A Guide to the Anacacho Ranche Collection, 1875-1931

Historical Note

The Anacacho Ranche, located in Kinney and Maverick Counties, Texas, was a ranch run by a firm comprised of brothers Samuel Jones Woodhull, Josiah Townsend Woodhull and Oliver Jones Woodhull. The brothers were the sons of Josiah Woodhull, birthplace unknown, and Hannah Jones Woodhull, born on Long Island, New York, and settled in San Antonio. On the ranch, the brothers raised cattle, sheep and goats. During the 1890s, Townsend Woodhull formed a banking partnership with his father-in-law Thomas C. Frost of San Antonio, who would later organize the Frost National Bank in San Antonio.

In addition to running the ranch, the Woodhull brothers, especially Townsend, and their families were influential in civic and cultural affairs of the area. Townsend served on several juries from 1883-1885 and, in 1885, he was appointed County Commissioner in Kinney County by Judge I. L. Martin. A later family member, Frost Woodhull, was district manager for an opponent of former Texas Governor Pat Neff in his re-election bid of 1922.

Scope and Content Note

The Anacacho Ranche papers span the years 1875 through 1931 and document the business dealings of the Woodhull brothers. The brothers formed a firm, named the Woodhull Bros., and invested in land parcels as well as the ranch. The documents offer a glimpse into daily life at the ranch and in a 19th century family, as well as conveying information about land, prices and the economy in San Antonio and South Texas, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The papers predominately cover the years 1880-1888 and are arranged into two series: Business and Personal.

The Business series includes bills-of-sale, correspondence, contracts, inventories, permits, receipts and other administrative, legal and financial documents. The series is divided into the following subseries: General, Land, and Ranch. The General business papers reflect the wide interests that the Woodhull brothers had in local Kinney County and San Antonio business deals. Documents include letters of introduction, letters asking for business opinions, promissory notes and other inquiries about debts, and receipts for articles purchased. The papers in the Land subseries generally reflect issues of buying and selling non Anacacho Ranche land parcels. Of special note are the folder listing the land owned by the Woodhull brothers and folder of maps showing that land. The Ranch subseries deals with the Anacacho Ranche land and livestock. There are inventories of the Anacacho Ranche and the San Vicente Ranche, sales agreements and receipts for livestock, letters about personnel, and of particular note a series of letters from George Hobbs, foreman in charge of taking a flock of sheep on a drive from the Ranch into Mexico. The letters detail an Indian scare, dealing with weather hazards, the need to pay the shepherds, and the other hardships that he encountered.

The Personal papers include advertisements, receipts, correspondence, and newspaper articles. This series includes correspondence from family members, mostly cousins, as well as a small amount of correspondence from non Woodhull relatives to the Woodhull brothers. There is also some correspondence from friends. The rest of the materials include receipts for household goods, a news clipping and a letter appointing J.T. Woodhull to County Commissioner of Precinct 4 of Kinney Co., Texas, dated May 13, 1885.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is housed at UTSA's Main Campus and must be accessed via the John Peace Library Special Collections reading room. To request access, please use the Collections Request Form.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Anacacho Ranche Collection must be obtained from University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections or the appropriate copyright holder.

Related Material

Separated Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Anacacho Ranche Collection, 1875-1931, MS 131, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Information

Tom C. Frost, III, donated the papers to University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections in August 2004. Frost acquired the collection through a book dealer.

Processing Information

Processed by Gerrianne Schaad, Head, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections, and Mathew C. Martin, Collections Assistant, June 2006.

Processing of this collection was made possible through a donation from Tom C. Frost, III.

Processing note: The papers were originally filed alphabetically in a letter Box. The filing was quirky and over the years, some materials had gotten out of order. For the sake of improving access, the documents were arranged into subjects and given a detailed description. In many cases, subjects overlap within the correspondence. Sometimes personal messages and thoughts are included within letters regarding business transactions, ranch business, land deals, and so forth.

Detailed Description of the Collection