A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of
Research Collections in American Politics
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UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA
A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of
RESEARCH COLLECTIONS IN AMERICAN POLITICS
Microforms from Major Archival and Manuscript Collections
General Editor: William Leuchtenburg
THE
THOMAS E. WATSON
PAPERS
Guide Compiled by
Martin Schipper
A microfilm project of
UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA
An Imprint of CIS
4520 East-West Highway • Bethesda, MD 20814-3389
LCCN 92-42567
Copyright ® 1991 by University Publications of America.
All rights reserved.
ISBN 1-55655-291-2.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
v
Scope and Content Note
xvii
Note on Sources
xxix
Editorial Note
xxix
Reel Index
Reell
Subseries 1.1.1873-1892
Subseries 1.2.1893-1897
1
1
Reel 2
Subseries 1.2.1893-1897 cont
2
Reels
Subseries 1.3.1898-1903
Subseries 1.4.1904-1908
2
2
Reels 4-10
Subseries 1.4.1904-1908 cont
3
Reel 11
Subseries 1.4.1904-1908 cont
Subseries 1.5.1909-1920
4
4
Reel 12
Subseries 1.5.1909-1920 cont
Subseries 1.6.1921-1937 and 1983
5
5
Reels 13-15
Subseries 1.6.1921-1937 and 1983 cont
5
Reel 16
Subseries 1.6.1921-1937 and 1983 cont
Subseries 1.7. Undated
6
6
m
Reels 17-18
Series 2. Speeches by Watson, 1872-1918
6
Reels 19-24
Subseries 3.1. Book Manuscripts
7
Reel 25
Subseries 3.2. Other Writings, 1870-1921 and Undated
8
Reel 26
Subseries 3.2. Other Writings, 1870-1921 and Undated cont
Subseries 4.1. Legal and Financial Papers, 1877-1981 and Undated
9
9
Reel 27
Subseries 4.2. Writings by Others, 1896-1917 and Undated
10
Reel 28
Subseries 4.3. Miscellaneous Papers, 1877-1981 and Undated
Subseries 5.1. Printed Writings by Watson, 1892-1921 and Undated
10
10
Reel 29
Subseries 5.2. People's Party Paper, 1891-1898 and Undated
Subseries 5.3. Other Material, 1863-1986 and Undated
11
11
Reel 30
Subseries 5.3. Other Material, 1863-1986 and Undated cont
11
Reels 31-33
Series 6. Volumes, 1860-1965
11
Reel 34
Series 6. Volumes, 1860-1965 cont
Series 7. Pictures, ca. 1875-1922 and Undated
12
12
Calendar of Selected Correspondence
13
Subject Index
17
IV
INTRODUCTION
In rural Georgia, decades after the death of Tom Watson, one could still hear a
mournful ballad called "The Thomas E. Watson Song." In verse after verse it told
of "A man of mighty power" and of "how he fought and struggled" and of how, in
the end, he failed.1
Tom Watson was one of those powerful and powerfully flawed public figures
who have loomed larger than life in American politics. Like Huey Long, Watson
had a special bond with the common people whom he championed; he evoked
their anger and their aspirations while generating an equally powerful loathing
among the political and cultural elite. Like George Wallace, Watson's economic
populism was linked, at various times, to quite different positions on matters of
race. Watson's fiery temperament and combative nature would lead him from
one scrape to another throughout a public career that spanned forty years. He
was, in sum, a very interesting fellow.
Watson's Background
Thomas Edward Watson was born 5 September 1856, on his grandfather's
plantation near Thomson, Georgia, which was located in the heart of the old
Georgia-Carolina cotton belt. As the owner of forty-five slaves and 1,372 acres,
"Squire" Watson fit comfortably into the antebellum planter class although not at
its very top. Political luminaries like Robert Toombs and Alexander Stephens
(future vice-president of the Confederacy) were frequent visitors to the Watson
home and became the heroes of young Tom, whose early years were spent
comfortably within the circle of the plantation community.
The Civil War and its aftermath changed all that. Watson's father, twice
wounded, returned from the fighting to find his own father near death and slavery
swept away. Unable to adapt to the new conditions of farm labor, victimized by
falling cotton prices, and frequently incapacitated by "the blues," John Watson
lost the family plantation to creditors in 1868. In the years that followed the
Watson family experienced deprivation like that of the poor dirt farmers whose
interests John's son would later champion.
Before and after the family's financial ruin young Tom Watson was a lover of
books, a diarist, and a writer of poetry. While his brothers were being pressed
into farm labor, Tom was allowed to continue his intellectual pursuits. In 1872, by
means of a loan and promise of a scholarship, he entered Mercer College, a
small Baptist school then located in Penfield, Georgia.
After two years his funds were exhausted, and he left Mercer to take up a
series of jobs teaching school in rural Screven County. Living with poor farm
families, sharing their meals, their community life, and their hardships, was a vital
part of Tom Watson's education. Later he recalled, "I gained a knowledge of
these people which no books could give me•these plain, country people•and
I loved them."2
No doubt he did love them, but Watson had no intention of passing his days as
a country school teacher. He read law in his spare time, and in 1875 he was
admitted to the Georgia bar. Clients were almost nonexistent in Screven County,
so he returned to Thomson, now the seat of the newly created McDuffie County.
Watson quickly established a reputation as an effective trial lawyer, mainly as a
defense attorney in criminal cases. In an environment where the practice of law
and the practice of politics were intertwined in what amounted to a popular spectator sport, Watson's folksy and effective courtroom style made him an obvious
prospect for public office. In 1882 the voters of McDuffie County elected him to
the state legislature and sent him off to Atlanta to represent their rural interests.
Politics and Tom Watson
Georgia's capital in 1882 was a provincial town with urban aspirations. There
Henry Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, held forth as a tireless promoter
of a New South based on industry and commerce, with Atlanta as its capital.
Watson's boyhood idol Alexander Stephens, now in failing health, was the newly
elected governor, but despite the presence of that champion of the old agrarian
regime, the political tide ran in Grady's direction and against the rural way of life
that Watson held dear.
The young representative from McDuffie spent his single two-year term
resisting that tide. He championed legislation to abolish Georgia's convict lease
system under which industrialists secured the forced labor of state prisoners
(mainly black), backed an amendment to the legal code to strengthen the rights
of tenant farmers (whose number had included his own brother), and spoke for
a bill that would have required railroads to pay county taxes. None of them
passed, but Watson had begun to establish a reputation as a champion of the
forgotten farmer.
Back home in Thomson after one term, Watson poured his energy into his
growing law practice and used much of his earnings to amass extensive landholdings•including portions of the homestead his father had been forced to sell.
By 1887 he owned over 3,000 acres and had twenty-one tenant families working
his land. The management of that tenant plantation system was largely in the
hands of his wife, Georgia Durham Watson, who, in the tradition of the antebellum plantation mistress, combined business acumen with a demure persona.3
VI
While Watson's wealth and law practice continued to grow in the 1880s, fate
was not so kind to most Georgia farmers. Declining cotton prices, expensive
credit, and volatile transportation costs drove many of them to the edge of the
same financial abyss that had claimed John Watson. Beginning in 1887 Georgia
farmers flocked to a new organization that promised relief through economic
cooperation, the Farmers' Alliance. By 1890 over 100,000 Georgians had joined.
As a lawyer, Watson was not eligible for membership in the Alliance, but he,
like many politicians, was anxious to jump on the Alliance bandwagon. In 1888
Watson found his opportunity when a New York-based cartel doubled the price
of jute bagging, the material used to bale cotton. Watson turned his rhetorical
skills to the support of the Alliance's boycott of the jute monopoly:
Well might outsiders say to the "jute combine," as every Monday morning they
raise the price on the Southern farmer, "Hit him again, he's got no friend!" What
shall we do? Grin and endure it? I say no!...The Standard of Revolt is up. Let us
keep it up and speed it on."4
The jute trust was forced to roll back prices, giving the Alliance the appearance
of a giant-killer and fueling support for the organization's political demands, which
included a greatly expanded role for the federal government in the economic life
of the nation. Tom Watson embraced the Alliance's political demands and sought
the organization's support in a campaign for Congress in Georgia's tenth district.
On the hustings Watson established himself as the premier spokesman for the
aggrieved farmers of the South. Small of stature and weighing only 120 pounds,
he made a surprisingly strong impression. "He is meagre in flesh," one friend
wrote, "and what there is seems laid on grudgingly as if nature hesitated to make
a man at all." But a reporter captured his power in political combat: "Watson can
talk like the thrust of a bowie knife."5 His opponent, a portly, three-term incumbent from Augusta and president of the Augusta gas company, was no match for
the farmers' new champion.
In 1890 six of Georgia's ten congressional races were won by Democrats who
endorsed the Alliance's demands. Watson was among them. He joined a large
contingent of southern Democrats who were elected to state and federal office
and who pledged to enact the Alliance agenda. (In contrast, farmer-labor politics
that year in the Great Plains and Mountain West took the form of insurgency
under the banner of Independent or "People's" party tickets.)
But before the Fifty-Second Congress convened in late 1891, the political
landscape of Georgia and the South changed dramatically, and Watson's career
took an unexpected turn.
In Georgia and elsewhere in the South, state legislatures failed to advance the
Alliance's demands for such things as public ownership of the railroads and
radical reform of the banking and currency systems. Many of the Democrats
elected to Congress signaled their unwillingness to fight forthat agenda in
Washington. At just that moment the need for federal intervention was driven
home to Watson and his neighbors when the monopolization of rail service in the
Augusta area drove freight rates sky high.
vii
By the fall of 1891 Tom Watson was moving toward a break with the Democratic party. In October he began publication of a newspaper called the People's
Party Paper. When Congress convened in December, Watson, alone among the
forty-odd southerners elected with Alliance support, refused to support the
Democratic candidate for Speaker of the House, fellow Georgian but Alliance
foe Charles F. Crisp. Instead, Watson and eight western members formed the
first caucus of the People's party, and that group nominated Watson for speaker.
Watson, of course, lost, but he continued to introduce and champion bills that
would have enacted much of the new party's agenda•a graduated income tax,
abolition of national banks, and free coinage of silver, among others.
Watson and the Populists
In 1892 Tom Watson emerged as a national spokesman for the People's
(Populist) party as well as the movement's dominant figure in Georgia and a
candidate for re-election to Congress under the Populist banner. During the
critical period of the Populist movement, 1892-1896, Watson articulated
positions on economic matters that seemed strikingly radical and took stands
on matters of race that seemed remarkably advanced for the time and place.
Recent studies have, however, cast doubt on the extent of Watson's economic
and racial radicalism.
In the first half of the 1890s Watson vigorously supported such AlliancePopulist demands as public ownership of the railroads, imposition of a
progressive income tax, and sweeping changes in the banking and currency
system. However, Watson's reputation for economic radicalism owes more to his
unmatched rhetorical skills than to any fundamental quarrel with capitalism per
se. His widely circulated political manual of 1892, The People's Party Campaign
Book, was subtitled Not a Revolt; It is a Revolution. Here is a sample of the
rhetoric with which he stirred the emotions of hard-pressed farmers and laborers:
When men suffer for food it is hard. When their wives and children so suffer it is
harder. But when that suffering is felt to be undeserved, then it is hardest. And
when to this undeserved distress is added the belief that some other man is
withholding just dues, honest wages, fair reward of toil, then revolt is at hand.
The book's closing paragraph edged even closer to an unthinkable outcome: "As
the Nobleman said to the King, the night the Bastille fell, 'No sire, it is not a
Revolt, it is a Revolution.' "6
But close examination of Watson's economic pronouncements reveal that his
quarrel was not with capitalism but with its abuses. His philosophy was best
stated in the old Jacksonian motto emblazoned on the masthead of his newspaper, "Equal Rights to All, Special Privileges to None." Watson lashed out at
capitalists who denied to farmers and laborers a level playing field•the jute
monopolists, the railroads, the banks•and redoubled his attacks when the
capitalists in question were "foreigners" (that is, Northerners) who exploited his
beloved Southland.
VIII
The limited socialism of Populist schemes such as public ownership of the
railroads was just that: limited to those actions needed to restore a competitive
environment. By 1896 Watson was already heaping scorn on American
socialists: "Georgia is Populistic for Reform and not for Revolution" he
editorialized. "She stand[s] for the doctrines of Jefferson and not of Karl Marx."7
As with economics, Watson's stand on race relations was radical only in a
relative sense. Beginning with his campaign for re-election in 1892, Watson did
seek to forge a political alliance between poor whites and blacks in ways that
seemed to foreshadow the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century.
Watson's biographer, C. Vann Woodward, wrote in the 1930s that "Tom Watson
was perhaps the first native white Southern leader of importance to treat the
Negro's aspirations with the seriousness that human strivings deserve."
Woodward cited Watson's exhortation to black and white farmers: "You are kept
apart that you may be separately fleeced of your earnings. You are made to hate
each other because upon that hatred is rested the keystone of the arch of
financial despotism which enslaves you both."8 Toward the end of the 1892
campaign Watson saved a black Populist from a lynch mob, winning for himself
the support of many black Georgians.
And yet, even at its most advanced point Watson's racial liberalism was
limited. He never advocated social integration of the races, nor did he promise
government jobs to blacks who supported him. The black Populist whom he
sheltered from the mob was employed by Watson to recruit black voters, and in
explaining the man's presence in his own home Watson resorted to language
that by modern standards must be considered racist. All this is to say that
Watson was a creature of his time and place. Only in a most limited sense can
he be considered a forerunner of a biracial civil rights coalition.9
Watson's impassioned appeals to the dispossessed did not win him re-election
to Congress. In 1892 in a campaign marked by fraud and violence, Watson was
narrowly defeated by Democrat James C. C. Black of Augusta. Watson appealed
the results (the vote recorded in Augusta was double the number of registered
voters), but to no avail. In 1894, despite appeals by Watson and the Populists
to town-dwelling middle class voters, Black won again. This time the returns
were so obviously fraudulent that Black agreed to a new election, but the result
was the same. Some observers would trace Watson's increasing bitterness
toward blacks, immigrants, and Catholics to the Democrats' manipulation of
black voters and the mobilization of Augusta's Irish Catholic voters in support of
James C. C. Black.
Despite these defeats Watson was a force to be reckoned with in national
Populist circles. By 1895 Watson sided with that faction of the party that wished
to step back from some of the most radical demands and to prevent the 1896
platform from being "loaded down with all the political donkeyism which the longhaired men and short-haired women can devise...."10
IX
But Watson did not agree with those Populists who wished to "fuse" with
the Democrats and run a single presidential ticket in 1896. But fuse they did,
and Watson was in the thick of it. After a bitter convention fight the Populists
nominated William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic presidential standard bearer,
and named Watson as their vice-presidential candidate. Watson later claimed
that he accepted only to keep the various Populist factions from splitting apart
and with assurances that the Democrats' vice presidential candidate, banker
Arthur Sewell, would be withdrawn in Watson's favor.
Sewell did not withdraw, and Bryan never formally accepted the Populists'
nomination. Bryan lost to William McKinley, and the Populist party was left in
shambles. As Watson put it, "Our party, as a party, does not exist any more.
Fusion has well nigh killed it."11 A tiny remnant of the party remained, however,
and in 1904 and again in 1908 Watson became its presidential candidate in
campaigns that were largely symbolic.
After the debacle of 1896, Watson, barely forty years of age, "retired" to
Thomson, where he resumed his lucrative law practice, tried his hand at writing
history and novels, and edited a succession of weekly magazines. By 1897
prosecuting attorneys in middle Georgia were complaining that they could not
get a conviction in a murder case. Tom Watson, Esq., was again "professionally
at large."
Watson's Writings
In 1899 Watson published the first of several popular histories and
biographies, a massive two-volume work entitled The Story of France. Like his
subsequent biographies of Napoleon, Jefferson, and Jackson, this history of
France was written in haste and with great passion. Begun as a series of
columns in the People's Party Paper, The Story of France was history with a
purpose. His heroes are the common people and their champions. In Watson's
account of the French revolution and particularly in his laudatory account of the
Jacobins, the "people" win the great victory that had escaped them in 1896.
Watson's one foray into fiction writing was published in 1904, a novel entitled
Bethany: A Story of the Old South. The work is dismissed by Watson's
biographer as "a hodge-podge of historical and political essays intermixed with a
sentimental love story and some autobiography."12 Bethany is not a work of great
literary merit, but in it Watson conveyed an unvarnished account of the world he
grew up in, and through the medium of fiction we can see clearly that Watson's
devotion to things southern was, if anything, growing deeper.
In 1905 Watson began publication in New York of a muckraking journal, first
called Tom Watson's Magazine, which consisted of lengthy populistic editorials
by Watson and feature articles by journalists of the muckraking school. The
magazine and its successors gave Watson a national as well as regional pulpit
for his ideas. Those ideas had an increasingly ominous tone to them:
accusations of a Popish plot to take over the United States, dark hints about
Jewish conspiracies, and, with growing urgency, demands for the total disfranchisement of blacks. The limited appeal for biracial cooperation in the 1890s had
given way to an argument that since black votes in the South were manipulated
by the Democratic party, black voting must be halted. The argument was
couched in terms that were unambiguously racist.
Disfranchisement of Blacks
In 1904 Watson, who retained a huge following among rural Georgians,
pledged his support and that of the Populist remnant to any Democratic candidate for governor who would pledge to eliminate black voting altogether.
(Watson was technically still a Populist and would remain so until 1910, but in
Georgia politics that made little difference.) Eventually he found an unlikely taker
in Hoke Smith, editor of the Atlanta Journal and a former cabinet member under
the hated G rover Cleveland.
Running on a platform that featured disfranchisement of blacks and strict
regulation of the railroads, Smith, with Watson's help, easily won the Democratic
nomination. That was, as they said in those days, tantamount to election. In
the aftermath of a primary campaign punctuated by virulent rhetoric aimed at
stirring up support for black disfranchisement, Atlanta experienced a bloody
race riot in which over twenty black residents were killed by a mob in the central
business district.
Before long Watson and Smith came to a bitter parting of the ways. In the
years that followed, Watson threw his support behind first one faction of the
Democratic party and then another. He remained, until his death in 1922, the
kingmaker of gubernatorial politics in Georgia.
Factions Attacked by Watson
The era of Watson's political ascendancy in Georgia is known in the history
books as the progressive era. It was also the nadir in American race relations.
Watson partook of both. Even after disfranchisement was complete, he
excoriated blacks and any white politicians who acknowledged the humanity of
African Americans. Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson were
among the recipients of his attacks. Wilson, who would preside over the
segregation of the federal bureaucracy, was said by Watson to be "ravenously
fond of the negro."• In 1909 the man who had once protected a black ally from a
lynch mob wrote that "Lynch law is a good sign; it shows that a sense of justice
yet lives among the people."•
Watson's verbal attacks on blacks increasingly paled in comparison to his antiCatholic and anti-Semitic writings. To his long-standing warning of a papal plot
against the United States, Watson added what one scholar called "Protestant
pornography," articles with titles like 'The Sinister Portent of Negro Priests," "How
Confession is Used...To Ruin Women," and "One of the Priests who Raped a
Catholic Woman."i5 The Justice Department sought to bring federal obscenity
charges against Watson for his articles, but without success.
xi
Watson's most brutal attacks were reserved for Leo Frank, a Jewish factory
manager in Atlanta, who in 1913 was convicted of murdering a teen-aged
employee, Mary Phagan. Frank's conviction, secured on flimsy evidence in a
courtroom surrounded by a mob howling for his execution, at first elicited no
public response from Watson. But in 1914 and 1915, for reasons that had
partially to do with factional politics, Watson poured out a stream of editorials
that reached their shrillest when the governor commuted Frank's death sentence.
In August-1915 Frank was taken from the state penitentiary by a group of armed
men and lynched. The next issue of Watson's magazine exulted, "In putting the
sodomite murderer to death, the Vigilance Committee has done what the Sheriff
would have done, if [Governor] Slaton had not been of the same mould as
Benedict Arnold."^
In 1917 Watson turned his wrath against President Wilson for leading the
nation into war and for establishing military conscription and other restrictions on
civil liberties. Watson's position was consistent with his earlier stand against the
war with Spain and was argued along the same lines as socialist activists: this
was a rich man's war and a poor man's fight. Invoking emergency powers the
Post Office stopped distribution of Watson's paper, and Watson himself narrowly
escaped criminal prosecution under the same wartime Espionage Act that sent
socialist leader Eugene V. Debs to prison.
Political Struggles
In 1918 Watson ran for Congress in his old 10th district on an anti-war platform
and very nearly defeated the incumbent, Carl Vinson. In 1920 Watson continued
his political struggle against Wilson's policies, first by entering the Georgia
presidential primary against Wilson's attorney general, Mitchell Palmer, and then
by running for the United States Senate. Remarkably, amidst the postwar
patriotic euphoria, Wilson lost the presidential primary only on a technicality and
then succeeded in defeating incumbent Hoke Smith to win the senate seat. At
age sixty-four Watson returned to Washington, this time as an opponent of the
League of Nations and a fierce champion of civil liberties.
Watson's return was marked by flashes of the old familiar oratory, but to no
good effect. Watson called for the president to free all political prisoners who
had been incarcerated under the espionage laws, and he championed U.S.
recognition of the Soviet Union. Neither effort succeeded.
When Watson took his seat in the Senate he was in poor health and
despondent over the death of his sole surviving child. Watson suffered from
chronic asthma and bronchitis. In the summer of 1922 illness left him badly
weakened, but Watson insisted on staying at his desk until the end of the
session. After a particularly severe attack on 25 September Watson suffered a
cerebral hemorrhage that claimed his life the following day.
XII
Watson's Place in History
The twists and turns of Tom Watson's career defy easy explanation. Any
attempt to fathom its meaning must come to terms both with his political
philosophy and his fiery persona. Watson called himself a Jeffersonian, and yet
he lived in an age when the maturing institutions of industrial capitalism had
swept away the familiar world of the artisan and yeoman that underlay the
Jeffersonian perspective. Watson vacillated between demanding a larger role for
government to protect individual producers (as in the Populists' demand for
public ownership of the railroads) and lashing out at any expansion of the federal
domain that limited the rights of individuals (as in the wartime expansion of
governmental power in 1917-1918).
The dark and troubled side of Watson's personality clouds any assessment
of his place in history. C. Vann Woodward explained the shrill and increasingly
irrational behavior of Watson by pointing to a marked change in his behavior at
the end of the Populist era. The Democrats' double-barrelled attack (branding
the Populists as integrationists while beating them with black votes) forced
Watson to reconsider his cautious appeal for a biracial coalition. Furthermore,
Woodward contends, the troubling bouts with depression suffered by the young
Watson and the mercurial outbursts that characterized his early years intensified
over time. The outbursts of his later years can thus be explained by a change in
his mental state.
This "Jekyll and Hyde" explanation has been challenged by more recent
students of Watson's views. Charles Crowe and Barton Shaw, among others,
have downplayed Watson's early commitment to interracial cooperation and
have located in his early life patterns of belief and behavior that are more
consistent than discontinuous with his tragic later years. The papers of Tom
Watson provide still more clues for the scholar seeking to unravel the mystery
of this most complex man, but for now we do well to remember the Georgia
ballad that chronicled the story of "A man of mighty power and of "how he
fought and struggled" and of how, in the end, he failed.
The Collection
The papers of Tom Watson, housed in the Southern Historical Collection of
the University of North Carolina; constitute an extremely rich source of information, not only on Watson as an individual, but also on southern and American
politics and on the business and economic history of the South after the Civil
War. For all that has been gleaned out of this remarkable collection, there is
much more to be learned from it.
The education of young Tom Watson and his literary and political awakening
come to life in the diaries, notebooks, and commonplace books dating from the
1860s through the 1880s. We can see young Watson finding his own voice
through the noteworthy passages from literature and political discourse that he
copied into his commonplace books, through the jokes and anecdotes he
collected for use in public speaking, and through his own poetry and diaries.
xiii
Watson was an important and representative member of the new planter/
lawyer/business class that superseded the antebellum planters of his
grandfather's generation. Crucial information about Watson's legal practice, his
management of a far-flung agribusiness enterprise, and his business dealings as
an editor and author is revealed in Watson's business ledgers and related
documents. Watson's public political stance needs to be understood in the
context of his private business dealings.
The papers are both bountiful and frustratingly meager when it comes to
Watson the Populist. Correspondence to Watson during the 1890s is very thin,
and not until the last years of his life did he retain copies of his outgoing
correspondence. Therefore, the papers shed relatively little light on the private
strategizing of Watson and his fellow Populist leaders. It is possible, however, to
get a glimpse of Watson the Populist editor through his correspondence
concerning the People's Party Paper.
On the bright side, the voluminous handwritten notes, drafts, and published
versions of Watson's speeches reveal a master craftsman perfecting his oratorical skills. (Watson's spiritual heir in Georgia, Eugene Talmadge, instructed his
son Herman in the craft by having him read all of Watson's speeches.) Furthermore, Watson's files of newspapers and newspaper clippings from the Populist
press and other contemporary media are extensive, and they contain many items
from local Populist newspapers not available anywhere else. The clipping files
constitute the most valuable portion of the papers for students of populism.
Watson's political correspondence becomes much more voluminous in the first
decade of the twentieth century. There is still an important story to be told about
how the populism of the 1890s connected with progressive and Democratic
politics of the 1900s. There is no better source for the Georgia portion of this
story than Tom Watson's papers.
Finally, the notes and manuscripts concerning Watson's historical and fictional
writing are an important but largely overlooked source. If we approach Watson's
writings in the decade after 1896 not merely for their literary merit but for the
clues they offer about his evolving political philosophy and even his own psyche,
then the records he left of the writing of such works as Bethany, Napoleon, and
The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson may contain some of the richest
material to be found in the Tom Watson Papers.
Robert C. McMath, Jr.
Associate Dean and Professor of History
Georgia Institute of Technology
XIV
i C. Vann Woodward, Tom Watson, Agrarian Rebol (New York, 1963), p. 486.
Woodward, Tom Watson, p. 35.
3
Barton C. Shaw, The Wool-Hat Boys: Georgia's Populist Party (Baton Rouge, 1984), p. 37; Woodward,
Tom Watson, pp. 46-47.
4
Augusta Chronicle, 14 September 1888, quoted in Woodward, Tom Watson, p. 141.
5
Shaw, Wool-Hat Boys, p. 37.
6
Quoted in Norman Pollack, The Just Polity: Populism, Law, and Human Welfare (Urbana, 1987), p. 212.
Excellent analyses of Watson's economic thought are to be found in The Just Polity and in Bruce
Palmer, "Man Over Money": The Southern Populist Critique of American Capitalism (Chapel Hill, 1980).
7 People's Party Paper, 27 December 1895, quoted in Robert M. Saunders, 'The Transformation of Tom
Watson, 1894-1895," Georgia Historical Quarterly 54 (Fall 1970): 345-46.
8
Watson, "The Negro Question in the South," Arena 6 (1892), p. 548, quoted in Woodward, Tom Watson,
p.'220.
9 Woodward's interpretation of Watson's racial liberalism (or sometimes a near-caricature of that
interpretation) has come under sharp attack from scholars. The strongest critique is to be found in
Charles Crowe, 'Tom Watson, Populists, and Blacks Reconsidered," The Journal of Negro History 55
(April 1970): 99-116; but see also Shaw, Wool-Hat Boys. Woodward responded to his critics in Thinking
Back: The Perils of Writing History (Baton Rouge, 1986), pp. 36-40.
10 people's Party Paper, 1 November 1985, quoted in Saunders, 'Transformation of Tom Watson," p. 343.
11
People's Party Paper, 13 November 1896, quoted in Woodward, Tom Watson, p. 330.
12 Woodward, Tom Watson, p. 353.
13
Watson's Jeffersonian Weekly, 11 April 1912, quoted in Woodward, Tom Watson, p. 427. Italics in
original.
14
Watson's Jeffersonian Weekly, 15 May 1913, quoted in Woodward, Tom Watson, p. 432. Italics in
original.
15
Crowe, "Tom Watson," p. 99.
16 Quoted in Woodward, Tom Watson, p. 445.
2
XV
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
Thomas E. Watson Papers, 1863-1988,
McDuffie County, Georgia
Description of the Collection
This collection comprises the business and professional papers of Thomas E.
Watson. Included are correspondence, mostly concerning politics and his books
and publications; legal and financial papers relating to his law practice and to his
publications; drafts of his books and articles; printed versions of his articles and
pamphlets; diaries and commonplace books; scrapbooks and clippings on
Watson and on miscellaneous subjects of interest to him, especially politics and
economics; writings by people other than Watson, most of which were associated
with his publications or with his granddaughter; family photographs; and
miscellaneous other material.
There is good coverage throughout the collection of Populist party activities
and Georgia state politics in general. Only a few items of correspondence deal
with Watson's national political campaigns; the scrapbooks, clippings, and
speeches are better sources for this topic. Correspondence with book publishers
and employees, along with book and article manuscripts, provides extensive
coverage of his work as writer and editor. Watson's private life is documented in
a few personal letters and some diary entries.
This collection was originally arranged and described in the late 1930s. The
arrangement consisted only of a chronological run, a large mass of undated
material, and volumes. The collection was completely reprocessed in 19871988, and the following series were established. A calendar of selected
correspondence follows the Reel Index.
The collection is arranged as follows:
Series 1. Correspondence•Subseries 1.1.1873-1892, Subseries 1.2.18931897, Subseries 1.3.1898-1903, Subseries 1.4.1904-1908, Subseries 1.5.
1909-1920, Subseries 1.6.1921-1937, and 1983, Subseries 1.7. Undated;
Series 2. Speeches by Watson, 1872-1918;
Series 3. Writings by Watson•Subseries 3.1. Book Manuscripts, Subseries
3.2. Other Writings, 1870-1921 and Undated;
XVII
Series 4. Other Papers•Subseries 4.1. Legal and Financial Papers,
1877-1981 and Undated, Subseries 4.2. Writings by Others, 1896-1917 and
Undated, Subseries 4.3. Miscellaneous Papers;
Series 5. Printed Material•Subseries 5.1. Printed Writings by Watson,
1892-1921 and Undated, Subseries 5.2. People's Party Paper, 1891-1898 [not
included], Subseries 5.3. Other Printed Material, 1863-1986 and Undated;
Series 6. Volumes, 1860-1965 [included in part];
Series 7. Pictures, ca. 1875-1922 and Undated.
Biographical Note
Thomas E. Watson was born 5 September 1856 to John S. and Ann Eliza
Watson in Thomson, Georgia. He attended Mercer College in 1872 and 1873. He
married Georgia Durham in 1878. The Watsons lived at Hickory Hill in Thomson,
where they raised three children, none of whom survived their parents: John
Durham (1880-1918), Agnes Pearce (1882-1917), and Louise (1885-1889).
Watson was a colorful and successful criminal lawyer, a leading populist politician, a popular author, and an influential publisher. He served in the Georgia
House of Representatives, 1882; the United States House of Representatives,
1890-1892; and the United States Senate, 1921-1922. As a major figure in the
Populist party, he ran unsuccessfully for vice president in 1896 and for president
in 1904 and 1908. His history of France (1899); biographies of Napoleon (1902),
Thomas Jefferson (1903), and Andrew Jackson (1912); and his novel Bethany
(1904) were praised for their populist spirit.
Watson was most influential through his various publications, including the
People's Party Paper (1891 -1898), Watson's Jeffersonian (1907-1917), and
Watson's Magazine (1905-1906,1912-1917). In muckraking editorials, he
espoused populist causes, such as antitrust legislation, railroad regulation, and
monetary policies favorable to agrarian interests, including coinage of silver. He
fought to maintain the broad-based reformist and independent goals of the
Populist party against those who favored fusion with the major parties and a
narrow focus on the silver issue. Initially a supporter of the inclusion of blacks in
the agrarian movement, he later turned to race baiting, advocating black disfranchisement, and to virulent anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic diatribes. His lurid crusade against Catholicism led to his trial on charges of sending obscene material
through the mail.
While unsuccessful in his national political campaigns, Watson was a dominant
power in Georgia politics (from 1906 to 1922 ), making and unmaking governors.
When his bitter opposition to America's entry into World War I and to such wartime legislation as the Espionage and Conscription Acts led to the revocation of
his mailing privileges for his publications in 1917, Watson became a "crusader for
personal liberties•at least for personal liberties for Anglo-Saxon Protestants."
With this, coupled with continuing attacks on blacks, Jews, and Catholics, as his
platform, he mounted his final and, this time, successful campaign for the Senate
in 1920. With little to show for this last office, Watson died 26 September 1922.
xviii
N.B. For additional information, see C. Vann Woodward, Tom Watson:
Agrarian Rebel {Hew York 1938); and the biographical material in Subseries 4.2,
especially Folder 471.
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated
This series comprises personal, political, and business correspondence of
Thomas E. Watson, from his school days at Mercer College in 1873 through his
death in 1922, documenting his career as a publisher, prolific author, lawyer,
and politician. Also included are correspondence of Watson's granddaughter
Georgia Watson Lee Brown and her husband Walter Brown in connection with
the Watsonian, the magazine they published to carry on Watson's work after his
death, and a few miscellaneous items. A calendar of selected correspondence is
found on pages 26-29 of the inventory, microfilmed among the Introductory
Materials and reproduced at the end of the Reel Index.
Subseries 1.1.1873-1892Th\s subseries consists mostly of letters from
relatives, with a few items from young women friends. There is also a copy of the
telegram from Charles MacGregor announcing that he had killed a man; this was
the beginning of one of Watson's major court cases (see Series 2, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2,
and 6 for additional material from this period).
Subseries 1.2. 1893-1897Th\s subseries consists chiefly of letters from the
secretary of the People's Party Paper, which Watson published from 1891 to
1898. The letters deal almost exclusively with the business side of the publication
and include weekly statements and related bills. (Legal and financial papers not
directly related to the daily running of Watson's publications and not otherwise
connected with correspondence are filed in Subseries 4.1.) There are also some
items relating to personal business. There are only a few letters related to the
1896 presidential campaign. Note that items from the weekly reports are filed in
the following order: letters (if any), statement, and bills arranged in the order they
appear in the statement.
Subseries 1.3.1898-1903Th\s subseries consists chiefly of correspondence
concerning the publication of Watson's books: The Story of France (1899);
biographies of Napoleon (1902), Thomas Jefferson (1903), and Andrew Jackson
(1912); and his autobiographical novel Bethany (1904). Watson's law practice
is the focus of several letters. There are relatively few letters from the period
1899-1903.
Subseries 1.4. 1904-1908 This subseries consists chiefly of correspondence
concerning political activities and publications. For 1904, there is extensive
correspondence about the pre-election and postelection state of local Populist
party organizations throughout the South and Midwest. Also covered are
Watson's attacks on President Grover Cleveland for having denied dining with
Booker T. Washington; the 1904 election in which Watson was the Populist
party candidate for president; and postelection negotiations for starting
Watson's Magazine.
XIX
Much of the material in 1905 concerns the magazine, especially the conflicts
with its financial supporters that led to Watson's abandoning the project to start
Wafson's Jeffersonian in early 1906. Local Georgia politics, especially the Smith/
Howell gubernatorial race, are covered. Of particular Interest are letters, both pro
and con, on Watson's editorials on race, which reflected his policy shift from
advocating racial inclusion in the Farmer's Alliance and Populist party to
supporting disfranchisement.
This topical mix of politics and publications continues through 1906,1907, and
1908. In addition to these topics, there is material in 1907 on efforts to keep the
Populist party alive, and on immigration, currency reform, and prohibition. Letters
from Representative Thomas Hardwick and Governor Hoke Smith discuss disfranchisement and railroad regulation.
Early in 1908, there is correspondence with Hardwick and Smith about the
Glover case and letters from Glover and his wife. According to C. Vann
Woodward's biography of Watson, Smith's refusal to pardon convicted murderer
and Watson-supporter Glover led to Watson's turning against Smith and
swinging his support to Joseph Brown, a longtime opponent of many Populist
measures. Many letters, especially in May 1908, reflect the disillusionment with
Watson that was felt by "old time Pops," as they called themselves.
Subseries 1.5. 1909-1920The relatively small amount of correspondence in
this subseries documents Watson's growing alienation from former supporters
and his increasing financial and legal problems. Letters from Thomas Hardwick
and to Clark Howell discuss Watson's split with Hardwick. Of particular interest is
a series of reports from a private investigator and from a Watson supporter, both
of whom were assisting Watson in his attempts to find incriminating evidence
against Hardwick and Smith. From 1913 to 1915, there are a few items concerning Watson's obscenity trial. In 1920, there is correspondence with David
Blodgett about his imprisonment for printing Watson's antiwar speeches and
Watson's attempts to get him pardoned.
Subseries 1.6.1921-1937and 1983 This subseries consists chiefly of constituent correspondence from Watson's senate term, mostly concerning constituent service and minor patronage matters, especially post office appointments,
veterans' benefits, and military academy appointments. Worth noting in 1921 are
letters discussing Watson's arrest in Buford, Georgia, during the senatorial campaign (see also folder 409 in Series 3.2 for Watson's account of this event), and
letters from branches of the Ku Klux Klan praising Watson. In 1921 and 1922,
there are numerous responses to Watson's investigation into the alleged mistreatment of common soldiers by their officers during World War I (see also
Series 4.3).
In September 1922, there are letters of condolence to Georgia Durham
Watson on her husband's death. For 1923 and 1924, most items are letters to
and from Alice Lytle, Watson's assistant on his newspapers, especially concerning her conflicts with his family over her share of the inheritance. The
material from 1925 through 1937 concerns the Watsonian, a magazine
XX
published (after Watson's death) by his granddaughter, Georgia Watson Lee
Brown and her husband Walter J. Brown. One letter, dated 1983, reports on
foreign sales of Watson's books.
Note that, in this section of the correspondence series, there are some
exceptions to strict chronological order. These exceptions are sets of items
related to one subject that were clipped together by the original processors of
this collection and filed chronologically by the date of the most recent item. This'
order, probably reflecting Watson's practice, has been maintained. Related
items are filed behind in reverse chronological order and numbered sequentially
to clarify where one set ends and another begins and to distinguish single items
in standard chronological order from those in sets.
Subseries 1.7. Undated Undated correspondence in this subseries is
arranged alphabetically by the last name of the writer. Folder 230 contains letters
from Thomas Hardwick, folder 236 contains drafts of letters by Watson, and
folders 237-241 contain letters for which neither author nor date is known, as
well as fragments of drafts of letters by Watson and others.
Series 2. Speeches by Watson (1872-1918)
This series consists chiefly of handwritten notes and drafts of speeches by
Watson, a popular speaker and lecturer who drew large, enthusiastic crowds
throughout his career. Topics include railroad regulation, monetary reform,
race relations, regional pride, and the French Revolution. Most speeches are
marked with Watson's notation of when and where they were given, and folder
labels reflect this information. In some cases where this is not so, however, a
speech's content permits approximate dating. These items have been filed at
the end of the appropriate year. Except where noted, all locations are in Georgia.
See Series 5 and 6 for published accounts of some of these and Watson's
other speeches.
Series 3. Writings by Watson
Subseries 3.1. Book Manuscripts This subseries comprises handwritten
and typescript drafts of books by Watson. Titles include "Bethany: A Story of the
Old South"; "Bethany: A Study and a Story of the South"; "The Life and Times of
Andrew Jackson"; "The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson"; and Napoleon:
A Sketch of His Life, Character, Struggles, and Achievements (1902). The last
item is subdivided into "Outline Sketch of Napoleon's Career; "By Way of
Introduction"; "Some Impressions of Napoleon"; "A Study of Napoleon";
and "Napoleon."
Subseries 3.2. Other Writings, 1870-1921 and Undated Jh\s subseries
comprises handwritten drafts of articles, editorials, reviews, and other items
primarily intended for publication in Watson's newspapers and magazines for
which he supplied most of the copy. Published versions of some of these items
are in Series 5.
xxi
Series 4. Other Papers, 1877-1981 and Undated
Subseries 4.1. Legal and Financial Papers, 1877-1981 and Undated This
subseries consists of bills, receipts, checks, contracts, deeds, and other
miscellaneous items relating to Watson's legal and financial affairs. Some of
these documents have no apparent connection to Watson and were probably
prepared by him for clients. Of particular interest are papers relating to Georgia
Durham Watson's will, 24 June 1907, and to Watson's will, 17 December 1920.
Subseries 4.2. Writings by Others, 1896-1917, and Undated Jh\s subseries
consists of handwritten and typed drafts of writings by individuals other than
Watson. Many items may have been written for Watson's publications or,
especially in the case of folders 473-478, 494, and 495, for the Watsonian, which
was published after his death. Several biographical sketches of Watson are
included, along with other items of recent origin about Watson that were supplied
by members of his family.
Subseries 4.3. Miscellaneous Papers This subseries consists of notes and
memos, especially relating to Watson's publications, by Watson and others;
mailing lists for complimentary copies and subscriptions; petitions, resolutions,
and bills on matters of interest to Watson; and other miscellaneous items. Folder
503 contains material relating to Watson's investigations of how United States
soldiers in Europe were treated by their officers during World War I.
Series 5. Printed Material (1863-1986 and undated)
Subseries 5.1. Printed Writings by Thomas E. Watson, 1892-1921 and
Undated This subseries comprises printed versions of speeches, pamphlets, and
articles by Watson, including magazine pieces that he annotated apparently for
reproduction in pamphlet form or in other later publications. Some of these annotated items also may have been used in VneWatsonian, which was published
after Watson's death. For other Watsonian material see Subseries 4.2, 4.3, and
5.3. Watson's drafts for some of this material may be found in Subseries 3.2. For
other printed versions of Watson's writings, especially speeches, see the scrapbooks in Series 6.
Subseries 5.2. People's Party Paper, 1891-1898 and Undated Watson
published and wrote much of the copy for the People's Party Paper from October
1891 through 1898. Since the complete run of the paper is available on microfilm
at several repositories, these copies have not been included in the microfilm of
this collection. A list of the People's Party Paper issues included in the collection
appears in the inventory within the Introductory Materials. A list with headlines
from major articles is included at the beginning of Reel 29.
There are also a few copies of Watson's Daily Press from 1894 in folder 524,
which are not included in the microfilm of this collection.
Subseries 5.3. Other Printed Material, 1863-1986 and Undated This subseries comprises printed material not written by Watson and not published in the
People's Party Paper. Included are newspapers, newspaper clippings, magazine
articles, pamphlets, and other material.
xxii
Newspapers and clippings, 1876-1986 and Undated, consist chiefly of items
from Watson's personal files, dating from 1876 to 1922, with subsequent
additions by others of items pertaining to Watson, his descendants, local history,
and national affairs. The bulk of these clippings covers Watson's career in
politics, his campaigns and tenure as a Georgia legislator, his Populist party
activities, his national Populist candidacies, and his election and career as a
United States senator. Materials cover Watson himself, his speeches and public
statements, and issues and personalities of related interest. There are numerous
items from the populist press of the 1890s. Items from clipping services, which
are included for Watson's two national campaigns, provide a great deal of
national coverage of his death and funeral (20 September-October 1922). The
clippings are arranged in chronological order.
Also included are copies of the following complete issues of newspapers,
which are evidently not available elsewhere: The Columbia Sentinel (Harlem,
Georgia), Vol. 38, No. 47, 30 August 1920; The Cotton Plant (Orangeburg, South
Carolina), Vol. 9, No. 18,31 October 1891 ; People's Guide (Irwinton, Georgia), 4
October 1895; The Revolution (Augusta, Georgia), Vol. 1, No. 6, 4 October 1892;
and The Wool Hat (Gracewood, Georgia), Vol. 1, No. 16,17 September 1892,
Vol. 2, No. 17, 23 September 1893, Vol. 2, No. 46,14 April 1894, and Vol. 3, No.
39, 2 March 1895.
Note: Clippings and newspapers were severely embrittled, and therefore were
discarded after microfilming.
Pamphlets, magazine articles, and other items, 1863-1986 and undated,
consist chiefly of broadsides, pamphlets, and articles on literary topics, history
(especially the Civil War), monetary issues, black suffrage, railroads, populism,
anticatholicism, post offices, and Woodrow Wilson. Also included are issues
of the Congressional Record, including some with speeches by Watson and
memorial addresses for Watson.
Series 6. Volumes (1860s-1965)
Many of the volumes in this series are scrapbooks of newspaper clippings.
Early volumes chiefly contain poetry including some by Watson, pictures, and
miscellaneous material. Volumes 2 and 3 document Watson's school days and
early career as a school teacher, his romances, his early law cases, and the
deaths of his children. Later volumes focus more on politics and economic
issues. Watson's speeches and political campaigns are well documented in
this series.
These volumes are very fragile and many of the attached clippings are badly
deteriorated. In addition, Watson sometimes pasted items over other clippings
or, in the case of some of the diaries and commonplace books, over pages on
which he had written. Where possible, loose portions of clippings have been
mounted on acid-free paper and inserted at the appropriate page. Where items
have been pasted over other material, the page has been photocopied in its
original form and the top layer has been removed. In some cases, the original
xxiii
clipping from the top layer has been salvaged and mounted. Some volumes
include indexes. When little material in the volume was found to relate directly to
Watson and the volume was in an extremely deteriorated state, comprehensive
microfilming was not completed. In these cases, the volume may have been only
filmed in part or not at all. These volumes are so marked in the following list.
Volume 1 is a scrapbook, 1860s, with miscellaneous clippings, mostly poetry,
pasted over twenty-six pages of an 1839-1841 physician's record and fee book.
66 pp. Partial index.
Volume 2 is a diary and commonplace book, 1871-1872, "E. Thomas Watson."
130 pp.
Volume 3 is a diary, commonplace book, and scrapbook, 1872-1894,
apparently begun at Mercer College. In addition to diary entries, there are copies
of speeches, sketches of persons and incidents, poetry, miscellaneous notes,
anecdotes, quotations, and accounts of and comments on law cases, especially
the McGregor trial (beginning on page 448). Also included are accounts of the
deaths of Watson's children, Louise (pages 425, 441-446, 476-479), John
Durham (page 447), and Agnes Pearce (page 447). 580 pp. Index.
Volume 4 is a small commonplace book, 1873-1890, begun at Mercer College
in 1873 and includes entries for 1876, 1880, 1890. 280 pp.
Volume 5 is a lawyer's record book, 1875-1904, Gross and Watson. Includes
entries for J. Durham Watson and clippings about cases. 189 pp.
Volume 6 is a small scrapbook, 1874, with miscellaneous clippings, especially
poetry, pasted over pages of an account book. Twenty-six pages at the back,
without clippings, contain accounts for the estate of T. M. Watson (probably
Thomas Miles Watson, Watson's grandfather) dated 1853-1865 and a "memo
for letter to T" by Watson on his feelings about leaving home.
Volume 7 is a scrapbook, 1874-1883, with miscellaneous clippings, including
several poems by Watson, pasted over thirty-five pages of an 1872 ledger. 120 pp.
Volume 8 is a small personal pocket account book, 1874.
Volume 9 is a scrapbook, ca. 1879-1890, with miscellaneous clippings pasted
over an 1873 account book. 325 pp. Index.
Volume 10 is a scrapbook, 1881-1894, miscellaneous.
Volume 11 is a small notepad, 1882, labeled "canvas book" and containing a
list of names.
Volume 12 is a small notepad, 1883, with notes on jokes and humorous stories.
Volume 13 is a scrapbook, 1883, with miscellaneous clippings, mostly poetry
but also some about politics, pasted in 120 pages of an 1828-1829 ledger.
200 pp.
Volume 14 is a small notebook, 1885-1887, with notes for speeches on legal
cases.
Volume 15 is a scrapbook, 1886-1900, with miscellaneous clippings pasted
over 210 pages of an account book, "Cash 1887." 360 pp. Index only microfilmed.
Volume 16 is a small account book, 1888-1890, Watson. 50 pp.
XXIV
Volume 17 is a scrapbook, 1888-1891, mostly about Watson, pasted into an
1881 Mercantile Register. Available only on microfilm.
Volume 18 is a scrapbook, 1888-1894, chiefly political, including several
government pamphlets. 100 pp. Not microfilmed.
Volume 19 is a legal fee book, and personal accounts, assets, and liabilities of
Watson, 1888-1896.
Volume 20 is a small "daybook of payments," 1889-1896.
Volume 21 is a scrapbook, 1889-1916, miscellaneous, especially Bill Nye
columns and other humorous material. Not microfilmed.
Volume 22 is a scrapbook, 1890-1891, mostly political. Not microfilmed.
Volume 23 is a scrapbook, 1890-1896, mostly political. Also contains a few
issues of the Congressional Record ano drafts of speeches. Selected pages
microfilmed.
Volume 24 is a small personal account book, 1891-1894.
Volume 25 is a scrapbook, 1892-1894, mostly political. 100 pp. Index. Index
and selected pages microfilmed; pages not microfilmed do not directly relate to
Watson. Available only on microfilm.
Volume 26 is a scrapbook, 1892-1894, mostly political, with several
pamphlets. 66 pp. Index and selected pages microfilmed. Microfilmed pages not
available in original.
Volume 27 is a scrapbook, 1893-1895, mostly political. 90 pp. Index. Available
only on microfilm.
Volume 28 is Agnes Pearce Watson's notebook, 1894, on twenty pages of an
1883 merchandise ledger. Selected pages microfilmed.
Volume 29 is a scrapbook, 1894-1895, political, including material on William
Jennings Bryan. Index. Index and selected pages microfilmed. Microfilmed pages
not available in original.
Volume 30 is a small account book, 1891-1897, for a saw mill, farm, and
newspaper. Also includes a list of names and addresses.
Volume 31 is a scrapbook, 1896, mostly political. Many clippings have been
removed; pages not microfilmed are chiefly blank. 10 pp. Index. Index and
selected pages microfilmed. Available only on microfilm.
Volume 32 is a scrapbook, 1896, mostly about Watson. 32 pp. Available only
on microfilm.
Volume 33 is a small farm account book, 1897-1901.
Volume 34 is an account book, 1897-1918, including income from the law
practice, investments, and inventory of Watson's estate.
Volume 35 is a small leather-covered notebook, 1902, containing notes for
speech on Memorial Day. 45 pp.
Volume 36 is a typed transcription of the W. J. McNaughton case in the
Emanual Superior Court, 1910.
Volume 37 is a 1919 bankbook.
Volume 38 is a scrapbook, undated, containing pictures and poetry. Not
microfilmed.
XXV
Volume 39 is a commonplace book, undated, containing notes, quotations, and
original material. Marked "For future use."
Volume 40 is a typed transcription of U.S. v. Watson, 1916.
Volume 41 is a photocopy of Dr. Lindsey Durham, A Brief Biography, by
Charles H. Calhoun, Sr.
Series 7. Pictures (ca. 1875-1922 and undated)
This series comprises mostly black-and-white pictures of Watson, his family,
his funeral, Thomson, Georgia, and unidentified people and places. Many items
are identified on the back as having been used in publications as illustrations.
Pictures are undated unless date is indicated. Items are listed below with
inscriptions, if any.
Thomas E. Watson, ca. 1875. Verso: "About 1875, Tom Watson in the days
when he taught school in Screven County. Chapter XI No 2 (13th Installment)."
T.E.W., ca. 1890s(?). Verso: "Chapter XXIII." T.E.W., ca. 1890s. Photograph of
campaign button, 1896, "Bryan and Watson." Verso: "button 1896 owned by Tom
Watson Brown." T.E.W., ca. 1904. T.E.W., 1904. Verso: "1904 Thos. E. Watson
No (1) Chapter XXXIV." T.E.W., ca. 1919. T.E.W. seated, ca. 1919(?). Verso: "In
Library. Chapter XXXVII. The sage of Hickory Hill.'"
T.E.W., J. D. Cunningham, J. K. Mines. Verso: "Art for chapter XXX. Left to
right, C. A. Cunningham, Secretary; James K. Mines, permanent chairman; and
Thomas Watson, temporary chairman, Populist State Convention of 1896, taken
in anteroom to Hall of the House, State Capitol, summer 1896. (Note•this is
exceptionally rare and valuable photo. Advise a big display on it. Be sure to
preserve it)." T.E.W. and unidentified male on rear platform of a train. T.E.W.
Verso: "Thomas E. Watson and wife at Hickory Hill in 1906. The sculptured
marble mantel shown in photograph was originally in Kensington Hotel, New York
City. Art Chapter XXXVI (No. 1)."
John Smith Watson. Verso: "Photograph of a colored drawing of Thos. E.
Watson's father, John Smith Watson. (Said to be an excellent likeness which
Mrs. Watson kept hanging over the family mantel long after her husband's death).
Gift of Tom Watson Brown, March 27,1973." Ann Eliza Maddox Watson. Verso:
"Photograph of a daguerreotype of Thos. E. Watson's mother, Mrs. Ann Eliza
Maddox Watson, wife of John Smith Watson. Gift of Tom Watson Brown, March
27,1973."
Martha Hendon Durham (Mrs. George Durham), foster mother of Georgia
Durham Watson. Georgia Durham (Watson) and Martha Durham, ca. 1860s.
Verso: "Mrs. George W. Durham and Georgia her adopted daughter, Art for
Chapt XIII 17th Installment."
Agnes Pearce Watson, ca. 1870s. Inscription: "For Mama and Papa a World of
Love." Agnes Pearce Watson, ca. 1870s. Agnes Pearce Watson. Verso: "Georgia
Durham, No. 2 Chapt XXVI, Mrs. Watson." Louise, John Durham, and Agnes
Pearce Watson, ca. 1887. Verso of duplicate (discarded): "Left to right, Louise,
XXVI
Durham and Agnes, the only children of T.E.W. Art for Chapter XXII." Agnes
Pearce Watson (on left).
Georgia Durham Watson and her granddaughters as children, ca. 1910-15.
Georgia Durham Watson with unidentified infant. Same infant with Georgia
Durham Watson. T.E.W. with Georgia Watson Lee and Georgia Doremus
Watson. "Jan 1908." Unidentified infant. "|n dove house."
Georgia Durham Watson holding Georgia Watson Lee. Unidentified woman on
right. Unidentified man with infant, probably Georgia Watson Lee. Georgia
Watson Lee. Georgia Watson Lee with dolls. Georgia Watson Lee with nurse.
Georgia Watson Lee. Georgia Watson Lee and Georgia Doremus Watson.
Verso: "Granddaughters of Thomas E. Watson. Georgia Doremus Watson (Mrs.
Avery O. Craven), Georgia Watson Lee (Mrs. Walter J. Brown)." "The two
Georgias of whom Mr. Watson is so proud. Left, Georgia Lee and Georgia
Watson (No. 3 Art for Chapt. XVIII.)" William Watson. Verso: "William Watson,
uncle of T.E.W. 'Uncle Ralph' of Bethany died S. E. of Thomson 2 1/2 miles at
Augusta Road Watson home. Art for Chapter III. William Watson, uncle of Thos.
E. Watson, the 'Uncle Ralph' and hero of Tom Watson's novel, 'Bethany' No. 6."
"Wm. A. Watson and son, Dec. 19,1916." Stanley Lee. Oscar Lee. Ira Farmer,
friend of Oscar Lee.
T.E.W's grave with floral tributes, 29 September 1922. Crowd at unloading of
T.E.W's casket from train in Thomson, Georgia, 29 September 1922. Crowd at
loading of T.E.W.'s casket onto hearse in Thomson, Georgia, 29 September
1922. Crowd at entrance of T.E.W.'s home, Hickory Hill, at his funeral, 29 September 1922. Crowd at T.E.W.'s home, Hickory Hill, at his funeral, 29 September
1922. Crowd at side entrance of T.E.W.'s home, Hickory Hill, at his funeral, 29
September 1922. Pallbearers lowering T.E.W.'s casket into burial vault, 29 September 1922. Floral displays on grave of T.E.W., 29 September 1922. "Hickory
Hill, near Thomson, Georgia. Home of Thomas E. Watson, to be preserved as a
memorial to the father of the R.F.D.," from The Atlanta Constitution, Sunday, 11
July 1937. "Proposed Shrine for R.F.D.," from The Atlanta Journal, Sunday, 5
Sept 1937.
Black man and woman. Verso: "T.E.W.'s mammy, galley 22 Bethany." Robert
E. Lee. Verso: "Robert E. Lee whose life Watson planned to write, an original
photograph made after the war. (No. 3)."
Earl Brown. Inscription: "We want no more marching men looking for work! No
more Cleveland Calamity! No more soup houses! Compliments of Earl Brown,
the man who got on Graver's 'grass,' and wants none of Parker's 'sass'•(Gold
Telegram)." "Capt. Jack Crawford." Jack Crawford. Inscription: "Hello Pard•So
they've quit? Ha. Ha. Bully. Jack." "Hon. S. G. McLendon of Atlanta, Georgia."
"Sam in Arizona, F. B. Pearse 1901." Verso: "Un Vaquero Mexicano. Furman
B. Pearce, Estade de Sanora, República de Mexico. A mi quiridissima amiquita,
La Señorita Agnes Pearce Watson qui vive in mi corazón." "Home of Thos. E.
Watson in Lumpkin St., Thomson, Georgia, prior to move at Hickory Hill." Three
XXVII
men standing together at set of outdoor stairs. "Frank, Mr. M, Me." Man standing
at post in the snow "Me also." View of lndian(?) dwelling. Verso: "Towahajo
Chege, Hkte." View of lndian(?) man and dwelling. Verso: Towahajo, Tom
Johnson." Unidentified man, woman, and young girl in early automobile, ca.
1905. Unidentified infant outdoors on ground. Unidentified infant in goat cart.
Unidentified group of black women doing laundry outside. Unidentified woman
on front porch. Portrait of unidentified man. Unidentified scene of dock and
small boats.
The following photographs are color reproductions of postcards dated 1919,
1910,1911, and 1914, depicting Thomson, Georgia, and vicinity in Watson's
era: "Main Street, Thomson, Georgia," ca. 1909; "Main Street, Looking South,
Thomson, Georgia," ca. 1909; "U.S. Post Office and Odd Fellows Hall, Thomson,
Georgia"; "First Methodist Church, Thomson, Georgia," ca. 1910; "Knox Hotel,
Thomson, Georgia," ca. 1914; "Bank of Thomson, Georgia"; "Rapid Transit,
Washington, Georgia"; Mule-drawn street car, ca. 1911.
XXVIII
NOTE ON SOURCES
The collection microfilmed in this edition is a holding of the Southern Historical
Collection, Manuscripts Department, Academic Affairs Library of the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599. The description
of the collection provided in this user guide is adapted from an inventory
compiled by the Southern Historical Collection. The inventory is included in the
Introductory Materials on the microfilm.
EDITORIAL NOTE
The Thomas E. Watson Papers were microfilmed by the Department of
Photographic Services, Academic Affairs Library of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. Subseries 5.2 and parts of Series 6 are omitted from the
microfilm. Descriptions of omitted materials may be found in this user guide or in
the Introductory Materials provided at the beginning of Reel 1. There are no
frame numbers assigned on the microfilm.
The Reel Index itemizes each file folder and manuscript volume. In lieu of
frame numbers, file folders are itemized within each microfilm reel by series and
subseries.
The Calendar of Selected Correspondence, which follows the Reel Index, is
keyed to microfilm reel numbers and chronological dates within Series 1.
Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated.
The Subject Index, which follows the Calendar of Selected Correspondence, is
keyed to microfilm reel numbers and series and subseries numbers within the
entire collection.
XXIX
REEL INDEX
ReeM
Introductory Materials
Introductory Materials. 37 frames.
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated
Subserles 1.1.1873-1892
Folderl
1873-1889.
Folder 2
1890-1892.
Subserles 1.2.1893-1897
Folder 3
January-September 1893.
Folder 4
October 1893.
Folder 5
November 1893.
Folder6
December 1893.
Folder 7
January 1894.
Folders
February 1894.
Folder 9
March 1894.
Folder 10
April 1894.
Folder 11
May 1894.
Folder 12
June 1894.
Folder 13
July 1894.
Folder 14
August 1894.
Folder 15
September 1894.
Folder 16
October-December 1894.
Folder 17
January-February 1895.
Folder 18
March 1895.
Folder 19
April-May 1895.
Folder 20
June-July 1895.
Folder 21
August 1895.
Folder 22
September 1895.
Folder 23
October 1895.
Folder 24
November 1895.
Folder 25
December 1895.
,
Reel 2
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.2.1893-1897 cont.
Folder 26
January-February 1896.
Folder 27
March 1896.
Folder 28
April 1896.
Folder 29
May 1896.
Folder 30
June-July 1896.
Folder 31
August 1896.
Folder 32
September 1896.
Folder 33
October 1896.
Folder 34
November-December 1896.
Folder 35
January-February 1897.
Folder 36
March 1897.
Folder 37
April-May 1897.
Folder 38
June 1897.
Folder 39
July 1897.
Folder 40
August 1897.
Folder 41
September 1897.
Folder 42
October 1897.
Folder 43
November 1897.
Folder 44
December 1897.
Reel 3
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.3.1898-1903
Folder 45
January-February 1898.
Folder 46
March 1898.
Folder 47
April 1898.
Folder 48
May-July 1898.
Folder 49
August-December 1898.
Folder 50
1899.
Folder 51
1900-1902.
Folder 52
1903.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908
Folder 53
January-June 1904.
Folder 54
July 1904.
Folders 55-56
August 1904.
Folder 57
September 1904.
Reel 4
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908 cont.
Folder 58
October 1904.
Folders 59-60
November 1904.
Folders 61-62
December and Undated 1904.
Folder 63
January 1905.
Folder 64
February 1905.
Folder 65
March 1905.
Folder 66
April-May 1905.
Folders 67-69
June 1905.
Reels
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908 cont.
Folder 70
July-August 1905.
Folder 71
September-October 1905.
Folder 72
November 1905.
Folder 73
December 1905.
Folders 74-75
January 1906.
Folder 76
February-May 1906.
Folder 77
June 1906.
Folders 78-80
July 1906.
Folders 81-82
August 1906.
Folders 83-84
September 1906.
Folders 85-86
October 1906.
Reel 6
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908 cont.
Folders 87-91
November 1906.
Folders 92-93
December 1906.
Reel?
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908 cont.
Folders 94-97
January 1907.
Folder 98
February-March 1907.
Folder 99
April 1907.
Folders 100-102 ....May 1907.
Folders 103-106 ...June 1907.
Reel 8
Seríes 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908 cont.
Folders 107-109 ...July 1907.
Folders 110-111 ....August 1907.
Folders 112-115 ....September 1907.
Folders 116-117 ....October 1907.
Folders 118-121 ....November 1907.
Reel 9
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908 cont.
Folders 122-124 ....December 1907.
Folder 125
Undated 1907.
Folders 126-130 ...January 1908.
Folders 131-134 ....February 1908.
Reel 10
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908 cont.
Folder 135
March 1908.
Folder 136
April 1908.
Folders 137-143 ....May 1908.
Folders 144-150 ...June 1908.
Reel 11
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.4.1904-1908 cont.
Folders 151-152 ...July 1908.
Folder 153
August-December 1908.
Subserles 1.5.1909-1920
Folder 154
1909.
Folder 155
January-August 1910.
Folder 156
September-December 1910.
Folder 157
1911.
Folder 158
1912.
Folder 159
January-March 1913.
Folder 160
April 1913.
Folder 161
May-June 1913.
Folder 162
July-December 1913.
Folder 163
1914.
Folder 164
1915.
Folder 165
1916.
Folder 166
1917.
Reel 12
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.5.1909-1920 cont.
Folder167
1918.
Folder 168
1919.
Folder 169
1920.
Subserles 1.6.1921-1937 and 1983
Folder 170
January 1921.
Folder 171
February 1921.
Folder 172
March 1921.
Folder 173
April 1921.
Folders 174-175 ....May 1921.
Folders 176-178 ...June 1921.
Folders 179-180 ...July 1921.
Reel 13
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.6.1921-1937 and 1983 cont.
Folders 181-184 ....August 1921.
Folders 185-188 ....September 1921.
Folders 189-190 ....October 1921.
Folders 191-193 ....November 1921.
Reel 14
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.6.1921 -1937 and 1983 cont.
Folders 194-196 ....December 1921.
Folders 197-199 ...January 1922.
Folders 200-201 ....February 1922.
Folders 202-205 ....March 1922.
Folders 206-207 ....April 1922.
Reel 15
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.6.1921-1937 and 1983 cont.
Folders 208-210 ....May 1922.
Folders 211-213 ...June 1922.
Folder 214
July 1922.
Folder 215
August 1922.
Folders 216-220 ....September 1922.
Reel 16
Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1937,1983, and Undated cont.
Subserles 1.6.1921-1937 and 1983 cont.
Folder 221
October-December 1922.
Folder 222
1923-1924.
Folder 223
1925-1937 and 1983.
Subserles 1.7. Undated
Folder 224
"A."
Folder 225
"B."
Folder 226
"C."
Folder 227
"D-E."
Folder 228
"F."
Folder 229
"G-H."
Folder 230
Thomas W. Hardwick.
Folder 231
"J-L"
Folder 232
"M."
Folder 233
"N-P."
Folder 234
"R-T."
Folder 235
"V-W."
Folder 236
Thomas E. Watson.
Folders 237-241 ....Unidentified Correspondents.
Reel 17
Series 2. Speeches by Watson, 1872-1918
Folder 242
Folder 243
Folder 244
Folder 245
1872 and 1877, Two Untitled Speeches.
30 October 1888, Savannah.
25 July 1893, Athens.
25 August 1893, Dalton (two other speeches, undated, headed
"Kennesaw" and "Rockmart" on same notepad).
Folder 246
20 September 1893, Bethlehem.
Folder 247
4 October 1893, Dublin.
Folder 248
20 October 1893, Thomson.
Folder 249a
9 September-23 October 1896, Kansas, Nebraska, and Tennessee.
Folder 249b
7 October 1896, Mclntyre.
Folder 250
1896, Three Speeches, Gracewood.
Folder 251
25 April 1902, Thomson.
Folder 252
10 August 1904, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Folders 253-254 ....18 August 1904, New York, New York.
Folder 255
6 September 1904, St. Louis Worlds Fair.
Folder 256
24 October 1904, New York, New York.
Folder 257
19 November 1904, Thomson.
Folders 258-260 ....1904, Augusta.
Reel 18
Series 2. Speeches by Watson, 1872-1918 cent.
Folder 261
1904, "Banquet Speech."
Folders 262-263 ....1904, Miscellaneous Campaign Speeches.
Folder 264
1905, New York, New York.
Folder 265
1905, "Public Ownership of Public Utilities."
Folder 266
6 August 1908, Augusta.
Folder 267
2 September 1910, Atlanta.
Folder 268
12 February 1916, Thomson.
Folder 269
1918, Congressional Campaign.
Folder 270
1918, "Chicago Speech."
Folders 271-277 ....1918, "The French Revolution."
Folder 278
1918, "Mem. for Speech."
Folder 279
1918, "Silver Speech."
Folder 280
1918, Notes on Currency Issues.
Folder 281
1918, Notes on Campaign.
Reel 19
Series 3. Writings by Watson
Subserles 3.1. Book Manuscripts
Folders 282-294 ...."Bethany: A Story of the Old South."
Reel 20
Series 3. Writings by Watson cont.
Subserles 3.1. Book Manuscripts cont.
Folders 295-302 ...."Bethany: A Story of the Old South."
Folders 303-304 ...."Bethany: A Study and a Story of the South."
Folders 305-308 ....'The Life and Times of Andrew Jackson."
Reel 21
Series 3. Writings by Watson cont.
Subserles 3.1. Book Manuscripts cont.
Folders 309-332 ...."The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson.'
Reel 22
Series 3. Writings by Watson cont.
Subserles 3.1. Book Manuscripts cont.
Folders 333-357 ....'The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson."
Reel 23
Series 3. Writings by Watson cont.
Subserles 3.1. Book Manuscripts cont.
Folder 358
Napoleon: A Sketch of His Life, Character, Struggles,
(1902),"Outline Sketch of Napoleon's Career."
Folder 359
Napoleon: A Sketch of His Life, Character, Stmggles,
(1902),"By Way of Introduction."
Folder 360
Napoleon: A Sketch of His Life, Character, Struggles,
(1902),"Some Impressions of Napoleon."
Folder 361
Napoleon: A Sketch of His Life, Character, Struggles,
(1902),'* Study of Napoleon."
Folders 362-376 .... Napoleon: A Sketch of His Life, Character, Struggles,
(1902), "Napoleon."
and Achievements
and Achievements
and Achievements
and Achievements
and Achievement
Reel 24
Series 3. Writings by Watsón cont.
Subserles 3.1. Book Manuscripts cont.
Folders 377-402 ....Napoleon: A Sketch of His Life, Character, Struggles, and Achievements
(1902), "Napoleon" cont.
Reel 25
Series 3. Writings by Watson cont.
Subserles 3.2. Other Writings, 1870-1921 and Undated
Folders 403-404 ....American Revolution.
Folder 405
Anti-Catholic Writings.
Folder 406
"An Appeal to the President."
Folder 407
Autobiographical Notes.
Folder 408
"Book Reviews."
Folder 409
Buford Incident, August 1920.
Folder 410
Currency.
Folder 411
'The Disciples of Proudhom."
Folders 412-414 ...."Enduring the War."
Folder 415
'The Farmers Union."
Folder 416
"French Revolution."
Folder 417
'The Future of Democracy."
Folder 418
"Glimpses Behind the Curtain."
Folder 419
"Hair from the Tail of Balaam's Ass."
Folders 420-425 ....History of England, "Imperialism and Democracy."
Folder 426
'The Inauguration of President Harding."
Folder 427
"Is the Black Man Superior to the White?"
Folder 428
"Is the South Glad It Lost?"
Folder 429
"Let the Government Create the Money."
Folder 430
Miscellaneous, 1870-1880.
Folders 431-434 ....Miscellaneous, Undated.
Reel 26
Series 3. Writings by Watson cont.
Subserles 3.2. Other Writings, 1870-1921 and Undated cont.
Folder 435
Miscellaneous, Undated.
Folder 436
"Mission of Democracy."
Folder 437
Missouri Compromise.
Folder 438
"Mr. Watson's Statement to the Public," 17 September 1918.
Folder 439
Napoleon, ca. 1872-1874.
Folder 440
"Notes from the Senate," November(?) 1921.
Folder 441
"Notes from Washington," 1921.
Folder 442
"The Peril of Perils."
Folder 443
"The Plot to Kill Watson."
Folder 444
Politics:
Folder 445
"Reasons for Wilson's Re-election."
Folder 446
'The South."
Folders 447-448 ....'The South•Historical Injustice..."
Subserles 3.2. Other Writings, 1870-1921 and Undated cont.
Folder 449
'The South"; "Child Labor Bill"; "Speech," 1902-1903 (tablet).
Folder 450
"A Story of the South."
Folder 451
"Survey of the World."
Folder 452
'Two Wrongs Make a Right"; a piece on the origins of
Tom Watson's Magazine.
Folder 453
'The Vulture."
Folder 454
"Washington Notes."
Folder 455
"What We Owe to the Roman Catholic Church."
Folder 456
"Where the Duel was Fought."
Folder 457
'The Work of Congress," 1920.
Folder 458
World War I.
Series 4. Other Papers, 1877-1981 and Undated
Subserles 4.1. Legal and Financial Papers, 1877-1981 and Undated
Folder 459
1877-1900.
Folder 460
1901-1910.
Folder 461
1911-1920.
Folder 462
1919-1920, Check Stubs.
Folder 463
1921-1981 and Undated.
Reel 27
Series 4. Other Papers, 1877-1981 and Undated cont.
Subserles 4.2. Writings by Others, 1896-1917 and Undated
Folder 464
Anticatholicism.
Folder 465
/'Atkinson's Secret Circular to the Colored Voters of Georgia," 1896.
[Folders 466-467 are voided folder numbers.]
Folder 468
'The Czar of Tabernacledom Unmasked by One of His Deacons."
Folder 469
Defense Brief in U.S. vs. Thomas E. Watson, November 1913.
Folder 470
Genealogical Materials and Biographical Sketch of Watson by Julia
Watson Cliatt.
Folder 471
Hickory Hill National Register of Historic Places Nomination.
Folder 472
'The Lady Has Got It Down Right."
Folders 473-478 ...."Life of Thomas E. Watson" by Georgia Watson Lee.
Folders 479-487 ....Liguori Pamphlet (this appears to be a translation of "Moraltheologie
des Heiligen Dr. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori" in folder 27).
Folder 488
Memorials.
Folders 489-491 ....Miscellaneous.
Folder 492
"Sketch of the Private Life of Thomas E. Watson" by E. C. Lanier.
Folder 493
"Thomas Edward Watson: Dissenting Mercer Orator Superb."
Folders 494-495 ....The Watsonian.
Reel 28
Series 4. Other Papers, 1877-1981 and Undated cont.
Subserles 4.3. Miscellaneous Papers
Folders 496-499 ....Mailing Lists.
Folders 500-502 ....Miscellaneous.
Folder 503
Treatment of Soldiers during World War I.
Folder 504
The Watsonian.
Series 5. Printed Material, 1863-1986 and Undated
Subserles 5.1. Printed Writings by Thomas E. Watson, 1892-1921 and Undated
Folder 505
Peoples Party Campaign Book, 1892, and Economic Handbook, 1908.
Folder 506
[ca.] 1891-1904.
Folder 507
1907-1912.
Folder 508
1913-1921.
Folder 509
Undated, Anti-Catholic Writings.
Folder 510
Undated, "Glimpses Behind the Curtain."
Folder 511
Undated, Miscellaneous.
Folder 512
Undated, Short Talks to Young Men.
10
Reel 29
Series 5. Printed Material, 1863-1986 and Undated cont.
Subserles 5.2. People's Party Paper, 1891-1898 and Undated
Description of Subseries 5.2. Folders 513-524 not microfilmed.
Subserles 5.3. Other Printed Material, 1869-1986 and Undated
Newspapers and Clippings, 1876-1986 and Undated. (Discarded after microfilming.)
Folder 525
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, 1863-1896.
Folder 526
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, 1900-1909.
Reel 30
Series 5. Printed Material, 1863-1986 and Undated cont.
Subserles 5.3. Other Printed Material, 1863-1986 and Undated cont.
Folder 527
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, 1910-1914.
Folder 528
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, 1915-1919.
Folder 529
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, 1920-1936,1942,
and 1986.
Folder 530
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, Undated, Anticatholicism.
Folder 531
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, Undated, Civil War.
Folder 532
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, Undated, Miscellaneous.
Folder 533
Pamphlets, Magazine Articles, and Other Items, Undated, T. E. Watson.
Reel 31
Series 6. Volumes, 1860S-1965
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1860s.
Thomas E. Watson, Diary and Commonplace Book, 1871-1872.
Thomas E. Watson, Diary, Commonplace Book, and Scrapbook,
1872-1894.
Thomas E. Watson, Small Commonplace Book, 1873-1890.
Gross and Watson, Lawyer's Record Book, 1875-1904.
Reel 32
Series 6. Volumes, 1860S-1965 cont.
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8
Volume 9
Volume 10
Volume 11
Volume 12
Volume 13
Thomas E. Watson,
Thomas E. Watson,
Thomas E. Watson,
Thomas E. Watson,
Thomas E. Watson,
Thomas E. Watson,
Thomas E. Watson,
Thomas E. Watson,
Small Scrapbook, 1874.
Scrapbook, 1874-1883.
Small Personal Pocket Account Book, 1874.
Scrapbook, ca. 1879-1890.
Scrapbook, 1881-1894.
Small Notepad, "Canvas Book," 1882.
Small Notepad, 1883.
Scrapbook, 1883.
11
Reel 33
Series 6. Volumes, 1860s-1965 cont.
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Volume 26
Volume 27
Volume 28
Volume 29
.Thomas E. Watson, Small Notebook, 1885-1887.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1886-1900. Index only microfilmed.
Thomas E. Watson, Small Account Book, 1888-1890.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1888-1891. Available only on microfilm.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1888-1894. Not microfilmed.
Thomas E. Watson, Legal Fee Book and Account Book, 1888-1896.
Thomas E. Watson, Small "Daybook of Payments," 1889-1896.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1889-1916. Not microfilmed. v
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1890-1891. Not microfilmed.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1890-1896. Selected pages microfilmed.
Thomas E. Watson, Small Personal Account Book, 1891-1894.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1892-1894. Index and selected pages
microfilmed; pages not directly relating to Watson not microfilmed.
Available only on microfilm.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1892-1894. Index and selected pages
microfilmed. Microfilmed pages not available in original.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1893-1895. Available only on microfilm.
Agnes Pearce Watson, Notebook, 1894. Selected pages microfilmed.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1894-1895. Index and selected pages
microfilmed. Microfilmed pages not available in original.
Reel 34
Series 6. Volumes, 1860S-1965 cont.
Volume 30
Volume 31
Volume 32
Volume 33
Volume 34
Volume 35
Volume 36
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume
37
38
39
40
41
Thomas E. Watson, Small Account Book, 1891-1897.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1896. Index and selected pages
microfilmed. Available only on microfilm.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, 1896. Available only on microfilm.
Thomas E. Watson, Small Farm Account Book, 1897-1901.
Thomas E. Watson, Account Book, 1897-1918.
Thomas E. Watson, Small Notebook, 1902.
Typed Transcription of W. J. McNaughton Case in the Emanual
Superior Court, 1910.
Thomas E. Watson, 1919 Bankbook.
Thomas E. Watson, Scrapbook, Undated. Not microfilmed.
Thomas E. Watson, Commonplace Book, Undated.
Typed Transcription of U.S. v. Watson, 1916.
Photocopy of Dr. Lindsey Durham, A Brief Biography, by
Charles H. Calhoun, Sr.
Series 7. Pictures, ca. 1875-1922 and Undated
P-755/1-73.
12
CALENDAR OF SELECTED
CORRESPONDENCE
This is a calendar of selected correspondence in Series 1 of this collection. This is not a complete list of
correspondents (only those who are of historic significance themselves or who wrote to Watson either frequently
or on especially important subjects have been included) or items per correspondent. Although dates of individual
letters have been listed, there may be other items from that correspondent.
By referring to the Reel Index that comprises the main part of this user guide, researchers can find a folder
listing of each reel. A description of each series is found in the Scope and Content Note. A Subject Index follows
this calendar.
Bacon, A. O. (Georgia senator)
Reel?
Reels 8-9
Reels 9-11
1 letter: 27 April 1904
2 letters: 6 July 1907,13 December 1907
5 letters: 1908, especially January and February
Bartley, James (Amsterdam, New York)
Reels 3-4
13 letters: 1904, especially August
Bentley, H. L. (president, People's Party Clubs)
Reels 7-9
Reels 9-11
16 letters: 1907, especially September
4 letters: 1908, especially January, February, and May
Blease, Coleman L. (governor of South Carolina, 1911-1915)
Reel 11
1 letter: 24 December 1912
Blodgett, David (Iowa congressional candidate jailed for publishing
Watson's antl-conscrlptlon speeches, ca. 1917)
Reel 12
Reels 12-14
1 letter: 5 August 1920
4 letters: 1921, especially July and August
Brisbane, Arthur (editor, New York Evening Journal)
Reels 3-4
Reel 4
Reels 5-6
Reel 7
2
2
2
1
letters: 23 June 1904, 26 November 1904
letters: 28 February 1905, 5 May 1905
letters: 17 September 1906,1 December 1906
letter: 11 April 1907
Brown, J. J. (Georgia commissioner of agriculture, father-in-law to
Watson's granddaughter, Georgia Watson Lee Brown)
Reel 4
Reel 4
Reels 5-6
Reel 8
Reel 10
Reel 11
Reels 12-14
1 letter: 28 November 1904
2 letters: 7 February 1905, 9 February 1905
5 letters: 1906, especially June, July, and August
1 letter: 6 July 1907
1 letter: 8 June 1908
1 letter: 26 February 1917
5 letters: 1921, especially January, April, and September
13
Brown, Joseph M. (governor of Georgia, 1908-1910)
Reels 9-11
3 letters: 1908, especially May
Brown, J. Pope (Watson's initial candidate for governor of Georgia, 1905)
Reel 4
2 letters: 7 February 1905,21 March 1905
Reel 5
1 letter: 10 January 1906
Reels 9-11
3 letters: 1908, especially February and May
Bryan, Charles W. (brother of William Jennings Bryan)
Reel 7
2 letters: 26 April 1907,16 May 1907
Bryan, William Jennings
Reels 7-8
3 letters: 1907, January, April, and October
Reel 9
1 letter: 18 January 1908
Butler, Marlon (Populist party leader In North Carolina)
Reel 2
2 letters: 27 August 1896,15 September 1896
Clark, Walter (chief justice of North Carolina)
Reels 3-4
3 letters: 1904, March, August, and December
Clay, A. S. (permanent chair, Georgia Democratic state convention)
Reel 6
1 letter: 19 November 1906
Reels 7-9
3 letters: 1907, especially January and August
Reels 9-11
6 letters: 1908, especially January and February
Cohen, John S. (managing editor of the Atlanta Journal)
Reel3
1 letter: 21 July 1904
Darrow, Clarence
Reels 3-4
2 letters: 17 July 1904,20 December 1904
De France, Charles Q. (People's Party National Committee secretary and
circulation manager for Tom Wafson's Magazine)
Reels 4-5
25 letters: 1905
Reels 5-6
16 letters: 1906
Ferrlss, James H. (People's Party National Committee chair)
Reels 7-9
5 letters: 1907, especially August, September, November, and December
Reels 9-11
10 letters: 1908, especially January, February, May, and June
Glover, Arthur P. (Watson supporter)
Reels 7-9
3 letters: 1907, especially May and November
Reel 9
1 letter: 29 January 1908
Girdner, John H. (Watson's doctor)
Reels 3-4
3 letters: 1904, especially November and December
Reels 4-5
5 letters: 1905, especially February and March
Harben, William N. (author)
Reel 4
2 letters: 12 December 1904, 28 December 1904
Reel 5
2 letters: 18 October 1905,13 December 1905
Reel 6
1 letter: 2 November 1906
Reel?
1 letter: 24 January 1907
14
Hardwlck, Thomas W. (Georgia congressman)
Reels 3-4
Reels 4-5
Reels 5-6
Reels 7-9
Reels 9-11
Reel 11
Reel 11
Reels 12-14
Reel 14
Reel 16
4 letters: 1904, especially April, November, and December
16 letters: 1905
16 letters: 1906
23 letters: 1907
22 letters: 1908
13 letters: 1909
2 letters: 1 January 1910,1 February 1910
3 letters: 1921, especially March and June
1 letter: 1 March 1922
Letters and letter fragments: Undated
Hearst, William Randolph
Reel 7
2 letters: 17 January 1907,31 January 1907
Mines, James K. (Georgia Railroad Commission attorney, 1907)
Reels 3-4
Reels 4-5
Reels 5-6
Reel 9
Reels 9-11
4 letters: 1904, especially July, October, and December
6 letters: 1905, especially July and December
8 letters: 1906, especially June, July, and August
1 letter: 10 December 1907
4 letters: 1908, especially May and June
Howell, Clark (editor of the Atlanta Constitution, Georgia gubernatorial candidate, 1906)
Reel 3
Reel3
Reel 5
Reels 7-9
Reels 9-11
Reels 12-14
2 letters: 27 January 1899,30 January 1899
1 letter: 12 April 1904
2 letters: 4 August 1905, Undated
6 letters: 1907, especially July and November
3 letters: 1908, especially May
4 letters: 1921, especially June and September
Hubbard, Elbert (writer, editor)
Reel 5
Reel 11
Reel 16
1 letter: 22 October 1906
1 letter: 8 November 1909
1 letter: Undated
McGregor, Charles E. (business manager of the Jeffersonlan)
Reel 1
Reels 3-4
Reels 4-5
Reels 5-6
Reels 7-9
Reels 9-11
Reel 12
1 telegram: 120ctober 1889
5 letters: 1904, especially August
4 letters: 1905, especially February, March, and September
12 letters: 1906, especially October, November, and December
12 letters: 1907, especially January, July, and November
6 letters: 1908, especially February, May, June, and July
1 letter: 27 June 1918
Nye, Gordon (employed by Watson on his publications)
Reel 6
Reels 7-9
Reel 10
1 letter: 1 November 1906
45 letters: 1907
1 letter: 28 April 1908
Randall, James Ryder (poet)
Reels 3-4
Reels 4-5
Reel 5
Reels 7-8
2
4
1
2
letters: 21 July 1904,30 October 1904
letters: 1905, especially February
letter: 2 August 1906
letters: 4 May 1907,21 August 1907
Roosevelt, Theodore
Reel 7
1 letter: 12 January 1907 (photocopy)
Sinclair, Upton
Reel4
1 letter: 25 June 1905
15
Smith, Hoke (governor of Georgia, 1907-1909,1911)
Reels 4-5
Reels 5-6
Reels 7-9
Reels 9-11
Reel 11
3 letters: 1905, especially June and September
6 letters: 1906
11 letters: 1907
4 letters: 1908, especially January
1 letter: 25 August 1916
Stephens, Kate (author)
Reel 7
3 letters: 1907, April, May, and June
Tibbies, Thomas H. (Populist party candidate for vice-president, 1904)
Reels 4-5
Reels 5-6
Reels 7-9
2 letters: 22 June 1905, 4 December 1905
7 letters: 1906, especially October and November
8 letters: 1907, especially January, April, and August
Vardaman, James K. (governor of Mississippi, 1904-1907)
Reel 8
Reel 11
2 letters: 15 August 1907,20 November 1907
1 letter: 17 June 1913
Watson, Aiva (nephew)
Reels 4-5
Reel 6
2 letters: 21 March 1905,19 August 1905
1 letter: 6 November 1906
Watson, John Durham (son)
Reels
Reels 5-6...
1 letter: 31 December 1905
4 letters: 1906, especially January and August
16
SUBJECT INDEX
This is an index to the major subjects included in the Thomas E. Wätson Papers. Entries are arranged by reel
number and series number. By referring to the Reel Index that comprises the main part of this user guide,
researchers can find afolder listing of each reel. A description of the contents of each series is found in the Scope
and Content Note. A Calendar of Selected Correspondence precedes this Subject Index.
Accounting•Books of account
Reels 31-34: Series 6
Agriculture and politics•United States•History•1865-1921
Reels 1-34: All series
Authors and publishers
Reels 1-34: All series
Bacon, Augustus Octavlus, 1839-1914
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Bartley, James, fi. 1904
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Bentley, H. L, fl. 1907-1908
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Blease, Coleman Livingston, 1868-1942
Reels 11-12: Series 1.5
Blodgett, David, f 1.1920s
Reels 11-16: Series 1.5,1.6
Brisbane, Arthur, 1864-1936
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Brown, Georgia Watson Lee, fl.
Reels 12-16: Series 1.6
see also Lee, Georgia Watson
1920S-1930S
Brown, J. J., fl. 1904-1921
Reels 3-16: Series 1.4-1.6
Brown, Joseph M., 1851-1932
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Brown, J. Pope, fl. 1905-1908
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Brown, Walter J., fl. 1920s-1930s
Reels 12-16: Series 1.6
Bryan, Charles Wayland, 1867-?
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
17
Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925
Reels 3-11 and 31-34: Series 1.4 and 6, 7
Butler, Marlon, 1863-1928
Reels 1-2 and 3-11 : Series 1.2 and 1.4
Clark, Walter, 1846-1924
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Clay, A. S.,f 1.1906-1908
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Cohen, John S., fl. 1904
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Columbia Sentinel (Newspaper: Harlem, Georgia)
Reels 29-30: Series 5.3
Commonplace books
Reels 31-34: Series 6
Cotton Plant (Newspaper: Orangeburg, South Carolina)
Reels 29-30: Series 5.3
Currency question
Reels 3-11,17-18, 25-26, and 29-30: Series 1.4,2,3.2, and 5.3
Dally Press (Newspaper: Georgia)
Reel 29: Series 5.2 (description only, folders 513-524 not microfilmed)
Darrow, Clarence, 1857-1938
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
De France, Charles Q., fl. 1905-1906
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Diaries•Georgia
Reels 31-34: Series 6
Discrimination•Religious aspects
Reels 11-16 and 25-30: Series 1.5, 1.6 and 3.2, 4.2, 5.1, 5.3
Durham, Martha Hendon, fl. 1860s
Reel 34: Series 7
Editors•Georgia•History•1865-1950
Reels 1-34: All series
Emigration and Immigration
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Family•Georgia•Social life and customs•1865-1950
Reels 1 and 31-34: Series 1.1 and 6, 7
Farmer's Alliance
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Farmers•Political activity
Reels 1-34: Miseries
Ferrlss, James H., fl. 1907-1908
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
France•History•1789-1815
Reels 3 and 17-26: Series 1.3 and 2,3.1, 3.2
18
Funeral rites and ceremonies•Pictorial works
Reel 34: Series 7
Georgia•Politics and government•1865-1950
Reel 1-34: All series
Glrdner, John H., fl. 1904-1905
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Harben, William Nathaniel, 1858-1919
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Hardwlck, Thomas William, 1872-1944
Reels 3-16: Series 1.4-1.7
Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Hickory Hill (Thomson, Georgia)
Reels 1-34: All series
Hines, James K., fl. 1904-1908
Reels 3-11 and 34: Series 1.4 and 7
Howell, Clark, 1868-?
Reels 3-16: Series 1.3-1.6
Hubbard, Elbert, 1856-1915
Reels 3-12 and 16: Series 1.4,1.5 and 1.7
Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845
Reels 3 and 19-24: Series 1.3 and 3.1
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Reels 3 and 19-24: Series 1.3 and 3.1
Journalists•Georgia•History•1865-1950
Reels 1-34: All series
Ku Klux Klan
Reels 12-16: Series 1.6
Lawyers•Georgia•History•1865-1950
Reels 1-34: All series
Lee, Georgia Watson, fl. 1920s
Reel 34: Series 7
see also Brown, Georgia Watson Lee
Lytle, Alice, fl. 1920s-1930s
Reels 12-16: Series 1.6
McGregor, Charles E., fl. 1889-1918
Reels 3-12: Series 1.3-1.5
Mercer College (Georgia)
Reels 27 and 31-34: Series 4.2 and 6
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
Reels 3 and 17-26: Series 1.3 and 2,3.1,3.2
Newspaper publishing•Georgia•History•1865-1950
Reels 1-34: All series
Obscenity (Law)
Reels 11-12 and 31-34: Series 1.5 and 6
19
Patronage, political
Reels 12-16: Series 1.6
People's Guide (Newspaper: Irwinton, Georgia)
Reels 29-30: Series 5.3
People's Party Paper (Newspaper: Atlanta, Georgia)
Reels 1-2 and 29: Series 1.2 and 5.2 (description only, folders 513-524 not microfilmed)
Politicians•Georgia•History•1865-1950
Reels 1-34: All series
Populism•United States•History•1865-1921
Reels 1-34: All series
Populist party
Reels 1-34: All series
Presidents•United States•Election, 1896
Reels 1-2 and 31-34: Series 1.2 and 6
Presidents•United States•Election, 1904
Reels 3-11,17-18, and 31 -34: Series 1.4,2 and 6
Presidents•United States•Election, 1908
Reels 3-11,17-18, and 31 -34: Series 1.4,2 and 6
Publishers and publishing
Reels 1-34: All series
Race discrimination
Reels 3-11,17-18, 25-26, and 29-30: Series 1.4, 2, 3.2 and 5.3
Race relations
Reels 1 -34: All series
Railroads
Reels 3-11 and 29-30: Series 1.4 and 5.3
Randall, James R[yder], 1839-1908
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Revolution (Newspaper: Atlanta, Georgia)
Reels 29-30: Series 5.3
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Silver question
Reels 3-11,17-18, 25-26, and 29-30: Series 1.4,2, 3.2 and 5.3
Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Smith, Hoke, 1855-1931
Reels 3-12: Series 1.4,1.5
Southern States•History•1865-1951
Reels 1-34: All series
Southern States•Politics and government•1865-1950
Reels 1-34: All series
Stephens, Kate, 1853-1938
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Thomson (Georgia)•History•19th century
Reels 1-34: All series
20
Tibbies, Thomas Henry, 1840-1928
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Tom Watson's Magazine (Magazine: Georgia)
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Trials (Obscenity)
Reels 11-12 and 31-34: Series 1.5 and 6
United States•Politics and government•1865-1933
Reels 1-34: All series
United States Army•History•World War, 1914-1918
Reels 12-16 and 28: Series 1.6 and 4.3
United States Senate
Reels 12-16, 25-26, and 29-30: Series 1.6, 3.2 and 5.3
Vardaman, James Klmble, 1861-1930
Reels 3-12: Series 1.4, 1.5
Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Watson, Agnes Pearce, 1882-1917
Reels 31-34: Series 6, 7
Watson, Ann Eliza Maddox, d. 1909
Reel 34: Series 7
Watson, Georgia Durham, d. 1923
Reels 12-16, 26, and 34: Series 1.6, 4.1, and 7
Watson, John Durham, 1880-1918
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Watson, John Smith, d. 1895
Reel 34: Series 7
Watson, Thomas E[dward], 1856-1922
Reels 1-34: All series
Watson, Thomas Miles, d. 1865
Reels 31-34: Series 6
Watson family
Reels 1-16 and 31-34: Series 1, 6, 7
Watsonlan (Magazine: Georgia)
Reels 12-16 and 27: Series 1.6 and 4.2
Watson's Jeffersonlan (Newspaper: Georgia)
Reels 3-11 : Series 1.4
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
Reels 29-30: Series 5.3
Woolhat (Newspaper: Gracewood, Georgia)
Reels 29-30: Series 5.3
World War, 1914-1918•Protest movements
Reels 11-12: Series 1.5
21
Related UPA Collections
Civil War Unit Histories: Regimental Histories and
Personal Narratives
Part 1 : The Confederate States of America
and Border States
Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States
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Papers of Zebulon Vance
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Slavery in Ante-Bellum Southern Industries
Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th
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