Guide to the William M. Tipton Papers MSS.1923.09.23
Archives & Special Collections, Santa Clara University Library
© 2016 Santa Clara University. All rights reserved.
Santa Clara University Library
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, California 95053-0500
Email: specialcollections@scu.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Archives & Special Collections, Santa Clara University Library
Title: William M. Tipton Papers
creator:
Tipton, William (William M. Tipton)
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.1923.09.23
Physical Description:
1.79 linear feet
(1 document box, 1 archival binder and 1 flat box)
Date (inclusive): 1887-1978 (bulk 1893-1918)
Abstract: The William M. Tipton Papers, 1887-1978 (bulk 1893-1918), document the personal and professional life of William M. Tipton.
The records consist of pamphlets, correspondence, Spanish vocabulary lists, photographs, land surveying tools, government
documents, newspaper clippings, and various notes. This collection is arranged into three series: Series I. William M. Tipton's
Personal Papers, 1887-1978 (bulk 1893-1918); Series II. Lists of Spanish Terms with English Translations, n.d.; and Series
III. Surveyor Tools and "The Gift of Tongues" Manuscripts, 1915-1923 (bulk 1915-1917).
Language of Material: English, Spanish.
Physical Location: This collection is located in Santa Clara University Library's Archives & Special Collections.
Access
The collection is open for research. There are no restrictions.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into three series: Series I. William M. Tipton's Personal Papers, 1887-1978 (bulk 1893-1918);
Series II. Lists of Spanish Terms with English Translations, n.d.; and Series III. Surveyor Tools and "The Gift of Tongues"
Manuscripts, 1915-1923 (bulk 1915-1917).
Biographical History
William M. Tipton was born in Dayton, Ohio on February 20th, 1857. His family moved to Brownsville, Nebraska the following
year and his father Thomas Weston Tipton was elected to the United States Senate after the end of the Civil War. During Thomas
Tipton's incumbency, the family lived in Washington, D.C. where William Tipton was educated at the Emerson Institute. William
Tipton briefly taught in the Brownsville, Nebraska public schools before accepting a position in the office of the Surveyor
General of the Territory of New Mexico in Santa Fe. In order to read old governmental documents from New Mexico from its time
under the governance of Spain and Mexico, Tipton learned Spanish and began to develop skilled understanding of land grants
and how to handle Spanish language documents specifically. Because of this self-taught expertise, he worked as a land surveyor
and protected the U.S. government from fraudulent land claims in the New Mexico Territory.
On August 15, 1892, Tipton was appointed a Special Agent and Spanish Expert to the United States Attorney for the Court of
Private Land Claims. The court was organized to address and settle land claims in New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and
Arizona in the aftermath of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. In 1901, Tipton was sent by the United States government to the
Philippines at the beginning of the U.S. occupation following the 1898 Treaty of Paris. He established the Bureau of Public
Lands and became of the first head of the Bureau. After a few years working in Manila, Tipton returned to the United States
and worked in different federal and New Mexican state government positions before his retirement in 1921.
He then moved to Santa Clara County with his second wife, Alice J. Tipton, and lived on a ranch there until his death in 1922
at the age of 65.
Throughout his life, Tipton complied lists of Spanish terms with the hope of adding them to a Spanish-English dictionary.
These lists make up the majority of his personal papers.
The biographical information for this finding aid comes mostly from a letter written by William Tipton's second wife Alice
J. Tipton to the University President Rev. Zacheus J. Maher, S.J. from when she transferred William Tipton's papers to the
University Library in 1923 and from an article from the The American Surveyor.
Bibliography
Roeder, Fred, LS. "Will Tipton of the Spanish Archives." AmeriSurv.com. The American Surveyor, 11 Aug. 2009. 05 Aug. 2016.
Organizational History
Santa Clara University was founded in 1851 by the Society of Jesus as Santa Clara College and is California's oldest operating
institution of higher learning. It was established on the grounds of Mission Santa Clara de Asìs, the eighth of the original
21 California missions. The college originally operated as a preparatory school and did not offer courses of collegiate rank
until 1853. The institution became known as the University of Santa Clara in 1912, when the schools of engineering and law
were added. For 110 years, Santa Clara University was an all-male school. In 1961, women were accepted as undergraduates and
Santa Clara University became the first coeducational Catholic university in California. The number of students and faculty
tripled over the next decade and the university began the largest building program in school history with eight residence
halls, a student union, and an athletic stadium. In the early 1970s, the Board of Trustees voted to limit the size of the
undergraduate population, an action that was intended to preserve the character and ensure the quality of the university for
generations to come. In 1985, the university adopted Santa Clara University as its official name.
Bibliography: Santa Clara University. "About SCU – History." www.scu.edu/about/history.cfm (Accessed Nov. 23, 2010) McKevitt, Gerald, S.J.
The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1979.
Preferred Citation
William M. Tipton Papers, MSS.1923.09.23, Santa Clara University Library, Archives & Special Collections.
Processing Information
Collection processed and finding aid written by Michelle Runyon in 2016. Finding aid updated and EAD encoded by Andrea Hoff
in 2019.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
The William M. Tipton Papers, 1887-1978 (bulk 1893-1918), document the professional and personal life of William M. Tipton
who worked in several capacities for the state and federal government, starting as a land surveyor for the New Mexico Territory.
In his spare time, Tipton complied several lists of Spanish terms that did not appear in most prominent Spanish-English dictionaries
of his time with the hope of submitting them and also studied how Tagalog interacted with Spanish in the Philippines. The
records consist of lists of Spanish terms, notes, government documents, land surveyor tools, newspaper clippings, pamphlets,
and photographs.
Publication Rights
Materials in Archives & Special Collections may be subject to copyright. All requests for permission to publish from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the University Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Archives & Special
Collections as the owner of the physical materials, and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder,
which must also be obtained. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Santa Clara University -- History
Education, Higher -- California -- San Jose
New Mexico -- History
Land Grants -- New Mexico
SERIES I. William M. Tipton's Personal Papers,
1887-1978 (bulk 1893-1918)
Scope and Content
This series documents Will Tipton's personal and professional life as a land surveyor and self-taught expert in old Spanish
documents. It includes materials from the Philippine Committee of Geographical Names and photographs of Fr. Arthur Spearman,
history professor and archivist at Santa Clara University, at Mr. Tipton's grave.
Arrangement
This series is arranged by format.
box 1, folder 1
List and inventory of the Tipton collection,
1978
box 1, folder 2
Clipping: "El Origen de la Palabra 'Gringo',"
1916
box 1, folder 3
By-laws of the Phillippine Committee of Geographical Names,
1904
box 1, folder 4
Report from the U.S. Senate Committee on the Philippines,
1908
box 1, folder 5
Correspondence,
1887-1927
box 1, folder 6
"Additions and Changes to Spanish and English Dictionary" by Will M. Tipton,
undated
box 1, folder 7
Miscellaneous materials (includes memo, letter and several lists of books),
1973, & undated
box 1, folder 8
Miscellaneous pamphlets,
1896-1901, & undated
box 1, folder 9
Photographs of Arthur D. Spearman and Richard P. Vaggione,
1972
box 1, folder 10
Notes and clippings: "memoranda of Spanish words, phrases, etc,"
1903-1918, & undated
SERIES II. Lists of Spanish Terms with English Translations,
n.d.
Scope and Content
This series documents the personal efforts of William M. Tipton to compile Spanish terms to be added to a Spanish-English
dictionary. Most entries include the English equivalent of the word.
Arrangement
This series is arranged by format
box 2
Binder with notes on new Mexican Spanish terms,
undated
SERIES III. Surveyor Tools and "The Gift of Tongues" Manuscripts,
1915-1923 (bulk 1915-1917)
Scope and Content
This series documents the professional and personal life of William M. Tipton. The series includes a manuscript of William
M. Tipton's collected writings edited by Rev. Richard Paul Vaggione, the full name of which is "The Gift of Tongues: The Collected
Papers of Will M. Tipton Presented in Lexicographical Form- edited by The Rev. Richard Paul Vaggione." The series also includes
the surveyor tools, including several glass protractors, that were used by William Tipton in a professional capacity.
Arrangement
This series is arranged by format.
box 3, Item 1
Manuscript of "The Gift of Tongues: The Collected Papers of Will M. Tipton Presented in Lexicographical Form" edited by Rev.
Richard Paul Vaggione,
undated
box 3, Item 2
Fiske Reading Machine (includes directions for use),
c. 1926
box 3, Item 3
Small leather box labeled "Will M. Tipton, Examiner of Questioned Documents" (note: box contains 13 glass plates with imprints
of protractors, line measures and flat rulers),
1915, & undated
