Title: Gertrude M. Cairns Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1845-1958

Creator:

• Cairns, Gertrude M., 1872-1959

Call Number: River Falls Mss I

Quantity: 6.6 c.f. (17 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives and Area Research Center, Chalmer Davee Library, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, ; 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.

UW-River Falls, Chalmer Davee Library / River Falls Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Family papers of Cairns, a resident of Ellsworth, Wisconsin. The bulk of the collection comprises Miss Cairns' diaries, complete from 1903 through 1936; her precise records of weather conditions and her observations of birds, wild flowers, and garden plants; and the records, 1915-1956, of the Ellsworth Pioneer School Girls' Club. Also present are notes taken by Cairns while a University of Wisconsin student enrolled in Frederick Jackson Turner's courses. Papers of other members of the family are also in the collection. The correspondence includes exchanges of her father George W. Cairns, mother Abbie S. Leavitt Cairns, and her uncle A. W. Cairns with their friends, relatives, business and political associates, and the general public. Also included are local archival records from the offices of town clerk (Middleton, Dane County), and register of deeds, justice of the peace, deputy clerk of the district court, and deputy treasurer (Pierce County), offices held by George W.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-rf000i

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George Washington Cairns (February 12, 1826 - February 22, 1900) was a native of New York state. In 1849 he migrated to Middleton, near Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. While at Middleton he was active in the local lyceum, served as town clerk, and combined his professions of carpentry and teacher by building a school and being the school's first instructor. In addition, he erected other buildings in the Middleton area. In 1853 he moved to Pierce County and the next year settled at River Falls, Wisconsin. Along with other building enterprises he built River Falls' first hotel, the Greenwood House. At River Falls he served as a justice of the peace, helped found a local lyceum, and was the clerk of the River Falls Academy. Elected as county register of deeds Cairns moved to the center of Pierce County government at Prescott. After the county seat was relocated at Ellsworth, Cairns settled in that community. He served as justice of the peace at Ellsworth and also was a deputy clerk of the district court. He also was a deputy treasurer for the county. In addition, he served on the local school board, was an organizer of the Bank of Ellsworth, acted as private agent for lands in both Pierce and St. Croix counties, and for many years served as superintendent of the fruit department at the Pierce County Fair.

On March 26, 1866 he married Miss Abbie S. Leavitt. A native of Maine, Mrs. Cairns had come to Pierce County in 1857 and taught school at Prescott, Clifton, and Ellsworth. One son, William, was a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin. Another son, Rolla U., established his first medical practice at River Falls after graduation from the University of Wisconsin and the Northwestern Medical College at Chicago. Their daughter, Gertrude M., graduated from the University of Wisconsin and taught school at Durand and Superior before returning to Ellsworth. A fourth child, George Wilfred, died at the age of five.

A short biographical sketch of George W. Cairns and his family is found on pages 524 and 525 of Augustus B. Easton, editor, History of the Saint Croix Valley (Chicago, 1909), Vol. I. In addition, several newspaper clippings within the collection relate to family members.

Correspondence

The correspondence primarily concerns family matters and George W. Cairns' governmental positions. From 1845 to 1852 there are letters and papers to and from Cairns from his brothers, relatives, and friends at Howells and Wallkill, New York. Since George W. Cairns moved frequently during this period, in many cases the envelopes giving his present address are attached to the letters. The letters relate to business exchanges of lands and property, local news, and rural amusements. In 1850, a brother of Cairns, A. W. Cairns, journeyed from New York, via Panama, to California. Letters from him dated July 25 and September 1 [copy], 1850; January 3 and May 20, 1851; and March 21, 1852 relate his experiences in Panama and the California gold mining fields. Several of these letters are examples of pictorial stationery and pictorial letterheads.

After 1852 much of the correspondence is concerned with George W. Cairns' activities as an elected official. Many of the letters are addressed to the Register of Deeds, Pierce County, and are from absentee owners, land speculators, and prospective homesteaders from the eastern United States, Canada, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas. Cairns generally annotated his reply on the letters and on occasion wrote out a rough draft copy of his answer.

For the period from 1870 to the 1880s there is scattered correspondence to George W. Cairns and a few copies of letters from him relating to his business as a private land and tax paying agent. From the mid-1880s through 1891 there are numerous letters to and from Cairns' children, William, Gertrude M., and Rolla U. The young people corresponded with many friends and relatives while they attended high school at River Falls and also as students at the University of Wisconsin. The letters are personal and filled with opinions and impressions of social activities and student life. For 1891 there are many letters to Gertrude M. Cairns from Belle [?], a friend living in River Falls. Belle's frequent letters give a day-by-day account of activities in River Falls.

There is only scattered correspondence for the period 1892-1958 and most of this is addressed to Gertrude M. Cairns. Miss Cairns frequently used the blank pages and obverse sides of correspondence addressed to her for rough draft copies of letters which she mailed to others. The contents and date of the incoming correspondence coincides rarely with the topic of Miss Cairns' rough drafts. In most cases these letters were organized by the date of the rough draft. The researcher is advised to check both sides of all correspondence addressed to Gertrude M. Cairns.

Diaries

Gertrude M. Cairns kept lengthy diaries for most of her life. Except for scattered fragments of early diaries ([1885], December-1886, January; [1888 or 1889], January-October; 1896, May 3-1897, December; 1898, June 21), the record of what Miss Cairns called her “Life's Book” is incomplete until 1903. From July 7, 1903, when Miss Cairns attended a national convention of the Christian Endeavor movement at Denver, Colorado, until December 31, 1936, the complete records remain however. An acute observer of her environment and life around her, Miss Cairns chronicled the minutiae of life in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. Aware of her natural surroundings, Miss Cairns noted the arrival and departure of birds, the bloom and fade of flowers, the productivity records of her hens, and the ages and illnesses of her neighbors' dogs and farm animals. Active in all the cultural and social activities in Ellsworth and surrounding Pierce County communities, Miss Cairns commented in the diaries on the caliber of local high school plays, Chautauqua and traveling art group entertainments, political speeches, sermons, and club debates. In many cases she annotated the program, playbills, and bulletins of events she attended. These records have been placed in a separate folder at the end of each annual diary. For example, all Chautauqua programs attended in a particular year are in the folder marked “Materials from Diary” at the end of that year.

In addition, in the same folder at the end of each annual diary are Miss Cairns' complete financial records as well as such miscellany as Sunday School attendance records, sales' bills from flowers, “egg records,” and the like, as such records are referred to frequently in her writings.

There is a series of additional diaries from September 23, 1855 to December 31, 1861, which may have been written by Abbie S. Leavitt, later the wife of George W. Cairns. After several years of teaching [in Maine and/or Massachusetts], she left New England and came to Wisconsin. Her trip to Cherry Valley, Illinois, and then along the Mississippi River route up to Pierce County is chronicled in the diary for May, 1857. From 1857 on, the diarist wrote about her life and experiences in Prescott, Wisconsin. Included are comments on her teaching career, social activities, and early town life. There are several acrostics in the first booklet which may assist the researcher in identifying positively the diarist and her friends.

Weather and Bird Records

Miss Cairns also kept complete records of the weather and birds as she observed them in her community. The first record is a fragment for [1889], January-October, and the bulk of the records begin in 1905. For each year and day she noted the date, the weather conditions, the temperature (both the day's high and low), the wind, the place of the observation, and any additional remarks. She also listed carefully her observations of some fifty different species of bird life. The folder of miscellaneous records (inventoried in the contents list below) gives a record of Miss Cairns' planting of sixty garden varieties of vegetables, fruits, and flowers.

Family School Notes and Papers

The notes and papers contain a record of grade school, high school, and college work for William, Rolla, and Gertrude Cairns. Gertrude--and perhaps her brothers--attended the River Falls High School at River Falls, Wisconsin. The records are organized by name of student only and include English essays, math problems and test papers, as well as papers in sociology, geology, history courses, and other subjects. Also included are notebooks from Gertrude M. Cairns' courses as a student at the University of Wisconsin for classes in Latin, literature, education, and several notebooks which were later used at various teachers' institutes held at Ellsworth. In addition are several papers read by Miss Cairns before “The Saturday Club” at Ellsworth. The topics include “The Birth of the Novel,” “John Wyclif,” “Development of Pierce County Orchards,” and others. A penciled draft of a proposed constitution for “The Saturday Club” is found in Box 16.

Ellsworth Pioneer School Girls' Club

Organized in 1915, the Ellsworth Pioneer School Girls' Club met annually at least until 1956. Membership was open to those who had graduated from or taught at the “old red brick school” at Ellsworth. For many years Miss Cairns was the club's secretary and treasurer and she retained many of the older records. The correspondence, [circa 1920's] to 1956, consists mostly of letters from members who lived too far from Ellsworth to attend the annual reunions. These letters give glimpses into the members' lives and their present homes, and comment on national events as well as include many reminiscences of childhood school days. The secretary's minutes and the treasurer's reports include commentary on the members and their activities. Three volumes are scrapbooks kept by Miss Cairns for the annual meetings. The books are filled with additional correspondence, pictures of absent members, and numerous tintypes and photographs taken in the latter nineteenth century showing the early Ellsworth homes, the students, and their friends. Also included in the scrapbooks are examples of the toys and playthings which the Ellsworth girls had made as children. For example, there are doll quilts, paper cut-out dolls, wreaths and garlands made from wild flowers, picture frames made from sea shells, examples of embroidery work, and paper May baskets. Also included are examples of the formal invitations which the Club secretary sent out prior to each annual reunion.

Other Records

Additional records pertaining to George Washington Cairns' career in local government are found in Box 15 of the collection. A complete inventory is given in the contents list below. These records include a tract book, deeds, mortgages, contracts, teaching certificates, court records, and similar matters. Included in Box 15 are numerous bills relating to Cairns' expenses in building a school at Middleton, Wisconsin.

Cairns' interest in debate and the local lyceum movements is indicated in the minutes of the lyceums at both Middleton and River Falls, Wisconsin. The minute books for both lyceums are found in Box 16. Cairns was also active in the community-sponsored River Falls Academy, and a single copy of the clerk's minutes is in Box 16. (The researcher is referred to the complete set of minutes of the meetings of the Academy, July 1, 1856-March 12, 1866, bound with other records in the collection catalogued as River Falls Mss B.)

Two folders of unmounted photographs, stereoscopic prints, and tintypes showing views of early Ellsworth, and unidentified and undated pictures of the members of the Ellsworth Pioneer School Girls' Club are included in Box 16.

Additional ephemera, such as playbills, throwaways, novelty booklets, advertisements, political handbills and the like from Ellsworth, Pierce County, surrounding communities, and national organizations were transferred to the Visual Materials Archive.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Walker Wyman, River Falls, Wisconsin, April 17, 1962 and March 11, 1976. Portions also presented by Flora Dickie, Ellsworth, Wisconsin, July 1985. Accession Number: M80-471, M86-132

Box   1-4	Correspondence, 1845-1958 Note: All correspondence is arranged chronologically by month.
Box   5-10	Gertrude M. Cairns' Diaries, 1885-1936
Box   16	Diary, 1891 Note: Added to collection in 1985.
Box   10	[Abbie S. Leavitt?] Diaries, 1855, September 23 - 1861, December 31
Box   11	Weather and Bird Records, 1889-1933, and Miscellaneous Records, , 1901-1930 Note: Re: Arrival of Birds; Planting; Sprouting; Leaves; Bloom of Wild Flowers and Garden Flowers; Vegetables and Fruits; Flower Census, and the like.
Box   12	Family School Notes and Papers--William, Rolla U., and Gertrude M. Cairns
Box   17	Class notes, 1893-94, 1896-97 Note: Taken by Cairns in U.S. history courses. Cairns was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied history under Frederick Jackson Turner. Added to collection in 1980.
Box   12	School Note Books of Gertrude N. Cairns
Box   12	Essays and Papers Read Before “The Saturday Club”
	Ellsworth Pioneer School Girls' Club
Box   13	Correspondence, circa 1920's-1956
	Scrapbooks
Box   13 Volume   2	1915, June 25-1924, June 26
Box   14 Volume   3	1925, June 25-1938, June 13
Box   14 Volume   4	1939, June 29-1953, June 25
	Minutes
Box   13 Volume   5	1915, June 15-1922, June 29
Box   13 Volume   6	1923, June 28-1954, June 24
Box   13 Volume   7	Treasurer's Account Book, 1932-1954
	Membership Lists
Box   13 Volume   8	First List, 1915
Box   13 Volume   9	Revised Lists (1st & 2nd), 1925-1943
Box   13 Volume   10	Revised Lists (3rd & 4th), 1944, 1954
Box   13 Volume   11	Roll of Members, 13th through 19th Meetings, 1923-1934
Box   13 Volume   12	Roll of Members, 30th through 40th Meetings, 1945-1955
	George W. Cairns' Legal and Governmental Records, 1852-undated
Box   15	Bills, Accounts, Receipts, Contracts, from the Office of Town Clerk, Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin, 1852-undated
Box   15	Papers from the Office of Town Clerk, Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin
Box   15	[Justice of the Peace?], Fragments of Marriage Records, [1855]
Box   15	Criminal Actions in Justice Court, 1855-1858
Box   15	Copy of Petition to Supervisors of Town of River Falls , [1855?]
Box   15	Treasurer's Papers, [Pierce County], 1855, 1857
Box   15	[County Treasurer?]or Register of Deeds, Notes and Work Papers, 1857
Box   15	State of Wisconsin vs. George Braley, Pierce County, 1857, July
Box   15	Records as Supervisor of Greenwood, 1855, October 19-undated
Box   15	Indentures, re Greenwood House, 1858, 1863
Box   15	[Copies?] of Circuit Court Papers, Pierce County, 1864
Box   15	School Wood Contract and School District Papers, 1866, 1867
Box   15	Notary Public Certificate, 1866, February 2
Box   15	Circuit Court Case, Mat. L. Dill vs. William H. Levitt, 1872
Box   15	[Circuit?] Court Records, 1873, May 29-30
Box   15	[Circuit?] Court Records (?), Jurors' Lists, undated
Box   15	Register of Deeds' Plat Maps, Pierce County, undated
Box   15	Miscellaneous Papers, Register of Deeds, Pierce County
Box   15	Copy of the constitution of [?] Cemetery Association, undated
Box   15 Volume   1	Tract Book, [Office of Register of Deeds, Pierce County?], [circa 1850's?]
Box   16	Miscellaneous, 1855-undated
Box   16	[Debate Speech?] by [?], undated, “Is Party Spirit an Evil?”
Box   16	Minutes of Annual Meeting, River Falls Academy, 1858, August 23
Box   16	Middleton, Dane County, Lyceum Records, 1847, January 3-February 14
Box   16	Secretary's Minutes, Constitution, and Records of the River Falls Lyceum, 1855, September 29-1856, December 4
Box   16	Rolla U. Cairns' Certificate of Life Membership in the State Medical Society, 1948, December 19
Box   16	Constitution of “The Saturday Club” [by Gertrude M. Cairns?], undated
Box   16	Pencil Sketch of George Washington Cairns, by [?] Callahan, cartoonist for a Saint Paul paper, undated
Box   16	Miscellaneous Photographs, Ellsworth Community and Ellsworth Pioneer School Girls' Club, undated Physical Description: 2 folders
Box   16	Miscellaneous, Fragments