Guide to the Archival Collections.pdf - Missouri History Museum

second wife was Orissa Whitford, and his third wife was a younger sister of Orissa, Ardelia
Whitford. Erastus Post died January 1, 1882, and is buried in Fee Fee Cemetery.
Collection contains 62 pieces of personal correspondence to Erastus and Ardelia Post from
family members and friends. The largest portion of the correspondence is from female members
of the William T. Whitford family to Ardelia Post. The correspondence discusses the health and
welfare of family members, births, deaths, education, marriages, farming and other day-to-day
activities. Some of the correspondence contains mentions of the Civil War.
Finding aid available.
Cite as: Whitford-Post Family Papers, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A1743
Whitman Family.
Papers, 1855-1960. 1 folder (approximately 50 items)
Walt Whitman, one of the United States’ most celebrated poets, was born May 31, 1819, in
West Hills, Huntington, Long Island, New York. He published his most famous work, Leaves of
Grass, in 1855. He suffered a paralytic stroke in 1873, and soon thereafter went to live with his
brother George in Camden, New Jersey, where he died March 26, 1892. Walt’s brother Thomas
Jefferson Whitman (1833-1890) married Martha E. Mitchell (1836-1873) in 1859, and came to
St. Louis in 1867. Their children were Mannahatta Whitman (1860-1886) and Jessie Louisa
Whitman (1863-1957). He served as water commissioner of the city of St. Louis for many years,
and died November 25, 1890. Another brother George Washington Whitman served in the 51st
New York Infantry during the Civil War. He married Louise Orr Haslam (1842-1892) in 1871
and settled in Camden, where he died in 1901.
The collection consists primarily of Whitman family correspondence, including 17 letters and
notes written by Walt Whitman, which were published in Edwin Haviland Miller, “New Letters
of Walt Whitman,” Bulletin of the Missouri Historical Society, Volume XVI, Number 2, January
1960. The collection is arranged chronologically.
Finding aid available.
Cite as: Whitman Family Papers, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A1744
Wicker, Cyrus French.
Collection, 1864-1872. 4 folders (approximately 200 items)
Correspondence between the Wicker family, some in St. Louis, regarding family matters and
also about the North Missouri Railroad, allied line, etc.
Cite as: Cyrus French Wicker Collection, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A2150
Wild's Palace of Poison (Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri).
Mock death certificate of Howard Burton, 1960 Nov 19. 1 item
Cite as: Wild’s Palace of Poison Mock Death Certificate of Howard Burton, Missouri History
Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A1745
Wilkins, Roy (1901-1981).
Collection, 1965-1981. 3 folders (10 items)
Roy Wilkins was born in St. Louis in 1901. When his mother died in 1905, he was sent to St.
Paul with his brother and sister, and was raised by his aunt and uncle. He attended the University