NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG3771.AM: Charles Marples, ca. 1824-1876
Papers (on microfilm): 1857-1876
Minnesota; Saline and Gage Counties, Neb.: Farmer; Civil War soldier
Size: 1 reel of microfilm containing 43 items
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Charles Marples was born near Baslow, England, in 1824 or 1825. Family members believe that he came through Canada to Minnesota, where he settled in the early 1850s. While visiting Ray County, Missouri, Marples met sixteen-year old Hannah Jane Isley, who went by the name of Jane. They were married on May 11, 1857, and settled in Faribault County, Minnesota, where Charles helped establish the town of “Marples,” now known as Minnesota Lake.
When Charles was drafted to serve in the Civil War in 1864, Jane managed the family farm. After his return, Charles, Jane, and their five children moved back to her family home in Ray County, Missouri. In May of 1867 Charles, John Isley, his brother-in-law, and another companion traveled the Oregon Trail and stopped in Denver to investigate land prospects. The Marples settled near Pleasant Hill, Saline County, Nebraska, while John located in Clatonia Precinct, Gage County. Eventually all of Jane’s family joined the Marples and John Isley in Nebraska. Three more children were born to Charles and Jane in Saline County.
Impressed with the land in southern Gage County, Charles bought a homestead in the “Wild Cat”/Blue Springs area in 1874 and the family moved there in 1875. While Jane was pregnant with their ninth child, Charles died on April 22, 1876. His last child was born three months later. In November of 1876 Jane married Nick Norris and they remained on the family homestead. They died in Blue Springs; Nick in 1925 and Jane in 1931.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection, consisting of 43 items on one reel of microfilm, is arranged in two series: 1) Correspondence, 1857-1876; and 2) Legal Documents, 1865 and 1874-1876. This material relates to the life of Charles Marples, a farmer in Minnesota and Nebraska, including his experience crossing the plains while searching for promising farm land in 1867.
Series 1 consists of correspondence, 1857-1876, most of which is written to and by Charles and Jane Marples while living in Minnesota. Several letters were written by Charles to Jane while he served at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, during the Civil War. These letters instruct Jane in the running of the farm while he is away. Of particular interest are three letters written by Charles in 1867. Composed by Charles during a trek from Ray County, Missouri, to Denver, these letters describe the conditions he faced along the trail. A letter dated May 19, 1867 was written “near Ft. Kearney.” Typescripts of several of the letters, when available, have been filmed immediately after the original letters. The legal documents of Series 2 include a furlough application, 1865; land deeds and supplementary documents, 1874-1875; and a typescript copy of the will of Charles Marples, 1876.
DESCRIPTION
Series 1 – Correspondence, 1857-1875
Reel 1
Correspondence, 1857-1875 (35 letters)
Series 2 – Legal Documents, 1865-1876
Furlough Application, 1865
Land deeds and supplementary documents, 1874-1875
Will (typescript copy), 1876
ADDED ENTRIES:
Frontier and pioneer life — Minnesota
Frontier and pioneer life — Nebraska
Fort Kearny (Neb.) — History
Gage County (Neb.) — History
Homesteaders and homesteading — Nebraska
Marples, Charles, ca. 1824-1876
Minnesota — History — Civil War, 1861-1865 — Personal narratives
Overland journeys
Saline County (Neb.) — History
AIF/kfk 11-1996
Revised KFK 01-2004
Encoded TMM 07-01-2010
