Erasmus Michael Correll, 1846-1895 [RG4430.AM]

HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG4430.AM: Erasmus Michael Correll, 1846-1895

Papers: 1869-1891, n.d.
Hebron, Thayer County, Neb.: Nebraska senator, newspaper editor
Size: 0.5 cu. ft., 1 box

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Erasmus Michael Correll was born in Canada on August 4, 1846, of parents who resided near Buffalo, New York. While he was yet a child, the Correll family moved to Illinois, remained until 1853, when they then went to California only to return to Rockford, Illinois, the following year. In 1860 the family again went to California where Correll attended the University of the Pacific at Santa Clara in 1863-1864. After returning to Illinois in 1865, he attended Eureka College and studied civil engineering and surveying.

In 1869 Correll went to Jefferson, now Thayer County, Nebraska, as a surveyor. He was a member of the Nebraska Cavalry militia in service against the Indians, Registrar of Voters in 1870-71, and Justice of the Peace in 1871-72. He was admitted to the bar in 1873.

Correll began the Hebron Journal in February 1871 and continued its publication until his death. He also established and edited the Western Woman’s Journal at Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1882, which enjoyed a national reputation for promoting the cause of woman suffrage. Correll was elected to the House of Representatives of the Nebraska Legislature in November 1880 and served through 1882 where he introduced a bill to submit a woman’s suffrage amendment to the state constitution and campaigned unsuccessfully for its adoption by the voters.

In September 1890 he went to Ogden, Utah, to become editor and manager of the Ogden Daily Commercial. After returning to Hebron in 1892, he was elected to the Senate of the Nebraska Legislature for one term.

Correll was active in the civic affairs of Hebron and Thayer County. He was President of the American Woman’s Suffrage Association and of the Nebraska Editorial Association, as well as a delegate to the National Editorial Association. He was a delegate to the Northwestern Waterways Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1885 and served as Quartermaster General of the Nebraska National Guard from 1886 to 1893 and as Aid-de-Camp to Governor Lorenzo Crounse in 1893.

Erasmus Correll died on September 5, 1895.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of one box containing the papers of Erasmus M. Correll arranged in three series: (1) Woman Suffrage Movement in Nebraska, 1870-1882, n.d.; (2) Records of Hebron and Thayer County, Nebraska, 1869-1891, n.d. and (3) Miscellany.

The collection relates to two phases of Erasmus Correll’s life: his involvement in the local affairs of Hebron and Thayer County, Nebraska, and his promotion of the cause of woman suffrage in Nebraska. Series One includes correspondence, contracts, subscription lists, and drafts of editorials relating to the Western Woman’s Journal, edited by Correll. This series also contains pamphlets, tracts, and clippings on woman suffrage, as well as minutes of the Nebraska Woman Suffrage Convention in Omaha, July 6, 1881, a schedule of speakers in the 1882 campaign for a woman suffrage amendment to the Nebraska Constitution, and autograph books containing signatures of national and state woman suffrage leaders.

Series Two includes minutes of meetings of the Hebron Board of Trustees, of special meetings of the citizens of Thayer County, and of meetings of the Hebron Literary Association, as well as reports by Correll as County Surveyor and as a school teacher in Hebron. Series Three contains notes for sermons, possibly of Correll’s father.

INVENTORY

Series 1 – Woman Suffrage Movement in Nebraska, 1870-1882

Box 1
Folder

1. Correspondence, 1881
2. Correspondence, 1882 & undated
3. Minutes of the Nebraska Woman Suffrage Convention, Omaha, July 6, 1881
4. Contract for printing Western Woman’s Journal and subscription list, 1881-1882
5. Notes for and drafts of speeches and editorials by Erasmus Correll, undated
6. Bills introduced by Correll in the Nebraska legislature handwritten copy of House proceedings concerning H.R. 59, 1881
7. Pamphlets tracts concerning woman suffrage, 1870-1882
8. Newspaper clippings, undated
9. Constitution of the Johnson County Woman Suffrage Society, undated; schedule of Woman Suffrage Campaign, 1882
10. Autograph books, 1882

Series 2 – Records of Hebron, Thayer County, Nebraska, 1869-1891

Box 1
Folder

1. Reports by Correll as County Surveyor, 1891, n.d.
2. Minutes of special meetings of citizens of Hebron and of Thayer County, 1869-71, n.d.
3. Minutes of Hebron Board of Trustees, 1872-1877
4. Correll’s contracts to teach school and his monthly reports, 1871-1874
5. Minutes of the Hebron Literary Association, 1870-1871
6. Pledge to prohibit saloons and gambling houses in Hebron; Organizational meeting of a lodge; receipts, 1872, n.d.

Series 3 – Miscellany

Box 1
Folder

1. Notes for sermons, possibly of Correll’s father, n.d.

Subject headings:

Bittenbender, Ada M., 1848-1925
Colby, Clara Bewick, 1846-1916
Hebron, Nebraska — History
Hebron Literary Association. Hebron, Neb.
Journalists — Nebraska
Municipal government. Hebron, Neb.
Nebraska Woman Suffrage Association
Newspapers — Nebraska
Thayer County, Nebraska — History
Western Woman’s Journal. Lincoln, Neb.
Women — Suffrage

03-06-1975 APH/ht
07-11-1997 nd