The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Mills, Cecil R. (Cecil Robert), 1877-1955
Title: Letters
Dates: 1899-1900
Call No.: Col. 378
Acc. No.: 95x105
Quantity: 30 letters
Location: 34 K 5
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Cecil Robert Mills lived in Chicago, Illinois, at
the turn of the 20th century. He was a
salesman and appears to have been an amateur singer as well. He was the son of Mary Louise Fowler and
Emory James Mills (both of whom had been born in Canada), and Cecil was born in
Michigan in 1877. His sister Ella Louise
(whose nickname is something like Totes) was born in 1880; in the 1900 and 1910
censuses she was listed as a music teacher.
Father Emory was listed as a carpenter.
Cecil Mills marred Kate Scott in 1903. They had two children. Mills died in Florida in 1955.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
This collection of 30 manuscript letters was written
by Cecil R. Mills of Chicago, Illinois, between November 1899 and September
1900. The letters were addressed to his
father, mother, and sister and were written while Mills was on an extended
business trip to the western United States.
He travelled to Montana, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Colorado,
and Utah. Most letters discuss family
matters and correspondence with other people.
However, there is some mention of transportation which was primarily by
train or stagecoach, and brief descriptions of small towns and scenic vistas
along the way are also included. Mills
also recounted a narrow escape from being robbed at gun-point.
Most letters are in ink and written on various hotel
stationery. Some stationery has
lithographs of the hotel at the head.
There are 174 pieces including the matching envelopes.
ORGANIZATION
The letters are in chronological order.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS ON
ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Purchased
from Carmen Valentino.
ACCESS POINTS
Topics:
Business travel.
Lithography - Specimens.
Railroad travel.
Stagecoach robberies.
Stationery.
Voyages and travels.
California - Description and travel.
Colorado - Description and travel.
Idaho - Description and travel.
Montana - Description and travel.
Oregon - Description and travel.
United States - Description and travel.
Utah - Description and travel.
Washington (State) - Description and travel.
Letters.
Travelers.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 34 K 5
Folder 1:
.1a-h November 23, 1899, on stationery of The
Cottage Inn, Billings, Montana, with envelope; has been walking around enjoying
the sights of Billings; on the way there, stopped in Minneapolis and had a very
pleasant visit with Mrs. Barse[?] and
family; while on train, played cards and joked with some other men; went
through the Badlands; had beautiful sunset; write me at Big Timber; will
probably stop in Butte
.2a-c December 4, 1899, with envelope of The Park
Hotel, Livingston, Montana; addressed to mother; am enclosing a postal order;
very windy place; Billings is booming and rents are high;
.3a-f December 19, 1899, on stationery of The
McDermott, Butte, Montana, with envelope: addressed to mother; encloses a money
order; went to dinner and a show last night; describes train trip from Bozeman;
had nice talk with Mr. Moyer; went to church; discusses a problem with an
express company; will miss being with them on Christmas
.4a-f December 27, 1899, on stationery of Hotel
Florence, Missoula, Montana; package received; mentions Christmas presents:
pin, comb, neck tie, handkerchief, perfume; spent a pleasant Christmas day
calling on people; beautiful snow fall;
both stationery
and envelope illustrated with picture of hotel
.5a-e January 5, 1900, on stationery of Page’s
Hotel, Wardner, Idaho, with envelope (not from hotel); am doing well in
business; will be sending soiled handkerchiefs to be done up – costs too much
here to have that done;
.6a-i January 12, 1900, on stationery of Hotel
Yakima, North Yakima, Washington, with envelope: loved Spokane; took 85 orders;
got Will Van into his crew; Will’s wife Anna “is in a – way” [i.e. pregnant];
wishes sister and father would write; hasn’t received music yet;
.7a-b January 27, 1900, to sister, on stationery
of Merchants’ Hotel, Everett, Washington, no envelope; pages one and two only;
understands that her studies and music take much time and therefore she cannot
write often; glad to receive photos of family; encloses a note for mother to
send to Uncle Norman; glad to hear had a nice visit with Detroit folks;
[what follows are pages
3 and 4 of a letter also to sister, but those pages do not seem to be a
continuation of this letter]
.8a-c postmarked Feb. 8, 1900, pages 3 and 4 only,
on stationery of Hotel Byron, New Whatcom, Washington, with hotel envelope
addressed to his sister; expresses his love for sister;
[this does not seem to
be a continuation of the above letter
.9a-f February 15, 1900, on stationery of Hotel
Byron, New Whatcom, Washington, with hotel envelope; bad weather and illness
have slowed progress; hotel proprietor, Capt. Byron, knows Geo. Gilbrath[?] and
others with whom Cecil is also acquainted; asks about new drainage canal; going
to a piano recital
.10a-h March 4, 1900, on stationery of The Pacific
Hotel, Aberdeen, Washington, with envelope from The Olympia, Olympia, Wash.;
prefers Olympia over Aberdeen; busy week in Olympia with many social events in
evening, especially calling on young ladies; went to church last Sunday and
this Sunday; enjoys the Washington climate; will definitely call on Mr.
So[illegible] while in Frisco; hopes to arrange to see Uncle Orin; has ordered
a spoon from Seattle [evidently for sister’s collection]; will skip one town
planned to visit because of smallpox there;
.11a-d March 27, 1900, on stationery of The Portland,
Portland, Oregon; with trade card of hotel illustrated with a view of the
building, and a hotel envelope; arrived this morning and have been taking in
the sights; encloses card with illustration of hotel
Folder 2:
.12 letter from uncle, no place, to Cecil,
April 5, 1900; best to take steamer from San Francisco to Eureka and we can
meet there
.13a-b April 12, 1900, Lebanon, Oregon; encloses some
stamp pictures [no longer present]; encloses letter from Uncle Orin [.12 above]
and hopes to meet him later;
Someone added a note
that letter was received April 17;
.14a-i April 15, 1900, [Easter Sunday] on stationery
of The Portland, but dated from Lebanon, Oregon, with envelope from The
Willamette, Salem, Ore.; went to church in morning and in evening; spends many
evenings in company of local people his age and meets many young ladies; forgot
to send Uncle Orin’s letter [.12 above] earlier and encloses it now; finds that
the fare to Eureka is too expensive so will not visit him; Uncle Orin has
redwood on his land and redwood is valuable; gives itinerary for next few
weeks; business is successful; hopes they went to the opera; my voice is grand;
misses sister’s piano playing;
Back of envelope has ad
for Willamette Transfer Co., Salem, Ore.
.15a-d April 18, 1900, on stationery of The New Hotel
Nash, Medford, Oregon, with hotel envelope; “Pullman service is far superior to
the hotel service”; Oregon scenery is beautiful and weather is lovely; hasn’t
heard from Florence; plans to send spoons tomorrow; sends itinerary: Ashland,
Ore., Auburn, Calif., Frisco;
Both stationery and
envelope illustrated with view of hotel;
.16a-k May 23, 1900, on stationery of Hotel Petrolia,
Santa Paula, Calif., with hotel envelope; was in Porterville last Sunday and it
was too hot to write; now near coast and weather is delightful; hopes to visit
Los Angeles in a few days; may have to return to Oregon which will extend the
trip; enjoys sister’s class song and is sorry will probably miss her graduation;
if May Powers asks “what line I am handling, you might say advertising
novelties…”; not able to send money because needs to buy some new things; will
get three coffee spoon with engraving; will try to get them showing the Golden
Gate;
.17a-e May 28, 1900, on stationery of Natick House,
Los Angeles, Calif., with hotel envelope; spent Saturday at the sea shore in
Ventura; took a tour of LA yesterday from a private observation car; “it is
quite a sight to see hundreds of oil pumps stuck in the front and back yards of
many mansions”; plans to visit Pasadena this afternoon, then on to Santa Ana
and Redlands;
Both stationery and
envelope illustrated with view of hotel;
.18a-l June 3, 1900, on stationery of Hotel Windsor,
Redlands, Calif., with hotel envelope; feels guilty that he is in such a lovely
place and the family is back in “that miserable, dirty city”; visited an
ostrich farm in Pasadena; saw [noted stage actor] John Drew in “The Tyranny of
Tears”; also visited Long Beach and San Pedro before leaving for Santa Ana and
also a stop in San Bernardino; visited Smiley Heights outside Redlands, the
prettiest place ever seen; am “having a delightful trip with but very little
work …” and first-class accommodations; will do what he can to help rest of
family take a vacation to Canada, or at least to Detroit; sending sister a fan
from the ostrich farm; more about coffee and souvenir spoons; didn’t see
acquaintances in Los Angeles; hope grandmother is “comfortably installed in her
new quarters”;
.19a-c June 7, 1900, on stationery of French Hotel,
San Luis Obispo, Calif., with hotel envelope; on a layover between steamers;
visited the old mission;
.20a-d June 14, 1900, San Francisco, with envelope
from The Stewart, San Bernardino; arrived yesterday by steamer; visited Cliff
House and toured San Francisco; Chinatown is quarantined so cannot go there;
glad to hear sister did so well at conservatory; has ordered spoons for her;
going to play this evening; called on Sonntag but not at home;
.21a-d June 17, 1900, San Francisco, with envelope;
have had a busy week; getting ready to leave for Medford, Oregon; never saw
Sonntag as he was ill;
.22a-d June 20, 1900, on stationery of McClallen
House, Roseburg, Oregon; with hotel envelope; received the High School
announcement and wishes he could be there for class day; plans to be home by
Sept. 1 and advises them to go on their vacation as soon as possible; hopes
father can join them; sends list of places expects to be over next three weeks
[mostly in Oregon, ending in Huntington, Utah];
.23a-g July 1, 1900, from Scio, Oregon, but on
stationery of Yosemite Hotel, Madera, Calif., with envelope; received letter
and commencement announcement showing sister winning highest honor; has put on
weight and feeling quite well; has not been yielding to temptations facing
travelers; very thankful for having the opportunity for this trip although it
has meant separation from family; describes a lovely view from hotel; hopes
they have a nice 4th and don’t get hurt; plans to spend the 4th
in Corvallis; will return to dentist in a few days for more fillings; news
about Florence;
Stationery is
illustrated with view of Yosemite Hotel;
.24a-f July 14, 1900, on stationery of Hotel
Perkins, Portland, Ore., with hotel envelope; have been very busy; enjoys the
climate of Willamette Valley; encourages family to leave Chicago and go on
trip; will get a spoon for May; includes list of stops to be made between
Portland and Salt Lake City, all in Oregon or Idaho;
Hotel envelope
illustrated with view of hotel, although part of if was torn off when the
envelope was opened;
.25a-i July 21 [or 22], 1900, Wallowa, Oregon, with
envelope; very hot in eastern Oregon; yesterday had a very dusty 30 mile stage
ride; looking forward to returning home; plan to stop a few days in Salt Lake
City, but promises not to turn Mormon; please read all his letters to
grandmother;
.26a-g July 29, 1900, on stationery of Hotel
Warshauer, Baker City, Oregon, with hotel envelope; written to father; have
been traveling by stage, sometimes by night; one night, robbers tried to stop
them but the stage driver managed to outrun them and get out of range of their
“reckless firing”; will not mention this in letter to mother and sister; sorry
father was not able to go to Canada, too; perhaps will return to West Coast to
work, but wants a good visit home first;
Both stationery and
envelope illustrated with views of hotel, but the views are different (that on
envelope is from a photograph);
.27a-h August 8, 1900, on stationery of Delta House,
Delta, Colo., with envelope from The Smith Central, Montrose, Colo.; letter is
continued on Aug. 9, in Montrose; envelope addressed to Mrs. Mills, Ethel,
Ontario; wrote last Saturday from Salt Lake City, where enjoyed his stay; was
glad to receive letters from family; sorry she heard about experience with
robbers, but all is well now;
.28a-h August 14, 1900, from Leadville, Col., but
written on stationery of The Stewart, San Bernardino, Calif., using envelope
from The Portland, Portland, Ore.; addressed to Mrs. Mills, Ethel, Ontario;
glad mother and sister left Chicago before extreme heat; met Mr. Graham last
night and they decided they had enough work for a couple more weeks; the
scenery on the recent train ride from Montrose to Leadville was the most
beautiful of the sojourn; made use of the observation car
Stationery illustrated
with view of the hotel;
.29a-g August 19, 1900, from Cripple Creek, Colo.,
written on stationery of The Knutsford, Salt Lake City; to sister and mother;
mentions sorrow in Mrs. Barse’s family; glad his family is having a good time
despite the heat; Cripple Creek is a mining camp and very interesting; plans to
stay and week and then go to Manitou Pikes Peak, and Denver; extols the works
of God as manifested in the splendors of Royal Gorge and beautiful landscapes
of the West;
.30a-c September 6, 1900, Des Moines, Iowa; on
stationery of Hotel Savoy, Ewins-Dean Hotel Co., Kansas City, Mo., with
envelope from Cliff House, Manitou, Colo.; addressed to father; has arrived in
Des Moines;