Alvah and Mary Shelden collection
Overview
The Alvah and Mary Shelden Collection contains their 1879 to 1885 journal of activities as residents of El Dorado, Kansas, as well as autobiographical and biographical accounts of their lives as early settlers and teachers in Butler County, Kansas. A typescript of their journal is included.
Dates
- Creation: 1879 - 1885
Creator
- Shelden, Alvah, 1849-1911 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
No access restrictions
Conditions Governing Use
Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.
Biography of Alvah and Mary (Lamb) Shelden
Alvah Shelden was born January 15, 1849 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin to Benjamin and Louisa (Vaught) Shelden. In 1859, the family was living at Helena, Texas, when Alvah's father was shot and killed by a pro-slavery sympathizer. Louisa Shelden's brother, Martin Vaught, came to the family's aid, transporting them from Texas to the Chelsea Township of Butler County, Kansas. The family later lived for a time with Louisa Shelden's father in Illinois.
In 1868, the Shelden family returned to Kansas, soon settling again in the Chelsea Township, where Alvah began teaching school in 1872 and in 1876 was elected Butler County superintendent of schools. On January 28, 1877, he married schoolteacher Mary M. Lamb, with whom he had six children. Mary Shelden was a native of Ohio, whose parents had emigrated to the Butler County community of Douglass in 1869. The Sheldens made their home at Butler County's El Dorado community, where Alvah Shelden purchased the Walnut Valley Times in 1881, serving as the newspaper's owner and editor for thirty years. He died on December 17, 1911 at El Dorado.
Extent
.25 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Physical Location
RH MS 1018
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, Doris M. Strawn, 1995
Subject
- Shelden, Mary M., 1856-1939 (Person)
- Vaught, Martin, 1835- (Person)
- Shelden family. (Family)
- Sheldon family. (Family)
- Title
- Guide to the Alvah and Mary Shelden Collection
- Subtitle
- Alvah and Mary Shelden collection
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by mh, 2007 ; Finding aid encoded by mh, 2007
- Date
- 2007
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Finding aid written in<language encodinganalog="language">English.</language>
- Finding aid permalink
- http://hdl.handle.net/10407/2286689440
- Preferred citation
-
Alvah and Mary Shelden Collection, Kansas Collection, RH MS 1018, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries
Repository Details
Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository