STANION FAMILY PAPERS

Collection

Identifier: WH644

Staff Only

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection comprises papers pertaining to the members of the Stanion family. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence between family members. Ralph P. Stanion wrote to his father, James H. and his son, Charles P. (Bill). Correspondence exists from Charles P. (Bill) to his father and wife, Jessie. Journals, manuscripts, decedent sheets and handwritten recollections are included.

Business papers pertaining to the Ralph P. Stanions' work at the schools on the reservations comprise a small portion of the collection.

SERIES 1 FAMILY PAPERS 1894-1946 BOX 1

This series consists of papers generated by members of the Stanion family. Personal correspondence is the primary resource. The letters written by Ralph P. Stanion to his father, James, include descriptions of his work and life on the reservations in South Dakota and Oklahoma from 1898-1907. Charles P. wrote his family in the 1920s and 1930s about school and his work at a hotel in Denver. Journals written by Ralph P. and his wife Lillian describe the daily routine. The series also includes records generated by the U.S. Department of Interior and a small portion of correspondence by other family members.

SERIES 2 OVERSIZE 1906 OVFF1

The series consists of Ralph P. Stanions' law certificate.

SERIES 3 PHOTOGRAPHS 1875-1956 PHOTOBOX 1-4

This series contains black-and-white and cyanotype photographs of the Stanion family and their residences on various reservations and schools in South Dakota, Oklahoma and Arizona as well as family vacations.

Dates

1875-1956

ACCESS:

The collection is open for research.

OWNERSHIP:

Stanion Family Papers are the physical property of the Denver Public Library

PUBLICATION RIGHTS:

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

James H. Stanion (Stanyon) was born in Leicester, England on October 31, 1839. He came to Ithaca, New York in 1859. He served as a member of the DeWitt Guard, Company A, 50th Regiment of the National Guards in New York. He later volunteered to fight in the Civil War. James H. Stanion married Elmira Perry in 1862. They had one child, Charles Benjamin. Elmira died in 1868. James H. Stanion remarried in 1871 to Harriet L. Parsons. They had four children: George Henry, Ralph Parsons, Grace Margaret and D. Curtis. James H. Stanion died in Sherburn, New York in August 1914.

Ralph Parsons Stanion (1875-1932) graduated from Georgetown University in 1905 with a degree in law. He began his teaching career in 1898 as a teacher at the Pine Ridge Indian School in South Dakota. In1899, he taught at the Oglala Boarding School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In 1901, he transferred to the day school on the same reservation. He served as the assistant superintendent of the Arapahoe Training School in Darlington, Oklahoma from 1905-1906. In January of 1907, he accepted the transfer to the Rosebud Boarding School as superintendent. From 1909-1928, Ralph P. Stanion served as superintendent at the Otoe School, Oklahoma; Pawnee School, Oklahoma; Theodore Roosevelt Indian School, Fort Apache, Arizona; Cherokee Indian School, Cherokee, North Dakota; and the Indian Reservation, Elbowoods, North Dakota. He also practiced law in Oklahoma.

Ralph P. Stanion married May Lillian Carter in 1900 at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Ralph and Lillian had four children: Elizabeth L., Ralph Carter, James Henry and Charles Parsons. May Lillian Carter Stanion was born in 1865 in Syracuse, New York. She received a diploma as a graduate nurse.. She worked as a nurse at Orange Memorial Hospital and in the Army Nurse Corps for a time. She also worked in the Indian Bureau where she met Ralph. Lillian died on July 17, 1916 in Pawnee Oklahoma.

Ralph married Jessie E. Bennett on December 26, 1917. Ralph P. Stanion died on April 6, 1932.

Extent

1 Boxes (.5 inner feet)

1 oversize folders

4 photo boxes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Other Finding Aids

For location information, refer to the Denver Public Library Catalog.

PROVENANCE:

The provenance is unknown. The photographs were purchased in 1990. The Indian River County Main Library of Vero Beach, Florida donated a James H. Stanion and Son Company ledger on January 20, 2010.