Box OVZ 2

Scope and Contents The largest subseries is made up of the papers of Willard Saulsbury, Sr., which remained in the possession of his son, Willard Saulsbury, Jr. The father was born June 2, 1820 and attended Delaware College and Dickinson College. He began practicing law in Kent Co., Delaware, and soon entered state politics. In 1850, he was named Attorney General for the state. On May 11 the same year, he married Annie Milby Ponder. They had three children: John Ponder (1853), Margaret (1856), and Willard, Jr....

Scope and Contents Contents: Correspondence, campaign ephemera, memoranda, bills of legislation, reports, newspaper clippings.The General Politics subseries contains material related to Saulsbury's political life and Democratic Party leadership, beginning with his initial involvement in 1888 with the New Castle County Democratic Party. The subseries includes information about his Senate election (1913), his 1924 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, and his continuing involvement in...

Scope and Contents Contents: Correspondence, legislation, newspaper clippings.The Senate Membership subseries contains material related not only to Saulsbury's period as U.S. Senator from Delaware, but also to the election campaigns and the issues with which he continued to be involved after his defeat for re-election. This subseries reflects some of the same interests and issues as the General Politics subseries. The bulk of this material, however, is concentrated on Saulsbury’s senatorial duties...

Scope and Contents Contents: Correspondence, speeches, agreements.The Pan American Conference subseries contains material related to Saulsbury's appointment by President Harding to be a U.S. delegate to the Fifth Pan American Conference Santiago, Chile in 1923. The devastation wrought by World War I was fresh in people's minds, and many thought that devastation was largely caused by the alliances and secret treaties between the various Great powers. The Pan American Conference was part of a series...

Scope and Contents Contents: Correspondence, financial records and statements, stock certificates, corporate brochures, tax filings.Saulsbury is usually recognized as a successful politician, but he was a successful businessman before he was seriously involved with politics. Drawing from the experience of his father and from his own experience in the law firm of Victor du Pont, Saulsbury first established one of the most reputable law firms in Delaware. Then, using assets from his firm and his...

Scope and Contents Contents: Letters, financial and legal documents. This subseries, like those titled Personal business and Personal finance, is primarily focused on Saulsbury's business ventures. However, for Saulsbury, there were many connections between the personal, business, legal, and political aspects of his life. The files in this subseries are generally concerned with long-term business projects which were supervised and followed closely by Saulsbury in terms of their performance and the...

Scope and Contents Contents: Letters, divorce papers.Because he married May du Pont, Saulsbury had significant interaction with the du Pont family, even though the relationship was often strained. His involvement was usually of a business or political nature and the relevant papers can be found in the appropriate subseries. In this subseries, Saulsbury's limited personal involvement with the du Pont family is documented.May du Pont, daughter of Victor du Pont, probably met Saulsbury...

Scope and Contents Contents: Letters.This subseries represents Saulsbury’s correspondence from the years before he was elected to the Senate. It is not, however, a complete inventory of all his correspondence from this time. This file generally does not contain any letters related to topics filed in other subseries. For instance, there are few letters directly related to a particular election, although many letters refer to the events of an election year. In essence, this subseries contains all...

Scope and Contents Contents: Letters.Like the Miscellaneous correspondence subseries, this subseries contains the letters and exchanges not appropriate for more specific files elsewhere. The time period covered is that of Saulsbury’s election to and membership in the Senate (1912-1919). However, most of Saulsbury’s letters pertaining to specifically political topics are found in the Letters subseries of the Politics series. The subseries includes letters from friends, family,...

Scope and Contents Contents: Letters, bills, receipts.The Miscellaneous letters subseries includes the letters and correspondence dating from the end of Saulsbury’s Senate term until his death which do not belong with any other subseries in the collection. Like the Miscellaneous correspondence subseries, the letters are filed alphabetically by author, recipient, or company. There is also some correspondence filed by the name of the individual who is the subject, rather than the author or...

Scope and Contents Contents: Letters, legal documents, lists of possessions, financial reports, tax filings, accounts of the estate and its settlement, biographical notes, photographs, pamphlets and booklets.When Saulsbury died in 1927, his will named his law partner Hugh Morris and Victor Wooley as his trustees and Hugh Morris and his wife, May, as executors. These files were apparently assembled by Hugh Morris who took primary responsibility of settling the estate. Consequently, there are some...

Scope and Contents Contents: Photographs, tintypes, clippings (one of a political cartoon), engraving plates, mats and a frame, postcards, and a cartoon.The collection of photographs is an incomplete record of Willard Saulsbury, Jr.’s life and activities. Almost all of the photographs are undated, and the majority are unidentified. In general, the photographs in this subseries are those of Saulsbury himself and those depicting his professional life and activities, including political events and...