Edward Huggins papers, 1850-1905

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Huggins, Edward, 1832-1907
Title
Edward Huggins papers
Dates
1850-1905 (inclusive)
Quantity
0.21 cu. ft. (1 box)
1 microfilm reel
Collection Number
(Accession No. 4760-001)
Summary
Papers of a British employee of the Hudson's Bay Company and later a U.S. citizen relating to his activities
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users. Due to the fragile state of the original papers, researchers should use the film copy which duplicates the whole collection.

Request at UW

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Edward Huggins was born in London, June 10, 1832. In October 1849 he joined the Hudson's Bay Company, sailing on the "Norman Morrison" for Fort Victoria, arriving there in March 1850. Sir James Douglas, in charge at Fort Victoria, sent Huggins to Fort Nisqually, where he arrived on Apri1 13, 1850, to work under the direction of William Fraser Tolmie.

During the Indian War he was given charge of the Company's installation "Muck Farm," ten miles east of Nisqually; he encountered no hostile Indians.

In 1857 Huggins married Lettice Work. When William F. Tolmie took over the duties of Sir James Douglas at Fort Victoria in 1859, Huggins was placed in charge of Fort Nisqually. In June 1870, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company (which Huggins contended was not affiliated with the Hudson's Bay Company) surrendered rights claimed under the Treaty of 1846, and Huggins was ordered to move to the interior of British Columbia. Instead, he resigned, and became a United States citizen.

Huggins then pre-empted his residence, and a few years later purchased the quarter section upon which the buildings of Fort Nisqually stood. He then began farming and stockraising "on his own account," and eventually acquired the remainder of the Nisqually farm, and in addition purchased about 1,000 acres from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company.

In the late 1870s Huggins was elected County Commissioner on the Republican ticket, serving three terms until he was elected County Auditor in 1886. He then moved to Tacoma and joined the staff of the National Bank of Commerce, ultimately becoming its vice-president. When his health began to fail, he returned to his farm at Nisqually, where he died in 1907.

He wrote a great deal, contributing a large number of articles to the Portland Oregonian in 1900. Clarence Booth Bagley was a friend of Huggins; it is through Bagley's auspices that these and many other Puget Sound Agricultural Company materials were acquired.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Correspondence (1854-1903), speeches and writings (1850, 1900- 1904), financial records (1856-1896), photographs, and a scrapbook of newspaper articles (1904-1905). Some materials relate to Huggins' activities for the Hudson's Bay Company and National Bank of Commerce in Tacoma, Wash. Major correspondents include Clarence Booth Bagley, Roderick Finlayson, George Suckley, Alexander Munro, and E.N. Fuller.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Alternative Forms Available

A microfilmed copy of the papers is available in Special Collections and may be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Related Materials

The Washington State Historical Society has Huggins' journals, in five volumes, for the years 1870-1896.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Biographical FeaturesReturn to Top

Container(s): Box-folder 1/1

Incoming LettersReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/2
Anderson, Alexander C.
1877
1/2
Applegate, Jesse
1868
1/2
Atkinson, G.H.
1879
1/2
Biles, Lee T.
1866
1/2
Biles (James B.) & Co., Tumwater
1867
1/3
Billings, William
1866
1/3
Clarke, Frank
1866
1/3
Clarke, Fred A.
1859, 1860
1/3
Coleman, Edward T.
1872
1/4
Crandill, C.F.
1866
1/4
DeJester, James E.
1863, 1865
1/4
Durgin, L.D.
1866
1/4
Dye, Eva Emery
1903
1/5
Faulkner, Inason
1865
1/5
Finlayson, Roderick
1854-1860
1/6
Fleming, John R.
1861
1/6
Ford, Giles
1867-1868
1/7
George, J.W.
1889
1/7
Gibbs, George
1869
1/7
Giddings, E.
1865
1/7
Grainger & Davis, Olympia
1867
1/7
Hale, C.H.
1874
1/8
Haller, Granville 0. [With Thomas Coupe to Haller on verso]
1866
1/8
Hays, W.S.
1867
1/8
Hewitt, R.H.
1865
1/8
Hines, H.K.
1865
1/8
Kautz, August
1861-1862
1/9
Kendall, Beniamin F.
1862
1/9
Kistler, A.C.
1866
1/9
Kittson, Edwin
1860
1/9
Lane, Richard
1862, 1864
1/10
Lee, John B.
1866
1/10
Lee & Biles, Tumwater
1866
1/10
Light, E.A.
1860
1/10
Lightner & Frankel
1862
1/10
McFadden, O.B.
1860-1861
1/11
McKenny, T.
1867
1/11
Maxon, H.I.G.
1856
1/11
Meeker, Ezra
1903
1/11
Meigs, George A.
1859
1/11
Miller, William Winlock
1859
1/12
Munro, Alexander
1860, 1862
1/12
Nugen, John
1854
1/12
Packwood, William
1860
1/13
Pickering, William
1864
1/13
Pontius, R.W.
1866
1/13
Roberts, George B.
1864
1/13
Roland, C.B.
1866
1/13
Schroter, E.
1865
1/14
Suckley, George
1854-1869
1/14
Tilton, James
1867
1/15
Tucker, E.H.
1866
1/15
Wark, John M.
1855
1/15
Williams, S.D.
1860
1/15
Winsor, H.
1870
1/15
Wirtz, D.
1860
1/15
Wood, William H.
1867
1/15
Young, William
1858

Outgoing LettersReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/16
Bagley, Clarence B.
1905, n.d.
1/16
Fuller, E.N.
1900, 1901
1/16
Henderson, Alice P. (Mrs.)
1901
1/16
Legard, Joseph
1893

Speeches and WritingsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/17
"About the Fur Trade on Puget Sound from 1850 'til 1880"
1/18
"Christmas in Brazil" (Mrs. William Huggins)
1904
1/19
"Copy from Journal of Occurrencies [sic], Fort Nisqually, Washington Territory, by Dr. H.F. Tolmie, the Hudson Bay Company's officer, then in charge"
1950
1/20
"A Few Remarks About the Fur Trade, in the Puget Sound Country, from 1850 'til 1880--continued"
1900
1/21
"Items from the Old Fort Nisqually Journals and from letters received from various Hudson Bay Company' s officers..."
n.d.
1/22
"List of E. Huggins' historical stories, reminiscences of Puget Sound, published in the SundayOregonian"
1900
1/23-24
"The story of the coming, via the Nachess [sic] Pass, of the Hudson Bay Co. brigade with the furs, returns of 1855 (outfit) from the various posts in the Oregon department, and the return of same packed with goods"
1901
1/25
"The Story of Tom"
1904

Financial Records, 1856-1869Return to Top

Container(s): Box-folder 1/25

PhotographReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
Box/Folder
1/27
"An Old Settlers' Meeting"

Scrapbook, 1904-1905Return to Top

Container(s): Box-folder 1/28

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Frontier and pioneer life--Washington (State)

Personal Names

  • Bagley, Clarence, 1843-1932
  • Finlayson, Roderick
  • Fuller, E. N
  • Huggins, Edward, 1832-1907--Archives
  • Munro, Alexander
  • Suckley, George, 1830-1869
  • Tolmie, William Fraser

Corporate Names

  • Hudson's Bay Company
  • National Bank of Commerce (Tacoma, Wash.)
  • Puget Sound Agricultural Company

Geographical Names

  • Fort Nisqually (Wash.)
  • Pierce County (Wash.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographs
  • Scrapbooks

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)