Charles Edwin Monroe Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-136

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers consist of 9 letters written by Monroe, August 1881‑February 1882, while he was a member of a surveying crew for the Wisconsin Central Railroad. Monroe called it the Penokee or Wisconsin Central Survey and wrote from Ashland County in the northern part of the state where the work took place. He described his duties as a surveyor, people he worked with and his reactions to this type of employment. He was a member of the party at the suggestion of his uncle, Frederick N. Finney, who was president of the railroad. Also written by Monroe are some essays, 1875‑80 and undated, and "Wild Asters of Wisconsin," (published 1913). A printed description of his collection of asters is also included. Among the papers is a history of Monroe's life written by his wife (typescript, 16 pp.) and the manuscript for a history of Oberlin written for young people by Mary K. Monroe, a sister of Charles.

Note: Entry taken from William E. Bigglestone's unpublished "[preliminary] Guide to the Oberlin College Archives," which was prepared as individual entry sheets in a three-ring binder during the early 1980s.

Dates

Creation: 1875 - 1936
Other: Date acquired: 10/22/1980

Creator

Monroe, Charles Edwin (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

Charles Edwin Monroe (1857‑1931) was the son of Oberlin College Professor James Wilbur (1821-1898) and Elizabeth Maxwell Monroe (1825-1862). He was one of four children, Emma Elizabeth (1848-1939), Mary Katherine (1854-1917), and William Maxwell (1858-1932). He received his AB from Oberlin (1877) and his law degree from the University of Michigan (1880). He practiced law for Eliab Wright Metcalf (1827-1899) before the Court of Alabama Claims in Washington, D.C., 1882‑84, and then settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he practiced until retirement in 1930. From 1889‑1897 he was Secretary and Chief Examiner of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, and in 1895 he was made Secretary and Chief Examiner of the Milwaukee City Service Commission. An interest he avidly pursued was that of collecting botanical specimens. He was a member of the Wisconsin Natural History Society and he gave his large collection of specimens to the Public Museum of Milwaukee. He also wrote on botanical subjects. Monroe was married in 1924 to Miss Marie Jussen (1861-1947).