James W. Holton Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-041

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers of James Wilber Holton consist primarily of letters between Holton and his mother, and letters written by Holton to his wife Alice H. (Renik) Holton. The contents of the letters include Oberlin events, financial concerns, temperance activities, music, and Holton's travels in the midwest. A small amount of letters between Mrs. M.L. Shumway and Mrs. R. B. Holton are also included. Series 2 contains a journal of Mrs. R. B. Holton (minutes of the Oberlin Beneficial Society, 1890-91; and her personal entries, 1900-1902), newspaper clippings, certificates of James Wilbur Holton, financial records, and event brochures (1860s-1890s).

Dates

Creation: 1860s-1913, undated
Other: Date acquired: 03/27/1969

Creator

Holton, James W. (Holton, James Wilbur) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

James Wilber Holton was born in Bellevue, Ohio, on April 21, 1854, to James Harvey (1823-1863, O.C. ’49) and Rebecca Bebout (1824-1905, O.C. ’50) Holton. He had numerous siblings: Bryetta (1851-1860), Louie (1852-1861), Birdie (1853-1862), Wilbur D. (1855-), and John B. (1860-). His father died in 1863 when James was nine years old, and his mother earned a living, as many in Oberlin did, by boarding students in their home.

Holton attended school in Savannah (1869) before enrolling in the Oberlin Preparatory School, 1869-73 ( college and cons. 1873-75; prep. 1876-77; college and cons. 1877-79; cons. 1883-85, 1888-91). During the winter of 1874, he taught a class in Four Corners, GA. He attended medical college in Atlanta, Ga. from which he received his degree in 1880, and won a gold medal for his thesis. He practiced medicine in Lincoln, Nebraska and Fitchville, Ohio through 1883. He assisted in the publication of a Guide to Oberlin (1883).

Holton returned to Oberlin to study music (1883). He then began teaching music in Litchfield, Minnesota (1884-85), the first of a series of teaching positions; Amity College in College Springs, Iowa (1886-87); Concord Normal School in West Virginia (1891-92); American University, Harrison, Tennessee (1893-94); and public schools in Lorain and Medina Counties, Ohio (1900-02). Music positions were not always full time and usually not well paying, and money was always a concern.

From 1888-91, Holton worked in a clerical position for the Prohibition State Central Committee in Lincoln, Nebraska. He married Alice H. Renik (b. 1868, enrolled Oberlin College, 1891-92) on September 22, 1891. During these same three years (1881-1891), Holton published The Exponent News Edition in Oberlin. They had two children: Lucille Iva (1893-) and Thelma Eilene (1897-1922).

During the years 1898-1900, Holton was on the road covering much of the mid-west, lecturing on and securing agents to sell separators. Again, these were very hard years financially, as he and his wife had two daughters, Lucille and Thelma, during this time. In 1898, he wrote the Year Book of "Presto" (a music trade journal) in Chicago. From 1903 to 1907, Holton operated a stereopticon business in Cleveland and Chicago. He married Adah Sarah Geiger (1864-1959) in 1913. He died in 1920 at age sixty-six.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Student file (RG28) of James Wilber Holton; Student file (RG28) of Rebecca Bebout; and, Papers of James Wilber Holton (30/41).

Note written by Prue Richards.