A Guide to the Williamson Simpson Oldham Reminiscences, 1843-1920

Biographical Note

Born to Elias Oldham and Mary Burton in Franklin County, Tennessee, Williamson Simpson Oldham (1813-1868) taught school before being admitted to the bar in 1836. After establishing a law practice in Arkansas, he married Mary Vance McKissick, with whom he had five children. In 1838, Oldham was appointed to the General Assembly of the Arkansas House of Representatives and was elected associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1844. He moved to Austin, Texas, in 1849, following his loss in the congressional races of 1846 and 1848. After the death of his wife Mary, Oldham married twice more: first to Ann S. Kirk in 1850 and then to Agnes Harper in 1857. He became president of the Austin Railroad Association in 1852 and worked as the editor of the State Gazette from 1854 through 1857. Although Oldham lost in the Texas congressional races of 1853 and 1859, he was appointed to the Secession Convention in 1861 and became a member of the Provincial Congress of the Confederate States of America. Following the Civil War, Oldham lived in both Mexico and Canada, where he began writing about his experiences in the Confederacy. He returned to Texas in 1866 and died two years later.

Source:

Cutrer, Thomas W. "Oldham, Williamson Simpson."Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed July 27, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fol02.

Scope and Contents

Composed of correspondence, proclamations, a memoir, an article, and Confederate currency, the Williamson Simpson Oldham Reminiscences, 1843-1920, chronicle Oldham’s political career. Correspondence concerns political affairs, especially Oldham’s activities as a member of the Provincial Congress of the Confederate States of America, while a memoir describes his political career, and an article entitled "Last Days of the Confederacy," discusses his experiences during the Civil War. Additionally, the collection includes Confederate proclamations and currency.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Williamson Simpson Oldham Reminiscences, 1843-1920, 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.

Detailed Description of the Papers