Collection ID: C91
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Woodburn family
Abstract:
The Woodburn family first settled in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1830, having relocated from Chester County, South Carolina. This collection consists of personal correspondence and other material of family members of James Albert Woodburn (1856-1943), a professor of history at Indiana University (1890-1924), including his father James Woodburn, wife Caroline Gelston Woodburn, brothers Walter E. and Theophilus Wylie Woodburn, son James Gelston Woodburn, and granddaughter Janet Wiecking. Collection materials date from 1848-1978 and notably include Caroline Gelston Woodburn's letters describing her experiences as a new member of the Bloomington and Indiana University communities in the early 1890s, and a photocopy of James Gelston Woodburn's diary ("My Trip Abroad"), which documents his trip to Europe in 1911-1912.
Extent:
.3 cubic feet
Language:
Materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Item], Woodburn family collection, Collection C91, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

James Albert Woodburn (1856-1943) was a member of the Indiana University Department of History faculty from 1890-1924. The Woodburn family first settled in Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, in 1830, when James Albert's grandparents Dorrance B. Woodburn (1786-1856) and Rachel Johnston Woodburn (1788-1848), and their children relocated from Chester County, South Carolina, in 1830, part of a wider migration of Associated Reform Presbyterians (Covenanters) who were opposed to slavery.

James Woodburn (1817-1865), the father of James Albert Woodburn, was a teacher and early graduate of Indiana University. He was born in Chester County, South Carolina to parents Dorrance B. Woodburn and Rachel Johnston Woodburn. James received his A.B. (1842) and A.M. (1845) degrees from Indiana University, at the same time teaching in rural schools of Monroe County (1839-1844) and Greene County, Ohio (1843). From 1844-1853 he was a teacher in the Bloomington, Indiana, schools and from 1853 to his death in 1865 was principal of the Preparatory Department of Indiana University. James Woodburn married Martha Jane Hemphill in 1846. They had six children: Laura Adelaide Woodburn (Foland), Walter E. Woodburn, Theophylus Wylie Woodburn, Ida Lizzie Woodburn, James Albert Woodburn, and Grace H. Woodburn (Torrence).

Caroline Louise Gelston Woodburn was a teacher and the wife of James Albert Woodburn. She was born in 1866 in Rushville, New York, to parents Caroline Fanning Gelston and Rev. Mills B. Gelston, a Presbyterian minister. The family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, when Caroline was ten years old. She graduated from the University of Michigan, Department of Literature, Science and the Arts in 1888 and became a teacher at Battle Creek High School from 1888-1889. She had an instructorship in Greek and Latin at Wellesley College for academic years 1889-1890 and 1891-1892 and then moved to Indianapolis to teach Greek and Latin at the Girls Classical School founded by suffragette May Wright Sewall. While teaching in Indianapolis she met James Albert Woodburn, who had come to lecture at the University Extension division. They married in Ann Arbor on November 30, 1893 and moved to Bloomington, Indiana. She described herself as a homemaker, but was always interested and active in progressive movements for women, including forming the Women's League in Bloomington. After the sudden death of Louise Goodbody, Dean of Women, in March 1911, she served as advisor to Indiana University students for the remainder of that spring semester. The Woodburns had three children: Janet McMillan Woodburn (Wiecking), James Gelston Woodburn, and Albert Edward Woodburn (died in infancy). Upon Professor Woodburn's retirement in 1938, the Woodburns moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Caroline died in 1943.

Theophilus Wylie Woodburn (1852-1912), brother of James Albert Woodburn, was born in Bloomington, Indiana. Upon his father's death, he went to work as a printer while still a boy, starting at the Republican Progress in Bloomington. In 1876 he moved to Minnesota and spent most of his remaining life in the small towns of Atwater and Benson as a publisher and editor.

James Gelston Woodburn, son of James A. and Caroline Gelston Woodburn, was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1894. He received his A.B. and A. M. degrees in mathematics from Indiana University in 1915 and 1916 respectively. He completed his B.S. degree in civil engineering from Purdue University in 1918 and his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Michigan in 1929. He married Delma Donald in 1923 and the couple had two sons: James Donald Woodburn, born in 1925 and Robert Donald Woodburn, born in 1928. He taught civil and hydraulic engineering at Washington State University in Pullman from 1923 to 1926 and from 1930 to 1937. He also was Professor of Hydraulic Engineering at the University of Wisconsin from 1937 until his retirement in 1965. He died in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1980.

Janet McMillan Woodburn Wiecking, daughter of James Albert and Caroline Gelston Woodburn, was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1900. She received her A.B. in history from Indiana University in 1922 and her A. M. in history from Radcliffe College. She continued her education with advanced studies at Columbia University. In 1930 she married Ernst Hermann Wiecking, who was associated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for many years. They had one son, David K. Wiecking. Janet died in 1980 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of personal correspondence and other material of family members of I.U. history professor James Albert Woodburn (1856-1943), including his father James Woodburn, wife Caroline Gelston Woodburn, brothers Walter E. and Theophilus Wylie Woodburn, son James Gelston Woodburn, and granddaughter Janet Wiecking, dating from 1848-1978. Items of note include Caroline Gelston Woodburn's letters describing her experiences as a new member of the Bloomington and Indiana University communities in the early 1890s; and a photocopy of James Gelston Woodburn's diary ("My Trip Abroad"), which documents his trip to Europe in 1911-1912.

Acquisition information:
Accession 9361.
Processing information:

Processed by Thomas Malefatto

Reprocessed by Verlon Stone

Completed in 2003. Reprocessed by Mary Mellon, 2022. The collection arrangement was simplified by removing its series structure, and the description was updated to remove unnecessary, gendered terminology.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized alphabetically by first name.

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Advance notice is required.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

The donor(s) of this collection have not transferred their copyrights for the materials to the Trustees of Indiana University. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.

The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.

Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Woodburn family collection, Collection C91, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
Herman B Wells Library E460
1320 East Tenth Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-7000, United States
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
812-855-1127
archives@indiana.edu