This series contains the letters of the Thornton family, including General William Fitzhugh Thornton (W.F. Thornton), his wife Ann, and from four of his nine children, Mildred Rootes, Eliza McClanahan, William Wedderburn, and Thomas McClanahan.

These boxes contain the correspondence and business records of Thomas McClanahan Thornton (Thomas M.). This subseries includes material regarding the right of way for a railroad line to Shelbyville, Illinois, 1890. Letters are arranged chronologically. Thomas M. Thornton was General Thornton’s youngest son (born 1836) and was his father’s partner in the banking business, as well as his nephew, Thomas T. Holloway.

This first box in this series contains letters written by Eliza Thornton Holloway, primarily to her husband Edmunds B. Holloway while he served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War and Civil War, 1861. Before her marriage to Edmunds in 1848, she addressed her letters to him as Cousin and signed with her maiden name, Eliza Thornton. Also included are letters written to Eliza by family and friends, her writings, and personal papers.

The second box contains manuscripts written by Eliza Holloway, some under her pen name Teresa A. Thornet. Recipes, ephemera, and family mementos are also included.

This series includes letters, legal documents, receipts, and ephemera of Edmunds Ballard Holloway. The letters written by Edmunds B. Holloway describe his military career with the U.S. Army during the Mexican War through the Civil War, 1861. Included are letters written to him by other military personnel, friends, and family, with one from his son Robert in the third grade.

A transcription of select correspondence between Edmunds and Eliza Holloway while he served with the United States Army in Texas and New Mexico for the period 1852-1861 is available. Note: E.B.H. and E.B. Holloway is Edmunds B. Holloway, and E.H. is Eliza Holloway.

This series contains correspondence of the children of Edmunds and Eliza Holloway and are arranged alphabetically.

Thomas Thornton Holloway, or T.T., grew up in the home of his grandfather, General William Fitzhugh Thornton after his father died in the Civil War. He attended the Virginia Military Institute and received the distinguished Jackson-Hope medal. He later studied law at the University of Virginia and practiced law in Shelbyville, Illinois and Dallas, Texas, where he served for a short time as a federal judge. He was president of the Dallas Bar Association from 1909-1915, a Four Minute Man, and founder of the Central Congregation Church. T.T. married Edith Trower in 1885 and they had a daughter, Mildred, before Edith passed away ten years later. In 1903 he married Sarah Holmes Hardwicke and they had two children.

Boxes 10-11 contain religious writings and Sunday school lessons by T.T. Holloway, which were available by subscription. It appears that T.T. wrote his wife nearly every day they were separated by travel. He would sometimes address his letters to his wife as “Dear Ruth.”

This subseries is protected by attorney-client confidentiality and is restricted until 2020.

This series mostly contains client files, however, administrative records and even receipts for Dictograph Product Company are included.

Rev. John B. Hardwicke was a Baptist minister who preached from West Virginia southward to Corpus Christi, Texas. Highlights in this series include the diaries and sermons of Rev. Hardwicke, and Anna Pennybacker’s family and women’s club correspondence.

Rev. John B. Hardwicke (1830-1895) and Martha Dews Hardwicke (1830-1913) had eight children: Andrew Fuller (1856-1884) was the editor of the Atchison Globe newspaper. Samuel Poindexter (1858-1916) was a well-known Texas trial lawyer and judge. Anna J. Hardwicke Pennybacker (1861-1938) was an Episcopalian, suffragist, teacher, and served as President of Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs and General Federation of Women’s Clubs. In 1899 she wrote A New History of Texas. Leola (1863-1864) John Benjamin Jr. (1865-1905) was editor of the Texas Sun in Corpus Christi. Martha Dews (1868-1869) Sarah Holmes Hardwicke Holloway (1870-1963) was a music teacher and married Thomas T. Holloway in Dallas, Texas. Able Sinnette (1873-1945) was a lawyer in Abilene who practiced with his brother S.P. (Samuel Poindexter). He later worked for the Magnolia Petroleum Company and as city attorney of Dallas. His granddaughter Ann Hardwicke married Dan Moody, son of Texas governor Daniel James Moody.

Sarah Holmes Hardwicke Holloway (1870-1963) was the daughter of Rev. John B. Hardwicke and Martha Dews Hardwicke. She attended the Sherman Institute, later known as Mary Nash College in Texas. While teaching piano at Landon Conservatory in Dallas, she married Thomas T. Holloway, the widowed father of one of her students. Sarah was involved in the Mary Nash Club, the Women’s Auxiliary, and the Standard Club, serving as its president from 1934-1935. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, the Women’s Missionary Union, and The Dallas Lawyer’s Wives’ Club.

Mildred Holloway McConnell (1890-1984), Thomas Thornton Holloway Jr. (1904-1994), and Sarah Ruth Holloway (1909-1989) were the children of T.T. and Sarah Holloway. Mildred was T.T.’s daughter from his first marriage to Edith Trower. Mildred attended the Virginia Institute Conservatory of Music and later married Paul McConnell.

Thomas Thornton Holloway Jr. or “Tom” attended Dallas High School, Southern Methodist University, and Princeton University. In 1933 he was ordained at First Baptist Church of Dallas and worked for the American Bible Society. He and his wife Sadie had two children: Sarah and Thomas T. Holloway III. Sadie’s parents were Baptist missionaries in China, which may account for the Chinese grade school materials in this series.

Sarah Ruth Holloway or “Ruth” graduated from Judson College and later joined the Marine Corps Reserve. Ruth’s letters to her mother and 1943 Marine Corp class schedule provide a personal history of women in the Marine Corp Reserve during World War II.

Materials on the genealogy of the Thornton, Holloway, and Hardwicke families are included.

This series includes various diplomas, certificates, prints and a nineteenth century writing portfolio.