WILLIAM C. EDGAR AND FAMILY:
An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Edgar, William C. (William Crowell), 1856-1932, creator. | |
| Title: | William C. Edgar and family papers. | |
| Dates: | 1832-1968. | |
| Language: | Materials in English, French, Russian. | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, news clippings, articles, scrapbooks, and other materials documenting the activities of Edgar, a Minneapolis editor, and his daughter Marjorie. | |
| Quantity: | 3.75 cubic feet (5 boxes and 1 folder in partial box). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
William Crowell Edgar was born December 21, 1856 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the son
of Joseph Crowell and Lucy Watson (Dorey) Edgar. He was educated in St. Louis,
Missouri. As a young man in St. Louis, he worked for the Democrat Lithograph and
Printing Company and as a salesman for Snider and Holmes, a wholesale paper dealer
and manufacturer. Edgar came to Minneapolis in 1880. In 1882 the publisher of the
Northwestern Miller, a weekly trade journal in
Minneapolis, asked him to become the journal’s business manager. As business manager
and later editor of the Miller, he was responsible for
a number of innovations. The first flour mill advertisement was placed in the Miller by the Charles A. Pillsbury Company in 1883; and
the first foreign flour advertisement was placed in 1885 by a firm in Glasgow,
Scotland.
Edgar established the literary magazine the Bellman in 1906 and served as editor and manager until 1919, when it was discontinued. Edgar served as president of Miller Publishing Company until his retirement in 1924, when he began writing a "Bellman" column for the Minneapolis Tribune. He also authored several books during his career.
Outside of his editorial work, Edgar organized a movement in 1891 through which American millers gave a shipload of flour for the relief of Russian peasants during the wheat famine, personally superintending its collection, shipment, and distribution, and receiving a gold flagon from the emperor of Russia in recognition of his services. Also during 1891 sixty American millers visited London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam in an effort to build closer relations between American and European millers.
Edgar also directed the Millers' Belgian Relief Movement in 1914, to aid Belgians during the First World War. In 1917 he assisted Herbert Hoover, food administrator, in perfecting the organization, regulation, and control of the American milling industry during the war. In 1918 he went to work in Britain, writing articles concerning the war spirit of the northwestern region of the United States. He was named Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Couronne (Belgium) and Officier de l'Instruction Publique (France). Edgar received the bronze medallion from Le Comit National de Secours et d'Alimentation, Brussels, in recognition of relief work.
In July 1883 he married Anne Randolph Page Robinson of St. Louis. They had two children: Randolph and Marjorie. William Edgar died December 2, 1932 at his home in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. Mrs. Edgar died in 1949.
Biographical information from the collection and from Minnesota Author Biographies: http://collections.mnhs.org/mnauthors/index.php/10001401.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
The collection includes information on Edgar's editorship of the Bellman, a literary magazine (1906-1919) and of the Northwestern Miller, a grain trade journal (1882-1924); and the publication of his history of the Washburn-Crosby Co., entitled The Medal of Gold: A Story of Industrial Achievement (Minneapolis, 1925).
Present too is information on his association with such projects as an excursion of American millers to London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam (1891); shipment of flour to Russia during a wheat famine (1891-1893); his work with Herbert C. Hoover in shipping flour to Belgium during World War I (1914-1915); and his speeches in England on the American war effort (1918).
Included also are data on construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad (1894); Bates Label Company (Minneapolis), in which Edgar was a stockholder (1904-1907); reasons for the omission of the sixth verse from Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1921-1922); economic conditions in Germany (1922-1923); Marjorie Edgar's experiences in Great Britain while studying the Girl Guide program (1920); her work in collecting Finnish folk songs; and family history.
The papers also contain many autograph items from American and European notables. Autograph items in the correspondence include: Edwin Austin Abbey, American artist (undated and 1887); William George Stewart Adams, English educator (October 1918); William Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, English journalist (October 1918); James Lane Allen, American novelist (undated); Charles Barnard, author (undated); Godfrey Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood, author (August-September 1918); Count Andre Bobrinskoy (August 1893, February and July 1894); Philip Burne-Jones, English painter (September-October 1918); Prince Cantacusen, Russian minister to the U.S. (1893); Robert W. Chambers, author (February 1903); Samuel Langhorne Clemens, American author (undated); Edmund Eitel, nephew of James Whitcomb Riley (October 1911); Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (undated, 1913-1914, 1917, 1920, 1925); Mary Hallock Foote, American artist and author (May 1894); Alice French, American novelist (1893, 1894, 1900); H. Hamilton Fyfe, English journalist (August 1918); J. L. Garvin, English journalist (September and October 1918); Hugh Gibson, American diplomat (1915, 1919); Richard Watson Gilder, American editor and poet (February 1907); Philip Ben Greet, English actor (circa 1930 and 1932); Edward Everett Hale, American author, (undated, 1893, 1894, 1900-1901, 1905, 1907); Florence Marion Howe Hall, daughter of Julia Ward Howe (August 1921); Herbert Clark Hoover, President (1914-1932); Lou Henry Hoover, wife of Herbert Hoover (1922-1923, 1928-1939); Emmanuel Hovemith, Belgian Ambassador to the U.S. (1915, 1917); Richard Malcolm Johnston, American author (1885); Vernon Lyman Kellogg, American author (1930); Franklin Knight Lane, U.S. Cabinet member (1913, 1917); Mathilda Lang, wife of Anton Lang (undated, 1910-1912, 1922-1923); Mary Custis Lee (1910); Edward Verrall Lucas, English essayist (undated, 1919); Beatrice Cameron Mansfield, actress and wife of Richard Mansfield (1904, 1908, 1913, 1914); Richard Mansfield, actor (undated, 1904); [James] Brander Matthews, author and educator (1900); Cyril Maude, English actor (July 1918); Viscount Northcliffe, English journalist (1918); Wallace Notestein, American historian (1935); Edgar Wilson Nye, American humorist (1893); Leon Osterrieth, Belgium military officer (1918); Walter Hines Page, American diplomat, (1918); Frank Parker, American actor (1934); Howard Pyle, American author and artist (1889, 1900); Frederic Remington, American artist (undated); Laura E. Richards, author and daughter of Julia Ward Howe (1922); Theodore Roosevelt, President (1910, 1914); Sol Smith Russell, American actor (1897-1899); Owen Seaman, English journalist (1912-1913); Otis Skinner, American actor (undated, 1920); Edward Hugh Sothern, actor (undated); J. Alfred Spender, father of author Stephen Spender (1918); H. Wickham Steed, English journalist (1918); Burton Egbert Stevenson, American librarian and author (1921); Francis Richard Stockton, American author (1885); John St. Loe Strachey, English journalist (1918); Campbell Stuart, English journalist (1918, 1930); Baron Charles Sudeley (1918, 1919); Augustus Thomas (1919, 1921); Sydney Valentine, English actor (1918); Henry Van Dyke, American author and diplomat (1917); Frederick Villiers (1911); Brand Whitlock (1915, 1916, 1918); Woodrow Wilson, President (1917); Constance Fenimore Woolson, author and niece of James Fenimore Cooper (undated); Evelyn Wrench, British official (1918); Fanny Bloomfield Zeisler, pianist (1910).
Autograph items in the correspondence that are Minnesotans include: James Ford Bell, milling executive (1923, 1925); Richard Eugene Burton, University of Minnesota English professor (1920); Lotus D. Coffman, President of the University of Minnesota (1925); William De La Barre, milling executive (1925); Charles M. Flandrau, author (1913); James Jerome Hill, railroad executive (1915); John Ireland, Archbishop of St. Paul, (1910, 1917); John Lind, Governor of Minnesota (1925); Albert Carpenter Loring (undated); William J. Mayo, physician (1923, 1925, 1929, 1932); Carroll K. Michener, editor (1927-1930); Cyrus Northrop, President of the University of Minnesota (1916); John S. Pillsbury (1912); Ole E. Rolvaag, author (1927); Henrik Shipstead, U.S. Senator (1932); George E. Vincent, President of the University of Minnesota (1917-1918, 1925).
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. William C. Edgar and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 4635; 4800; 6085; 8918; 9022; 12,708; 16,024
Processing Information:
Catalog ID number: 990017181930104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| 117.D.4.9B | 1 | Correspondence, undated, 1832, 1855, 1882-1917. 14 folders. | |||||||||
| Correspondence includes these general topics: | |||||||||||
| 1. 1885-1901. Letters from writers and authors concerning their articles for the Northwestern Miller. Frequent writers in this period are: Howard Pyle, Frank Stockton, and Edward Everett Hale. Also found in this period are a number of letters from Mr. and Mrs. George R. Robinson, parents of Mrs. W. C. Edgar, and from various Russian officials concerning the Russian famine relief program. Correspondence also includes details of Edgar's Russian travels and information on the Dorey family. | |||||||||||
| 2. 1904-1907. Correspondence and other papers relating to the Bates Label Company of Minneapolis. This company was formed to manufacture and distribute a new type of prescription and patent medicine label. Edgar owned stock in the company, and helped raise money for it. Henry Hahn was the president and Walter C. Tiffany, secretary. The company failed. | |||||||||||
| 3. 1912-1913. Letters relating to the sale by Edgar of his stock in the Northwestern Miller. Edgar wanted to be relieved of some of his responsibilities to concentrate his efforts on the Bellman. There is correspondence between Edgar and the following members of the Miller staff and stockholders: Charles Espenschied, St. Louis; C.F.G. Raikes, manager of the London branch; Judson M. Bemis; Robert E. Sterling of the Kansas City branch; Charles H. Challen, Chicago branch; and Walter Quackenbush. | |||||||||||
| 4. 1914-1918. First World War. Letters relating to the Belgium Relief Movement and Edgar's visit to England in 1918. | |||||||||||
| 5. 1920-1923. Correspondence about the Girl Guide program, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and economic hardships in Germany. | |||||||||||
| 6. 1924-1930. The 1924 letters deal with the controversy over Edgar's resignation from the Northwestern Miller. The letters dated 1925 are congratulatory, relating to the publication of Edgar's volume Medal of Gold. Letters dated 1927-1930 are from Carroll E. Michener, editor of the Northwestern Miller, and deal with articles written for the magazine by Edgar. | |||||||||||
| Herbert Hoover correspondence (photocopies), 1921-1932. | |||||||||||
| Herbert Hoover articles (photocopies), 1919-1931. | |||||||||||
| Legal and financial papers and reports, undated, 1885-1932. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Includes materials concerning the Northwestern Miller, the Bates Label Company, the Bellman, and miscellaneous insurance policies and abstracts of title to property in Minneapolis. | |||||||||||
| President's reports, Northwestern Miller, 1910-1923. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 117.D.4.10F | 2 | Manuscripts of articles by William C. Edgar, undated, 1882-1919, 1922-1930. 3 folders. | |||||||||
| Includes articles written for the Northwestern Miller, the Bellman, and the Minneapolis Tribune. | |||||||||||
| Biographical and family data. | |||||||||||
| Includes autobiographical sketches of William C. Edgar, information about his sister Mary Edgar Sill's family, the Revolutionary War careers of Nathaniel Fitz Randolph, William Edgar and Joseph Crowell, and a paper concerning the controversy over Edgar's retirement from the Northwestern Miller. | |||||||||||
| Programs, invitations, menus, calling cards, and miscellaneous, undated, 1883-1939. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Includes autograph items from William Temple, later Archbishop of Canterbury, Mrs. Richard Mansfield, Grand Duke Alexander of Russia, the Gridiron Club in Washington, D.C., and White House invitations. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous papers relating to Millers' Belgium Relief Movement, 1915. | |||||||||||
| Includes a map of Belgium, reports by Edgar and membership lists. | |||||||||||
| Passports, 1908-1922. | |||||||||||
| News clippings, 1909-1949. | |||||||||||
| Topics include flour milling, Belgium Relief, Herbert Hoover, Edgar's trip to England, commentary on Medal of Gold, an article by Randolph Edgar, and reminiscences by William Edgar on the Minneapolis flour milling industry. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous William C. Edgar papers. | |||||||||||
| Includes autographed pictures of Anton Lang, Andre Bobrinskoy, Richard Burton, and Prince Cantacusen; a postcard picture of the Anton Lang family; a printed poem; "The Great Harvest Year," autographs by Edward Everett Hale; a script of a play "Tartarin de Tarascon," by Randolph Edgar; and a list made by William Edgar of his article "The Bellman" which appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune. | |||||||||||
| Marjorie Edgar Finnish Folk Song Material. 8 folders: | |||||||||||
| 1. Ballads. | |||||||||||
| 2. Children’s songs. | |||||||||||
| 3. Laments. | |||||||||||
| 4. Midsummer. | |||||||||||
| 5. Pohjanmaa. | |||||||||||
| 6. The Forest. | |||||||||||
| 7. Traditional love songs. | |||||||||||
| 8. Work songs. | |||||||||||
| Marjorie Edgar material on Finns. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Topics include music, religion, farm machinery, schools, stores, legends, poems, lists of early Finnish settlers, and reminiscences of early Finnish settlements in Minnesota. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous Marjorie Edgar papers. | |||||||||||
| P2625 | The Bellman visitors' book, 1913-1932, 1968. | ||||||||||
| The visitors' book was "presented to the Bellman by Mr. Leonard H. Wells, 'as a token of regard for his usefulness.' Minneapolis, August 14, 1913." The book includes handwritten poems and sentiments, drawings, and news clippings of printed articles and pictures by William C. Edgar and many others associated with the Bellman (1913-1919); printed materials for the Bellman's "Farewell Dinner" (June 26, 1919) with several pages of handwritten "Signatures and Sentiments" from those attending the dinner; and printed and miscellaneous items documenting the final publication of the Bellman on June 28, 1919 and reactions to its end, including the pamphlet, "The Bellman according to his Kindly Friends". This pamphlet has a brief mention of the visitors' book, described as "The Bellman's Book", in the section, "The Bellman's Farewell Dinner" (p. [71]-72). The section also includes a transcription of the "Signatures and Sentiments". | |||||||||||
| The visitors' book also includes a list of the first visitors to "The New Office at the 'Skyscraper'" (April 25, 1925) and a log of "Visitors at Marine on St. Croix Minnesota" (April 21, 1931-December 11, 1932, and November 21, 1968). | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 131.H.4.2F-1 | 3 | Volume 1. Scrapbook: Miscellaneous, circa 1880-1896. | |||||||||
| Includes programs, cards, news clippings of articles written by Edgar, and similar data compiled by William C. Edgar. There are two letters of interest in the volume: April 6, and 15, 1886, from Andrew Miller and John Ames Mitchell of Life Magazine. They relate to the articles written for the magazine by Edgar. | |||||||||||
| Volume 2. Scrapbook: The Miller's excursion to Great Britain, 1891. | |||||||||||
| Includes news clippings, programs, passenger lists, and articles written by Edgar relating to the visit. | |||||||||||
| Volume 3. Scrapbook: Russian famine relief, 1891-1894. | |||||||||||
| Includes mementoes of Edgar's visit to Russia to administer the famine relief program. The scrapbook contains a large number of letters written by Russian officials to Edgar. Most of them are written in Russian. Items of interest in the volume include a commission (1891-1892) to Edgar from Governors William C. Merriam of Minnesota and James E. Boyd of Nebraska; telegrams (May 20, 1893; November 9, 1894) from Prince Cantacuzen concerning the gift presented to Edgar by the Czar of Russia; Russian bread tickets; letters (1893) from Andre Bobrinskoy; letters (1893) from Prince Cantacuzen; and seven letters (August 1892-April 1893) from John Martin Crawford, U.S. Consul General in St. Petersburg, Russia which give details on the execution of the relief program. | |||||||||||
| Volume 4. Scrapbook: The Russian famine, 1891-1892. | |||||||||||
| Includes news clippings from the Northwestern Miller and the Review of Reviews written by Edgar on his experiences in Russia. | |||||||||||
| Volume 5. Scrapbook: Trip to England, October 1896. | |||||||||||
| Edgar made a short trip to England to study the flour milling industry. The volume includes passenger lists, concert programs, calling cards, news clippings, and miscellaneous related materials. | |||||||||||
| Volume 6. Scrapbook: Miscellaneous, circa 1899-1903. | |||||||||||
| Includes mostly programs and menus. On the last page of the volume is an autographed picture of Sol Smith Russell. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 131.H.4.2F-2 | 4 | Volume 7. Financial information regarding The Northwestern Miller, circa 1895-circa 1921. | |||||||||
| Includes mostly promissory notes. | |||||||||||
| Volume 8. Information relating to the Bellman, circa 1899, 1906. | |||||||||||
| Includes advertising circulars, letterhead samples, dummy of the first issue, and miscellaneous. | |||||||||||
| Volume 9. Scrapbook: Correspondence, 1915-1916. | |||||||||||
| Includes letters received by Edgar from Belgian officials and citizens thanking him for his work in the Belgium Relief Movement. Most of the letters are in French. | |||||||||||
| Volume 10. Folk song notes, 1928-1932. | |||||||||||
| Includes notes kept by Marjorie Edgar. | |||||||||||
| 105.F.4.2 | Oversize. 13 items: | ||||||||||
| Resolution from the International Typographical Union to William C. Edgar commending him for his fair labor policies with the Northwestern Miller, September 25, 1905. | |||||||||||
| Issue of the Indianapolis Star regarding the celebration honoring James Whitcomb Riley, October 8, 1915. | |||||||||||
| Issue of the Toledo Times with articles on Belgium Relief, December 8, 1915. | |||||||||||
| Article from the Saturday Evening Post regarding Herbert Hoover, June 23, 1917. | |||||||||||
| Certificate of appointment as Belgian Consul, Minneapolis, June 25, 1918. | |||||||||||
| Signed by King Albert I of Belgium. | |||||||||||
| Certificate of appointment to the Belgian Consul, August 1, 1918. | |||||||||||
| Signed by Woodrow Wilson. | |||||||||||
| Certificate naming Edgar Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Couronne, February 3, 1919. | |||||||||||
| Signed by King Albert I of Belgium. | |||||||||||
| Certificate naming Edgar an Officier de l'Instruction Publique, December 20, 1919. | |||||||||||
| Signed by the French Minister of Public Instruction. | |||||||||||
| Certificate presented to Mrs. William C. Edgar with the Medal of Queen Elizabeth for her work in Belgian relief, December 22, 1919. | |||||||||||
| Article from The Eventually News regarding the publication of Medal of Gold, November 1925. | |||||||||||
| Review of Medal of Gold from Modern Miller, November 7, 1925. | |||||||||||
| Review of Medal of Gold from Northwestern Miller, November 11, 1925. | |||||||||||
| Article by Marjorie Edgar: Forgotten Folk Songs from The Girl Scout Leader, August 1929. | |||||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Actors.
- Artists.
- Authors.
- Autographs.
- Business enterprises -- Minnesota.
- Famines -- Russia.
- Finnish Americans -- Minnesota.
- Flour industry -- Great Britain.
- Flour industry -- Minnesota.
- Folk songs, Finnish.
- Journalism -- Minnesota.
- Music -- Minnesota.
- Religion.
- Theater.
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Public opinion.
- World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Young Men's Christian associations.
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Civilian relief -- Belgium.
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Food supply -- Belgium.
- Persons:
- Abbey, Edwin Austin, 1852-1911.
- Allen, James Lane, 1849-1925.
- Bell, James Ford, 1879-1961.
- Bemis, Judson Moss, 1833-1921.
- Challen, Charles H.
- Coffman, Lotus Delta, 1875-1938.
- Crawford, John Martin, 1845-1916.
- De la Barre, William, 1849-1936.
- Dorey family.
- Edgar family.
- Edgar, Anne Robinson, approximately 1860-1949.
- Edgar, Joseph Crowell, 1810-1893.
- Edgar, Marjorie, 1889-1960.
- Edgar, Randolph, 1884-1931.
- Espenschied, Charles.
- Fiske, Minnie Maddern, 1865-1932.
- Flandrau, Charles Macomb, 1871-1938.
- Hale, Edward Everett, Sr., 1822-1909.
- Hall, Florence Howe, 1845-1922.
- Hill, James J. (James Jerome), 1838-1916.
- Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
- Hoover, Lou Henry, 1874-1944.
- Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910.
- Ireland, John, 1838-1918.
- Mansfield, Beatrice Cameron.
- Mansfield, Richard, 1857-1907.
- Matthews, Brander, 1852-1929.
- Mayo, William James, 1861-1939.
- Michener, Carroll Kinsey, 1885-1970.
- Northrop, Cyrus, 1834-1922.
- Pillsbury, John Sargent, 1878-1968.
- Pyle, Howard, 1853-1911.
- Raikes, C. F. G.
- Riley, James Whitcomb, 1849-1916.
- Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
- Sill family.
- Sterling, Robert E.
- Stockton, Frank R., 1834-1902.
- Thanet, Octave, 1850-1934.
- Vincent, George E. (George Edgar), 1864-1941.
- Whitlock, Brand, 1869-1934.
- Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924.
- Organizations:
- Bates Label Company (Minneapolis, Minn.)
- Gardner Mill (Hastings, Minn.)
- Girl Guides Association.
- Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
- Washburn-Crosby Co.
- Places:
- Balkan Peninsula -- History -- War of 1912-1913.
- Belgium -- History -- German Occupation, 1914-1918.
- England -- Description and travel.
- Mexico -- History -- Revolution, 1910-1920.
- Minneapolis (Minn.)
- Minnesota -- Newspapers.
- Russia -- Description and travel.
- Document Types:
- Autographs (manuscripts)
- Letterheads.
- Passports.
- Occupations:
- Editors -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Titles:
- Bellman.
- Northwestern miller.
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