Title: Hamilton Nelson Ross Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1874-1969

Creator:

• Ross, Hamilton Nelson, 1889-1958

Call Number: Northland Mss B

Quantity: 2.0 c.f. (5 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the Area Research Center, History Center and Archives, Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center / Ashland Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers, primarily 1950-1958, concerning the research conducted by Ross on the history of La Pointe, Wisconsin. Included is correspondence, research materials such as census data and maps, speeches and articles, drafts of his book La Pointe - Village Outpost, and miscellany.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-nort000b

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Hamilton Nelson Ross was born in Beloit, Wisconsin in 1889 to Mr. and Mrs. Noble J. Ross. A graduate of Beloit College, Ross was by profession a mechanical engineer and by avocation an historian and writer. He was involved in the manufacture of paper-making machinery and was an official at the Beloit Iron Works before leaving the city around 1928. He was later engaged in manufacturing in Batavia and Geneva, Illinois.

Ross first visited La Pointe, on Madeline Island, in Ashland County, Wisconsin, in the summer of 1897. Returning to the island each summer for the next sixty-two years, and for two winters, he developed an intense interest in the history of La Pointe, the Apostle Islands, and the Chequamegon Bay area. He was active in the founding of the Madeline Island Museum, and was on of its board of directors; he also chaired a committee to restore the island's Indian cemetery. After his retirement in the early 1950s, Ross devoted his time to research and writing. In 1951, he published a booklet entitled The Apostle Islands: A Brief Resume of Their History, Including Maps and Condensed Descriptions of the Individual Islands. This topic was expanded into his book, La Pointe - Village Outpost, which was published posthumously in 1960. Ross died on December 25, 1958, in Geneva, Illinois.

Hamilton Ross' papers pertain mainly to his book La Pointe - Village Outpost, but are an incomplete record of that project. The collection has been divided into correspondence, research materials, successive drafts of the book, speeches and articles, and miscellaneous printed materials.

The Correspondence, 1874-1969, which is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and chronologically thereunder, consists mainly of inquiries by and to Ross concerning details of the history of the La Pointe area. Included in the general file are limited correspondence with each of about thirty people, and letters relating to a controversy over the Madeline Island deer population. The correspondence of Ross' wife, Dorothy Stickney Ross, consists mainly of inquiries concerning La Pointe - Village Outpost addressed to her after her husband's death. Of special interest are an 1874 request for information on the natural features of Douglas County, Wisconsin and an 1875 letter concerning proposed legislation from then Wisconsin state assemblyman and later lieutenant governor, Sam S. Fifield, to Judge Thomas Clark of Superior. These are enclosed in Leigh P. Jerrard's letter of February 15, 1953.

The Research Materials, circa 1950-1958, include notes; statistics; census data, genealogical information, and family logs; and an alphabetical reference file of three by five cards. There are also handwritten and typed copies of articles, portions of books, and letters transcribed by Ross and his wife from originals in private collections and research libraries throughout the United States. Also included are drafts and other information relating to the maps printed in Ross' book, and copies of United States Geological Survey quadrangles for the Chequamegon Bay area annotated to show early mines, roads, and other features.

The Drafts of La Pointe - Village Outpost are arranged in an order reflecting the development of the book. They include a “First Attempt,” 1950, a “First Magnum Opus,” 1952, and three annotated revisions, 1953, 1957, and 1958. Also included are three versions of an extensive appendix, which was never published. The 1952 draft of the book was extensively corrected by Lucile Kane of the Minnesota Historical Society.

The folder of Speeches and Articles includes Ross's speech on “La Pointe and Its Relationship to Minnesota,” given before the St. Louis County (Minnesota) Historical Society; three versions of an article, “Way Station West”; and a series of short articles on local history written for a newsletter, the Madeline Lighthouse, 1952-1958, arranged chronologically.

The Miscellaneous Printed Materials are clippings related to the history of the La Pointe region, and souvenirs.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. Hamilton Nelson Ross, La Grange Park, Illinois, April 26, 1972. Accession Number: M72-155

Processing Information

Processed by Jane Wolff (FGH intern) and Joanne Hohler, October 3, 1975.

	Correspondence
	General
Box   1 Folder   1	Bishoff - Young, 1950-1957, 1961
Box   1 Folder   2	Re Madeline Island Deer Population, 1951-1952
Box   1 Folder   3	Gregorich, Joseph, 1952-1955
Box   1 Folder   4	Jerrard, Leigh P., 1951-1955 (including Fifield letters, 1874 and 1875)
Box   1 Folder   5	Kane, Lucile, 1951-1955
Box   1 Folder   6	Nute, Grace Lee, 1951-1952, 1957
Box   1 Folder   7	Ross, Dorothy Stickney, 1962-1963, 1965-1966, 1969
Box   1 Folder   8	Schroedel, Otto, 1952-1957
	Research Materials, circa 1950-1958
Box   1 Folder   9	Notes, Statistics, and Transcripts of Articles
Box   1 Folder   10	Transcripts of Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   11	Census Data, Genealogical Information, and Family Logs
	Maps and Related Information
Box   1 Folder   12	First Drafts
Box   1 Folder   13	Final Drafts
Box   2 Folder   1	United States Geological Survey Maps
Box   2 Folder   2	Photostat of Facsimile of 1672 Jesuit Map
Box   3	Card File
	Drafts of La Pointe - Village Outpost
Box   4 Folder   1	Appendix, First Draft, undated
Box   4 Folder   2	1950, “First Attempt,” Including Appendix
	1952, “First Magnum Opus”
Box   4 Folder   3	Front Matter
Box   4 Folder   4	Introduction - Chapter 9, Corrected by Lucile Kane
Box   4 Folder   5	Appendix
Box   4 Folder   6-7	, 1953 Revision
Box   5 Folder   1-3	, 1957 Revision
Box   4 Folder   4-6	1958, “Third Draft”
Box   4 Folder   7	Speeches and Articles, 1952-1958, undated
Box   4 Folder   8	Miscellaneous Printed Materials, 1950, 1961, undated