Guide to the Higgins and Rucker Family Papers 1884-1994
Cage 783

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Creator
Higgins family
Title
Higgins and Rucker Family Papers
ID
Cage 783
Date [inclusive]
1884-1994
Date [bulk]
bulk 1900-1940
Extent
2 Linear feet of shelf space, 3 Boxes
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
The collection consists of correspondence and other manuscripts, notebooks, legal and financial documents, a small number of photographs, and memorabilia, including printed ephemera related to the Higgins and Rucker families.

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

Higgins and Rucker Family Papers, 1884-1994 (Cage 783)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Return to Top »


Biography/History

Vincent Lafayette Higgins (1851-1941) was born near Burnsville, North Carolina. As a young man, he moved west, living in Arkansas, Missouri, Northern California, and the Willamette Valley in Oregon, eventually settling permanently at Union Flat near Pullman, Washington in 1884. There he established a diversified agriculture farm, which had wheat growing as its principal activity. Vincent married Emma Peed of Jasper, Missouri in 1889, and their daughter, Frankie Belle Higgins, was born in 1890. Both Vincent and Emma Higgins were active in Masonic organizations, and Vincent was a member of the International Order of Odd Fellows.

Belle Higgins graduated from Pullman High School and attended Washington State College. She married Lee Roy Rucker in 1915, and they had two children, Delbert Leeroy (1916-1976) and Dale Elliot (1919-1920).

Return to Top »


Scope and Content

The collection consists of correspondence and other manuscripts, notebooks, legal and financial documents, a small number of photographs, and memorabilia, including printed ephemera. Most of the material is related to Vincent and Emma Higgins, Belle Higgins Rucker, and Delbert Rucker, with a small amount related to Ellen Chandler Higgins and Suzanne Rucker.

Return to Top »


Arrangement

The collection is arranged in a single series, with materials related to each generation grouped together.

Return to Top »


Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2022

https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open and available for research use.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Acquisition Information

Suzanne Rucker donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries in 1999 and 2012 (MS 1999-13 and MS 2012-21).

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Cheryl Gunselman

Return to Top »


Related Materials

Related Material

Vincent Lafayette Higgins Diaries, 1892-1936 (Cage 649)

Vincent Lafayette Higgins Papers, 1900-1920 (Cage 1983)

A biographic sketch of Vincent Lafayette Higgins is included in the James Emerson Lindsey Papers, 1926-1972 (Cage 491)

Higgins Scrapbooks, circa 1890s-1950s (unprocessed collection: UPC 0004).

Separated Material

A 1909 precinct map of Whitman County, Washington was transferred to the Historic Map Collection, 1587-1980s (SC 001)

Return to Top »


Names and Subjects

Family Name(s)

  • Higgins family -- Archives.
  • Rucker family -- Archives.

Geographic Name(s)

  • Pullman (Wash.) -- History -- Sources.
  • Whitman County (Wash.) -- History -- Sources.

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Higgins, Vincent Lafayette, 1851-1941.
  • Higgins, Emma.
  • Rucker, Frankie Belle, 1890-
  • Rucker, Lee Roy.
  • Rucker, Delbert Leeroy, 1916-1976.
  • Rucker, Dale Elliot, 1919-1920.
  • Higgins, Ellen Chandler.
  • Rucker, Suzanne.

Subject(s)

  • Washington (State)

Return to Top »


Detailed Description of Collection

box folder

Family history record (separated from family Bible in Box 3) 

1 1

Vincent and Emma (Peed) Higgins. Includes correspondence, pocket notebooks, address book, autobiography of V. L. Higgins, 1896 manuscript map of V. L. Higgins's land showing use details, and newspaper clippings, 1884-1939. 

1 2

Vincent and Emma (Peed) Higgins. Legal and financial documents including deeds, mortgages, appraisals, tax statements, and receipts, circa 1885-1935. 

1 3

Belle Higgins. Postcards (incoming) and Christmas lists, circa 1908-1915. 

1 4

Lee Roy and Belle (Higgins) Rucker. Correspondence, including many postcards, autograph album, wedding album, and photographs, circa 1912-1930. 

1 5-8

Delbert Rucker correspondence (letters from Delbert to his mother, Belle Rucker, written from Japan), 1939. 

1 9

Delbert Rucker. Childhood documents including school attendance records and awards and a "Children's Bureau Weighing and Measuring Test" form, 1918-1925. 

2 10

Delbert and Suzanne Rucker correspondence, 1968-1994. 

2 11

Ellen Chandler Higgins reminiscence, "A Child's Experience of the Civil War" (typescript), 1927. 

2 12

Artifacts. Pins from the Rebekahs and the Royal Arch Masons (No. 8, Colfax, W.T.), a pin with a photograph of an unidentified girl, and a mechanical pencil. 

2 13
box

Higgins and Rucker family Bible (bound volume). The Holy Bible: containing the Authorized edition of the New Testament and the Revised version of 1881, arranged in parallel columns, with Cruden's complete concordance. Philadelphia: A.J. Holman, 1884. 

3
box folder

Administrative file (collection processing notes and background information) 

2 14