The William Wolf Papers are a small collection donated to the Historical Society by his daughter Annabelle Wolf during Wolf's final illness in 1967. As originally received, the collection consisted of manuscripts, books, artifacts (now in the Historical Society Museum), many partial versions of his unpublished book “Dawn of a New Day,” correspondence pertaining to management of the Grignon House, photographs, and some original papers of the Grignon Family. The collection is arranged in three series: WILLIAM F. WOLF PAPERS, GRIGNON FAMILY SUBJECT FILES, and VISUAL MATERIALS.
The WILLIAM F. WOLF PAPERS series include correspondence concerning the operations of the museum. Although little of the correspondence is about the restoration of the museum, there is the application submitted by the county to the WPA for restoration funding in 1940 and the blueprints and drawings of the house prepared by the Historic American Building Survey in 1934. The application includes several photographs of architectural details prior to restoration. Also included is Wolf's unpublished historical manuscript, “Dawn of a New Day,” about early Wisconsin, which comprises the largest part of the series. Wolf prepared many carbon copies of the manuscript that were probably sold or given away at the museum. Despite the number of copies received, it is possible that a complete manuscript was not received. It is also possible that the manuscript represents two works. In addition to Wolf’s narrative, “Dawn” includes transcriptions of land patents, Native American treaties, and additional correspondence. One chapter of special interest which may have been intended as a separate manuscript describes Wolf’s amateur excavations on the property and lists the artifacts uncovered. The transcriptions of newspaper articles and obituaries that are included served Wolf as background for his research and curatorial responsibilities. Unlike the majority of other correspondence is a letter to Wolf from Constance Deer which in turn conveyed several long letters about J.G. Frechette of the Menominee Indian Advisory Council.
The GRIGNON FAMILY SUBJECT FILES series consists of original and transcribed documents. The original documents include tax receipts, deeds, and fragmentary family correspondence. Notable among the latter are letters from Cutting Marsh (in the Deuel Family folder) and Josiah A. Noonan (in the Charles A. Grignon folder). There are also several letters written at Kaukauna by Frances Grignon (a daughter of Charles) and reports made by David Meade about the Kaukauna town school during the 1850s. Although less important, most of the original material concerns Rossiter Grignon and his wife Edith Acker Grignon, the last members of the family to reside at the house.
The chronologically-arranged transcriptions made by Wolf probably represent a portion of the letters once at the Grignon House, and they include correspondence of Charles A. Grignon and his father-in-law, John F. Meade.
The majority of the original Grignon papers are of a miscellaneous nature, and it is thought that they represent odds and ends that Wolf may have stored at his Appleton home. The precise nature of the Grignon Papers owned by the county historical society is not made clear, although a Wolf letter mentions a Charles A. Grignon letterbook and elsewhere he refers to “approximately 500 letters.” It is thought these references may be to the Wisconsin Historical Society's Charles A. Grignon collection that was donated by Outagamie County in 1958 (see Green Bay Mss 138).
The VISUAL MATERIALS consist of photographs, negatives, and a drawing documenting the Grignon House interior, exterior, its surroundings and numerous excavations that took place on the site. There are also a few images of work done by the National Youth Alliance during the late 1930s on the park areas around the house. Most of Wolf's archaeological work was unscientific, with no evidence of measurement or little in situ photography. A number of the images show Richard Boyd, the boy who assisted Wolf. Additional images document other houses, sites, and memorials in and around the Green Bay area. There are also photographs of activities of the Outagamie Pioneer and Historical Society. Some of the exterior photographs of the Grignon House include members of the Grignon family. Portraits of the family donated by Wolf were added to the Grignon, Lawe, and Porlier collection (see PH 3236).
