., 1885 -- Personal narratives.
Seven Days' Battles, Va., 1862 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
Shenandoah Valley Campaign, 1862 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
Shenandoah Valley Campaign, 1864 (May-August) -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
Shoshoni Indians.
Sun dance.
Trappers -- West (U.S.)
World War, 1914-1918.
Delamar (Nev.) -- Pictorial works.
Fort Laramie (Wyo.)
Kelly Field (Tex.)
Oregon National Historic Trail.
Saint Landry Parish (La.) -- History -- Sources.
Salt Lake City (Utah) -- History -- Sources.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives.
West (U.S.) -- History -- Sources.

Forms/Genres

Diaries Confederate States of America.
Family papers -- United States.
Memoirs -- United States -- 19th century.
Photographs -- West (U.S.) -- 19th century.
Reminiscences -- United States -- 19th century.
Reminiscences -- West (U.S.)

Additional Contributors

Mayo family.
Mayo, Harry Nathaniel, b. 1867.
Mayo, William H. (William Henry), 1845-1905.
Riter, Lesley Woodruff.
Woodruff, Edward Day, 1847-1925.
Woodruff, Edward R.
Woodruff, Russell O.


 

Manuscripts

Box 1

Manuscripts, 1863-1903

 

Mayo, William H. Diary (1863-1864). HM 70372. 

 

Mayo, William H. Diary (1864-1865). HM 70373.

 

Mayo, William H. Diary (1868, Mar. 1-Nov. 14). HM 70374.

 

Mayo, Harry Nathaniel. Ledger (1900-1903). HM 70375.

Box 2

Manuscripts, [c.1925-undated]

 

Riter, Lesley Day Woodruff. “Through the Years. Stories that My Daddy Told Me:” [monograph] [c.1925]. HM 70376.

 

Riter, Lesley Day Woodruff. “Flag Mad: Memoirs of Russell O. Woodruff:” [manuscript] [undated]. HM 70377.

 

Woodruff, Edward Day. “Memoirs:” [manuscript, p. 1-114] [undated]. HM 70378 (1). 

 

Woodruff, Edward Day. “Memoirs:” [manuscript, p. 115-230] [undated]. HM 70378 (2). 

 

Woodruff, Edward Day. “Memoirs:” [manuscript, p. 231-353] [undated]. HM 70378 (3).

 

Correspondence and Ephemera

Box 3

Correspondence and Ephemera

 

Woodruff, Edward R. 2 letters (1918, Mar.8) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter and B. Franklin Riter. HM 70379-70380.

 

Woodruff, Edward R. 1 letter (1918, Apr. 2) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter. HM 70381. 

 

Woodruff, Edward R. 1 letter (1918, Apr. 4) to B. Franklin Riter. HM 70382.

 

Woodruff, Edward R. 1 letter (1918, Apr. 28) to Lesley Day Woodruff Riter and B. Franklin Riter. HM 70383.

 

Riter, Lesley Day Woodruff. 1 letter (1927, July 9) to Edward R. Woodruff. HM 70384. 

 

Ephemera: Tintype of William Henry Mayo [c.1863]. 1 item.

 

Ephemera: Marriage Certificate of William Henry Mayo and Ella A. Curley (1866). 3 items.

Includes two newspaper clippings: one about their wedding and one about the death of their 9-year old son, William.
 

Ephemera: Photographs (1891-1920). 18 items.

 

Ephemera: Obituary of Edward Day Woodruff (1925). 1 item.