Box 1

Documents consist of an account statements, debts paid or owed, and a 1842 letter about stock certificate for Sarah E.Waples, daughter of Gideon and Sarah.

Deeds document Waples’s extensive involvement in real estate in Sussex County, Delaware.

This document sets free, manumits, and discharges “my Negro man John aged thirty one years on the first day of January eighteen hundred and thirty five….”

Span the time that Lovell and Waples were friends at Delaware College (at least until the beginning of their careers). Content includes topics such as the Athenaean Literary Society, other classmates, professors, Delta Phi, University of Virginia, national and state politics, friendship, and their personal lives. Letters came from various locations: Front Royal; University of Virginia; Walnut Grove, Virginia; and, Dubuque, Iowa. Some stamped and dated envelopes included.

Cover the period from college days to their working days. All are written from cities in Delaware: Dagsboro, Millsboro, and Concord. Four letters from 1852 are faded, but are still readable. Most of the content surrounds discussions about Delaware College, the Athenaean Society, personal health, friendships between his classmates, the “fair” sex, and his profession of teaching. Some stamped and dated envelopes included.

From Brunswick, Maine, he relates a college prank at Bowdoin College and his experience sailing on a ship to Europe. The second letter from New Orleans tells about his time on the ship William.

Letters describe Clymer’s “deep esteem” for Waples. Much of the commentary is about Delaware College and the Athenaean Society, its members, and Delta Phi. All the letters are written from Delaware College.

Written during a semester that Waples stayed in Milton due to illness. Redden was sent news about changes at the College, Athenaean Literary Society, and the Delta Phi’s. Some envelopes included.

Tells Waples about current activities at college and discusses their friendship.

Comments about the Society and the ladies of Milton. Terry’s spelling may mean that he was less educated than Waples’s other correspondents.

Jacobs wrote from Delaware College about the 1852 national election and the Athenaean Literary Society

Reports about membership in the Athenaean Society, and some of the troubles incurred by their rival, the Delta Phi’s.

Two, undated, are addressed to the Athenaean Society. In one (with an imprint of Old College) he accepts the duty of presidency of the Society (3 pp). In the other he espouses the evils of war or intemperance (4 pp). The third is the “Speech for the Exhi[bi]tion of Delaware College: The Evils of War,” and is dated September 17, 1857 (6 pp).

Graham, president of Delaware College from 1851-1854, wrote a complimentary letter of recommendation to certify that Waples had studied at Delaware College. The content provides specific information about the classes that he took. The letter confirms that Waples left the College in good standing and by his own choice.

Headlined, “Delaware College,” this clipping was cut out of the Cecil Whig. It reported the eighteenth anniversary (1852) of the Athenaean Literary Society. Names are included of some of the speakers and others involved as an organizer or observer of the celebration.

Ds, William Burton

Ds, William Burton

From Lewes, Delaware, he asked Waples to write a letter supporting the reappointment of Colonel Jesse Sharpe to the office of Collector of Customs at the Port of Wilmington.

From Dover, Delaware, he asked Waples to form a committee in Sussex County to join two other committees on August 21 in Dover to support the efforts of Judge Douglas and the “battle for the cause of self-government and the spirit of democracy.”

From Greenwood, Delaware, he wanted to increase the number of Delawareans who vote for Judge Douglass (sic). He proposes two ways: to get Douglas to make a speech in Delaware before the election, and to distribute his speeches throughout the state.

Willis cannot attend the Democratic convention on August 28, so he outlines his views for the record.