Helen Marie Nance Anderson, 1877-1966 [RG2967.AM]

HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG2967.AM: Helen Marie Nance Anderson, 1877-1966

Papers: 1871-1966
Lincoln, Lancaster County, Neb.:
Size: 11.5 cu.ft.; 31 boxes

BACKGROUND NOTE

Helen M. Nance was born May 23, 1877, at Osceola, Nebraska. She was the daughter of Albinus Nance (later governor of the state) and Sarah (White) Nance. She was educated in the common schools and at St. Mary’s School at Knoxville, Illinois. In October of 1902, she was married to Walter Lincoln Anderson, an attorney who had come to Lincoln in 1900 to join a law partnership. Anderson was born at Sidney, Iowa, in February of 1868, and received his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1891. From 1891-1898 he practiced law with his father, Albert R. Anderson, at Sidney and at Hot Springs, South Dakota, and was South Dakota State Attorney and U.S. Circuit Court Commissioner from 1892-1899. During the Spanish-American War he served with a group of Iowa volunteers in the Third Regiment (“Rough Riders”) which spent the duration of the war at Camp Thomas, Georgia. Anderson held a commission as Captain when he was mustered out in 1919. He was a member of several separate law partnerships in Lincoln and handled legal affairs for people throughout the United States. In addition to his law practice, Anderson spent much of his time buying, inspecting and selling property in Nebraska as well as in California. He was an active member of the Republican Party, and ran for various offices on the G.O.P. ticket. He served in the Nebraska Legislature in 1921-1922, and was a member of the 1919 Constitutional Convention. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1922. Mr. Anderson died in Lincoln in December of 1959. Mrs. Anderson continued to live at their home in Lincoln and maintained their financial interests until her death in October of 1966.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of manuscript materials arranged in seven subgroups: 1) Correspondence, 1871-1966; 2) Financial and legal affairs, approx. 1890-1966; 3) Journals, 1889-1935; 4) Scrapbooks, 1881-1902; 5) Political activities, 1892-1922; 6) Printed matter, 1897-1939; and 7) Miscellaneous materials. The bulk of this collection relates to the law practice of Walter L. Anderson in Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska, and to the investments in property by him and his wife, Helen Nance Anderson.

During the early 1900s the Andersons were in frequent correspondence with each other, as they were often separated: she was in Lincoln, Chicago, Lake Okoboji, Iowa, or abroad; while he was traveling across the country inspecting property they were considering buying or already owned. Interspersed throughout the collection are letters dealing with various aspects of farm property, including expenses incurred, farm income reports during the period 1953 to 1961, and selected tax records of the Andersons’ and the estate records of the two families.

Some highlights of the collection include: a scrapbook maintained by Governor Nance during the labor violence that occurred in Omaha in 1882 and 1883; journals kept by Helen Anderson during her trips in Europe (one account reveals her observations at the outbreak of World War I); broadsides, sample ballots and other items dating from 1900 to 1922 and pertaining to the Republican Party; Agricultural Experiment Station bulletins; social and fraternal programs; the Nance family Bible; and genealogy sheets outlining the history of the Nance, White and Halstead families.

The correspondence group, Subgroup 1, is divided into two series.

Series 1 consists of the correspondence of the law firm of Anderson and Anderson, dating between 1871-1899. In addition to the legal matters of the firm, this section includes a great deal of personal correspondence of W.L. Anderson’s father, Albert A. Anderson. The “Major”, as he was called, appears to have been a Democrat in Iowa, switched to the Populist Party when he relocated in South Dakota, and in 1896 became a Republican in response to the currency question. The correspondence clearly reveals the progression of the father’s political views.

Series 2 of the correspondence group consists of general correspondence that, although including a broad variety of subject matter, was not further separated. These letters date from 1872 to 1966, and cover personal correspondence of Albinus Nance, Sarah White Nance, Walter Anderson, and Helen Nance Anderson. The early letters from Nance to his future wife describe life on the frontier settlement around Columbus, and indicate some of his political views. The letters between 1891-1899 were written to Helen Nance by a number of different young men who attended the University of Nebraska and later continued the correspondence from military camps, ranches, and places of business. From 1900 to 1902, and after their marriage, Walter and Helen usually wrote daily letters to each other describing their activities. They spent a great deal of time apart, she either in Lincoln, Chicago, Lake Okoboji, Iowa, or abroad, and he traveling about inspecting property they owned or were considering buying.

Correspondents include: Albert R. Anderson, 1891-1898; Bess Streeter Aldrich, 1933; William B. Allison, 1891, 1892, 1895, 1897; the National Citizen’s Industrial Alliance, 1891; G.W. Ambrose, 1894; Thomas Bowman, 1892; William Jennings Bryan, 1893, 1895; Carl T. Curtis, 1964-1965; Ralph W. Haggard, 1898-1899; Charles Hendy, Jr., 1898-1900; James McDill, 1892; Charles Henry Morrill, 1898, 1902, 1910-1913, 1915, 1917, 1920-1922; William Morrison, 1895-1896; Albinus Nance, 1872-1875, 1891, 1895-1900, 1902-1903, 1906, 1908, 1911; Sarah White Nance, 1872-1875, 1891, 1895-1900, 1906-1913, 1916-1918, 1920, 1922-1924, 1926, 1928; Willis O. Nance, 1902, 1909, 1911-1917, 1919-1922, 1928, 1941, 1961; Henry Nuckolls, 1892; the People’s Party, 1891-1896; John J. Pershing, 1929; R.F. Pettigrew, 1892-1894; John A. Pickler, 1892, 1896; Eli Seavey Ricker, 1893; Edward Rosewater, 1893; Karl Stefan, 1935; Carl L. Shuff, 1898-1899; Russell Thorp, Jr., 1896-1899.

Subgroup 2, Financial and Legal Affairs is arranged in seven series:

Series 1 consists of legal papers relating to the practice of the firm of Anderson and Anderson., and includes contracts, case files, and financial items. Series 2 contains official papers of the U.S. Commissioner’s Court between 1893-1896. Complaints, subpoenas, and warrants, 1893-1896, along with papers relating to the case of Anderson vs. the United States may be found in this series. Documents relating to the respective estates of Albinus Nance, Sarah White Nance, Walter Anderson and Helen Nance Anderson are housed in Series 3.

Series 4 relates to properties and investments of the Andersons. Of particular interest in this series is the material in box 17. This consists of comprehensive statements of farm income receipts and disbursements with individual farm reports for several of their farm properties that they rented out between 1953 and 1961. Series 5 is comprised of banking records, mostly checking account materials, of Walter and Helen Anderson, 1900-1938. Series 6 consists of selected tax receipts and returns, mainly between 1901-1953. Series 7 is composed of miscellaneous financial material dating between 1898-1945.

Subgroup 3 contains journals of voyages abroad between 1889 and 1935. The first is the journal of Lina S. Merchant (relationship unknown) who went to Europe on a sailing ship in 1889. The other journals were kept by Helen Anderson on voyages between 1914-1935. She was caught in Europe at the outbreak of World War I, and her observations of developments in Europe and how they affected her are quite interesting.

Subgroup 4 consists of five scrapbooks belonging to Helen Nance and her father and mother. Of particular interest is the one kept by Albinus Nance containing clippings on the labor violence in Omaha, Nebraska in 1882-1883.

Subgroup 5 documents Walter Anderson’s Republican Party political activities. It includes broadsides, sample ballots, pamphlets and other campaign materials, dating primarily between 1900-1922.

Subgroup 6 consists of five general series of printed matter. Of these, Series 1 contains pamphlets published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture between 1897-1939. Series 2 holds pamphlets and bulletins published by the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Nebraska between 1911-1923. Series 3 consists of a scattering of rosters, programs, lists and other printed matter from fraternal and social organizations. Series 4 contains newspaper clippings. A single publication, “Nebraska’s Resources, Illustrated,” 1903, comprises Series 5.

Subgroup 7 consists of four series of miscellaneous unrelated materials. Series 1, Genealogy, contains an old Nance family Bible as well as a number of D.A.R. membership application blanks that contain overall information concerning the genealogy of the Nance, White, and Halstead families. Series 2 relates to the military service of Walter L. Anderson, and includes certificates and pension papers. Series 3 consists of what may be loosely termed, manuscripts. This includes speech material, essays, and something that is identified only as the original draft of the Imogene Platform, adopted at Imogene, Iowa, on July 10, 1886. Series 4 includes Walter Anderson’s passport, stock certificates, a muster roll of the Hot Springs Guards, and two boxes of travel folders, tour guides, menus, sailing schedules, and souvenirs of overseas voyages.

INVENTORY

Subgroup 1: Correspondence, 1871-1966
Series 1 – Anderson & Anderson, 1871-1899

Box 1
Folder

  1. 1871, 1872
  2. 1875
  3. 1878
  4. 1880
  5. 1889
  6. 1890
  7. 1891
  8. 1891
  9. 1892
  10. 1892
  11. 1892

Box 2
Folder

  1. 1893
  2. 1893
  3. 1894
  4. 1894

Box 3
Folder

  1. 1895
  2. 1896
  3. 1897
  4. 1898
  5. 1899
  6. 1895-1897 (letterbook)

Box 4
Folder

  1. 1897-1898 (letterbook)

Series 2 – General Correspondence, 1872-1966

Box 4 (cont.)
Folder

  1. 1872, 1873
  2. 1874
  3. 1875
  4. 1882, 1884
  5. 1891-1893
  6. 1894-1895
  7. 1896
  8. 1897
  9. 1898

Box 5
Folder

  1. 1899
  2. 1900
  3. 1901
  4. 1901
  5. 1901
  6. 1902

Box 6
Folder

  1. 1902
  2. 1903
  3. 1904-1905
  4. 1906
  5. 1907
  6. 1908
  7. 1909
  8. 1910

Box 7
Folder

  1. 1911
  2. 1912
  3. 1912
  4. 1913

Box 8
Folder

  1. 1914
  2. 1915
  3. 1916
  4. 1917
  5. 1918
  6. 1919
  7. 1920
  8. 1921
  9. 1922
  10. 1923
  11. 1924
  12. 1925

Box 9
Folder

  1. 1926-1927
  2. 1928
  3. 1929
  4. 1930, 1931
  5. 1932, 1933
  6. 1934
  7. 1935
  8. 1936
  9. 1937
  10. 1938, 1939
  11. 1940, 1941
  12. 1947
  13. 1955, 1956
  14. 1959
  15. 1960
  16. 1961
  17. 1962
  18. 1963
  19. 1964
  20. 1965
  21. 1966

Box 10 (Undated and fragmentary)
Folder

  1. Letters of Helen Nance Anderson
  2. Letters of Walter Lincoln Anderson
  3. Letters of Sarah White Nance
  4. Letters of Russell Thorp, Jr.
  5. Letters of Dr. Willis O. Nance
  6. Miscellany
  7. Miscellany

Subgroup 2: Financial and Legal Affairs
Series 1 – Anderson & Anderson, 1891-1898

Box 11
Folder

  1. Contracts to employ the firm
  2. Case files
  3. Case files
  4. Case files
  5. Case files
  6. Case files
  7. Case files
  8. Case files
  9. Case files

Box 12
Folder

  1. Case files
  2. Case files
  3. Case files
  4. Case files

Box 13
Folder

  1. Receipts, bills, notes
  2. Receipts, bills, notes
  3. Receipts, bills, notes
  4. Receipts, bills, notes

Series 2 – U.S. Commissioner’s Court, 1893-1896

Box 14
Folder

  1. Complaints, subpoenas, warrants, 1893
  2. Complaints, subpoenas, warrants, 1894
  3. Complaints, subpoenas, warrants, 1896
  4. Papers relating to case of Anderson vs. U.S.

Series 3 – Estates

Box 14 (cont.)
Folder

  1. Albinus Nance, Correspondence
  2. Albinus Nance, Ledger, 1888 (lists personal property)
  3. Albinus Nance, Accounts, inventories
  4. Albinus Nance, Legal instruments
  5. Receipts
  6. Deposits and withdrawals
  7. Military discharge, approval to Illinois bar, passport
  8. Miscellany

Box 15
Folder

  1. Sarah Nance, Ledger, 1897-1899
  2. Sarah Nance, Legal instruments
  3. Walter Anderson, Will (copy)
  4. Walter Anderson, Statement of receipts and disbursements
  5. Helen Anderson, Will (copy)

Series 4 – Properties and Investments of Walter L. Anderson and Helen Nance Anderson

Box 15 (cont.)
Folder

  1. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940
  2. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940
  3. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940

Box 16
Folder

  1. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940
  2. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940
  3. Deeds, titles, mortgages – Boone County
  4. Deeds, titles, mortgages – Panama Farm
  5. Deeds, titles, mortgages – Elmelund property
  6. Deeds, titles, mortgages – Hardenbergh property
  7. Deeds, titles, mortgages – Miscellany

Box 17
Folder

  1. Statements of farm income receipts, 1912-1914
  2. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1952-1953
  3. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1953-1954
  4. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1955
  5. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1956
  6. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1957
  7. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1958
  8. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1959
  9. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1960
  10. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1961
  11. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1962
  12. Statements of principal cash transactions, 1966
  13. Individual farm reports, Ehman farm, 1960-1961
  14. Individual farm reports, Emmons farm, 1953-1961
  15. Individual farm reports, Ferris farm, 1954-1961
  16. Individual farm reports, Hastings farm, 1953-1961
  17. Individual farm reports, Primrose farm, 1953-1961
  18. Individual farm reports, Schoen farm, 1953-1961
  19. Individual farm reports, Schoonveld farm, 1952-1956
  20. Individual farm reports, Snyder farm, 1954-1959
  21. Individual farm reports, Topp farm, 1956-1960
  22. Individual farm reports, Weismann farm, 1953-1961
  23. Individual farm reports, Wyman farm, 1953-1961
  24. Record of investments, 1950s

Series 5 – Banking Records of Walter Anderson and Helen Anderson

Box 18 – Deposit books, 1914-1938 [incomplete]

Box 19 – Checkbook stubs, 1900-1914 [incomplete]

Series 6 – Tax Receipts and Returns

Box 20
Folder

  1. 1889
  2. 1901
  3. 1903
  4. 1905
  5. 1907
  6. 1909
  7. 1911
  8. 1913
  9. 1915
  10. 1917
  11. 1919
  12. 1921
  13. 1923
  14. 1925
  15. 1927
  16. 1929
  17. 1931
  18. 1933
  19. 1935
  20. 1937
  21. 1939

Box 21
Folder

  1. 1941
  2. 1943
  3. 1945
  4. 1947
  5. 1949
  6. 1951
  7. 1953

Series 7 – Miscellaneous Financial Materials

Box 22
Folder

  1. Collateral agreements, 1929-1936
  2. Notes, 1930-1932
  3. Elks Building Company, 1908-1909
  4. Miscellany
  5. Cancelled checks, 1902-1931, including notebooks, 1898-c.1945 [incomplete]

Subgroup 3: Journals

Box 23
Folder

  1. 1889, June-Oct., Journal of Lina S. Merchant, by sailing ship from New York
  2. 1893, visit to the World’s Fair
  3. 1914, Journal, Helen Nance Anderson
  4. 1923, Journal, Helen Nance Anderson
  5. 1928, Journal, Helen Nance Anderson
  6. 1935, Journal, Helen Nance Anderson

Subgroup 4: Scrapbooks

Box 24
Folder/volume

  1. Sarah White Nance, 1881, clippings of poems, accounts of death of Garfield, Governor A. Nance
  2. Albinus Nance, 1882-1883, clippings about Nance, Omaha strike violence of 1882
  3. Albinus Nance, 1889, bills and other items relative to world cruise
  4. Helen M. Nance, 1895, memory book
  5. Helen M. Nance, 1899-1902, social activities

Subgroup 5: Political Activities

Box 25
Folder

  1. Broadsides
  2. Pamphlets and charts, etc., relating to Nebraska’s 1919 Code Law
  3. Clippings, lists of G.O.P. members, committees, etc., 1910
  4. Clippings, lists of G.O.P. members, committees, etc.
  5. Sample ballots, Hot Springs, South Dakota, 1892-1898
  6. Sample ballots, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1900-1922
  7. Brochures listing candidates and biographies, 1922 and undated
  8. Pamphlets, 1922
  9. Miscellany

Subgroup 6: Printed Matter
Series 1

Box 26

U.S.D.A pamphlets, 1897, 1910-1923, 1938-1939, includes:
“Farm Tenantry in the United States,” 1916
“Soil Survey of Polk County, Nebraska,” 1917
“The Nebraska Farm Family – Some Land Tenure Phases,” 1923

Series 2

Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Nebraska Bulletins, 1911-1923, includes:
“From Management Studies in Eastern Nebraska,” 1916
“The Farm Inventory,” 1917
“Agricultural Statistics for Nebraska,” 1920
“Nebraska Farm Homes,” 1923

Series 3

Organizations, includes assorted rosters, programs, lists:
United Spanish War Veterans
Lincoln Woman’s Club
Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War
P.E.O.
American Legion
Municipal League of Lincoln, Nebraska

Series 4 – Clippings

Box 27
Folder

  1. W.W.I.
  2. Politics
  3. Obituaries
  4. Miscellany

Series 5 – Publications

Box 27 (cont.)

“Nebraska’s Resources, Illustrated,” Nebraska Farmer Co., Omaha, Nebraska, 1903

Subgroup 7: Miscellaneous Materials
Series 1 – Genealogy

Box 27 (cont.)

Nance family Bible recording births, 1784-1827

Box 28

D.A.R. applications and related materials on White and Halstead families

Series 2 – Military Service, Pensions

Box 28 (cont.)
Folder

  1. Walter L. Anderson, commission and discharge certificate
  2. Pension papers
  3. Papers relating to issue and return of Quarter Master stores
  4. Orders, medical certificates

Series 3 – Manuscripts

Box 28 (cont.)
Folder

  1. Speech material
  2. Essays
  3. Verse
  4. Letter and text of the “Imogene Platform,” adopted July 10, 1886, at Imogene, Iowa

Series 4 – Miscellany

Box 29
Folder

  1. Passports, Walter L. Anderson
  2. Railroad lands, Butler County, 1879
  3. Stock certificates
  4. Scholastic records, Walter L. Anderson
  5. Selective Service bulletins, 1919
  6. Muster roll, Hot Springs Guards
  7. Potpourri
  8. Potpourri
  9. Potpourri
  10. Potpourri

Box 30

Travel folders, guides, information, souvenirs, and related items

Box 31

Travel folders, guides, information, souvenirs, and related items

Oversize (OB002)

The Morning Chronicle, London, England, No. 11627, Friday, August 22, 1806
Detroit Daily Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, V. 21, No. 27, Wednesday, August 12, 1857
Ulster County Gazette, Kingston, New York (?), V. 11, No. 88, Saturday, January 4, 1800
Certificates, diplomas, etc.

Subject headings:

Anderson, Helen Marie Nance, 1877-1966
Anderson, Walter Lincoln, 1868-1959
Anderson family
Anderson & Anderson (Lincoln, Neb.)
Europe — Description and travel
Halstead family
Hot Springs (S.D.)
Lawyers — Nebraska — Lincoln
Lincoln (Neb.)
Nance, Albinus, 1848-1911
Nance family
Politics and government — Nebraska
Republican Party — Nebraska
White family

DAB/HEK/ab 05-29-1967
KFK 07-22-1996
KFK/dco 12-12-2003
01-27-2010 Revised TMM

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