Provenance: Gift of the City of Portsmouth in 1980
Citation: Thomas C. Wilson Papers (MS035), Portsmouth Athenaeum
Size: 10 Hollinger Boxes (4 linear feet)
Access: Please consult archivist or keeper.
Scope and Content
The papers of Thomas C. Wilson are essentially those of a local historian, social figure, and prodigious researcher. Wilson was a specialist on the subject of the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth that ended the Russo-Japanese War. He was interested in the history of Portsmouth, particularly its military and naval history. He wrote a draft translation of The Memoirs of Count Witte written in 1911 in Russian. Witte was the prime minister of Russia from 1905-1907 and died in 1915.
Biographical Note
Thomas C. Wilson was born in San Francisco on May 26, 1907, the son of Mabel Louise Cluff and stockbroker John Charles Wilson. He attended the Taft School, Watertown, Connecticut from 1921-1925, and in 1926 he attended Yale University as a member of the class of 1929. In 1930 he received a BA degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Undergraduate History Club and Phi Sigma Kappa. In 1932, he earned an MA in history from the University of Pennsylvania. Wilson was in the book business in Philadelphia from 1932-1934. From 1932-1936 he attended the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote and published Forty Years at Pennsylvania: A History of Mu Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa and Its Members, 1900-1940. In 1961, having moved to Portsmouth, he co-founded the Piscataqua History Club with Philip Sanderson and James B. Smith. He became a proprietor of the Portsmouth Athenaeum in 1973. Thomas Wilson died on Nov. 25, 1980 at the age of 73 in Portsmouth.
See also: P0001, the Thomas C. Wilson Photograph Collection, which was donated at the same time.
Series Listing
I. Correspondence, 1907-1978
II. Piscataqua History Club
III. Subject Files,1693-1973
IV. Printed Material
Folder Listing
I. Correspondence, 1907-1978
Box 1
F1 Correspondence, 1940-Aug. 1964
F2 Correspondence, Sept., 1964- Dec. 1965
F3 Correspondence, 1966-1967
F4 Correspondence, 1968-1969
F5 Correspondence, 1970-May 1972
F6 Correspondence, June, 1972-1973
F7 Correspondence, 1974-1978
Box 2
F1 Correspondence, Wilson– drafts, no dates
F2 Correspondence, Wilson to New York Times, no dates
F3 Correspondence, Wilson, no dates, no addresses
F4 Correspondence, A-G,all undated
F5 Correspondence, M-O, all undated
F6 Correspondence, P-Z, undated or unidentified
II. Piscataqua History Club
Box 2
F7 Admiral Dewey notes, n.d.
F8 American Library Service, 1966
F9 Armed Services Committee, 1965-1971 and n.d.
F10 Book list, n.d.
F11 Brooke, William H., n.d.
F12 Brown, Gerald, 1969 & n.d.
F13 Bulletins 1 & 2, n.d.
F14 Fort William & Mary, 1967 & n.d.
F15 Christian Science Church, 1971-1972 and n.d.
F16 Catholic Church, 1967-72 & n.d.
F17 Chronological File, 1813-1965
Box 3
F1 Chronological File, 1966-1967
F2 Chronological File, 1968-1970
F3 Chronological File, 1971-1975
F4 Chronological File, n.d. & misc.
F5 Civil War Centennial, 1863-1963
F6 Covell, Stephen, 1971 & n.d.
F7 Domina, W.E., 1971, “History of the Naval Disciplinary Command”
F8 Feaster, John N., 1970
F9 Ferriter, Charles A., 1964 & n.d.
F10 First Congregational Church, Kittery Point, 1970-1972 and n.d.
F11 Greek Orthodox Church, 1970
F12 Greenland, NH, n.d.
F13 Hansen, B.L., 1971
F14 Historical Associates, 1967-78
F15 History, n.d.
F16 Hopkins, Samuel V., 1964
F17 Hoxie, Wilbar M.,1971, “Fort Dearborn”
F18 Jones, Frank, n.d.
F19 Kikuchi, K., 1970
F20 Kimball, John C., 1970
F21 Kittery and York, n.y.
F22 Kittery Hist. Society, 1968-72
F23 LaBrie, Rose, nd. “St. John’s Church”
Box 4
F1 Lawson Family, 1968 & n.d.
F2 Lectures, list, n.d.
F3 McDonough, T. Joseph, 1968, “History of Catholic Church”
F4 Meeting records, 1961-1968
F5 Meeting on old ships, n.d.
F6 Methodist Church, 1970-72, n.d.
F7 Mormon Church, 1966, by Ina M. King
F8 Navy League, 1968-1969 & n.d.
F9 Navy Yard, 1963 and n.d.
F10 New Castle, 1973-1974 & n.d.
F11 Parsons, Dorothy, 1970, “Baptists in Portsmouth”
F12 Pierce, Commander, 1971, “History of Design of Submarines”
F13 Wilson, Thomas, 1971, “Walking Tour of Portsmouth”
F14 Printed items, 1905-1974
F15 Psaralexis, Lazarus, 1970, “Greek Orthodox Church”
F16 Replica of Raleigh,1966-1967, n.d.
F17 Renselaer Polytechnic Institute
F18 Rockingham Hotel, 1962 & n.d .
F19 Sanderson, Philip,1961-65, n.d.
F20 Screven Baptist Church, n.d.
F21 Shoals, Isles of, 1963 & n.d.
F22 South Church, 1970-72 & n.d.
F23 .Submarines, 1963, 1968, & n.d.
F24 Tallman, Louise, “Odiorne’s Point”, 1973
F25 Temple Israel, 1968 & n.d.
F26 Trani, Eugene P., 1964-1969
F27 Warner, Davis, Mrs., 1967 & n.d.
F28 Whittier, Randall, Mrs., 1973
F29 Weiting, W.F. “US Naval Hospital #1, an Historical Overview,” 1971
F30 Guest Book, 1964-1979
F31 Guest Book, 1968-1974
Box 5
F1 Guest Book, 1974
III. Subject Files
Box 5
F2 Caswell, Chester A., 1896-1962 & nd
F3 Christ Church, 1963 and n.d.
F4 Christ Church, History, by Henry Hovey, n.d.
F5 Craig, Lawrence, Worship in Portsmouth n.d.
F6 Document: Incorporation of New Castle, 1693
F7 Document: Resignation of John C. Ogden from Queen’s Chapel,1792
F8 Document: Muller to Whipple, 1802
F9 Document: Rice, John, account, 1833
F10 Document: Dermot, Jessie, poem, 1883
F11 Document: Jones to Hutchinson, 1891
F12 Document: Franklin Roosevelt, 1897-1910
F13 Document: Sato to Hoehm, 1905
F14 Document: S. Vitte (with copy), 1905
F15 Adams, L.S. to board, 1915
F16 Abbot, John essays, n.d.
F17 Fort Constitution, 1969-1970 and n.d.
F18 Kane, Paul L., album, 1938-1971 and n.d.
F19 Lalley, Iola. Strawbery Banke sketch, 1965
F20 Lord, Dorothy H., Nine lino drawings, n.d.
F21 Navy documents, 1885-1926 & n.d.
F22 Navy Yard and ships, 1964 and n.d.
F23 Peace of Portsmouth collection list, n.d.
F24 Philip Sanderson collection list, n.d.
Box 6
F1 Philip Sanderson Collection notes, n.d.
F2 Portsmouth, 21 drawings, n.d.
F3 Portsmouth Air Force Base, 1956-7 & n.d.
F4 Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, 1970
F5 Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, n.d.
F6 Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, “Sculpin, history of, SS191), n.d.
F7 Submarine photographs, list of, 1971 & n.d.
F8 Submarine photo correspondence, 1965-1966
F9 Treaty of Portsmouth, Asada, Sadao, 1960
F10 Treaty of Portsmouth, Correspondence, 1954-1965
F11 Treaty of Portsmouth. Wilson, Thomas C.: “Profiles of Two Visitors, 1905”, draft
Box 7
F1 Treaty of Portsmouth correspondence re 1966-1973
F2 Treaty of Portsmouth correspondence, n.d.
F3 Treaty of Portsmouth correspondence by Thomas Wilson, n.d.
F4 Treaty of Portsmouth correspondence, n.d. miscellaneous
F5 Treaty of Portsmouth miscellaneous
F6 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, draft, pp. 1-99
F7 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, draft, pp.100-216
F8 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, draft, pp. 217-348
F9 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, draft, pp. 349-486
Box 8
F1 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, draft, pp. 487-723
F2 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, draft, pp. 724-911
F3 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, draft, pp. 912-1125
F4 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, draft, p. 1136-1237
F5 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, appendix
F6 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, notes, n.d.
F7 Witte, Sergei, memoirs, notes, n.d.
Box 9
F1 Witte, Sergei, movie script of his life, n.d.
F2 Wentworth Hotel notes, n.d.
F3 Williams, Martha Ann, thesis, “The Russian Diplomacy of the Treaty of Portsmouth,1958-1959”
F4 Grand Daughter of Portsmouth, notes, n.d
F5 Cards, 1959-1973 and n.d
F6 Wilson, Thomas, essay notes, n.d
F7 Wilson, Thomas, miscellaneous notes, n.d
F8 Wilson, Thomas, Phi Sigma Kappa, Mu Chapter, 1928-1940
F9 Wilson, Thomas, stationary, n.d.
IV. Printed Material
Box 9
F10 News clippings re: activities of the Piscataqua History Club
F11 Wilson, Thomas C. “The Peace of Portsmouth” in New Hampshire Profiles Magazine, September, 1960
Box 10 Three indexes: Wentworth-by-the-Sea Visitor Index, Piscataqua History Club Library Index and Photograph Index (?)