A Guide to the George Willrich Papers, 1873-1937

Biographical Note

George Willrich (1861-1932) was the son of George Willrich and Liane de Lassaulx. The Willrich family immigrated to Texas from Germany in 1846, settling in Fayette County as farmers and stock-raisers. In 1898, the younger George married Olivia Tuttle (d. 1944), and after a few months, he became captain of Company H, 1st Texas Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War. President McKinley granted Olivia special permission to join her husband’s company during his service. Before and after the war, Willrich worked as a farmer and operated a law practice in LaGrange.

Sources:

"The Story of Texas – The Museum – New Artifacts." The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Accessed January 20, 2011. http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/the_museum/special/new_artifacts.html.

Leffler, John J. "The Paradox of Patriotism: Texans in the Spanish-American War."Hayes Historical Journal: A Journal of the Gilded Age Vol. 8, No. 3 (Spring 1989): pp. 24-48.

Scope and Contents

Comprising war records, correspondence, financial and legal papers, publications, photographs, and other documents, the George Willrich Papers, 1873-1937, document the legal, military, and farming career of Willrich. Legal documents concern the law career of Willrich in the form of estate papers, divorce files, trial transcripts, court dockets, guardianship papers, insurance claims, abstracts, briefs, bankruptcy files, publications, forms, parole and pardon correspondence, and land transactions. Example cases pertain to War Savings Stamps and Liberty Loans buyers, the Heller and Dorothea Kraus estates, the case of Henry Graf et al. vs. Buckholts State Bank et al., the J. W. Gates land affair, Katrena P. Barta vs. Vinc V. Barta, and the guardianship of Mary Wecheta et al., among others. Financial papers consist of bills, bond purchasing correspondence, account books, cancelled paychecks, check stubs, bank account ledgers, and financial correspondence, relating to Willrich’s legal cases and personal finances. Composed of infantry ledgers, veterans’ pensions correspondence, photographs, forms, and correspondence, the military records concern Willrich’s service in the United States Army before the Spanish-American War, his tenure as captain of Company H in the 1st Texas Volunteer Infantry during the war, and his years as a veteran. Personal papers illuminate Willrich’s interest in politics and election results, including newspaper clippings, campaign pamphlets, and correspondence; his farming activities; and his relationships with family and friends, including his wife Olivia Tuttle Woolrich and the Tuttle family.

Archivist’s note: A paper copy of the Willrich Papers finding aid contains a more in-depth inventory.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

George Willrich Papers, 1873-1937, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Processing Information

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.

This collection contains unprocessed materials.

Detailed Description of the Papers