University of Wyoming
"©" 2006 University of Wyoming
Morton Everel Post (1840-1933) was born in West Henrietta, New York. He moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1860, where he met Amalia Simons Nichols. The two were married in October, 1864. Post relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1867, where he became a prominent businessman and banker. He served as Laramie County Commissioner (1870-1876) and as a member of the Wyoming Territorial Legislative Council (1878). In 1885-1886, a campaign was mounted by Post’s friends to persuade the president to appoint him to the governorship of Wyoming Territory. However, the campaign was unsuccessful, and in October, 1887, Post suffered total bankruptcy. He moved to Los Angeles in 1895 and undertook a new career as a farmer and fruit grower. Post died in Alhambra, California, in 1933.
Amalia Barney Simons (1826-1897) and Ann Pettibone Simons (1828-1915) were born in Johnson, Vermont. The family later moved to Michigan and lived in Port Huron and Lexington, Michigan. A third daughter, Celestia, married Dr. G.J. Parker of Port Huron and had a daughter, Birdie. The only son, John Albert Simons, served as a lieutenant in the Michigan Volunteers during the Civil War and later traveled to the West.
Amalia Simons married Walker T. Nichols of Lexington in 1855. The couple lived in Elk Horn City, Nebraska (1858), Denver, Colorado (1859), Omaha (1860), and in Denver again (1861-1862). Their only child, a daughter, died circa 1859. In 1862 Walker and Amalia divorced. Amalia married Morton E. Post in 1864 and followed him to Cheyenne in 1868. The couple had no children, but developed a close relationship with Annie Kilbourne, Amalia’s niece. Amalia Post became a strong exponent of women’s rights. She served as foreman of a petit jury in Cheyenne in March, 1871, and represented Wyoming at the National Woman Suffrage Convention in Washington D.C. in the same year. Ann Simons married Dr. George Henry Kilbourne of Montpelier, Vermont, in 1851. Dr. Kilbourne died in April, 1856. Their daughter, Annie, was born in June, 1856.
Annie Kilbourne came to live with the Posts in Cheyenne in 1873. For a time she taught piano there to earn extra income. In 1875 or 1876 she became engaged to Adrian J. Parshall (b. 1849). In order to establish himself before marriage, Parshall moved to Deadwood, South Dakota, and became clerk in the First National Bank of Deadwood. They were married December 17, 1879, in Cheyenne, and Parshall became cashier of the Morton E. Post bank until its failure in 1887. The Parshalls’ daughter Amalia (b.1880) married Charles J. Ohnhaus in 1910.
The collection consists primarily of correspondence. The earliest letters (1850-1851, 1858-1864) are nearly all written by Amalia Nichols to her sister Ann Kilbourne. The letters of 1865 and 1866 include many from Morton Post to his wife, Amalia Nichols Post, as well as those from Amalia to Ann while Amalia was living in Denver, Colorado. The majority of the letters of 1867 and 1868 are from Morton to Amalia or from Amalia to Morton. Amalia’s letters from Cheyenne dominate 1870 to 1872, but from 1873 to 1875 most of the letters are from Annie Kilbourne to her mother, Ann Kilbourne, describing Annie’s life in Cheyenne with her aunt. From 1876 to 1879 letters from Adrian Parshall are included describing his attempts to become established in Deadwood and his frustration with his long engagement to Annie Kilbourne; while Annie Kilbourne Parshall’s letters from Deadwood to her mother dominate 1880 to 1883. Three letters from Celestia Parker in Port Huron, Michigan, are also included, one of them describing Port Huron’s reaction to the death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
A large number of letters and telegrams of 1885 and 1886 express support for Morton Post’s appointment as governor of Wyoming Territory. The collection also includes a small number of newspaper clippings (1881-1890).
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
There are no other known archival collections created by the Morton E. Post family at the date of processing.
The Morton E. Post family papers were acquired by the American Heritage Center in several parts: the first from
The collection was processed by D.C. Thompson in December 1999. It was updated March 2001. Links to digitized collection material were added by Ben Goldman in April 2010.
Item Description, Folder Number, Morton E. Post family papers, 1850-1900, Collection Number 01362, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Digital reproductions of select material from this collection are available at
Arranged chronologically. All correspondence is between members of the Post Family.