 |
 |
|
|
Ted Trueblood Collection Series
XI--Family papers
This series
contains family papers collected principally by Ted Trueblood's mother, Elsie
(Berry) Trueblood (1884-1972). Along
with her own papers, they include school papers and juvenile writings of Ted
Trueblood and his brother Burtt, miscellaneous records of her husband Cecil N.
Trueblood, and personal papers of her brother Burtt B. Berry, her mother Glenn
(Whitaker) Berry Korby, stepfather Jacob Korby, and grandparents Elijah C. and
Mary Jane Whitaker. The series also
contains some financial records of Ted and Ellen Trueblood and records of
Trueblood Farms, Inc., formed by Ted Trueblood, his brother Burtt, and Elsie
Trueblood to operate the family farm. The
oldest items in the collection are papers of Elijah C. Whitaker.
His papers include letters he wrote home during his Civil War service
with the 51st Indiana Infantry in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and San
Antonio, Texas.
Elsie Trueblood's own papers are the largest component of this series.
A native of Edwardsport, Indiana, she came with her husband Cecil to
Idaho in 1912 to homestead desert land in the community of Central Cove, near
Homedale. Like her son, she was a
prolific writer. Her papers include daily diaries for most years from 1944 to
1969 and numerous stories and essays. Most
interesting from an Idaho perspective, though, are her manuscripts collectively
entitled "Homestead Life." They
are stories about her first three years in Idaho, when her home was a rude cabin
in the unwatered sagebrush desert. Her
accounts of homestead life are vivid and frank, and so are her memories of the
loneliness she and other women experienced on their isolated desert homesteads.
"Homestead Life" is a collection of chapters and vignettes in
typescript and manuscript form, many in more than one version.
Some are arranged in order with consecutive pagination; others stand
alone.
Mrs. Trueblood's papers also include lists of her antiques, a baby book
she kept about her son Ted, genealogical papers, a short letter written by
pioneer Ezra Meeker (1921) about the Oregon Trail in Idaho, and detailed
accounts of a trip to the East coast in 1945 to visit Ted and Ellen Trueblood.
She and her husband drove across country, stopping to see numerous
historical sites and visiting friends and relatives in Indiana they had not seen
for more than thirty years. Preserved within the papers of her mother, Glenn Whitaker
Berry Korby, is a pressed flower and lock of hair presented to her in 1876. Box 61:
Family papers Box 62:
Elsie Berry Trueblood papers Writings
by Elsie Berry Trueblood
Cecil N. Trueblood account book, 1910 Box 64:
Family papers Box 65:
Family papers Box 66:
Family papers Books owned by Ted Trueblood, several with presentation inscriptions
Holy Bible (presented by his
mother, 1934) Family photos Return to Table of Contents Return to Special Collections homepage Email: Special Collections Department This page last changed: 21 January 2004
|
|
General Library
Information and Assistance: 208-426-1204 |