A Guide to the George Washington Littlefield Papers, 1860-1942

Biographical Note

George W. Littlefield, born in Mississippi on June 21, 1842, moved to Texas as a child and grew up on his family's plantation in Gonzales County. He attended Gonzales College and Baylor University before joining Terry's Texas Rangers at the outset of the Civil War and fighting at Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga and finally Mossy Creek. After the war he returned to Texas to work the plantation co-owned with his brother. Early financial losses were followed by successes in livestock and real estate, and by 1881 he sold his sizable ranch and water rights for almost $250,000.

Littlefield continued to expand ranching operations, buying property and water rights in New Mexico and Texas, including the Yellow House Ranch in Hockley and Lamb counties (Texas). He also diversified his business operations by venturing into banking and founding the American National Bank in Austin. The bank was housed in the ornate 9-story Littlefield Building, complete with cast bronze doors. Littlefield also owned the historic Driskill Hotel in Austin.

In 1911 Littlefield was appointed to the University of Texas Board of Regents, and thus embarked on a period of great influence on the state's flagship university. Through a relationship with legendary historian and faculty member Eugene C. Barker, Littlefield sought to strengthen the archival collections of the university, and in 1914 he began what would eventually be well over $100,000 in support to establish the Littlefield Fund for Southern History. Littlefield's work was fundamental in the establishment of the archival resources of the Barker Texas History Center, and, later, the Center for American History. He also gave generously to purchase the John Henry Wrenn Library, and donated the Littlefield home and other important landmarks to the university. Littlefield was the University of Texas' largest single financial supporter in the first fifty years of the institution's existence. After his death on November 10, 1920, George W. Littlefield was buried in Austin.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, account books, newspaper clippings, and printed material document the life of George W. Littlefield (rancher, banker, and philanthropist). Included are documents relating to Littlefield's family, Yellow House Ranch, Lamb County, and Terry's Texas Rangers.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

George Washington Littlefield Papers, 1860-1942, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Detailed Description of the Papers