J. D. Giddings Collection

Dublin Core

Title

J. D. Giddings Collection

Description

Jabez Demming Giddings (J.D. Giddings), born in Pennsylvania, came to Texas in 1838 to claim his brother Giles’s land bounty after Giles’s death at the Battle of San Jacinto. After initially teaching school, Giddings became a lawyer and wealthy entrepreneur in Brenham, becoming one of the state’s wealthiest men. A Methodist, he became involved with a number of Methodist colleges whose charters were eventually inherited by Southwestern University. After his death in 1878, his family members would continue to support the endeavors of the university: his wife Ann funded the construction of Helping Hall, and their son-in-law Heber Stone served for fifteen years on the Board of Trustees. <br /><br />This small collection is almost exclusively correspondence from Texas Methodists to J.D. Giddings, with some to his son-in-law Heber Stone and a few items to and from other family members. The letters were donated to Southwestern University’s library by Wallace Giddings, a descendant of J.D. Giddings, in the Spring of 1996 with a few additional materials donated by Patricia Giddings, wife of Wallace Giddings. <br /><br />You can also find these items on the University of North Texas's <a title="Portal to Texas History" href="http://texashistory.unt.edu/" target="_blank">Portal to Texas History</a>.

Source

J.D. Giddings Collection, Special Collections, Smith Library Center, Southwestern University. You can view the finding aid <a href="http://www.southwestern.edu/infoservices/departments/specialcollections/finding-aids/Giddings.php" target="_blank">here</a>.

Collection Items

[Letter from J.C.S. Morrow to J.D. Giddings]
Letter from J.C.S. Morrow to J.D. Giddings soliciting money to build a house for F.A. Mood.

[Letter from F.A. Mood to J.D. Giddings]
Letter from F.A. Mood too J.D. Giddings regarding the expenses Mood has put up in opening and sustaining Southwestern University.

Letter from W.A. Shaw to Heber Stone, dated May 14, 1897
A letter from W.A. Shaw, a Methodist journalist, writing to J.D. Giddings' son-in-law, Heber Stone. Stone served on Southwestern University's Board of Trustees, and as such Shaw thought him to be the right man to contact about objections to the…

Letter from William Giddings to Uncle Clint, dated May 7, 1871
A letter from William Giddings to his uncle Clint dating to Giddings' days as a student. Giddings details recent events, including his attendance of a picnic, his recent poor marks in German, and his newfound goal of becoming a lawyer.
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