Descriptive Summary
Hill, John R.
Hill, John R. Papers
1826-1878
Materials are written in English.
1934; 1938
1 ft., 4 in.
Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin
John R. Hill was a successful Texas
planter, known for encouraging Polish immigration to Texas. Correspondence,
broadsides, receipts, financial records, bonds, currency, legal documents,
contracts, memoranda, and certificates comprise the papers.
Biographical Sketch
John R. Hill (d.1878) was a successful Texas planter, known for encouraging Polish
immigration to Texas, mainly to alleviate the labor problems he faced during the mid
19th century. Hill and eleven others organized the Waverley Emigration Society, to
bring Polish farmworkers to East Texas. He persuaded five families to move from
overseas to his plantation with the promise of work and compensation. Hill served as
a trustee of the Marion Male and Female Academy and as president of the Waverly
Institute, established in 1856 in Waverly, Texas.
Sources: Calvert, Robert A. The Freedmen and Agricultural
Prosperity.
The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 4
(Apr., 1973), pp. 461-472.
Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Waverly, Texas,
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/WW/hnw24.html (accessed July 20,
2010).
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, broadsides, receipts, financial records, bonds, currency, legal
documents, contracts, memoranda, and certificates comprise the John R. Hill Papers,
1826-1878. The papers relate to the business and legal affairs of Hill, including
the operation of Hill’s plantation, the purchase of goods and slaves, land sales and
purchases, litigation over land titles, and matters of estate settlement.
Additionally, the papers contain a contract for the Waverly Emigration Society,
1867.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Index Terms
Subjects (Persons)
Hill, John R.--Archives.
Bailey, Rufus William, 1793-1863.
Briggs, James.
Cole, David R.
Echols, Edward H.
Griffith, John.
Harris, William A.
Hill, Adam.
Hill, C. T.
Hill, James A.
Hill, Robert.
Moore, John W.
Mosley, Charles.
Ray, John.
Scott, James E.
Traylor, John.
Subjects (Organizations)
Waverly Emigration Society.
Subjects
Plantations--Texas.
Slaves--Texas.
Land titles--Registration and transfer--Texas.
Administration of estates--Texas.
Places
Mobile (Ala.).
Marion (La.).
New Orleans (La.).
Abbeville (S.C.).
Portersville (Tenn.).
Port Lavaca (Tex.).
Walker County (Tex.).
Waverly (Tex.).
Preferred Citation
John R. Hill Papers, 1826-1878, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin.
Processing Information
Subsequent revisions were made by Sara Clark, April 1992.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.
Detailed Description of the Papers
Inventory
2E240
Correspondence,
1837-1878
2E240
Information on schools in Walker County, Texas
2E240
John Traylor letters,
1857-1868
2E240
Account papers,
1826-1862
2E241
Account papers,
1863-1875, undated
2E241
Legal documents,
1830-1871, undated
2E241
Land papers,
1847-1878
2E241
Unidentified and undated fragments
2E241
Printed,
undated
2E242
Two memorandum books,
1837-1856
2E242
Account book:
2E242
1846-1851
2E242
1847
2E242
Account book for the estate of Benjamin E. Davis,
1846-1847
2E242
Negro accounts,
1854-1861
2E242
Ledger,
1859-1869
2E242
Daybook,
1846
2.325/D31c
Account book:
2.325/D31c
1834-1846
2.325/D31c
1851-1866
2.325/K69a
Contract for the Waverly Emigration Society,
1867