Descriptive Summary
Access
Administrative Information
Biographical Note of Samuel Derrick Webster
Biographical Note of Joseph Witherspoon Cook
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Collection of Samuel Derrick
Webster
Dates: 1771-1966
Bulk dates: 1862-1902
Collection Number: mssHM 48531-48557
Creator:
Webster, Samuel Derrick, 1845-1928
Extent:
102 pieces in 4 boxes
Repository: The Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts
Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection consists of the personal papers of
Samuel Derrick Webster (1845-1928), Civil War soldier and Indian Agent, and Joseph Witherspoon
Cook (1836-1902), missionary to the Yankton Sioux in South Dakota.
Language of Material: The records are in 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]. Samuel Derrick Webster Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Purchased from Erik B. Nelson, March 1982
Biographical Note of Samuel Derrick Webster
Samuel Derrick Webster (1845-1928) was born in Virginia in 1845. Webster enlisted in Company D
of the 13th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. After the war, Webster
studied the law and was admitted to the bar in 1868. He moved to Wyoming where he
practiced law, ran a newspaper and later became Indian Agent for the Yankton Sioux.
He moved to St. Louis and worked for the railroads; he died there in 1928.
Biographical Note of Joseph Witherspoon Cook
Joseph Witherspoon Cook (1836-1902) was born in Vermont in 1836. His familiy moved to Ohio as a
child. He graduated from Kenyon College in 1860 and finished divinity school in
Philadelphia and New York in 1864. He later moved to Cheyenne (then in the Colorado
Territory) where he organized the parish of St. Marks. In 1870 he left Cheyenne to
establish a mission with the Yankton Sioux. He worked with the Yankton until his
death in 1902.
Indian agent Samuel Derrick Webster and Cook became friends when they met in Cheyenne. Cook's daughter Charlotte
married Webster's son Frank.
Scope and Content
This collection contains the personal papers belonging to Samuel Derrick Webster, Civil War soldier and Indian Agent, and
Joseph Witherspoon Cook, missionary to the Yankton Sioux.
Webster's papers include a Civil War diary detailing his experiences with the 13th
Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (1862-1864) and the 39th Massachusetts Infantry
Regiment (1864-1865). Also scrapbook, letters, photographs.
Cook's papers include a scrapbook with photographs, letters, documents, clippings,
etc., documenting his thirty-two year Episcopal mission to the Yankton Sioux at the
Yankton Agency, South Dakota. Also letters, manuscripts and photographs.
There is also a box of genealogical material pertaining to both families.
Arrangement
Arranged in 4 series: Samuel Derrick Webster papers; Joseph Witherspoon Cook
papers; Genealogical records; Ephemera.
Indexing Terms
Personal Names
Cook, Joseph
Witherspoon, 1836-1902
Webster, Samuel Derrick,
1845-1928
Corporate Names
Episcopal Church--South
Dakota
Episcopal Church--Wyoming
United States. Army. Massachusetts
Infantry Regiment, 13th (1861-1864)
United States. Army. Massachusetts
Infantry Regiment, 39th (1862-1865)
Subjects
Dakota Indians
Indians of North
America--Missions--South Dakota
Indians of North
America--Missions--Wyoming
Yankton Indians
Geographic Areas
Cheyenne
(Wyo.)--History
South
Dakota--History--19th century--Sources
United
States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives
Wyoming--History--19th
century-Sources
Genre
Diaries
Letters (correspondence)
Scrapbooks
