Call Number:

C1261

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Granville Wilcox Correspondence, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1852-1857 (inclusive)

Creator:

Wilcox, Granville (1836-1886)

Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century

Abstract:

Consists chiefly of letters sent by Granville Wilcox to members of his family in Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas, while he was a student at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) as a member of the Class of 1856.

Granville Wilcox (1836-1886) graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1856. He became a lawyer and later, an Arkansas legislator. In 1859, he married Julia Hubby Hamilton (1839–1905).

The College of New Jersey was initially chartered in 1746. The first classes were held in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the parsonage of the president, the Reverend Jonathan Dickinson. Upon his death, the College moved to Newark, New Jersey, and was headed by the Reverend Aaron Burr, Sr. Since 1756, the College has been located in Princeton, New Jersey. For the first fifty years, nearly all College operations took place within Nassau Hall. Fires, fundraising difficulties, low student enrollment, and the Civil War challenged the vitality of the College in the early and middle nineteenth century, but the College grew vigorously under the leadership of President James McCosh, and it was renamed Princeton University in 1896. The Graduate School was established in 1900, although a limited graduate program had existed since the 1870s. Princeton enthusiastically supported the country (living up to its informal motto, "Princeton in the Nation's Service") during the First and Second World Wars, offering the expertise of faculty and campus space for training, as well as facilitating the early graduation of students so they could enlist. The post-World War II years brought dramatic changes to Princeton. The size and strength of the University's facilities and academic programs—especially for the applied sciences and public policy—were increased dramatically. Under President Robert Goheen, Princeton began to admit minority students in greater numbers in the 1960s and admitted women undergraduates in 1969. Today, Princeton is widely regarded as one of the top universities in the world.

The collection consists chiefly of letters sent by Wilcox to members of his family while he was a student at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). The letters document the life of a Princeton student in the mid-nineteenth century and provide a contemporary view of the town of Princeton, New Jersey. Fifteen of the letters are addressed to Wilcox's father, Henry Wilcox (1800-1864), his mother, Sarah Pleasant Pettus (1812-1894), and his sister, Rebecca (1838-1909), who lived in Van Buren, Arkansas. In these letters, Wilcox writes about the cost of decorating his room; seeing President Franklin Pierce when he visited the College; friends, college life, classes, examinations, faculty; and about Dr. John Maclean succeeding Dr. James Carnahan as president of the College.

Also included is a letter, dated April 9, 1852, from William Edward Moore (Princeton Class of 1853) to Wilcox's father, who had asked for his views about the College of New Jersey. (One of Moore's selling points is that Princeton is a "Southern College." None of the professors, he claims, "hold free soil principles." "In answer to your inquiries I would say by all means send your son to Princeton.") In addition, there are four letters (1856-1857) by James W. Bryant (Princeton Class of 1856) to Wilcox, posted from Sumterville and Gainesville, Alabama, and several visiting cards.

The letters are arranged chronologically.