Watts Family Papers

This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, ephemera, financial records and legal documents that were left in Elmwood at the time of Emma Watts' death. The collection spans three branches of the family (Parkes, Walker, and Watts) and covers nearly 150 years. The bulk of material is from 1878 and later and pertains to the Watts family; however, the Parkes family, particularly James B. Parkes, is well-represented within the collection. The Watts family owned thousands of acres of land the Brazos Basin area of Texas and in the Texas Panhandle. The land in the Brazos Basin was used as a plantation growing cotton, while the Texas Panhandle land served as a cattle ranch called Z-L Ranch. The histories of both these properties are richly detailed through correspondence with lawyers and foremen and through the vast amount of legal documents that were kept, including lawsuits, tax receipts, and land surveys. The voluminous correspondence between William and Mary Watts and their daughter Emma while she attended Vassar and traveled reveals family dynamics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Other correspondence from friends and family reveals social customs and culture of the time. Members of the Watts family were involved in the Madison Female Institute, the Richmond Cemetery, Liberty Hall in Frankfort, the Democratic Party, the National Society of Colonial Dames and the Daughters of the American Revolution and this collection includes documents relating to all those organizations. A significant part of the collection concerns the Elmwood property, including gardens, farming, furniture, and renovations and repairs to the house.