Summary Information
Henry Root Colman Papers
1817-1901
- Colman, Henry Root, 1800-1895
Wis Mss IH
0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Correspondence of the Rev. Mr. Colman, who took charge of the Oneida Methodist mission near Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1840. The collection consists of letters received from members of the Colman and Spier families in western New York; from his daughter Julia, who was active in Woman's Christian Temperance Union work in New York City; his son Henry, while attending Lawrence University, teaching at Evansville Seminary, 1863-1867, and serving as pastor in various Methodist churches in the state; his son Elihu, while attending Lawrence University, 1858-1864, and practicing law in Fond du Lac; his son Charles L. of La Crosse, Wisconsin; and his son J. Spier Colman. There are also some small memorandum books kept by Colman during his first years in Wisconsin; copies of diaries kept by Charles L. Colman, 1854-1857, describing operation of a shingle machine and the beginnings of the Colman Lumber Company of La Crosse; and genealogical material.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000ih ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Henry Root Colman entered the Methodist ministry in 1837 and in 1840 brought his family to the Oneida mission, near Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Daughter Julia Colman's early literary efforts show an early facility with her pen. She spent the greater part of her life in New York City where she became a noted lecturer and writer for the W.C.T.U.
Sons Henry and Elihu both attended Lawrence University. Henry followed his father into the ministry and Elihu became a lawyer.
Son Charles L. Colman was born in New York State in 1826. Charles taught school in Stockbridge and in 1850 he married Laura A. Place. In 1854 he started from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin for La Crosse with a horse power shingle mill which he operated through the summer, returning home in November. The following February he again journeyed to La Crosse, this time taking his wife and children, and making La Crosse his permanent home. He died in La Crosse in 1901.
Little is known of son J. Spier Colman.
Scope and Content Note
The papers consist primarily of family correspondence. The letters from the Colman and Spier families in New York deal principally with family and local church affairs in Northampton, Osburn Bridge, and Northville.
Son Henry Colman's letters are a valuable source of information on early Methodism in Wisconsin. There are letters from Lawrence University in 1854-1855 where he was a student and from Evansville Academy in 1863-1867 where he and his wife were principal and preceptress, and later letters from a number of Wisconsin towns where he served as pastor.
Elihu, too, wrote a great many letters from Lawrence in the years 1858-1864. His later letters are from Fond du Lac where he became established as a lawyer and U.S. District Attorney.
A typed transcription of Charles L. Colman's diaries, 1854-1857, describe his journey from Fond du Lac to La Crosse in 1854 with a shingle machine. These diaries trace the beginning of the extensive Colman Lumber Company of La Crosse. The entries in the diaries are brief and deal principally with affairs concerning the operation of his machine -- prices of equipment, labor, provisions, amounts cut, names of employees, etc. He names the people at whose places he stopped en route to La Crosse and on a trip to St. Louis in the spring of 1857. He also makes occasional mention of trips to nearby towns, of the arrival of boats, and of political gatherings. Also present is a biographical sketch of Charles L. Colman.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Charles E. Colman of La Crosse, a son of Charles L. Colman, through Albert H. Sanford, February, 1934.
The Colman Papers were examined in the Manuscript Division in April, 1934 and a considerable number of letters, considered to be of purely personal nature and of little or no historical value, were returned to Mr. Sanford. The material that was returned consisted of a number of Julia Colman's early essays, a quantity of advertising matter received by Henry R. Colman, and a great number of letters from his children and grandchildren, dated 1870-1893.
Contents List
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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1817, April 28-1849
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Box
1
Folder
2
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1850-1859
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Box
1
Folder
3
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1860-1869
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Box
1
Folder
4
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1870-1879
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Box
2
Folder
1
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1880-1889
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Box
2
Folder
2
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1890-1894
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Tax receipts and certificates, 1840-1879
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Memorandum books, 1832-1850
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Typed Transcription of Diaries of Charles L. Colman, 1854-1857, and Biographical Sketch
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Additional Correspondence from Charles L., Julia, and Henry Colman, 1854-1901
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