urn:taro:ttu.sw.00237 R. C. Couch: An Inventory of His Papers, 1909-1956 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library Karen Hicks The Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library

The Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library Texas Tech University MS 41041 Lubbock, Texas 79409 Phone: (806)-742-3749 Fax: (806)-742-0496 Webpage: http://swco.ttu.edu/ Contact Person: Reference Archivist

December 8, 2004 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided Karen Hicks, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, December 2004 Finding aid written in English. Inventory for the R. C. Couch Papers, 1909-1956 and undated Karen Hicks Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, 2004 Descriptive Summary Couch, R. C. R. C. Couch Papers, 1909-1956 and undated The collection consists of correspondence and other documents generated by the business, civic, and personal activities and interests of R. C. Couch of Haskell, Texas from 1909-1956 and undated. S 1683.1 Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University 5 boxes (5.0 linear feet) English. Biographical Sketch

R. C. (Riley Carlton) Couch was a long-time resident of Haskell, Haskell County, Texas. He was born in the early 1880s in Coleman County and moved with his wife Ada Baker Couch from Munday in Knox County to Haskell in 1915. In addition to managing his farming and cattle interests, Couch served as an officer for a number of West Texas banks and held land in a number of West Texas counties. In 1919, Couch, his brothers E. C. Couch, D. R. Couch, and brother-in-law R. L. Reeves, established the Weslaco Townsite Company which promoted the development of the town of Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley. Civic posts held by Couch include Postmaster of Munday and Haskell, Mayor of Haskell, President and member of Haskell School Board, President of Haskell Chamber of Commerce, and Vice President and member of the Executive Board of the West Texas Chamber of Commerce. Couch was active in the Southern Baptist Church where he taught Sunday School classes and served as Superintendent. Politically, Couch was an active member of the Republican Party.

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence sent and received by R. C. Couch. The material relates to Couch's activities in his various business enterprises, civic affairs, and some family and personal matters. Topics include agriculture, agricultural and oil industry leasing, banking, finance and credit, and land sales. The material provides a view of how the depression of the 1930s affected banking and other businesses in which Couch and his associates were engaged.

Organization

The material was housed in letter file boxes and the original organization has been retained. In addition to correspondence, the collection includes lesser amounts of financial material and legal material, much of which was filed with the correspondence. The original organization is generally alphabetical. The basis for alphabetizing includes name of correspondent, business, subject, or place origin of correspondence. Correspondence with brothers E. C. and D. R. Couch is found in "C." Materials concerning various banking ventures are filed by the town in which a particular bank was located. Chronological arrangement of the material within files was generally from most recent to more distant. The material is organized by the following series: Correspondence, Financial Material, Legal Material, Miscellaneous.

Index Terms

The subject headings used by the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library are derived from the Library of Congress and/or locally developed.

Subjects (Persons) Couch, R. C. Couch, E. C. Couch, D. R. Subjects Agriculture--Texas, West--History Banks and banking--Texas--History Cattle industry--Texas, West--History Depressions--1929--Texas Haskell (Tex.)--History Hidalgo County (Tex.)--History Weslaco (Tex.)--History

Collection accession #(s): 89-0135-B; 90-0032-B; 90-0264-B

Gifts, 1989-1990.

Access Restrictions

Open for research

Processed by

Karen Hicks, 2004

Preferred Citation

R. C. Couch Papers, 1909-1956 and undated, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

For related materials located in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, see the following collections:

Virgil Sonnamaker oral history interview [sound recording], 1976 Collection Inventory Correspondence, 1909-1956 1 1 Business, 1949-1951 1 2 Cattle Sales, 1949-1951 1 3 Cotton Seed Products, 1950 General 1 4 General, 1909-1914 1 5 A-G, 1915-1916 1 6 H-K, 1914-1916 1 7 L-R, 1914-1916 1 8 S-Z, 1914-1916 1 9 A-G, 1917-1919 1 10 H-M, 1916-1919 1 11 N-Z, 1917-1919 1 12 A-C, 1920-1922 1 13 D-H, 1920-1922 1 14 I-O, 1920-1922 1 15 P-Z, 1920-1921 1 16 A-B, 1922-1923 1 17 C, 1921-1922 1 18 D-M, 1922-1923 1 19 N-Z, 1922-1923 2 1 A-C, 1925-1926 2 2 B, 1925 2 3 D-L, 1925 2 4 M-Z, 1925 2 5 A-C, 1927 2 6 D-J, 1927 2 7 K-Z, 1927 2 8 A-B, 1928 2 9 C, 1928 2 10 K-L, 1927-1928 2 11 M-Z, 1927-1928 2 12 A-B, 1928-1929 2 13 C, 1928-1929 2 14 D-M, 1928-1929 2 15 N-Z, 1928-1929 3 1 A-B, 1930 3 2 C, 1930 3 3 D-J, 1930 3 4 H-Z, 1930 3 5 A-B, 1931 3 6 C, 1931 3 7 D-L, 1931 3 8 M-Z, 1931 3 9 A-C, 1932 3 10 D-F, 1931-1932 3 11 G-L, 1932 3 12 M-Z, 1932 3 13 A-C, 1933-1934 3 14 D-L, 1933-1934 3 15 M-W, 1933-1934 4 1 A-D, 1934-1936 4 2 E-G, 1934-1935 4 3 H-P, 1934-1936 4 4 R-Z, 1934-1936 4 5 A-D, 1936-1938 4 6 E-J, 1934-1937 4 7 K-M, 1934-1937 4 8 N-Z, 1933-1937 4 9 A-D, 1938-1939 4 10 E-K, 1937-1939 4 11 L-Z, 1938-1939 4 12 A-C, 1940-1941 4 13 D-G, 1940-1941 5 1 H-L, 1940-1941 5 2 M-Z, 1939-1941 5 3 A-D, 1945-1949 5 4 E-L, 1946-1948 5 5 M-Z, 1944-1948 5 6 A-B, 1951-1955 5 7 C-O, 1948-1954 5 8 P-Z, 1952-1954 5 9 A-Z, 1955-1956 5 10 Insurance, 1949-1950 5 11 Personal, 1949-1951 5 12 West Texas Chamber of Commerce, 1930 Financial Material, 1913-1956 5 13 General, 1949-1951 5 14 Loan agreements, Invoices, Receipts, and Statements, 1953-1956 5 15 Returned checks, 1913-1917 General Files, 1947-1950 5 16 Cattle, 1950 and undated 5 17 American Hereford Records - Pedigree Certificates, 1947-1949 Legal Material, 1951 5 18 Real Estate Lease, 1951 Miscellaneous, 1925-1948 and undated 5 19 Miscellaneous, 1925-1948 and undated