Skidmore Family papers
Collection
Identifier: Ms-0045
Scope and Content
The Skidmore family papers, spanning the years 1860-1926, include extensive family correspondence, personal legal papers, mining reports, miscellany, and business correspondence.
The family correspondence contains letters from all members of the Skidmore family and is indicative of the events surrounding them, such as the popularity of the Ku Klux Klan in El Paso in the 1920s. Letters describing the Civil War and the Mexican War are also included. The correspondence is divided into two sections: the first is letters sent and received from William H. and Euphemia Skidmore; the second is letters sent and received from Frank Skidmore.
Photographs, news clippings, a scrapbook kept by Ruth W. Skidmore, and ephemera from New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts and Highland Park College (Des Moines, Iowa), are included under personal miscellany.
William H. Skidmore was the inventor of the "Skidmore's Buffer and Coupling Apparatus for Railway Carriages, Trucks, and other Rolling Stock." His patent application as well as those papers concerned with his pension eligibility from the Civil War, mining claims (1861-1926), and indentures, are among the legal papers. Mining reports from several mines in New Mexico are also listed.
General business correspondence begins in 1864 and continues to 1926. Significant correspondents in these papers are: W. T. Thornton, Numa Reymond, Colonel William Bennett, William O. Cory, M. D. Gaylord, Lewis and Phoebus Freudenthal, Earl C. Cleaveland, Lewis E. Hoffman, T. B. Catron, W. C. Carrick, H. F. Stephenson, S. B. Newcomb, and J. Horan. In addition to these significant individual correspondents, there are others arranged alphabetically.
The family correspondence contains letters from all members of the Skidmore family and is indicative of the events surrounding them, such as the popularity of the Ku Klux Klan in El Paso in the 1920s. Letters describing the Civil War and the Mexican War are also included. The correspondence is divided into two sections: the first is letters sent and received from William H. and Euphemia Skidmore; the second is letters sent and received from Frank Skidmore.
Photographs, news clippings, a scrapbook kept by Ruth W. Skidmore, and ephemera from New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts and Highland Park College (Des Moines, Iowa), are included under personal miscellany.
William H. Skidmore was the inventor of the "Skidmore's Buffer and Coupling Apparatus for Railway Carriages, Trucks, and other Rolling Stock." His patent application as well as those papers concerned with his pension eligibility from the Civil War, mining claims (1861-1926), and indentures, are among the legal papers. Mining reports from several mines in New Mexico are also listed.
General business correspondence begins in 1864 and continues to 1926. Significant correspondents in these papers are: W. T. Thornton, Numa Reymond, Colonel William Bennett, William O. Cory, M. D. Gaylord, Lewis and Phoebus Freudenthal, Earl C. Cleaveland, Lewis E. Hoffman, T. B. Catron, W. C. Carrick, H. F. Stephenson, S. B. Newcomb, and J. Horan. In addition to these significant individual correspondents, there are others arranged alphabetically.
Dates
- 1861 - 1927
Access and Use Restrictions
This material may be examined by researchers under supervised conditions in the Search Room.
Copy Restrictions
Limited duplication is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with copyright and other applicable statutes.
The copyrights possessed in this collection have not been transferred or assigned to New Mexico State University.
The copyrights possessed in this collection have not been transferred or assigned to New Mexico State University.
Biography
The Skidmore family may be noted primarily for their mining activities in the Organ Mountains. The two main individuals involved in this were William Hutchinson Skidmore and his grandson, Frank Skidmore. William H. was born in 1836 in the eastern United States. "He first visited El Paso in 1854, when he was employed by the Franklin Pierce Administration to bore wells along the surveyed line of a railroad projected from St. Louis to the Pacific Coast, a project ordered by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. William bored wells in the Texas Panhandle and West Mesilla. He was introduced by the head of the survey, General John Pope, to Jefferson Davis..." (Pam Fleek, "The William H. Skidmore, Sr. Family," 1976.)
William H. married Euphemia Sallee on August 9, 1864 while serving in the Civil War from December 1861-February 1865. They lived in Philadelphia following the War where Mr. Skidmore was an inventor. Three children were born to them: Alberta (Bertie), Nettie, and William Hickman, Jr. (Willie or Hickman). In 1882, William H. Skidmore arrived in New Mexico and began mining in the Organ Mountains with support of some Philadelphia investors. His family remained in Pennsylvania until later. His daughter, Nettie, died at ca. 21 years of age in 1888.
William Skidmore, Jr. married Nellie and they had one child, Frances.
Bertie Skidmore had a son, Frank, who took his mother's maiden name. She married Lew Cowan and had four other children. Albert died in 1912 in an accident while still young; Clarence Millard, Dorothy, and Herbert remained. Millard married a woman named Hazel and Dorothy became Mrs. Lawrence White.
Frank Skidmore attended New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts studying stenography between 1906-1909 and was business editor for the Round-Up. He also attended Highland Park College in Iowa and was the business manager for the Weekly Highlander. During the summers of 1908 and 1909, Frank worked for Inde Gold Mining Company in Mexico earning enough money so that he could marry Ruth Wilson whom he had met in college. They were united in 1910, and Frank then worked for Socorro Mining and Milling Company (later American Silver Corporation) in Mogollon as warehouseman, cashier, chief accountant, assistant receiver and receiver. Apparently, Frank and Ruth had no children.
William H. married Euphemia Sallee on August 9, 1864 while serving in the Civil War from December 1861-February 1865. They lived in Philadelphia following the War where Mr. Skidmore was an inventor. Three children were born to them: Alberta (Bertie), Nettie, and William Hickman, Jr. (Willie or Hickman). In 1882, William H. Skidmore arrived in New Mexico and began mining in the Organ Mountains with support of some Philadelphia investors. His family remained in Pennsylvania until later. His daughter, Nettie, died at ca. 21 years of age in 1888.
William Skidmore, Jr. married Nellie and they had one child, Frances.
Bertie Skidmore had a son, Frank, who took his mother's maiden name. She married Lew Cowan and had four other children. Albert died in 1912 in an accident while still young; Clarence Millard, Dorothy, and Herbert remained. Millard married a woman named Hazel and Dorothy became Mrs. Lawrence White.
Frank Skidmore attended New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts studying stenography between 1906-1909 and was business editor for the Round-Up. He also attended Highland Park College in Iowa and was the business manager for the Weekly Highlander. During the summers of 1908 and 1909, Frank worked for Inde Gold Mining Company in Mexico earning enough money so that he could marry Ruth Wilson whom he had met in college. They were united in 1910, and Frank then worked for Socorro Mining and Milling Company (later American Silver Corporation) in Mogollon as warehouseman, cashier, chief accountant, assistant receiver and receiver. Apparently, Frank and Ruth had no children.
Extent
7.00 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
- Title
- Guide to the Skidmore Family papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Margaret B. Thwaits.
- Date
- 2001
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Repository Details
Part of the New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections Repository