Wilson Family Papers

Henry Delano Wilson, who wrote many of the letters in this collection, was born in December 1867. [In a letter dated December 1908, he refers to his 41st birthday in the next week] Although he mentions family members in his letters, no further details about his family and his upbringing are provided. Henry was a surgeon in the U.S. Navy. He may have received his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania [a letter dated July 6, 1908 refers to a doctor who was a year behind him there]. He married Ellen Edna Price on Thursday, March 28, 1895 at the House of Prayer, an Episcopalian Church on Broad Street in Newark.

Most information about Henry comes from the letters he wrote to Ellen, whom he calls Nellie, or Nell, prior to and after they were married. During their engagement and the first fourteen years of their marriage, Henry was away from Ellen for several lengthy periods when he was serving on various ships. It was during these periods (which occurred between 1893 and 1909) that he wrote the letters in this collection. Most of his letters are sent from ships, although some are from hotels and Naval Yards. The ships the letters come from are the U.S.S. Minnesota (1893), the U.S.S. New York (1893 and 1894), the U.S.S. Excelsior (1894), the U.S.R.S Vermont (1894), the U.S.S. Castine (1896, 1897, 1899), the U.S.S. Michigan (1900), the U.S.S. Dixie (1806), and the U.S.S. Kearsarge (1908, 1909). Henry's letters come from places he traveled to including the Carribean, South America, the Philippines, Michigan, and California. While on leave, he most likely lived at Ellen's family's home at 404 Mount Prospect Avenue in Newark. At some point, they may have moved to 315 Lenox Avenue in South Orange, to which a letter to Ellen is addressed in 1936.

Not many biographical details about Henry or his family are revealed in his letters. He and Ellen had a son, Henry, probably in 1906. No other children are mentioned in his letters. The date and place of Henry's death have not been determined.

The collection contains approximately 55 letters from Ellen to Henry from between1894 and 1909, and several from Henry Junior from the early 1930s.

Ellen Edna (Price) Wilson

Ellen, or Nellie as she was more commonly called was probably born in 1871 to William Ballinger Price and his wife Ellen. The 1880 United States Census Household Record contains a record of family in Newark whose biographical details match those of the Prices. This record indicates that Ellen was born in 1870/1 in Ohio. It is likely that the Prices moved to Newark (404 Mount Prospect Avenue) in 1880 and that William Ballinger Price was a banker at that time. She had a brother William, a sister called Florence, and the 1880 census lists a 6-month-old brother named Harold, of whom there is no later mention.

Ellen and Henry were engaged in 1893, married in 1895, and appear to have had a son, Henry, in 1906. She spent most of her time in Newark but seems to have accompanied Henry to South America (see her two letters from Montevideo in 1898), the Philippines (see letter of July 24, 1908), Japan (see Florence’s letter from November 5, 1920), and Shanghai (see letter of January 1, 1904).

Ellen received most of the letters in the Wilson collection. Her husband was her most frequent correspondent, and her sister Florence the second most frequent. The earliest letter to her in the collection is from 1880 and the last is from 1936. Her letters also include several sent from her son Henry and others sent from her brother Will, her grandmother (name unknown), and her mother. Other letters in the collection are friends (or people to whom a family relationship has not been established), including two from a woman named Eleanor.

Florence (Price) Batson

Florence, or Floss as she more commonly refers to herself, was born in 1865. She was married to Donald Batson and had one daughter, Phyllis. She spent most of time in Montclair, New Jersey, (227 Orange Road) but traveled to Haiti in 1917, to Japan and India in 1920–1921. She had one daughter, Phyllis who was married and had several children. In 1925, Phyllis, her husband and children moved in with Florence, and Florence helped Phyllis take care of her children.

As older sister, Florence served as confidante of Ellie and exchanged with her many letters, 20 of which are preserved in the collection. The earliest letter dates from 1899 and the latest letter from 1927.

Henry D. Wilson, Edith (Moeller) Wilson, and Robert D. Wilson

Henry, more commonly called Hank, was born in 1906 as the son of Henry D. Wilson and Ellen (Price) Wilson. He was married to Edith (Moeller) Wilson and had one son, H. Robert Wilson who was born in 1940. Edith was the daughter of Lu (McCready) Moeller (1881–1980) and Henry Moeller.

Lucretia (McCready) Moeller and Mrs. Robert McCready

Lucretia, more commonly referred to as Lu, was the wife of Henry Moeller, who owned a "plain painting" business in New York City. She was married to Henry around 1901 and was widowed around 1961 after which date she relied quite heavily on financial support from her son-in-law, Henry D. Wilson, as well as institutions such as the P.E.O Sisterhood Chapter C, of which she was a member. In 1972, and probably some time later on, she stayed in the Cranford Health and Extended Care Facility. Her main correspondents were her son-in-law, Henry, her daughter Edith, as well as her grandson, Robert. Lucretia was born in 1881 and died in 1980.

Mrs. Robert McCready

Mrs. Robert McCready is the mother of Lucretia (McCready) Moeller. No additional biographical details are known about her.