Title: Albert Hart Sanford Papers
Bulk Dates: 1850-1927
Inclusive Dates: 1783-1943

Creator:

• Sanford, Albert Hart, 1866-

Unique Identifier: MSS F

Quantity: 3.8 cubic feet

Physical Description: 10 archives boxes

Repository:

La Crosse Public Library
Contact Information

Archival Location:

La Crosse Public Library (Map)

Abstract:

The papers consist of materials collected by Sanford, a history professor at the State College at La Crosse (now called the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse), during his tenure as president of the La Crosse County Historical Society and while he researched his book, The History of La Crosse 1841-1900, written in collaboration with Harry J. Hirshheimer.

The collection is a subject file of La Crosse history and says nothing about Sanford’s life. The collection has been divided into ten main subject areas: biographical materials, churches, Civil War, genealogical materials, industry and business, La Crosse (City of), La Crosse County, organizations, schools, and transportation, and miscellaneous.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.lcpl-mssf

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28416982

(Accession No. x.006)

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

[Identification of item], Albert Hart Sanford Papers, MSS F, La Crosse Public Library Archives, La Crosse, WI

Processed by Amy Groskopf, February 1984.

Arranged in eleven series:

Series 1: Biographical Materials

Series 2: Churches

Series 3: Civil War

Series 4: Genealogical Materials

Series 5: Industry and Business

Series 6: City of La Crosse

Series 7: La Crosse County

Series 8: Organizations

Series 9: Schools

Series 10: Transportation

Series 11: Additional Topics

The papers are a subject file on La Crosse history. They consist of materials collected by Sanford during his tenure as president of the La Crosse County Historical Society and while he researched his book, The History of La Crosse, 1892-1900.

The collection has been divided into ten main subject areas: biographical materials, churches, Civil War, genealogical materials, industry and business, La Crosse (City of), La Crosse County, organizations, schools, and transportation. Materials which are not included under these headings may be found under heading additional topics.

BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS in the collection include published memorials, land grant records, correspondence and references to other sources. Some of the biographical materials consist of primary research materials, autobiographies, or biographies. Materials are arranged alphabetically. Best represented in this subseries are Timothy Burns, Charles L. Colman and the Colman family, Thomas B. Stoddard, Ellis B. Usher, and Cadwallader C. Washburn.

Information available on CHURCHES includes short essays on the origin of various La Crosse churches as well as lists of pastors and members. Also included are a few financial records relating to the construction of local church buildings. Materials on churches are arranged alphabetically by name of church. Best represented here are Chris Episcopal Church, First Baptist Church, First Methodist Episcopal Church and St. Paul’s Universalist Church.

Records pertaining to the CIVIL WAR offer information about the involvement of the La Crosse citizens in the War. Information about the La Crosse Light Guard (Iron Brigade) is particularly complete, containing materials about Captain Wilson Colwell, letters from soldiers about army conditions and reminiscences of former members.

GENEALOGICAL MATERIALS are somewhat represented on a few families. INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS includes advertising, banks, Board of Trade, breweries, Chamber of Commerce, directories, insurance, labor and the lumber industry.

LA CROSSE CITY includes description, elections, government and Water Works (Pump House). LA CROSSE COUNTY includes information on elections, government and taxes.

ORGANIZATIONS include information on social, charitable, professional and fraternal organizations that existed in La Crosse any time between 1867 and 1939. The records include programs, constitutions, by-laws, membership lists and financial records. Some of the more complete files are those of the La Crosse Bar Association and the La Crosse County Council of Defense Women’s Committee. There is also a file of programs and invitations to social activities sponsored by various La Crosse organizations.

Information on topics such as curriculum, and the Teacher’s Association can be found in the SCHOOLS series. Materials dealing with the State Normal School, and private and parochial elementary schools are also available. Of special interest is correspondence between Sanford and persons who were students at the First Ward School from 1880 through 1888. The enrollment records for this period were destroyed by fire so during the 1940’s Sanford attempted to reconstruct them relying on the memories of former students. The letters contain reminiscences and information about what former students did in their adult years.

Materials dealing with TRANSPORTATION have been divided into four main topics. They are roads, railroads, steamboats, and bridges and ferries. The records about roads include the La Crescent Plank Road Company of 1873, a road up Granddad Bluff, contracts for paving city streets and rules for automobiles from 1908-1909. Passes, stock certificates, correspondence by T. B. Stoddard and information on the Southern Minnesota Railroad Company is also included in the materials available on railroads. Materials on steamboats include a brief history on steam boating as well as the names and vital statistics of a number of boats operated locally.

The ADDITIONAL TOPICS file contains information on a wide variety of subjects that do not fall under the broad categories discussed above. There is a fair amount of information on newspapers and on local, state, and national politics. The remaining subjects generally have only a small amount of information available. The open file contains bits and pieces of information relating to La Crosse. The material is largely unorganized.

Unless otherwise noted all materials in the collection are arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically within each subject.

Albert Hart Sanford, history professor and author, was born June 21, 1866, in Platteville, Wisconsin. He graduated from the Platteville Teachers College in 1886 and then taught for a few years. In 1891 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin and in 1894 from Harvard. He then accepted a position as head of the history department at the Stevens Point Teachers College. Remaining in this position until September 1909, he then transferred to the newly opened La Crosse State Teachers College to fill a similar post. He remained at La Crosse until he retired in 1937.

A prolific writer, Sanford collaborated with J. A. James in writing Our Government and History (1903), Government in State and Nation (1899), and American History (1907). He also authored the Sanford American History Maps (1907) and The Story of Agriculture in the U.S. (1916) and co-authored the Sanford-Gordy American History Maps (1925). In the field of La Crosse History, Professor Sanford wrote, guided research, and edited a series of pamphlets titled La Crosse County Historical Society Sketches, and with Harry Hirshheimer wrote The History of La Crosse, 1841-1900 , which was published in 1951.

Sanford was active in many local, state and national organizations which promoted history and education. He served as president of the Wisconsin Association of Teacher’s Colleges and as a member of the Teacher’s College Retirement Board. He was a member of the North Central History Teacher’s Association, the National Council for Social Studies and the Wisconsin Education Association. He helped found and served as president of the La Crosse County Historical Society from 1925 when it was organized, until 1947.

He also served as president and curator of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin from 1939-1940, and was a member of the North Central History Teacher’s Association, the history sections of the Mississippi Valley Historical Society and the American Historical Association.

Sanford died on August 27, 1956, in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Books and pamphlets have generally been separated from the rest of the collection. They were either cataloged for the vault collection or were placed in an ephemera file.

Eight oversize maps have been separated from other items in the collection. They have been added to the map file and can be found under the following call numbers: C1 D1 M51; C1 D3 M33; C1 D3 M34; C1 D3 M35; C1 D3 M36; C1 D5 M41; C1 D5 M42; and C1 D8 M32.

Oversize materials, including land certificates, advertisements, maps, plats, newspapers and posters are located in Box 11, kept on the Archives oversize shelves, and in a large folder located on the map case in the compact shelving area.

• La Crosse (Wis.)--Biography
• La Crosse (Wis.)--History
• La Crosse County (Wis.)--History

(Series 1)	Series: Biographical Materials
Box 1   Folder 1	Anderson, Wendell A.
Box 1   Folder 2	Bacon, Noah Brockway and Charles York
Box 1   Folder 3	Barber, George Gerry
Box 1   Folder 4	Barclay, James
	Benton, Charles R.
Box 1   Folder 5	Journal, 1826
Box 1   Folder 6	Financial records, 1857
Box 1   Folder 7	Writings, 1896-1903
Box 1   Folder 8	Blashek, Franz
Box 1   Folder 9	Bliss, H. I.
Box 1   Folder 10	Brown, David
Box 1   Folder 11	Brunson, Reverand Alfred
Box 1   Folder 12	Bryant, Benjamin F.
Box 1   Folder 13	Brye, Adolph C.
Box 1   Folder 14-15	Burns, Timothy
Box 1   Folder 16	Burton, George W.
Box 1   Folder 17	Button, George H.
Box 1   Folder 18	Cameron, Angus
Box 1   Folder 19	Cameron, Peter and Daniel
Box 1   Folder 20	Carr, Reverand Spencer
Box 1   Folder 21	Chidester family, 1852-1886
Box 1   Folder 22-23	Colman, Charles Lane
Box 1   Folder 24-25	Colman, Lucius C. and Edward L.
Box 1   Folder 26	Colman, Spier
Box 1   Folder 27	Engleson, Edward
Box 1   Folder 28	Garland, Hamlin
Box 1   Folder 29	Gulander, Nicholas
Box 1   Folder 30	Gund, John and Henry
Box 1   Folder 31	Hackner, Egid
Box 1   Folder 32	Jacobs, Pauline H.
Box 1   Folder 33	Konig, Josef
Box 1   Folder 34	MacMillan, George
Box 1   Folder 35	Martin, Wellington
Box 2   Folder 1	McArthur, P. S.
Box 2   Folder 2	McDonald
Box 2   Folder 3	Miller, H. J. B.
Box 2   Folder 4	Miller, Hendrick
Box 2   Folder 5	Myrick, Nathan
Box 2   Folder 6	Pederson, Thomas
Box 2   Folder 7	Pomeroy, Marcus
Box 2   Folder 8	Potter
Box 2   Folder 9	Rand, James B.
Box 2   Folder 10	Riebe, H. A.
Box 2   Folder 11	Rodolf, Theodore
Box 2   Folder 12	Rogers, William C.
Box 2   Folder 13	Rollins, Kid
Box 2   Folder 14	Smith, Orlando H.
Box 2   Folder 15	Smith, Samuel F.
Box 2   Folder 16-21	Stoddard, T. B.
Box 2   Folder 22	Swisher, Bella French
Box 2   Folder 23	Taylor, Lute A.
Box 2   Folder 24	Thompson, Rebecca S.
Box 2   Folder 25	Turner, Jeremiah
Box 2   Folder 26-27	Usher, Ellis B.
Box 2   Folder 28-31	Washburn, Cadwallader C.
Box 2   Folder 32	Webster, Daniel
Box 2   Folder 33	Wroolie, Mrs. T. S. V.
(Series 2)	Series: Churches	⇧
Box 2   Folder 34	Calvary Baptist Church
Box 2   Folder 35-36	Christ Church, 1851-1917
Box 2   Folder 37	Church of Christ
	First Baptist Church
Box 3   Folder 1	History
Box 3   Folder 2	Members, 1852-1901
	First Methodist Episcopal Church
Box 3   Folder 3	Directories, 1899-1908
Box 3   Folder 4	Fiftieth anniversary book
Box 3   Folder 5-6	History
Box 3   Folder 7	Members, 1854-1864
Box 3   Folder 8	La Crosse Pastor's Union
Box 3   Folder 9	Missionary E. W. Rice, 1859-1863
Box 3   Folder 10	Our Savior's Lutheran Church
Box 3   Folder 11	Salzer Memorial Methodist Church
Box 3   Folder 12	St. Paul's Norwegian Lutheran Church
	St. Paul's Universalist Church
Box 3   Folder 13	Contracts, 1866
Box 3   Folder 14	Correspondence, 1874
Box 3   Folder 15	History and government
Box 3   Folder 16	Trinity Congregation
(Series 3)	Series: Civil War	⇧
Box 3   Folder 17	Eleventh Division, Wisconsin Militia
	La Crosse Light Guard
Box 3   Folder 18	Colwell, Wilson
Box 3   Folder 19	Corrsepondence, 1861 May-July
Box 3   Folder 20	General information
Box 3   Folder 21	Reminiscences
Box 3   Folder 22	Roster (by W. H. Harries), 1906
Box 3   Folder 23	Second Wisconsin Regiment ("Iron Brigade")
Box 3   Folder 24-26	Newspaper clippings
(Series 4)	Series: Genealogical Materials	⇧
Box 3   Folder 27	Bunting
Box 3   Folder 28	Colman (Coleman)
Box 3   Folder 29	Dudley
Box 3   Folder 30	Lowry
Box 3   Folder 31	Potter
Box 3   Folder 32	Potter and Brayton
Box 4   Folder 1	Tenney
Box 4   Folder 2	Webb
	Northampton, Massachusetts register of deaths, 1783-1824
Box 4   Folder 4	Obituaries in La Crosse Tribune, 1929-1931
(Series 5)	Series: Industry and Business	⇧
Box 4   Folder 5	Advertising cards and circulars
Box 4   Folder 6	Banks and banking, 1858-1913
Box 4   Folder 7	Board of Trade, 1868-1900
Box 4   Folder 8	Breweries, 1854-1920
Box 4   Folder 9	Building and loan associations, 1890-1899
	Chamber of Commerce
Box 4   Folder 10	Members, 1927-1941
Box 4   Folder 11-13	Publications
	Directories
Box 4   Folder 14	, 1857-1858
Box 4   Folder 15	, 1926
Box 4   Folder 16	Hogan, J. J., Inc., 1922
Box 4   Folder 17	Hotels
Box 4   Folder 18	Insurance, 1868-1874
Box 4   Folder 19	Labor, 1884, 1934
Box 4   Folder 20	La Crosse Gas and Electric Company, 1907
Box 4   Folder 21	La Crosse Plow Works, 1885
	Lumber Industry
Box 4   Folder 22	Colman Lumber Company, 1855
Box 4   Folder 23	Logger's marks
Box 4   Folder 24	Lumbering Industry of the Black River
Box 4   Folder 25	Miscellaneous, 1902
Box 4   Folder 26	Mississippi Valley Lumberman's Association, 1900-1901
Box 4   Folder 27	Reminiscences
Box 4   Folder 28	Sawmills, 1844-1913
Box 5   Folder 1	Machinery
Box 5   Folder 2	Novelty artificial stone works, 1877
(Series 6)	Series: City of La Crosse	⇧
	Description
Box 5   Folder 3	, 1854
Box 5   Folder 4	, 1870-1930
Box 5   Folder 5	Elections, 1856-1912
Box 5   Folder 6	Government, 1856-1921
Box 5   Folder 7	Records checklist, 1933
Box 5   Folder 8	Water works, 1875
(Series 7)	Series: La Crosse County	⇧
Box 5   Folder 9-10	Elections, 1851-1856
	Government
Box 5   Folder 11	Board of supervisors, 1853-1890
Box 5   Folder 12	Establishment of, 1851
Box 5   Folder 13	Juror's instructions
Box 5   Folder 14	Sheriff, 1868-1872
Box 5   Folder 15	Treasurer's report, 1866
Box 5   Folder 16	Miscellaneous, 1853-1866
Box 5   Folder 17	Taxes, 1858-1866
Box 5   Folder 18	Town of Burns census enumeration, 1855
(Series 8)	Series: Organizations	⇧
Box 5   Folder 19	Art Association of La Crosse, 1916
Box 5   Folder 20	College Club, 1931
Box 5   Folder 21	Community Chest, 1932
Box 5   Folder 22	Eighth Ward Aid Society, 1897-1906
Box 6   Folder 1	Fraternal, 1850s-1928
Box 6   Folder 2	Home for the Friendless and Home for the Children, 1889-1938
Box 6   Folder 3	La Crosse Club, 1887-1930
Box 6   Folder 4-5	La Crosse County Bar Association, 1895-1920
Box 6   Folder 6	La Crosse County Council of Defense Women's Committee, 1917-1918
Box 6   Folder 7	La Crosse County Historical Society, 1931-1947
Box 6   Folder 8	Miscellaneous
Box 6   Folder 9	Norwegian Workingmen's Society, 1874-1915
Box 6   Folder 10	Old Settler's Association
Box 6   Folder 11	Social events
Box 6   Folder 12	Young Men's Christian Association, 1894
Box 7   Folder 1 Box 6   Folder 13	Young Men's Library Association, 1867-1891
(Series 9)	Series: Schools	⇧
Box 7   Folder 2	General information, 1883-1941
Box 7   Folder 3	First Ward School students, 1860-1880s
Box 7   Folder 4	Gale College
Box 7   Folder 5	High school graduation programs, 1889-1898
Box 7   Folder 6	Kindergartens, 1870-1899
Box 7   Folder 7	La Crosse State Normal School, 1892-1934
Box 7   Folder 8	Penmanship
(Series 10)	Series: Transportation	⇧
Box 7   Folder 9	Automobiles, 1908-1909
Box 7   Folder 10	Bridges and ferries, 1873-1876, 1938
Box 7   Folder 11	Cameron Canal, 1854
Box 7   Folder 12	Railroads, 1854-1920
Box 7   Folder 13	Roads, 1859-1882
Box 7   Folder 14	Steamboats, 1850-1860
(Series 11)	Series: Additional Topics	⇧
Box 8   Folder 1	Account statements, 1859-1892
Box 8   Folder 2	Banquets
Box 8   Folder 3	Celebrations, 1887-1932
Box 8   Folder 4	Entertainment, 1884-1927
Box 8   Folder 5	Farming
Box 8   Folder 6	Fire protection, 1865
Box 8   Folder 7	Immigrants, 1870s
Box 8   Folder 8	Indians
Box 8   Folder 9	Invitations and calling cards
Box 8   Folder 10	Legends
Box 8   Folder 11	Medicine, 1864-1887
Box 8   Folder 12	Mississippi River, 1891-1939
Box 8   Folder 13	Music, 1921
Box 8   Folder 14-15	Newspapers, 1854-1941
Box 8   Folder 16	Onalaska, 1869-1879
Box 8   Folder 17	Periodicals, 1877-1927
Box 9   Folder 1	Pioneer life, 1855-1861
	Politics
Box 9   Folder 2	Local, 1890-1919
	State
Box 9   Folder 3	, 1890-1904
Box 9   Folder 4	, 1906-1925
Box 9   Folder 5	Newspaper clippings
Box 9   Folder 6	National, 1872-1920
Box 9   Folder 7	Prohibition, 1918
Box 9   Folder 8	Post Office, 1848-1896, 1942
Box 9   Folder 9	Public Library, 1888
Box 9   Folder 10	Real estate, 1853-1920
Box 9   Folder 11	Recipes
Box 9   Folder 12	Sports, 1867-1947
Box 9   Folder 13	Taxes, 1866
Box 9   Folder 14	Theater
Box 9   Folder 15	United States Surveyor of Customs, 1888
Box 9   Folder 16	United States Weather Bureau, 1896
Box 9   Folder 17	Winona, Minnesota
Box 9   Folder 18	World War I
Box 10   Folder 1-4 Box 9   Folder 19	Open file
Box 10   Folder 5	Newspaper clippings