Archives West Finding Aid

The collection consists of the papers of the Royal family. While some papers of Charles Royal are included, the collection primarily relates to William Royal; his wife, Barbara Royal; and their descendants. Descendants who are well-represented in the collection are T. F. Royal and Jason Lee Royal. Other descendants of William Royal represented in the collection include James H. B. Royal, Charles W. Royal, William B. Royal, and John Flinn and Mary E. Flinn (née Royal). The bulk of the collection is correspondence to and from the Royals, discussing family matters and religious activities. The collection also holds several of William Royal's notebooks, which contain diary entries, financial notes, and religious subscription records; and a notebook belonging to T. F. Royal with diary entries and financial notes.

Other written materials in the collection are letters from William Royal to the editor of the Pacific Christian Advocate; receipts and promissory notes, some of which predate the family's emigration to Oregon; tax records for property Jason Lee Royal owned in Port Townsend, Washington; a handwritten book of speeches, proverbs, and advice belonging to George Asbury Royal; Centenary-Wilbur Methodist Church programs mentioning the Royal family; a poem by James H. B. Royal; poems read at Royal family reunions; a list of letters loaned to Emma J. Royal; and a Sons of Temperance certificate for William B. Carter, whose connection to the Royal family is unknown. The collection also includes two photographs: one is a group photograph in front of the Umpqua Academy in Wilbur, Oregon, with T. F. Royal and Annie Royal Smith identified; the other is a photograph of a seventh-grade class at Mt. Tabor School in Portland, Oregon, though its connection to the Royal family is unknown.