The Joseph V. Quarles, Jr., Papers consist primarily of two groups of material: speeches and correspondence. They do not provide complete documentation of Quarles' long involvement with Republican politics in Wisconsin, although they are nevertheless of considerable research interest.
The speeches section consists of notes and drafts for articles and speeches which date from his days as a student at the University of Michigan until the year of his death.
The correspondence includes exchanges between Quarles and his parents and his Kenosha friends while he was a student and during his service in the 39th Wisconsin Infantry. Although Quarles did not enlist until 1864, the family letters are of considerable interest for they include in addition to many comments on family life and university student concerns, numerous references to the war, the politics of the period, and the difficulty of his position as a student while others his age were fighting. Among his youthful correspondents were Charles D. Dana and Edward H. Durkee. Although Quarles did not see much actual combat, his Civil War letters include interesting comments on a raid on Memphis by Nathan Bedford Forrest and on the freedmen in the Union Army. Also in the collection is a file of letters (and typewritten transcripts), 1837-1843, from Joseph V. Quarles, Sr. concerning land sales and the early settlement of Southport (later Kenosha); deeds and other legal papers concerning Quarles family land holdings; and exchanges mainly concerning illnesses between the elder Quarles and his wife Caroline Bullen Quarles, 1844-1849, while he was away from home.
Earlier descriptions of the Quarles Papers refer to an 1896 diary of Carrie S. Quarles; this was not found in the collection in 1986.
