Wetter Family Papers, 1809-1963

ArchivalResource

Wetter Family Papers, 1809-1963

Wetter Family Papers, 1809-1963

http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/w/Wetter_Family.html

Wetter family ancestors include Edward Telfair (ca. 1735-1807), merchant, member of the Continental Congress, and governor of Georgia. Family members important in this collection are Mildred R. Gould, Louise G. Koch, Pierce T. Wetter (d. 1963), and Telfair S. Wetter (d. 1939), all of whom inherited shares in Sharon Plantation, Chatham County, Ga. Pierce Wetter was a conscientious objector during World War I and was imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, 1918-1921, because of this. Telfair Wetter ran the Baltimore office of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) during that same period. Correspondence, 1919-1921, is chiefly between Pierce Wetter in Leavenworth and Telfair Wetter at the I.W.W. office in Baltimore, Md. These letters include much discussion of strikes and other labor actions; political prisoners and their trials; events of the Russian Revolution; Communism in general; and internal I.W.W. politics, especially tensions between the Baltimore and Philadelphia branches. The Wetter brothers strongly disagreed on such topics as who among the radical leaders was sincerely committed to the cause, whether or not married women were necessarily parasites, and if conscientious objectors should accept individual pardons or insist on solidarity. Most letters are signed, or Also included are letters, financial and legal documents, clippings, and other materials relating to the management and sale of Sharon Plantation by Mildred Gould; Louise Koch; Pierce Wetter; Telfair Wetter; and Pauline L. Wetter, Telfair Wetter's widow. There are also a few photographs of unidentified persons and places. Yours for the O.B.U. Yours for freedom.

400; 0.5

eng,

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection