Bolton Family Papers, 1828-2000,, bulk bulk 1885-1980

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Summary

Title:
Bolton Family papers
Dates:
1828-2000,, bulk bulk 1885-1980
Creators:
Bolton family
Abstract:
Contains correspondence, Bolton family history, materials by and about Herbert Eugene Bolton and Frederick Elmer Bolton, and personal papers of Frances Appleton, and Jane Adams. Correspondents include Herbert E. Bolton, Frederick E. Bolton, Frances Appleton, and Jane Adams as well as other members of the Bolton family. Letters discuss education, finances, career, family, and genealogical history. Included with Bolton family history are biographies of Bolton family women, many written by Meredith Bolton Smith. Herbert E. Bolton materials include galleys and a Spanish translation of his Padre on Horseback, and other publications, speeches and biographical material. Frederick E. Bolton materials include his unpublished manuscript of the History of the University of Washington, 1855-1961.
Extent:
Number of containers: 3 cartons, 4 boxes and 2 oversize folders Linear feet: 4.7
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Bolton Family Papers, BANC MSS C-B 841, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

The Bolton Family Papers, 1828-2000 (bulk 1885-1980), consist primarily of correspondence of the extended families of Herbert Eugene Bolton and wife Gertrude Janes Bolton, including their daughters Frances Bolton Appleton and Jane Bolton Adams.

The correspondence between brothers Herbert and Frederick Bolton consist of letters from Herbert with a few copies of replies from Frederick. These letters start in 1885 while Frederick was schoolmaster in Glendale, Wisconsin and Herbert was beginning High School. The letters continue until 1947, discussing their education, finances, careers and families. These papers were saved by Frederick Bolton and donated to The Bancroft Library after his brother's death, along with a copy of Frederick Bolton's manuscript on the History of the University of Washington. These letters were used in the research of Father John Francis Bannon in his biography "Herbert Eugene Bolton: The Historian and the Man, 1870-1953." Frederick's letters to Herbert can be found in the Herbert Eugene Bolton Papers, Part II (BANC MSS C-B 840).

Remaining correspondence covers family activities, family history, and current events, from the American Civil War to the Kennedy assassination. H.E. Bolton wrote many letters to his wife and family while he traveled for research. Also includes letters written around the time of Herbert and Gertrude Bolton's deaths. Some correspondence may have been lost in several fires the family suffered through including the Great Fire of 1923 in Berkeley, California when the Bolton family home was burned to the ground and all of Herbert E. Bolton's manuscripts were destroyed.

The Bolton family history includes genealogical tables, some going back to the American Revolution and the Mayflower, biographies written by younger generations about the generations before them, including Herbert E. Bolton's children. Biographical material on Herbert E. Bolton, written by family and colleagues, can be found in Series 3. Material also included with Herbert E. Bolton's papers are a galley of Padre on Horseback, and a speech given while receiving an Honorary Diploma from the University of Wisconsin--Madison.

The Bolton family designated the Bancroft Library as the repository for their family papers and both Frances Appleton and Jane Adams donated their personal papers, which include correspondence, professional activities, as well as their continuing interest in California History.

Biographical / historical:
Edwin Bolton

Edwin Bolton emigrated from England to the United States around 1850 with his parents John and Harriet Latham Bolton, eventually settling as farmers near Wilton, Wisconsin in 1856. In the early 1860's Edwin Bolton married Rosaline Cady, the daughter of James Cady, a Methodist pastor in Tomah, Wisconsin and Mary Dolbear. The Cady family can trace their ancestors to the Mayflower family of Richard Warren. In 1863 after his first son was born, Edwin Latham joined a Wisconsin regiment in the Civil War. After the war, in 1866 a second son, Frederick Elmer was born. Herbert Eugene, the fourth son was born July 20, 1870. After a short time in Nebraska in 1873, the Edwin Bolton family settled on La Grange Farm near Tomah, Wisconsin. On March 30, 1885, while Rosaline Bolton was pregnant with their last child, Edwin Bolton died suddenly.

Herbert Eugene Bolton

At the time of his father's death, Herbert was ready to enter high school in Tomah. This is where he met Gertrude Janes, his future wife. During the years that followed the death of their father, Frederick and Herbert helped to put each other through school, taking turns teaching and studying. In 1895 Herbert Eugene Bolton received a Bachelor of Letters from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he studied under Frederick Jackson Turner. In that same year Herbert married Gertrude Janes. Their first child, Frances Latham Bolton, was born in Jan. 1897, during Herbert's first year in graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. He finished his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in 1899. The family returned to Wisconsin where Herbert taught and where the next two Bolton daughters were born. Herbert Bolton landed a position at the University of Texas in 1901.

While in Texas, Herbert began his study of Spanish America, spending summers researching in Mexican archives. His first book, With the Makers of Texas, was published in 1904. In 1909 he accepted a position at Stanford, and the following year accepted a professorship at the University of California, Berkeley to begin in 1911. By 1913 Herbert and Gertrude Bolton had their first son, their seventh and last child.

Herbert E. Bolton spent the rest of his career at Berkeley, becoming the head of the Department of History in 1919. He would serve as department head until 1940, with the exception of a 2-year hiatus. Bolton was the Director of The Bancroft Library from 1920 until his retirement in 1940. He came out of retirement in 1942 for two years to lecture in History and to be Director of The Bancroft Library. After a series of strokes, Herbert Eugene Bolton passed away in Berkeley, California on January 30, 1953.

Frederick Elmer Bolton

Frederick E. Bolton became interested in teaching early on in his education. Many of his writings involved education and he worked towards establishing more junior colleges in Washington State. He was dean of the College of Education at the University of Iowa and then at the University of Washington. He spent ten years researching and writing a history on the University of Washington in anticipation of their centennial celebration. Frederick E. Bolton died on March 10, 1963 in Seattle, Washington.

Frances Appleton

Frances Latham Bolton was the eldest daughter of Herbert and Gertrude Bolton, born in Madison, Wisconsin on January 21, 1897. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, Frances met Ted Appleton, who was in Army training at the campus for World War I. They married in April 1920 and moved to Boston, Mass. to live with his parents. They lived in different locations throughout the United States settling in southern California. Frances worked principally in the medical social service field. During World War II, she worked two years at the Tule Lake Relocation Center, a Japanese internment camp. Before her death on August 27, 1978, she moved in with her youngest sister Jane Adams. A bequest was made by Frances, leaving a redwood grove dedicated to her parents at Portola State Park, in La Honda, California.

Jane Adams

Jane Gale Bolton was born December 5, 1909 in Palo Alto, California while her father was a professor at Stanford. Jane went to college at UC Berkeley, as did most of her siblings, majoring in History with minors in English and Spanish, graduating in 1931. While working in the UC Berkeley alumni office she met Francis Adams, whom she eventually married. After their son David was old enough Jane returned to teaching. Jane Bolton Adams died in January 1993.

Please refer to the paper copy of the finding aid for the Bolton family genealogy.

Acquisition information:
The Bolton Family Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by the family of Herbert Eugene Bolton between the years of 1959 and 1963. Additions were made in 2000 by Gale B. Johnson and Bob Brower and in 2003 by Russ Magnaghi of letters given to him by Jane Bolton Adams. Further additions came in 2009 from the Herbert Eugene Bolton Papers after the processing of that collection.
Processing information:

Processed by Alison E. Bridger in 2003-2004; revised by Anastasia Karel in 2009.

Arrangement:

Arranged to the folder level.

Accruals:

No additions are expected.

Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding Aid written by Alison E. Bridger
Date Prepared:
© 2007
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid generated by Finding Aid author(s) via EAD XPress; markup validated by The Bancroft Library staff using OAC validation tools; Date of source: June 2009

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Bolton Family Papers, BANC MSS C-B 841, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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