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Finding Aid for the Sarah Probert Watkins/Probert Family Papers, 1838-1948


MS-2292

University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN


Collection processed by: Erin Lawrimore, April 2005
Finding Aid written by: Erin Lawrimore, April 2005
Encoded by: Erin Lawrimore, June 24, 2006

Summary Information
Title: Sarah Probert Watkins/Probert Family Papers

Date/Date Range :   1838-1948

Extent: 0.42 linear feet

Abstract:
The Sarah Probert Watkins/Probert Family Papers, 1838-1948, document the life of the Probert family through correspondence and other documents. The bulk of the collection consists of the personal correspondence of Sarah Probert Watkins of Pittsfield, OH, and dates from 1865-1905. The majority of the correspondents found in the collection lived in the Midwest, including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

Call number: MS-2292

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Access and Use
Aquisition Information:
This collection was donated to Special Collections by Mildred Haines.
Access Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Copyright:
The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of Item], Sarah Probert Watkins/Probert Family Papers, MS-2292. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Arrangement

Collection consists of four series:

  1. Series I. Correspondence of Sarah Probert Watkins, 1857-1915
  2. Series II. Correspondence of George Probert, 1866-1899
  3. Series III. Correspondence of Other Family Members, 1864-1948
  4. Series IV. Other Family Papers, 1838-1879

Biography / History

Born in 1841 in Pittsfield, OH, Sarah Victoria Probert, daughter of James and Sarah Probert, married John Watkins on October 26, 1865. Watkins had served as a soldier with the 19th Ohio Battery during the Civil War. With this unit, he saw action throughout Kentucky, Tennessee (including Knoxville), Georgia, and North Carolina. The Watkins had five children: Mary, Eliza ( "Tinnie" ), Cornelia ( "Corla" ), Louis, and Frances. Both Mary and Tinnie attended Oberlin College and became school teachers in Ohio. Mary Watkins married Henry Mills in 1897, and died in childbirth in 1898.

In addition to Sarah, the Probert family included brothers John, James, Albert, and George, as well as a sister, Eliza. Eliza married Calvin Freeman and had two sons -- Frank, a doctor, and Marston, a minister. George Probert, a teacher, died in 1899.


Collection Scope and Content Note

The Sarah Probert Watkins/Probert Family Papers, 1838-1948, consist primarily of personal correspondence and other materials related to the Probert family. This collection contains letters from Watkins, her husband, her children, her brothers and sisters, and her nieces and nephews. The majority of the correspondents are located in the Midwest, including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

The bulk of the correspondence (Series I) belongs to Sarah Probert Watkins and dates from 1865-1905. Much of this correspondence is from other female members of the Probert and Watkins families. In these letters, the women discuss their daily activities and family and local news. A large group of these letters are from Eliza Probert Freeman, Sarah's sister. Also included in the collection are letters dating from Emma Watkins' (Sarah's daughter) time at Oberlin College in 1899 and 1900.

A smaller section of the collection (Series II) contains the correspondence of George Probert, Sarah's brother. His letters, which date from 1866-1899, relate to business as well as personal matters.

The papers of other family members constitute Series III. This series contains letters to John Watkins, including a notice of an 1873 reunion of the 19th Ohio Battery, his Civil War battalion. The papers of Tinnie Watkins contain her Ohio teacher's certificates as well as sample questions for the certification exam.

For more information of Sarah Probert Watkins and other members of the family, see MS-1161, the John Watkins Papers, 1862-1958. That collection contains John Watkins' wartime correspondence, photographs of family members, and diaries of Sarah Probert Watkins, George Probert, Emma Watkins, Corla Watkins, and Tinnie Watkins.

Subject Terms

  • United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
  • Ohio -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
  • Women -- Ohio -- Correspondence.
  • United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Veterans.
  • Oberlin College.
Contents List
   

Series I: Correspondence of Sarah Probert Watkins, 1857-1915
   

Subseries A. Letters to Sarah Probert Watkins, 1857-1915
Box   1     Folder   1    
From Jennie M. Adams, 1900-1902

Box   1     Folder   2    
From Julia Watkins Blackwell, 1868-1869
Box   1     Folder   3    
From Alberta Edward, 1898
Box   1     Folder   4    
From Agnes Freeman, 1899
Box   1     Folder   5    
From Eliza Freeman, 1899-1907

Box   1     Folder   6    
From Eliza Freeman, 1899-1907

Box   1     Folder   7    
From Marston Freeman, 1905
Box   1     Folder   8    
From Henry Mills, 1898-1909
Box   1     Folder   9    
From Laurie Perry, 1858-circa 1863
Box   1     Folder   10    
From Anna Probert, 1865-1868
Box   1     Folder   11    
From Bessie Probert, 1915
Box   1     Folder   12    
From D.G. Probert, 1899-1906
Box   1     Folder   13    
From Elsie Probert, undated
Box   1     Folder   14    
From Emma Probert, 1904
Box   1     Folder   15    
From George Probert, 1857-1903
Box   1     Folder   16    
From Hattie Probert, 1903
Box   1     Folder   17    
From Mary Probert, undated
Box   1     Folder   18    
From Rex Probert, 1912
Box   1     Folder   19    
From Evvie Salter, 1899-1900

Box   1     Folder   20    
From Chloe Sheffield, 1858
Box   1     Folder   21    
From "Sister Mary," 1872
Box   1     Folder   22    
From Corla Watkins, 1899-1909
Box   1     Folder   23    
From Emma Watkins, 1899-1900
   

Subseries B. Letters from Sarah Probert Watkins, 1898-1900
Box   2     Folder   1    
To Henry Mills, 1898-1899
Box   2     Folder   2    
To George Probert, 1898
Box   2     Folder   3    
To Corla Watkins, 1900
Box   2     Folder   4    
To Unnamed Recipient, 1898
   

Series II. Correspondence of George Probert, 1866-1899
   

Subseries A. Letters to George Probert, 1868-1898
Box   2     Folder   5    
From J.N. Barnum, 1868

Box   2     Folder   6    
From James Edwards, 1868

Box   2     Folder   7    
From Fuller and Higgins, 1868

Box   2     Folder   8    
From Henry Mills, 1897-1899

Box   2     Folder   9    
From Mary Watkins Mills, 1897-1898

Box   2     Folder   10    
From John Probert, 1878-1882

Box   2     Folder   11    
From F.M. Salter, 1898

   

Subseries B. Letters from George Probert, 1866-1899
Box   2     Folder   12    
To Henry Mills, 1898
Box   2     Folder   13    
To John Watkins, 1866-1871
   

Series III. Correspondence of Other Family Members, 1864-1948
Box   2     Folder   14    
A.B. Probert, 1905

Box   2     Folder   15    
James Probert, 1864

Box   2     Folder   16    
John Probert, 1869-1871

Box   2     Folder   17    
Sarah Probert, 1891

Box   2     Folder   18    
Emma Watkins, 1904-1905

Box   2     Folder   19    
John Watkins, 1865-1916

Box   2     Folder   20    
Mary Watkins, 1898

Box   2     Folder   21    
Tinnie Watkins, 1898-1948

   

Series IV. Other Family Papers, 1838-1879
Box   2     Folder   22    
Deeds, 1844-1879

Box   2     Folder   23    
Receipts, 1838-1865

Box   2     Folder   24    
Other Papers, undated