Summary Information
Alexander Ahab Arnold Papers
1855-1940
- Alexander Ahab Arnold, 1833-1915
La Crosse Mss M; La Crosse Mss AK; La Crosse Mss BM
3.2 c.f. (8 archives boxes)
UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of a Galesville, Wisconsin, farmer-politician and members of his family: Mary Douglas Arnold, his wife; Gerald C. and Archibald H. Arnold, his sons; and Beulah Arnold Wiley, his daughter. Alexander Arnold's papers consist of brief-entry diaries, correspondence, and financial records pertaining to his law practice in Ohio, his work as a surveyor for the Town of Gale, and his farm and livestock breeding service. There are also detailed records kept as captain of the Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. Mary Douglas Arnold's files, also consisting of diaries and correspondence, document her involvement in various organizations such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the women's suffrage movement. Gerald D. and Archibald H. files contain miscellaneous papers on the livestock breeding service inherited from their father and on various patents which they held on farm machinery. Beulah Arnold Wiley's papers focus on her education at Rockford College and her career as a teacher.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx000m ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Alexander Ahab Arnold, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin livestock breeder and politician, was born October 20, 1833, at Rhinebeck, New York, the son of Archibald H. R. Arnold, a farmer. He attended college in Poughkeepsie, New York, and taught school for a short time before entering the Ohio Law School at Poland, Ohio. He graduated in 1855 and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1856. Arnold practiced law in Poland until 1857 when he moved to Galesville, Wisconsin, where he practiced law, farmed, and did some surveying. At some time during the late 1850's, he was appointed district attorney for Trempealeau County. In 1859, Arnold married Hattie E. Tripp, 1833-1861, of New York, who died two years later leaving a daughter, G. Blanche.
In 1861, Arnold was elected Trempealeau County Superintendent of Schools, a position he relinquished in 1862 when he was commissioned a captain in the newly formed Company C, Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. The Thirtieth Wisconsin was stationed in Wisconsin, on the Indian frontier in the Dakotas, and in Kentucky.
At the close of the Civil War, Arnold returned to Galesville, where he increased his landholdings to 400 acres. In 1869, he married Mary Douglas (1848-1933), a member of a prominent Melrose, Wisconsin family.
Arnold joined the Republican Party and was elected to the State Assembly in 1870. He served as a member of the state Senate, 1877-1878, and returned to the Assembly in 1880 as Speaker. Arnold was also chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Trempealeau County and county surveyor for many years.
Arnold's main business concern was farming. He was a well-known livestock breeder, and he pioneered in breeding Shorthorn cattle and Berkshire swine. Active in agrarian organizations, Arnold served as president of the State Agricultural Society in 1886. Arnold also promoted the Galesville and Mississippi Railroad, and was president of that corporation in 1874. He was president of the Bank of Galesville and engaged in real estate development.
Arnold was energetic in his involvement in community affairs. He actively supported the public schools and was a longtime president of the Board of Trustees of Galesville University. He was also an organizer of the Galesville post of the Grand Army of the Republic, a member of the Masonic Order for fifty-seven years, and president of the Trempealeau County Historical Society. Although raised a Hicksite Quaker, Arnold became a member of the Presbyterian Church late in life.
Alexander Ahab Arnold died on march 1, 1915, at Galesville, Wisconsin. His children were G. Blanche Arnold (1860-1862), Roy D. Arnold (1872-1873), Kitty H. Arnold (1874-1877), Archibald H. Arnold, Mollie Arnold French, Gerald D. Arnold, Alex W. Arnold, and Beulah Arnold Wiley.
Scope and Content Note
The Alexander Ahab Arnold Papers include the papers of Arnold; his second wife, Mary Douglas Arnold; their sons, Gerald D. and Archibald H. Arnold; and their daughter, Beulah Arnold Wiley. Also included is a document from Alexander's mother, Catherine M. E. (Schultz) Arnold. The collection exists in three segments according to the date of organization at the State Historical Society: the 1945 Accession (La Crosse Mss M), the 1973 Addition (La Crosse Mss AK), and the 1988 Addition (La Crosse Mss BM). Each accession is then arranged by name. Photographs in the Visual and Sound Archives relate to the Arnold family, their friends, and the career of son-in-law Guilford Wiley. Additional information about the family may be found in the separately-catalogued Guilford Wiley Papers.
La Crosse Mss M: 1945 Accession, 1856-1913. 2 archives boxes
The original 1945 accession consists of two archives boxes of Alexander Arnold's brief-entry diaries, dated 1856-1857, 1859-1895, 1902-1907, 1909-1913 and his financial records, 1863-1888.
La Crosse Mss AK; 1973 Addition, 1856-1939. 4 archives boxes
The 1973 Addition has been arranged in four small general series: the papers of Alexander Ahab Arnold, Mary Douglas Arnold, Gerald D. Arnold, and Archibald H. Arnold.
The ALEXANDER AHAB ARNOLD File includes ten diaries, 1858, 1896-1901, 1908, 1914-1915; one folder of correspondence concerned with both personal and business matters, 1880-1914; papers from Ohio legal cases in which Arnold acted as attorney, 1856-1858; informal notes from Arnold's surveying for the Town of Gale, n.d.; and about one archives box of the “complete and orderly” records kept by Arnold in his official capacity as a Captain in Company C, Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.
The MARY DOUGLAS File, 1876-1929, consists of the papers of Alexander Ahab Arnold's wife, who was, apparently, as interested in civic concerns as her husband. She was a charter member of the local WCTU and its president for six years after its founding in 1890, as well as a member of various other women's groups. Included in her papers are three diaries, 1877, 1920, 1929; correspondence concerning family and social matters, 1876-1917; pamphlets, reports, and newspaper clippings relating to her work with the WCTU and the women's suffrage movement; and reports and papers concerned with women's clubs and church activities. The reports to the WCTU are concerned with temperance, the accomplishments of the local chapter, petitions circulated by it, and suffrage. The papers read by Mary Arnold before various women's groups are handwritten and concern such subjects as: growing house plants, the place of women in the Grange, the hiring of help in the home, and an essay on girlhood.
The GERALD D. ARNOLD File, 1902-1939, consists of farm records of the son who took charge of the family farm upon his father's retirement. Gerald Arnold was quite successful as a livestock breeder; his Marinuke herd of shorthorn cattle was reportedly among the best in the nation. The file contains a private herd register (1917), to which are attached several newspaper clippings and copies of patents on farm machinery, particularly feeding mechanisms and dehydrators. One patent was registered in the name of William A. Arnold, the oldest son of Gerald Arnold.
The ARCHIBALD H. ARNOLD File, 1893-1895, contains a record of the sale of livestock, 1895(?), and two wedding invitations.
La Crosse Mss BM; 1988 Addition, 1854-1940. 2 archives boxes
The 1988 Addition continues the arrangement by family member. Five small general series consist of: Alexander Ahab Arnold, Mary Douglas Arnold, Gerald D. Arnold, Beulah Arnold (Wiley), and Catherine M. E. (Schultz) Arnold, the mother of Alexander Ahab Arnold.
The ALEXANDER AHAB ARNOLD File complements the existing collection with the addition of a diary, 1902; more general correspondence, 1893-1913; resolutions and estate papers relating to the death of Alexander (1915) in a new personal file; and bank books, 1883-1908, and extensive deeds and mortgages, 1854-1888 which round out the financial papers. Informal notes on the surveying of Trempealeau County, as well as personal slogans, are contained in fourteen notebooks kept in 1867 and between 1891 and 1907 and more accurately represent Alexander's surveying activities. The 1867 notebook is twofold in purpose, serving as a surveyor's notebook and a notebook for reimbursable expenses during the Civil War (1862-63). Papers relating to livestock breeding and other miscellany of Alexander Ahab's farm practice complete the series.
The MARY DOUGLAS ARNOLD File, also fills in the earlier holdings. Additional general correspondence, 1908-13; pamphlets from WCTU, 1915-1928; and handwritten notes on the events surrounding a meeting of the Woman's Relief Corps held in Madison, June 14, 1904, are included. Also added to Mary's file are quit claim deeds, a will, disposition of estate, a few tax receipts, 1914-1940, and other legal and financial documents.
The continued file of GERALD D. ARNOLD is confined to livestock circulars for the breeding service taken over from Alexander Ahab Arnold.
The BEULAH ARNOLD (WILEY) File consists of correspondence, 1907-1913 (mostly letters sent home while attending Rockford College); and material relating to her career as a grade school teacher, including notebooks and an examination.
The last file is that of CATHERINE M. E. (SCHULTZ) ARNOLD, mother of Alexander Ahab; it consists only of her last will and testament (1872).
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by the Arnold family, May 14, 1945; Mary Runnestrand, Ettrick, Wisconsin, 1973; and Helen Lee, Galesville, Wisconsin, August 11, 1977. Accession Number: M73-164, M73-201, M73-448, and M77-321
Processed by B. Perry (FGH intern) and Joanne Hohler, 1973; and Bill Beaudreau, 1988.
Contents List
|
La Crosse Mss M
|
Series: 1945 Accession
|
|
|
Box
2
Volume
1-41
|
Diaries of AAA, 1856-1857, 1859-1895, 1902-1907, 1909-1913
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1
|
Financial records of AAA, 1863-1888
|
|
|
La Crosse Mss AK
|
Series: 1973 Addition
|
|
|
Alexander Ahab Arnold
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1
|
Diaries, 1858, 1896-1901, 1908, 1914-1915
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
2
|
Correspondence, 1880-1914
|
|
|
Financial papers
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
3
|
Personal, 1862-1868, 1896-1902
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
3
|
Post-war including farm mortgage, 1866, and fire insurance on home
|
|
|
Law practice files
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
4
|
General papers, 1856-1858
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
4
|
Admission to Ohio bar, 1856
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
4
|
Cases in Ohio, 1856-1858
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
4
|
Certificate of admission to Wisconsin bar, 1858
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
4
|
Account book, 1858-1862
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
5
|
Account book for clients in Wisconsin (pre-Civil War)
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
6
|
Surveyor's notebook, Town of Gale(?), n.d.
|
|
|
Civil War records, Company C, Thirtieth Wisconsin
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
“Muster in rolls,” 1862-1864
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
“Volunteer enlistments,” 1862-1863
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
“Descriptive lists of men attached to Co. C,” 1864 (described as stragglers)
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
“Muster rolls and pay rolls,” 1863-1865
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
“Muster out rolls,” 1865, June-August
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
“Muster out roll,” September 20, 1865
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
2
|
“Monthly returns of personnel,” 1862-1865
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
3
|
Papers relating to personnel matters
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
4
|
“Quarterly returns of ordnance and ordnance stores and related papers, 1862-1865
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
5
|
Quarterly and monthly returns of clothing, camp and garrison equipage,” 1862-1865
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
5
|
Related inventory, inspection reports, invoices
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
5
|
Volunteer descriptive lists, accounts of pay
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
7
|
“Item Clothing Book,” 1862-1865
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
1
|
“Company Fund Book,” 1862-1865
|
|
|
Mary Douglas Arnold
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
2
|
Diaries, 1877, 1920, 1929
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
3
|
Correspondence, General, 1876-1917
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
4-6
|
Civic activities
|
|
|
Gerald D. Arnold
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
1
|
Private herd register, 1917 (?)
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
2
|
Patents on farm machinery, 1901-1939
|
|
|
Archibald H. Arnold
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
3
|
Record of sale of stock, 1895(?)
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
3
|
Wedding invitations, 1893
|
|
|
La Crosse Mss BM
|
Series: 1988 Addition
|
|
|
Alexander Ahab Arnold
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1
|
Diary, 1902
|
|
|
Correspondence
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
2
|
General, 1893-1913
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
3
|
Ministerial recommendations, 1896-1897
|
|
|
Personal papers
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
4
|
Resolutions and estate papers, 1915
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
5
|
Miscellany
|
|
|
Financial papers
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
6
|
Bank books, 1883-1903
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
7
|
Deeds and mortgages, 1854-1888
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
8
|
Law practice files, Admission to practice before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1858
|
|
|
Surveying
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
9
|
Plats of East Side Park and Thompson-Arnold-Walker Addition, ca. 1875
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
10-11
|
Notebooks, 1867, 1891-1899, 1900-1907
|
|
|
Farm files
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
Livestock correspondence, 1896
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
2
|
Livestock notebooks, 1894-95
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
3
|
Livestock miscellany, 1891, n.d.
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
4
|
Ledger, 1858-74
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
5
|
Miscellany, 1880, 1889
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
6
|
Civil War records (Personnel information, personal reimbursements, 1889-1903)
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
7
|
Miscellany (notebooks), 1888-1897, 1913-14
|
|
|
Mary Douglas Arnold
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
8
|
Correspondence, General, 1908-1913
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
9
|
Financial papers and tax receipts, 1916-1931
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
10
|
Civic activities, 1904-1928
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
11
|
Legal papers (quit claim deeds, will, and disposition of estate, 1914, 1934-1940
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
12
|
Miscellany, 1890, 1911
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
13
|
Gerald D. Arnold farm file, 1918, 1919
|
|
|
Beulah Arnold Wiley
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
14
|
Correspondence, General, 1907, 1908, 1913
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
15
|
Teaching and educational materials, ca. 1906
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
16
|
Other children of A.A. Arnold, Unidentified miscellany, 1876, 1899, 1904
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
17
|
Catherine M. E. Arnold, Legal materials and will, 1872
|
|
|
