Introduction | Biographical Sketch | Scope and Content | Series Description | Inventory

Introduction

The documents from Lucile Toan Waugh Toan reflect some of the work, social, and religious activities of the Thomas F. Waugh family, various relatives and friends, during the period from 1879 to 1923. The collection consists of 1/2 linear foot of correspondence, a family ledger/journal, family genealogy, and a church history written by Helen Waugh.

The family records were donated to the Center for Archival Collections' Women's Studies Archives in August 1981, with the cooperation of Lucile Toan and Jill Gates Smith, Field Specialist for the WSAP.

Literary and property rights have been dedicated to the public and duplication is permitted for the purposes of preservation and scholarly research. No restrictions have been placed on the collection. The register was prepared by Paulette Weiser, Graduate Assistant for the Women's Studies Archives Project in September 1981.

Biographical Sketch

Martha Rogers Waugh (Marach 8, 1858-December 22, 1927) and Thomas Forrester Waugh (April 3, 1856-June 13, 1929) lived and farmed seven miles east of Bowling Green. They had six children: Helen Grace (Nell, Nellie, Bridget), Frank Thomas, Lewis Ames, Clyde Ashley (Clide), Ronald Burr (Ron, Ronnie, R.B.), and Howard Rogers (Babe). Frank and Lewis both died of typhoid in their teens.

Helen (1878-1975) taught English in Bowling Green (1897-1898), went to school and worked in Columbus, Ohio (1899-1908?), and traveled and sold books in Georgia in the 1910's and taught at Wayne in 1916. She also traveled with friends in northern Europe in 1923. Frank attended Tri-State Normal School in Angola, Indiana, just prior to his death. Martha, Thomas, and sons Clyde, Ronald, and Howard remained in the Bowling Green area for the duration of this correspondence, although Howard's letter in 1923 noted that he was traveling frequently in northwest Ohio as part of his work.

The donor, Lucile Toan Waugh Toan was married to Howard Waugh in 1919. After his death in 1946, she remarried a Mr. Toan, a distant cousin, in 1953 in Albany, New York.

Scope and Content

The records of the Thomas F. And Martha R. Waugh family document a portion of that family's history from 1876 to 1923. The collection consists primarily of correspondence between family members, with an emphasis on a rural family's life, although it also contains information about the life of a young working woman. All but three of the letters, which were written by Helen, were written to Helen or her mother, Martha, by other family members and friends. Also included in the documents are a ledger/journal containing both farm business and personal records, a family genealogy, and a history of the First Presbyterian Church, Bowling Green, written by Helen Waugh.

The documents are useful from a sociological perspective for their coverage of daily farm, household, school, social, religious, political, cultural, and recreational activities of a rural northwestern Ohio family in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are also many references to the activities of other relatives and friends in the area. Illnesses and deaths frequently are noted, as are doctors' visits and treatments. Notations often are made of weather and crop conditions, with daily weather entries in the journal. Clothing descriptions and fashion notes, along with specific references to patterns and fabric, also can be found in the collection. References are also made to President Harding's death and burial in Marion in 1923, and to a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan in the same year.

Daily entries of income from farm produce and expenses for goods and equipment were made in the ledger/journal in September 1876, 1879, 1884, 1894, 1904, and 1910-1914.

Frank's letters from Tri-State Normal School document the life of a young man in college at the turn of the century and include accounts of classes and professors, classmates, romances, church, clothes, local crops and weather, recreation, his boarding arrangements and costs, homesickness, and illness, which resulted in his death.

For students of women's history, the letters from Martha Waugh convey a fairly good picture of the daily life of a family woman in a rural environment in the 1880s, 1890s, and early 1900s. Unfortunately, the life of a young single working woman is not so well documented. Only three letters are from Helen to her family while she was selling books in Georgia. They do give some indication of her life-style, working and traveling in 1912, with references to the ocean, the countryside, work, friends, illness, recreation, and a complete program of reading of the classics for Howard.

The genealogy gives birth, marriage, and death information plus anecdotes of ancestors of Thomas Waugh.

The history of the First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green was written in 1955 by Helen Waugh on the occasion of the church's 100th Anniversary.

Series Description

CORRESPONDENCE

FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE
1897-1923
Arranged by correspondent's name and chronologically.
Includes information on work, school, social, religious, political, cultural, and recreational aspects of the life of a rural family and a young working woman.

LITERARY PRODUCTIONS

GENEALOGY
1785-1948
Contains birth, death, and marriage dates and anecdotes about the Waugh family written by Helen Waugh.

"ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY, FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BOWLING GREEN, OHIO, 1855-1955"
Contains the anniversary program and a history of the church written by Helen Waugh.

FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS

LEDGER/JOURNAL
1876-1914
Arranged chronologically
Primarily includes information on farm activities, income and expenses, and contracts, but also includes weather notations and notes on deaths, burials, and weddings.

Inventory

Box 1

1. Correspondence from Frank T. Waugh to Helen G. Waugh, October 1897-April 1898, n.d.
2. Correspondence from Frank T. Waugh to Martha R. Waugh, November 1897-April 1898
3. Correspondence from Martha R. And Clyde Waugh to Helen G. Waugh, November 1899- April 1900
4. Correspondence from Martha, Ronald, and Howard Waugh to Helen Waugh, October 1907- December 1908
5. Correspondence from Erna, Florence, and Leah to Helen Waugh, n.d.
6. Correspondence from Helen Waugh to Martha and Howard Waugh, January-February 1912
7. Correspondence and newspaper clippings from Martha, Ronald, and Howard Waugh to Helen Waugh, August 1923
8. Genealogy of Waugh Family (one handwritten, two typed copies), 1785-1948
9. Booklet, "One Hundredth Anniversary, First Presbyterian Church, Bowling Green, Ohio", 1855-1955
10. Ledger/Journal, September 1876, 1879, 1884, 1894, 1904, 1910-1914

Manuscripts by Subject | Family Collections