R.K. Wimberley, the son of World War I soldier Charles R. Wimberley, served during World War II, and worked during the summer of 1968 at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, Texas. R.K. Wimberley maintained old papers related to the history of the Wimberley family, the Wimberley Mill and Cotton Gin, and the area now known as Wimberley, Texas.
William C. Winters built and operated the Wimberley Mill and Cotton Gin in the 1850s. After Winters died in 1864, his son-in-law John Cude took over operation of the mill and the settlement around the mill became known as Cude’s Mill. In the 1870s, when Cude sold the mill to Pleasant Wimberley (1823-1919), the town’s name changed to Wimberley’s Mill, which by 1880 became simply Wimberley. Pleasant had several partners while he owned the mill, including his sons Andrew and Zachary, his son-in-law Nathan Emory Hughes, and his grandson-in-law John Will Pyland, who also ran a dry goods store. With the addition of partners the company’s name changed from Wimberley and Sons to Wimberley and Pyland.
John Will Pyland (1870-1937) married Pleasant Wimberley’s granddaughter, Susie Wimberley, and operated the Wimberley Mill after Pleasant’s death in 1919. The business folded in 1925 due to a decline in small farmers in the area. The Mill was torn down in 1934.
The R.K. Wimberley Papers relate to the Wimberley Mill and Cotton Gin and include numerous handwritten notes, bills of sale, advertisements, and receipts from the town of Wimberley, Texas, particularly the businesses of Dr. W.J. and John Will Pyland, from 1881 to 1916. Of noted significance are a Morris and Cass County, Texas, vote count of the 1892 presidential and state election, noting a majority for Grover Cleveland; an 1885 twenty dollar Confederate States of America facsimile note; and a photograph of the Wimberley Mill, circa 1900. Biographical notes and 52 photographs arranged by R.K. Wimberley concern the life and estate of American Civil War soldier John Clem. Additionally, the papers include draft cards for R.K. Wimberley and C.R. Wimberley; letters between brothers David C. and Charles R. Wimberley; and correspondence between Gustavos A. Lawrence and his granddaughter, Mrs. Charles R. Wimberley, around the time of World War I.
This collection is open for research.
Wimberley (R.K.) Papers, 1881-1936, 1946, 1968, undated, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Some material has been separated to the Newspaper and Artifacts Collection.
See also
This collection was processed by Evan Usler, October 2010.