Although most of the Lawrence Clarke Whittet Papers came to the Society through his son, J. Lowell Whittet, in 1958 and 1959, Lawrence Whittet had previously given a small but important group of papers pertaining to a Dane County community. The papers have been arranged into three series: CLARKE FAMILY PAPERS; LAWRENCE CLARKE WHITTET PAPERS, and PHOTOGRAPHS.
The CLARKE FAMILY PAPERS series includes family correspondence, diaries, reminiscences, and an account book. The Clarke family papers are not extensive, but they do contain references to people and early life in this particular part of Dane County.
In 1842, Samuel Clarke, maternal grandfather of Lawrence C. Whittet, immigrated as a young bachelor from England and settled on the Albion Prairie, north of the present city of Edgerton. Samuel Clarke's father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. James Clarke, immigrated to Wisconsin around 1849.
In a letter of November 12, 1844, Samuel describes the purchase of a wagon and the cost of building his new log cabin. His diary and reminiscences refer to early settlers such as Jonathan Haigh (Haight?), William Dickinson, William Chambers, John Bolton, Thomas Bussey, Samuel Marsden, John Slater, and "Mr. Mayhew" who owned "a tavern five miles north." (William A. Mayhew was the first postmaster in Christiana, now Rockdale, Dane County, 1846.) The Clarkes were Universalists when they came to Dane County from England, and there is a strong religious flavor to the correspondence of James Clarke. Also includes an account book kept by Samuel between 1850 and 1855.
The LAWRENCE CLARKE WHITTET PAPERS series includes correspondence, essays and speeches, diaries, biographical information, scrapbook about Whittet, and clippings.
The correspondence of Lawrence C. Whittet covers the years 1908 to 1954, and is arranged chronologically except in cases where Whittet fastened together correspondence dealing with a specific subject or with one correspondent. In these latter cases the letters were left together as they were found. The correspondence is of a personal and business nature, with occasional letters relating to state politics. Although there is no correspondence with his close friend and mentor, Governor Philipp, he did receive one letter from Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. (April 23, 1917); Whittet also corresponded with Senator Irwin S. Lenroot regarding appointments and congressional bills; he had official correspondence with Governor Philip La Follette in the 1930s; and also corresponded with Marshall Cousins, a prominent local historian in Eau Claire Wisconsin.
Includes a few of Whittet's essays and speeches spanning a long period in his life, 1889, 1909-1943, and undated. Biographical information includes a biography written in the 1930s by Harold Keller, in the preparation of which Keller interviewed Whittet as well as many who knew him. Clippings concerning Whittet are loose and in the scrapbook. While he was state supervisor of the Wisconsin Oil Inspection Division, Lawrence C. Whittet kept a diary concerning office and personnel matters covering the years 1940 through 1948.
The PHOTOGRAH series illustrate events surrounding the inauguration of Wisconsin Governor Emanuel L. Philipp (1915), a duck hunting trip (circa 1920), and images of the Whittet family, including portraits of Whittet (circa 1870-1950).
The inaugural photographs includes: a crowd waiting for a train at the Madison station; dignitaries arriving in Madison; a procession to the State Capitol; the inaugural ceremony at the Capitol; and Philipp's walking out of the 18th ward polling place.
The duck hunting trip made by Lawrence Whittet, Governor Philipp, Frank Fuller, Henry Johnson, and Warren Schwartz, at Camp Lookout near Hoven, South Dakota, includes: images of men shooting; decoys; a display of ducks shot; cars; duck boats; and camp buildings.
Photographs of the Whittet family, primarily studio portraits, depict Lawrence C. Whittet from childhood to adulthood, his son Lowell Whittet and several images of other family members, including Dorothy and Sonny Whittet, Mary Jane Whittet, and Lawrence P. Whittet Jr.
