Fire, water, and mud

I just finished a huge collection of papers, huge for me anyway – 90 boxes, 70 linear feet.  This collection was great in terms of the historical information in the files, but it had been in a fire.  Many papers were covered in mud, dirt, and charcoal pieces.  Some had footprints. (Could I get a CSI to identify them?) Some papers were just thrown into boxes while others were in neat, but dirty files.  The materials were both the personal papers of the Sayles family and the legal papers of the Sayles and Sayles law firm.

Partial Footprint

Brittle, fire damaged paper

            The Sayles family came to Abilene, Texas in 1886 (Abilene was founded in 1881 by the Texas and Pacific Railroad) and established the Sayles and Sayles law firm.  Henry Sayles came first followed by his father, John, a famous Texas lawyer.  Henry, also a lawyer, had ten children.  The seven boys were all involved in the family businesses through the law firm.  These family businesses included land speculation, ranching, oil and gas exploration, railroads, and farming.  The family was linked to businessmen and politicians throughout the state. They participated in civic projects in the city of Abilene including the establishment of the Abilene Public Library and the YMCA.  Their business interests stretched far beyond Abilene to a ranch in far West Texas, oil exploration in the middle of the state, water rights on the Oklahoma border, and land deals almost everywhere.

            To deal with the preservation issues related to the fire, every paper had to be carefully dusted.  Any that were too damaged to preserve were photocopied so at least the information wouldn’t be lost. The plan is to digitize the early personal family papers and business papers.  My favorites are letters between one of the Sayles’ brothers and his daughter who was at school at Mary Hardin Baylor in the early thirties.  Her letters – “Dearest darling Daddy – Please send money.”  His reply was “What happened to all your allowance?”  Even during the Depression, college coeds needed new clothes.