Finding Aid for the Woods Family Papers, ca. 1843-1959
Processed by Tania Meyers and James V. Mink; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
© 2004
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid for the Woods Family Papers, ca. 1843-1959
Collection number: 1130
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Los Angeles, CA
- Processed by:
- Tania Meyers and James V. Mink, June 1973
- Encoded by:
- Caroline Cubé
- Online finding aid edited by:
- Josh Fiala, June 2004
© 2004 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Woods Family Papers,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1843-1959
Collection number: 1130
Creator:
Wood family
Extent:
3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: The Woods family was from Versailles, Missouri. Peter George Woods (1844-1919) was a doctor, druggist, prominent Democrat
and Mason, and was also one of the founders of the Bank of Versailles. His brothers were: S.R. Woods, and Charles Carroll
Woods, a minister and poet. The collection consists of business and personal correspondence, legal documents, financial records,
memorabilia, and ephemera related to Dr. Peter George Woods and family. The materials reflect Woods' professional and social
involvements as well as the family's diverse interests.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Willard Libby, 1973.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Woods Family Papers (Collection 1130). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
The Woods family was from Versailles, Missouri; Peter George Woods was born in 1844; he was a doctor, druggist, prominent
Democrat and Mason, and was also one of the founders of the Bank of Versailles; he died in 1919; his brothers were: S.R. Woods,
and Charles Carroll Woods, a minister and poet; he married Susan Parkes Woods (d. 1909) and Margaret Osborne Woods; 7 children
include: Richard Harry Woods, Herbert Spencer Woods, Weightstill Arno Woods, Edna Woods Banks, Eva Woods Peters, George Woods,
and Nancy Mosel Woods Yarnell.
Biographical Narrative
The paper of this Versailles, Missouri family reflect, to a partial extent, the broad variety of their interests. The central
figure is Peter George Woods (1844-1919), an M.D. and druggist, prominent Democrat and Mason, as well as one of the founders
of the Bank of Versailles. His correspondence and memorabilia contain evidence of both professional and social involvements,
as well as of matters pertaining to his brothers, Charles Carroll Woods, a minister and poet (
Who Was Who in America, vol.1, 1897-1942, p.1378), S.R. Woods, and his father, Samuel Hairston Woods. Unidentified members of the Woods family represented
in the papers include William M. Woods and Mary L. Woods.
Real estate interests in and around Chicago are indicated by the presence of a substantial number of examinations of title,
dating from 1865 to 1918.
Issues of the Versailles Statesman and Versailles Leader carry biographical information about Dr. Woods on the occasion of
his death.
Richard Harry Woods, apparently responsible for collecting the family papers, was the fourth of Dr. Woods' seven children.
His entire life seems to have been spent in Versailles, where he practiced law. His own papers, dating 1919-1952, reflect
this career and include notes and correspondence relating to local law suits invoolving real estate.
Herebert Spencer Woods (1881-1920), the sixth child in the Woods family, is represented by his obituary in the Versailles
Statesman and Versailles Leader.
Weightstill Arno Woods, the youngest of Dr. Woods' children, is represented by a few miscellaneous items, spanning the years
1909-1959.
Edna Woods Banks (d. 1893), Eva Woods Peters, George Woods, and Nancy Mosel WWoods yarnell, the remaining children, are mentioned
or represented in the letters or other effects of the persons described above, as are Dr. Woods' two wives, Susan Parkes Woods
(d. 1909), and Margaret Osborne Woods.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of business and personal correspondence, legal documents, financial records, memorabilia, and ephemera
related to Dr. Peter George Woods and family of Versailles, Missouri. Materials reflect Woods' professional and social involvements
as well as the family's diverse interests.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Woods, Peter George, 1844-1919--Archives.
Wood family--Archives.
Physicians--Missouri--Archival resources.
Family papers.
Peter George Woods (1844-1919), [Papers], 1859-1913
Box 1
Business correspondence, [1888-1916]
Box 1, Folder 1
[1888-1906].
Scope and Content Note
Contains one copy book labeled “Private Letters.”
Box 1, Folder 3
Personal correspondence, 1893-1917.
Box 1, Folder 4
Miscellaneous materials
re medical profession.
Scope and Content Note
Contains order forms for opium; a pamphlet on the laws pertaining to opium (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1916); etc.
Box 1, Folder 5
Memorabilia and correspondence
re the Democratic Party, ca. 1912-1916.
Box 1, Folder 6
Papers
re the Masonic Order.
Scope and Content Note
Contains a pamphlet, two partial notebooks, etc.
Box 1, Folder 7
Miscellaneous business and family papers, 1859-1913.
Box 1, Folder 8
Memorabilia.
Scope and Content Note
Contains printed materials: “The God of My Childhood,” by Dr. Woods; “A Confederate Song,” by S.R. Woods; signs; etc.
Boxes 1-2
Missouri Statesman, 1919-1920
Box 1, Folder 9
September 18, 1919.
Physical Description: (7 copies)
Box 2, Folder 1
January 8, 1920.
Physical Description: (1 copy)
Boxes 1-2
Missouri Leader, 1919-1920
Box 1, Folder 10
September 19, 1919.
Physical Description: (1 copy)
Box 2, Folder 2
January 16, 1920.
Physical Description: (2 copies)
Box 2
Richard H. Woods [Papers, 1919-1952]
Box 2, Folder 3
Personal correspondence, 1916-1951.
Box 2, Folder 4
Nancy (Woods) Yarnell
vs. Richard H. Woods, 1923-1925.
Scope and Content Note
Contains legal papers and correspondence related to Mrs. Yarnell's partition suit against Richard Woods and various other
members of the family.
Box 2, Folder 5
Business papers, 1907-[1946].
Scope and Content Note
Contains correspondence, contracts, wills, a notebook, etc.
Box 2, Folder 6
Legal papers, 1926-1942.
Scope and Content Note
Contains contracts and other papers related to the Todhunter property.
Box 2, Folder 7
Bank and tax receipts, 1920-1952.
Box 2, Folder 8
Record of expenses, 1942-1952.
Box 2, Folder 9
Miscellaneous.
Scope and Content Note
Contains the University of Missouri
Alumni Directory, 1843-1917; photographs; mementos, etc.
Box 2, Folder 10
Books.
Scope and Content Note
Contains: Charles Carroll Woods,
The Passing Years (Nashville, 1911), and Flavel B. Tiffany,
In the Alps as a Summer Vacation of 1903.
Box 2
Weightstill Arno Woods [Papers, 1909-1959]
Box 2, Folder 11
Miscellaneous.
Scope and Content Note
Contains the
Confederate Handbook (Robert C. Wood, New Orleans, 1900) and correspondence.
Box 3, Folder 1
Abstracts of Title. Chicago, Illinois, 1865-1918.
Examinations of Title, [1872-1913]
Box 3, Folders 2-3
Chicago, Illinois, 1872-1892 and 1893-1913.
Box 3, Folder 4
Lake County, Illinois, 1892-1901.
Box 3, Folder 5
Abstract of Title. Newaygo County, Michigan, 1910.
Box 3, Folder 6
Inventory of Estate of George C. Whipple. Cook County, Illinois, 1910.
Box 3, Folder 7
Miscellaneous Blue Prints.
