Wilder and Anderson Family Papers, 1837-1938.

Summary

Creator:
Anderson (Family : Savannah, Ga.) and Wilder (Family : Savannah, Ga.)
Abstract:

The Wilder and Anderson families were united when Page Wilder, daughter of Georgia King and Joseph J. Wilder, of Savannah, Ga., married J. Randolph Anderson (1861-1950), son of Edward C. Anderson, Jr. (1859-1876), also of Savannah, in 1895. The Andersons had three children: Page (Pagie) Anderson (b. 1899); J. R. Anderson (1902-1903); and Joseph (Joe) Wilder Anderson (b. 1904). Page Wilder Anderson married Henry N. Platt of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1921.

Chiefly lettrs of members of the Wilder and Anderson families, concerning family affairs. Items include an 1823 ship manifest transporting a slave from New York to Savannah, Ga. Early letters are to and from Wilder family members, including Joseph J. Wilder, who, in 1863, described Darmstat, Germany, where he was studying. Letters written in 1889-1890 are chiefly from Joseph J. Wilder in Savannah to his wife Georgia and daughter Page, who were travelling in Europe. From 1893 to 1895, there are many courtship letters to Page from J. Randolph Anderson, lawyer of Savannah, who was chiefly involved in railroad law. A few of these letters discuss the business climate in Savannah and Democratic Party politics. Letters from the period 1914-1928 are from Page and J. Randolph's children at schoool: from Pagie, mainly about her social life, 1915-1918, at St. Timothy's School in Catonsville, Md.; and, 1919-1924, from Joe at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia, where he had a difficult time both socially and academically, but much success on the football field. After Pagie's 1921 marriage, she wrote to her parents about her life, which was largely spent resolving servant and decorating problems at her Chestnut Hill home; travelling in Europe with her husband; and raising her three children. Letters, show that, in 1924, Joe matriculated at the University of Virginia, where he played football. He also spent several summers travelling in Europe. By 1929, he was working and living in Savannah.

Extent:
1600 items (4.0 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English

Background

Scope and content:

Chiefly letters of members of the Wilder and Anderson families, most concerning family affairs.

The first item is a ship manifest transporting a slave from New York to Savannah, Ga. The few letters from the 1850s and 1860s are to and from Wilder family members, including Joseph J. Wilder, who, in 1863, was studying in Darmstat, Germany, which he described in great detail. Letters in the 1880s are chiefly to Page Wilder, staying with relatives at the family summer home in Marietta, Ga., from her mother and father in Savannah about family matters. There are also a few 1882 letters from J. Randolph Anderson, travelling in Europe, to his mother in Savannah. Letters from 1889 and 1890 are chiefly from Joseph J. Wilder in Savannah to his wife Georgia and daughter Page who were travelling in Europe. There are no letters from July-December 1890, since Joseph joined his family in Europe in June. There are also a few letters during this period to Georgia from some of her many sisters and brothers.

Beginning around 1893 and continuing until their marriage in November 1895, there are many letters to Page from J. Randolph Anderson, who was a lawyer with the firm of Charlton, Mackall and Anderson in Savannah. The firm seems to have been retained primarily by railroads, among them the Georgia and Alabama Railway. During most of this period, Page was travelling in Europe. These letters chiefly are concerned with courtship, but a few also discuss the business climate in Savannah and Democratic Party politics with which J. Randolph was involved.

Letters for the period 1896-1914 are chiefly to J. Randolph and Page Wilder Anderson from family and friends and from J. Randolph to Page while he travelled on business and she travelled for pleasure, especially during the summers she spent in Marietta. In 1896, letters show J. Randolph participating in the Democratic National Convention, where he was appointed to the Committee on Resolutions. On 4 September 1896, he wrote of the convention as "the first truly national national convention that has been held since the war--both in its principles and in its full and frank recognition of the rights of the South to participate equally with all other sections in the management of our Government."

Most letters from this period deal with family affairs, including the birth in 1899 and early childhood years of daughter Page (Pagie); the birth in 1902 and death in 1903 of son J. R. Anderson, Jr.; and the birth of son Joseph Wilder (Joe) in 1904. Letters also reveal that, in 1906, Page went to Boston to see a doctor "about her head." It appears that she eventually had an operation on her head and spent much of that year in Boston.

Some letters mention business affairs. In 1900, J. Randolph's partner Charlton dropped out of the firm, and, in 1903, J. Randolph went out on his own. By 1913, he was a member of Anderson, Cann & Cann, which seems to have specialized in railroad work.

Letters from 1914-1915 are from Pagie at the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Mass.; letters from 1915-1918 are from her at St. Timothy's School in Catonsville, Md. These letters deal chiefly with Pagie's social life, but also make occasional mention of academic affairs. From 1919 to 1924, there are letters from Joe at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia, where he apparently had a difficult time both socially and academically, but much success on the football field.

In 1921, Pagie married Henry N. Platt, occupation unclear, of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa., and began a correspondence with her parents that included the minute details of her life, which was apparently spent in resolving servant and decorating problems; travelling in Europe with her husband; and giving birth to and caring for her three children.

In 1924, Joe matriculated at the University of Virginia, where he played on the football team, had a good enough time to have occasional discipline problems, and made slight improvements on the academic front. Letters show that he also managed to spend several summers travelling in Europe. In 1928, Joe seems to have been continuing his education in Philadelphia, but longing to get a real job. Although the volume of letters decreases sharply after 1928, it is clear that, by 1929, Joe, with the assistance of his father, had secured a job with a naval stores producer and was living in Savannah. He apparently married a woman named Edith who suffered from poor health in the late 1930s. Letters in the 1930s from Pagie show her life to have continued very much as it was in the 1920s; by the late 1930s, there are a few letters from Pagie's children to their grandmother and grandfather in Savannah.

Biographical / historical:

The Wilder and Anderson families were united when Page Wilder of Savannah, Ga., married Jefferson Randolph Anderson (1861-1950), also of Savannah, in 1895. Jefferson Randolph Anderson was known as J. Randolph.

Page Wilder Anderson was the daughter of Georgia King and Joseph J. Wilder. Georgia King Wilder was the daughter of Anna and Thomas Butler King of Retreat Plantation, Saint Simons Island, Ga. Jefferson Randolph Anderson was the son of Edward C. Anderson, Jr. (1859-1876).

Page Wilder and Jefferson Randolph Anderson had three children: Page Anderson (b. 1899); J. R. Anderson (1902-1903); and Joseph Wilder Anderson (b. 1904). Page Wilder Anderson attended the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Mass., for a short time, and then went to St. Timothy's School in Catonsville, Md., from 1915 to 1918. She married Henry N. Platt of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1921. They had three children: Harry (b. 1923), Ann Page (b. 1925), and Jefferson Randolph. Joseph Wilder Anderson, after attending Woodberry Forest School in Virginia and the University of Virginia, appears to have settled in Savannah and married a woman named Edith.

Acquisition information:
Received from Page Wilder Anderson of Savannah, Ga., in 1947.
Processing information:

Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom with assistance from August Berner and Douglas Stenberg, March 1993

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to use:

Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Wilder and Anderson Family Papers #1255, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu