NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTION RECORD
RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Nance, 1877-1966
Papers: 1871-1966 Lincoln, Lancaster County, Neb. Size: 11.5 cu.ft.; 31 boxes
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Helen M. Nance was born May 23, 1877, at Osceola, Nebraska. She was the daughter of Albinus Nance (later governor of the state) and Sarah (White) Nance. She was educated in the common schools and at St. Mary’s School at Knoxville, Illinois. In October 1902, she was married to Walter Lincoln Anderson, an attorney who had come to Lincoln in 1900 to join a law partnership. Anderson was born at Sidney, Iowa, in February 1868, had received his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1891. From 1891-1898 he practiced law with his father, Albert R. Anderson, at Sidney and at Hot Springs, South Dakota, and was South Dakota State Attorney and U.S. Circuit Court Commissioner from 1892-1899. During the Spanish-American War he served with a group of Iowa volunteers in the Third Regiment (“Rough Riders”) which spent the duration of the war at Camp Thomas, Georgia.
Anderson held a commission as Captain when he was mustered out in 1919. He was a member of several separate law partnerships in Lincoln and handled legal affairs for people throughout the United States. In addition to his law practice, Anderson spent much of his time buying, inspecting and selling property in Nebraska as well as in California. He was an active member of the Republican Party, and ran for various offices on the G.O.P. ticket. He served in the Nebraska Legislature in 1921-1922, and was a member of the 1919 Constitutional Convention. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1922. Mr. Anderson died in Lincoln in December 1959. Mrs. Anderson continued to live at their home in Lincoln and maintained their financial interests until her death in October 1966.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of manuscript materials arranged in seven subgroups: 1) Correspondence, 1871-1966; 2) Financial and legal affairs, approx. 1890-1966; 3) Journals, 1889-1935; 4) Scrapbooks, 1881-1902; 5) Political activities, 1892-1922; 6) Printed matter, 1897-1939; and 7) Miscellaneous materials. The bulk of this collection relates to the law practice of Walter L. Anderson in Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska, to the investments in property by him and his wife, Helen Nance Anderson.
During the early 1900s the Andersons were in frequent correspondence with each other, as they were often separated: she was in Lincoln, Chicago, Lake Okoboji, Iowa, or abroad; while he was traveling across the country inspecting property they were considering buying or already owned. Interspersed throughout the collection are letters dealing with various aspects of farm property, including expenses incurred, farm income reports during the period 1953 to 1961, and selected tax records of the Andersons’ and the estate records of the two families. RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 2
Some highlights of the collection include: a scrapbook maintained by Governor Nance during the labor violence that occurred in Omaha in 1882 and 1883; journals kept by Helen Anderson during her trips in Europe (one account reveals her observations at the outbreak of World War I); broadsides, sample ballots and other items dating from 1900 to 1922 and pertaining to the Republican Party; Agricultural Experiment Station bulletins; social and fraternal programs; the Nance family Bible; and genealogy sheets outlining the history of the Nance, White and Halstead families.
The correspondence group, Subgroup 1 , is divided into two series.
Series 1 consists of the correspondence of the law firm of Anderson and Anderson, dating between 1871-1899. In addition to the legal matters of the firm, this section includes a great deal of personal correspondence of W.L. Anderson’s father, Albert A. Anderson. The “Major”, as he was called, appears to have been a Democrat in Iowa, switched to the Populist Party when he relocated in South Dakota, and in 1896 became a Republican in response to the currency question. The correspondence clearly reveals the progression of the father’s political views.
Series 2 of the correspondence group consists of general correspondence that, although including a broad variety of subject matter, was not further separated. These letters date from 1872 to 1966, and cover personal correspondence of Albinus Nance, Sarah White Nance, Walter Anderson, and Helen Nance Anderson. The early letters from Nance to his future wife describe life on the frontier settlement around Columbus, and indicate some of his political views. The letters between 1891-1899 were written to Helen Nance by a number of different young men who attended the University of Nebraska and later continued the correspondence from military camps, ranches, and places of business. From 1900 to 1902, and after their marriage, Walter and Helen usually wrote daily letters to each other describing their activities. They spent a great deal of time apart, she either in Lincoln, Chicago, Lake Okoboji, Iowa, or abroad, and he traveling about inspecting property they owned or were considering buying.
Correspondents include: Albert R. Anderson, 1891-1898; Bess Streeter Aldrich, 1933; William B. Allison, 1891, 1892, 1895, 1897; the National Citizen’s Industrial Alliance, 1891; G.W. Ambrose, 1894; Thomas Bowman, 1892; William Jennings Bryan, 1893, 1895; Carl T. Curtis, 1964-1965; Ralph W. Haggard, 1898-1899; Charles Hendy, Jr., 1898-1900; James McDill 1892; Charles Henry Morrill, 1898, 1902, 1910-1913, 1915, 1917, 1920-1922; William Morrison, 1895-1896; Albinus Nance, 1872-1875, 1891, 1895-1900, 1902-1903,1906, 1908, 1911; Sarah White Nance, 1872-1875, 1891, 1895-1900, 1906-1913, 1916-1918, 1920, 1922-1924, 1926, 1928; Willis O. Nance, 1902, 1909, 1911-1917, 1919-1922, 1928, 1941, 1961; Henry Nuckolls, 1892; the People’s Party, 1891-1896; John J. Pershing, 1929; R.F. Pettigrew, 1892-1894; John A. Pickler, 1892, 1896; Eli Seavey Ricker, 1893; Edward Rosewater, 1893; Karl Stefan, 1935; Carl L. Shuff, 1898- 1899; Russell Thorp, Jr., 1896-1899. RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 3
Subgroup 2 , Financial and Legal Affairs is arranged in seven series:
Series 1 consists of legal papers relating to the practice of the firm of Anderson and Anderson., and includes contracts, case files, and financial items. Series 2 contains official papers of the U.S. Commissioner’s Court between 1893-1896. Complaints, subpoenas, and warrants, 1893-1896, along with papers relating to the case of Anderson vs. the United States may be found in this series. Documents relating to the respective estates of Albinus Nance, Sarah White Nance, Walter Anderson and Helen Nance Anderson are housed in Series 3 .
Series 4 relates to properties and investments of the Andersons. Of particular interest in this series is the material in box 17. This consists of comprehensive statements of farm income receipts and disbursements with individual farm reports for several of their farm properties that they rented out between 1953 and 1961. Series 5 is comprised of banking records, mostly checking account materials, of Walter and Helen Anderson, 1900-1938.
Series 6 consists of selected tax receipts and returns, mainly between 1901-1953.
Series 7 is composed of miscellaneous financial material dating between 1898-1945.
Subgroup 3 contains journals of voyages abroad between 1889 and 1935. The first is the journal of Lina S. Merchant (relationship unknown) who went to Europe on a sailing ship in 1889. The other journals were kept by Helen Anderson on voyages between 1914-1935. She was caught in Europe at the outbreak of World War I, and her observations of developments in Europe and how they affected her are quite interesting.
Subgroup 4 consists of five scrapbooks belonging to Helen Nance and her father and mother. Of particular interest is the one kept by Albinus Nance containing clippings on the labor violence in Omaha, Nebraska in 1882-1883.
Subgroup 5 documents Walter Anderson’s Republican Party political activities. It includes broadsides, sample ballots, pamphlets and other campaign materials, dating primarily between 1900-1922.
Subgroup 6 consists of five general series of printed matter. Of these, Series 1 contains pamphlets published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture between 1897-1939. Series 2 holds pamphlets and bulletins published by the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Nebraska between 1911-1923. Series 3 consists of a scattering of rosters, programs, lists and other printed matter from fraternal and social organizations. Series 4 contains newspaper clippings. A single publication, “Nebraska’s Resources, Illustrated,” 1903, comprises Series 5.
Subgroup 7 consists of four series of miscellaneous unrelated materials.
Series 1 , Genealogy, contains an Old Nance family Bible as well as a number of D.A.R. membership application blanks that contain overall information concerning the genealogy of the Nance, White, and Halstead families. RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 4
Series 2 relates to the military service of Walter L. Anderson, and includes certificates and pension papers.
Series 3 consists of what may be loosely termed, manuscripts. This includes speech material, essays, and something that is identified only as the original draft of the Imogene Platform, adopted at Imogene, Iowa, on July 10, 1886.
Series 4 includes Walter Anderson’s passport, stock certificates, a muster roll of the Hot Springs Guards, and two boxes of travel folders, tour guides, menus, sailing schedules, and souvenirs of overseas voyages.
Acc. October 1966.
DESCRIPTION
Subgroup 1: Correspondence, 1871-1966 Series 1 - Anderson & Anderson, 1871-1899
Box 1 Folder
1. 1871, 1872 2. 1875 3. 1878 4. 1880 5. 1889 6. 1890 7. 1891 8. 1891 9. 1892 10. 1892 11. 1892
Box 2 Folder
12. 1893 13. 1893 14. 1894 15. 1894
Box 3 Folder
16. 1895 RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 5
17. 1896 18. 1897 19. 1898 20. 1899 21. 1895-1897 (letterbook)
Box 4 Folder
22. 1897-1898 (letterbook)
Series 2 - General Correspondence, 1872-1966
Box 4 (cont.) Folder
1. 1872, 1873 2. 1874 3. 1875 4. 1882, 1884 5. 1891-1893 6. 1894-1895 7. 1896 8. 1897 9. 1898
Box 5 Folder
10. 1899 11. 1900 12. 1901 13. 1901 14. 1901 15. 1902
Box 6 Folder
16. 1902 17. 1903 18. 1904-1905 19. 1906 20. 1907 21. 1908 22. 1909 RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 6
23. 1910
Box 7 Folder
24. 1911 25. 1912 26. 1912 27. 1913
Box 8 Folder
28. 1914 29. 1915 30. 1916 31. 1917 32. 1918 33. 1919 34. 1920 35. 1921 36. 1922 37. 1923 38. 1924 39. 1925
Box 9 Folder
40. 1926-1927 41. 1928 42. 1929 43. 1930, 1931 44. 1932, 1933 45. 1934 46. 1935 47. 1936 48. 1937 49. 1938, 1939 50. 1940, 1941 51. 1947 52. 1955, 1956 53. 1959 54. 1960 55. 1961 56. 1962 RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 7
57. 1963 58. 1964 59. 1965 60. 1966
Box 10 (Undated and fragmentary) Folder
61. Letters of Helen Nance Anderson 62. Letters of Walter Lincoln Anderson 63. Letters of Sarah White Nance 64. Letters of Russell Thorp, Jr. 65. Letters of Dr. Willis O. Nance 66. Miscellany 67. Miscellany
Subgroup 2: Financial and Legal Affairs Series 1 - Anderson & Anderson, 1891-1898
Box 11 Folder
1. Contracts to employ the firm 2. Case files 3. Case files 4. Case files 5. Case files 6. Case files 7. Case files 8. Case files 9. Case files
Box 12 Folder
10. Case files 11. Case files 12. Case files 13. Case files
Box 13 Folder
14. Receipts, bills, notes 15. Receipts, bills, notes 16. Receipts, bills, notes RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 8
17. Receipts, bills, notes
Series 2 - U.S. Commissioner's Court, 1893-1896
Box 14 Folder
1. Complaints, subpoenas, warrants, 1893 2. Complaints, subpoenas, warrants, 1894 3. Complaints, subpoenas, warrants, 1896 4. Papers relating to case of Anderson vs. U.S.
Series 3 - Estates
Box 14 (cont.) Folder
1. Albinus Nance, Correspondence 2. Albinus Nance, Ledger, 1888 (lists personal property) 3. Albinus Nance, Accounts, inventories 4. Albinus Nance, Legal instruments 5. Receipts 6. Deposits and withdrawals 7. Military discharge, approval to Illinois bar, passport 8. Miscellany
Box 15 Folder
9. Sarah Nance, Ledger, 1897-1899 10. Sarah Nance, Legal instruments 11. Walter Anderson, Will (copy) 12. Walter Anderson, Statement of receipts and disbursements 13. Helen Anderson, Will (copy)
Series 4 - Properties and Investments of Walter L. Anderson and Helen Nance Anderson
Box 15 (cont.) Folder
1. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940 2. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940 3. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940 RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 9
Box 16 Folder
4. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940 5. Correspondence, circulars, brochures relating to stocks and bonds investments, crops, farm properties, taxes, c. 1920-1940 6. Deeds, titles, mortgages - Boone County 7. Deeds, titles, mortgages - Panama Farm 8. Deeds, titles, mortgages - Elmelund property 9. Deeds, titles, mortgages - Hardenbergh property 10. Deeds, titles, mortgages - Miscellany
Box 17 Folder
11. Statements of farm income receipts, 1912-1914 12. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1952-1953 13. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1953-1954 14. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1955 15. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1956 16. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1957 17. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1958 18. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1959 19. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1960 20. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1961 21. Statements of receipts and disbursements, 1962 22. Statements of principal cash transactions, 1966 23. Individual farm reports, Ehman farm, 1960-1961 24. Individual farm reports, Emmons farm, 1953-1961 25. Individual farm reports, Ferris farm, 1954-1961 26. Individual farm reports, Hastings farm, 1953-1961 27. Individual farm reports, Primrose farm, 1953-1961 28. Individual farm reports, Schoen farm, 1953-1961 29. Individual farm reports, Schoonveld farm, 1952-1956 30. Individual farm reports, Snyder farm, 1954-1959 31. Individual farm reports, Topp farm, 1956-1960 32. Individual farm reports, Weismann farm, 1953-1961 33. Individual farm reports, Wyman farm, 1953-1961 34. Record of investments, 1950s
Series 5 - Banking Records of Walter Anderson and Helen Anderson
Box 18 - Deposit books, 1914-1938 [incomplete]
RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 10
Box 19 - Checkbook stubs, 1900-1914 [incomplete]
Series 6 - Tax Receipts and Returns
Box 20 Folder
1. 1889 2. 1901 3. 1903 4. 1905 5. 1907 6. 1909 7. 1911 8. 1913 9. 1915 10. 1917 11. 1919 12. 1921 13. 1923 14. 1925 15. 1927 16. 1929 17. 1931 18. 1933 19. 1935 20. 1937 21. 1939
Box 21 Folder
22. 1941 23. 1943 24. 1945 25. 1947 26. 1949 27. 1951 28. 1953
Series 7 - Miscellaneous Financial Materials
Box 22 Folder
1. Collateral agreements, 1929-1936 RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 11
2. Notes, 1930-1932 3. Elks Building Company, 1908-1909 4. Miscellany 5. Cancelled checks, 1902-1931, including notebooks, 1898-c.1945 [incomplete]
Subgroup 3: Journals
Box 23 Folder
1. 1889, June-Oct., Journal of Lina S. Merchant, by sailing ship from New York 2. 1893, visit to the World's Fair 3. 1914, Journal, Helen Nance Anderson 4. 1923, Journal, Helen Nance Anderson 5. 1928, Journal, Helen Nance Anderson 6. 1935, Journal, Helen Nance Anderson
Subgroup 4: Scrapbooks
Box 24 Folder/volume
1. Sarah White Nance, 1881, clippings of poems, accounts of death of Garfield, Governor A. Nance 2. Albinus Nance, 1882-1883, clippings about Nance, Omaha strike violence of 1882 3. Albinus Nance, 1889, bills and other items relative to world cruise 4. Helen M. Nance, 1895, memory book 5. Helen M. Nance, 1899-1902, social activities
Subgroup 5: Political Activities
Box 25 Folder
1. Broadsides 2. Pamphlets and charts, etc., relating to Nebraska's 1919 Code Law 3. Clippings, lists of G.O.P. members, committees, etc., 1910 4. Clippings, lists of G.O.P. members, committees, etc. 5. Sample ballots, Hot Springs, South Dakota, 1892-1898 6. Sample ballots, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1900-1922 7. Brochures listing candidates and biographies, 1922 and undated 8. Pamphlets, 1922 9. Miscellany
RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 12
Subgroup 6: Printed Matter Series 1
Box 26
U.S.D.A pamphlets, 1897, 1910-1923, 1938-1939, includes: "Farm Tenantry in the United States," 1916 "Soil Survey of Polk County, Nebraska," 1917 "The Nebraska Farm Family - Some Land Tenure Phases," 1923
Series 2
Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Nebraska Bulletins, 1911-1923, includes: "From Management Studies in Eastern Nebraska," 1916 "The Farm Inventory," 1917 "Agricultural Statistics for Nebraska," 1920 "Nebraska Farm Homes," 1923
Series 3
Organizations, includes assorted rosters, programs, lists: United Spanish War Veterans Lincoln Woman's Club Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War P.E.O. American Legion Municipal League of Lincoln, Nebraska
Series 4 - Clippings
Box 27 Folder
1. W.W.I. 2. Politics 3. Obituaries 4. Miscellany
Series 5 - Publications
Box 27 (cont.)
"Nebraska's Resources, Illustrated," Nebraska Farmer Co., Omaha, Nebraska, 1903
RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 13
Subgroup 7: Miscellaneous Materials Series 1 - Genealogy
Box 27 (cont.)
Nance family Bible recording births, 1784-1827
Box 28
D.A.R. applications and related materials on White and Halstead families
Series 2 - Military Service, Pensions
Box 28 (cont.) Folder
1. Walter L. Anderson, commission and discharge certificate 2. Pension papers 3. Papers relating to issue and return of Quarter Master stores 4. Orders, medical certificates
Series 3 - Manuscripts
Box 28 (cont.) Folder
1. Speech material 2. Essays 3. Verse 4. Letter and text of the "Imogene Platform," adopted July 10, 1886, at Imogene, Iowa
Series 4 - Miscellany
Box 29 Folder
1. Passports, Walter L. Anderson 2. Railroad lands, Butler County, 1879 3. Stock certificates 4. Scholastic records, Walter L. Anderson 5. Selective Service bulletins, 1919 6. Muster roll, Hot Springs Guards 7. Potpourri 8. Potpourri 9. Potpourri 10. Potpourri RG2967.AM: Anderson, Helen Marie Page 14
Box 30
Travel folders, guides, information, souvenirs, and related items
Box 31
Travel folders, guides, information, souvenirs, and related items
Oversize (OB002)
The Morning Chronicle , London, England, No. 11627, Friday, August 22, 1806 Detroit Daily Free Press , Detroit, Michigan, V. 21, No. 27, Wednesday, August 12, 1857 Ulster County Gazette , Kingston, New York (?), V. 11, No. 88, Saturday, January 4, 1800 Certificates, diplomas, etc.
DAB/HEK/ab 05-29-1967 KFK 07-22-1996; 12-12-2003 Revised TMM 01-27-2010
Subject headings:
Anderson, Helen Marie Nance, 1877-1966 Anderson, Walter Lincoln, 1868-1959 Anderson family Anderson & Anderson (Lincoln, Neb.) Europe -- Description and travel Halstead family Hot Springs (S.D.) Lawyers -- Nebraska -- Lincoln Lincoln (Neb.) Nance, Albinus, 1848-1911 Nance family Politics and government -- Nebraska Republican Party -- Nebraska White family