Guide to the Walton Family Papers, 1730-1980 and undated
[top]Descriptive Summary
TitleWalton Family Papers, 1730-1980 and undated
Creator
Walton, Loring Baker
Extent
3.1 Linear Feet
1633 Items.
Repository
1633 Items.
Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Language
English.
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Administrative Information
Access RestrictionsCollection is open for research.
However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
The copyright interests in the Walton family papers have not been transferred to Duke
University. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and
Procedures of the Special Collections Department.
Provenance
The papers of the Walton family (1730-1975) were donated to the Special Collections
Department from 1984-1987 by Mrs. Loring B. Walton, Loring B. Walton, and Eleanore
Walton Bequaert.
Processing Information
Processed by: Fran Tracy-Walls and Sharon Knapp
Date completed: March 7, 1992
Encoded by Stephen D. Miller
Finding aid updated because of additions by Alice L. Poffinberger, February 12, 2009
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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Biographical Note
George E. Walton| 1839, Dec. 25 | Born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Charles and Sarah Underwood Horsey Blake Walton |
| 1864 |
Graduated from Bellevue Medical College (N.Y.).
Served as Assistant Surgeon in the Union Army
|
| 1865 | Toured Europe to study methods of surgery and medicine |
| 1866 | Began medical practice in Cincinnati, Ohio |
| ca. 1870 |
Married Marion Young of Pittsburg, Pa.
Had two sons and two daughters
|
| 1880 | Assumed Chair of Medicine and Surgery at Cincinnati Academy of Medicine |
| 1880-1881 | President of Cincinnati Academy of Medicine |
| 1883 | Published The Mineral Springs of the United States and Canada with Analyses and Notes on the Prominent Spas of Europe, and a List of Sea-Side Resorts (D. Appleton) |
| 1890 | Moved to DeLand, Fla. area |
| 1892, Fall | Married Eleanore C. Baker in St. Augustine, Fla. Son was Loring Baker Walton |
| 1917, June 25 | Died in Terre Haute, Ind. |
| 1865, Mar. 18 | Born Eleanore “Nellie” Coolidge Baker in Hingham, Mass. to Susan L. and James Loring Baker |
| 1880s |
Attended Hingham Academy (Hingham, Mass.).
Studied in Chicago
|
| 1891 | Moved to Florida because of illness where she was treated by George E. Walton |
| 1892, Fall | Married George E. Walton in St. Augustine, Fla. Son was Loring Baker Walton |
| ca. 1898 | Moved to Kansas City, Mo. and became active on the Board of the Women's and Children's Hospital, and in the Missouri Society for Crippled Children, the Women's Chamber of Commerce, the YWCA, and the 2nd District Federation of Women's Clubs for Missouri |
| 1933, May | Appointed Assistant to Film Censor for Kansas City |
| 1938, Dec. | Appointed Film Censor for Kansas City |
| 1948 | Retired and moved to Durham, N.C. |
| 1958, July 12 | Died in Durham, N.C. |
| 1893, Nov. 17 | Born in Deland, Fla. to Eleanore C. and George E. Walton |
| 1898 | Moved to Kansas City, Mo. with his mother |
| 1916 |
A.B. degree from Princeton University.
Entered Harvard University as a graduate student
|
| 1918-1920 | Served in the U.S. Army in France, Germany, and Utah |
| 1920, Nov. | Employed by Guaranty Trust Company in New York City |
| 1923(?) | Returned to Europe for study and travel |
| 1924 | License-es-Lettres from the Sorbonne in Paris in classical languages |
| 1924-1929 | Instructor of Romance Languages at Princeton University |
| 1925, Dec. | Married Susanne Joseph Lindlar. Children were Loring B. Walton, Jr. and Eleanore |
| 1929-1963 | Professor of Romance Languages at Duke University |
| 1943 | Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago |
| 1975, Feb. 9 | Died in Durham, N.C. |
Published:
Anatole France and the Greek World (Duke University Press: 1950),
A Manuscript of Thais(PMLA: 1956),
andAnatole France and the First World War: the Correspondence with Carlos Blacker(PMLA: 1962).
[top]Collection Overview
The Walton Family Papers, 1730 to 1975 (bulk 1880-1975), include journals and diaries;
correspondence; writings; pictorial material such as postcards, photographs, albums and negatives;
clippings; mimeographed material; printed material; and genealogical material. While the majority
of the collection pertains to Loring Baker Walton, there also is a family focus, primarily in the
correspondence throughout the papers. In particular it relates to Loring Walton, his mother
Eleanore C. Walton, her father James Baker, and Eleanore Walton's husband George E. Walton.
The collection relates only peripherally to their careers.
The lives of George and Eleanore Walton are documented in the
George and Eleanore Walton
Series. Most of the earliest items pertain to Mrs. Walton's family, the Bakers, who had settled in
Hingham, Massachusetts at least by the eighteenth-century. Letters to Mrs. Walton comprise a
major segment of this series, including those to her from her father, James Baker, 1880-1882.
Included are courtship letters from George Walton, a physician who attended Eleanore Walton
while she was convalescing near Deland, Florida. Most were written, 1891-1892, after she returned
to her home in Chicago. Letters from George Walton after the marriage suggest financial hardship
and indicate that the couple was frequently separated from the beginning of their marriage and
during the early childhood of their son Loring. After 1895, there is a gap in the correspondence.
Included is George Walton's 1896 diary of a trip via wagon from Indiana to Florida. Later material
and correspondence in the series pertains to Eleanore Walton's work as a clubwoman and motion
picture censor in Kansas City, Missouri from the 1920s to 1948, when she retired and moved to
Durham, N.C. to live with her son Loring Walton.
The first series is a preview to the second, much larger Loring B. Walton Series. Four volumes of
journal entries describe Walton's daily life and thought as a student, first in Kansas City, Mo., and
later at Princeton University, which he entered in 1912. The journals record campus reaction to
Woodrow Wilson's election to the presidency. Walton was a graduate student at Harvard when he
was discharged from ROTC, called to active duty in the U.S. Army, and assigned to the American
Expeditionary Force in France and Germany in 1918-1919. During the war and its aftermath,
Walton assembled postcards and some photographs which complement his journal entries and
correspondence. Most of his letters in this series are addressed to his mother, Eleanore C. Walton,
with a few to his grandmother and aunt in Kansas City, Mo. Of interest are his characterizations of
civilians during the war and occupation as well as his view of political conditions. For over 30
years Walton corresponded with A. Goderic A. Hodges, a British Army officer who lost a leg while
in balloon service.
To a limited extent there is information in the Loring B. Walton Series about Walton's literary and
scholarly interests. A small quantity of correspondence is from authors such as Wilmon Brewer,
Count Sforza, and Maurice Holleaux. Included is a letter written by Anatole France, which was
given to Walton, and a handwritten, signed poem by Edmund Wilson. There are several draft
versions of Walton's addresses or articles, mostly undated. While there are no papers or
correspondence relating to Walton's study at the Sorbonne, one address refers to his living in the
home of a French family and his observations of French culture and educational methods. This
series also thinly documents his involvement with Duke University through the Interdenominational
Church and the Erasmus Club, and his sabbatical in Europe while a member of the Department of
Romance Languages.
Addition (03-053) (175 items, .2 lin. ft.; dated 1917-1968) comprises materials of Loring Baker Walton, and consists primarily of scholarly correspondence and materials concerning his work on Anatole France and other projects (1932-1968). Also includes his class notes from Harvard (1917-1918), and from his training and service with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. This addition is unprocessed.
Addition (08-184) (375 items, .4 lin. ft.; dated 1891-1980 and undated) contains primarily material related to Loring Baker Walton’s background and service with the AEF in WWI. Includes information regarding Walter family property settlements for land they owned in Germany that was damaged during WWII. There are also letters (1891-1951) for George E. and Eleanore C. Walter. This addition is unprocessed.
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Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
- Sforza, Carlo, Conte, 1872-1952.
- France, Anatole, 1844-1924.
- Wilson, Edmund, 1895-1972.
- Baker family.
- Baker family.
- Great Britain. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
- Great Britain. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
- United States. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
- United States. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
- Courtship.
- Authors, European.
- College students.
- Walton, George E.,
- Walton, Elanor C.,
- Walton, Loring Baker
- Women--Societies and clubs.
- World War, 1914-1918--France.
- World War, 1914-1918--Germany.
- World War, 1914-1918--Germany.
- Hingham (Mass.)--History.
 | List of Series in Collection | |||||||
 |  | George and Eleanore Walton Series | ||||||
| | Loring B. Walton Series | ||||||
| | Oversize Materials | ||||||
 | | Addition (2003-0053) 1917-1968 | ||||||
 | | Addition (2008-0184) 1891-1980 and undated | ||||||
Detailed Description of Collection
George and Eleanore Walton Series
George and Eleanore Walton, 1730-1958 and undated (bulk 1880-1949). Diary, letters, clippings, photographs, and printed material, but consists chiefly of letters to
Eleanore. Two categories: correspondence and miscellaneous.
Box 1
Correspondence:
Early family, 1830-1835
James L. Baker to Eleanore, 1880-1886, undated
George to Eleanore, 1891-1895 and undated
(3 folders)
Other correspondents to Eleanore, 1887-1949
Miscellaneous:
Clippings, 1924-1949 and undated
Diary of trip, 1896
Funeral preparations for Eleanore Walton, 1957-1958
Hingham, Mass. and other family material, 1730-1828
Photographs, 1883-1919 and undated
Box 2
General, 1865-1956 and undated
(2 folders)
Loring B. Walton Series
Loring B. Walton, 1905-1975 and undated
Diaries and journals, postcards, photographs and negatives, letters, writings, and clippings. This is
the larger series of the two, consisting primarily of Walton's correspondence to and from his mother,
Eleanore Walton. There are three folders for British Army officer A. Goderic A. Hodges.
Categories are diaries, correspondence, miscellaneous, and pictures.
Diaries:
Diaries and journals, 1908-1919
(4 folders)
Journals, including postcards and some photographs, 1923, July
Box 3
Journal, including postcards and photographs, 1923, July
Journal, including postcards, 1923 Aug.
(2 folders)
Correspondence:
To mother, 1913-1919, July
(6 folders)
Box 4
To mother, 1919-1923
(3 folders)
From mother, 1911-1958
(2 folders)
Brewer, Wilmon,
1958-1972
France, Anatole,
1940
Hodges, A. Goderic A.,
1930-1975
(3 folders)
Box 5
Holleaux, Maurice,
1932
Sforza, Count Carlo,
1933-1950
General, 1932-1975
Miscellaneous:
Duke University,
1950-1967
Military service,
1918-1934
Wilson, Edmund,
undated
Writings and speeches, 1905-1923 and undated
General, 1916-1929, 1963, and undated
Pictures:
Postcards and photograph of Wilson's inauguration, 1913
Mounted photographs, 1919
Photographs:
General staff of Third Army, U.S.A., Coblenz on Rhine, 1919
Princeton,
Harvard,
Hingham, Mass.,
1920
Postcards and photographs, 1921
Box 6
Postcards and photographs, 1921
Photograph of Romance Language Department, Duke University, 1947-1948
Photographic negatives:
Fort Douglas, Utah,
1920
Princeton,
Harvard,
1920
Princeton,
Harvard,
Hingham,
1920
1920
(2 folders)
Oversize Materials
George and Eleanore Walton Series, 1868 and undated
Addition (2003-0053) 1917-1968
(1 box)
Addition (03-053)(175 items, .2 lin. ft.; dated 1917-1968) comprises materials of Loring Baker Walton, and consists primarily of scholarly correspondence and materials concerning his work on Anatole France and other projects (1932-1968). Also includes his class notes from Harvard (1917-1918), and from his training and service with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. This addition is unprocessed.
Addition (2008-0184) 1891-1980 and undated
(1 box)
Addition (08-184) (375 items, .4 lin. ft.; dated 1891-1980 and undated) contains primarily material related to Loring Baker Walton’s background and service with the AEF in WWI. Includes information regarding Walter family property settlements for land they owned in Germany that was damaged during WWII. There are also letters (1891-1951) for George E. and Eleanore C. Walter. This addition is unprocessed.
