This collection is open for research.
Letters, photographs, and newspaper clippings collected by Wilbur F. Sanders were donated to Special Collections by Richard Francis, Venice, California, on May 19, 2009.
Wilbur Fisk Sanders was born in Leon, New York, on May 2, 1834. He began his career as a schoolteacher in New York and Ohio where, in 1856, he completed his training as an attorney. Sanders served as a first lieutenant in the 64th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the early years of the Civil War. In 1863, he joined the rush to the gold fields of Bannack and Virginia City in what would later become Montana Territory. He was active during the vigilante activity of 1864, and afterwards practiced law in Virginia City, Montana, and Helena, Montana. In addition to his interests in mining and stock raising, Sanders also embarked on a political career in the new territory. He was defeated in four separate elections for the territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress, but later served as a delegate in the territorial legislature from 1873 to 1879. After Montana achieved statehood, Sanders was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from January 1, 1890, to March 3, 1893, but was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection. Wilbur Fisk Sanders died in Helena, Montana, on July 7, 1905.
Harriet Peck Fenn Saunders was born in Talmadge, Ohio, on April 25, 1834, the daughter of Joseph Fenn and Nancy Carothers Fenn. She attended college in Painesville, Ohio, probably at the Willoughby Female Seminary (now Lake Erie College). Harriet and Wilbur married on October 27, 1858, and the couple had three surviving sons: James, Wilbur, and Louis. A devout Presbyterian, Harriet was a prominent church worker. She was also active in many Helena, Montana, women's clubs and causes, including the women's suffrage movement. Harriet P.F. Saunders died on September 23, 1909, while visiting her son, attorney Louis P. Sanders (1870-1940), in Butte, Montana. The couple are buried in Forestvale Cemetery in Helena, Montana.
This collection was processed 2009 September 4.
The letters and cards had been mounted on highly acidic black paper with corresponding typed transcriptions placed in proximity to the originals, but they have been removed from these mountings due to preservation concerns. As a result, the response letters and cards have been placed in odd numbered folders 1-13 and even numbered folders contain the transcriptions found in the preceding folder.
The Harriet P.F. and Wilbur F. Sanders papers consist of letters and cards received by in response to an invitation for the silver wedding anniversary celebration of Harriet and Wilbur on October 27, 1883. Respondents include James Fergus, William A. Clark, Benjamin F. Potts, and Davis Willson. The collection also includes a scrapbook of mounted newspaper clippings pertaining to the anniversary observance, Sanders' political activities, and obituaries of Sanders and extended family members. Five photographs of Wilbur F. Sanders, Louis P. Sanders, and Sidney Edgerton complete this collection.
[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT