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Cage 605
William A. Inman
Papers, 1864-1943
| Back to Finding Aids | |
| Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Pullman, WA 99164-5610 USA (509) 335-6691 Inquiries |
Cage 605
William A. Inman
Papers, 1864-1943
Washington State University Libraries acquired the papers of William Inman from Robert Ackerman and John Bodley, WSU anthropology professors, in January 1994. It was accessioned as MS 94-03. Ackerman and Bodley acquired the papers from an unknown source who retrieved it from the ruins of the Colfax Lodge, No. 14, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which was extensively damaged in a fire in 1993. Robert W. Hadlow processed the papers in March 1994.
BIOGRAPHY
William A. Inman was born in Limestone County, Alabama, on 22 January 1843. By the time he was five years old, Inman's family moved to Indiana. Within the next few years both parents died leaving Inman homeless. During the next few years, Inman worked as a hired hand for farmers. Relatives from Greene County, Missouri, sent for him and he lived with them until he became an adult. He received an education and also apprenticed in a printer's shop.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Inman and his Missouri family sided with the Union. In December 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Phelp's six-month infantry regiment, of the Missouri volunteers. He left this unit the following May and resumed his work in the printing business. In July 1862, Inman again enlisted. This time he became a member of the Eighth Missouri Volunteer Cavalry's Company K. Inman rapidly moved up the officer ranks as he participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, which cleared Confederate forces from Missouri and achieved Union control of Arkansas, and the Battle of Prairie Grove, which kept northwest Arkansas under Union control. Finally, he participated in the Union siege of Little Rock, Arkansas. Inman resigned in October 1864, in Arkansas, as a captain.
From 1866 through 1868, Inman was a superintendent and agent for the Freedmen's Bureau in Craighead, Green, and Poinsett counties of Arkansas. In his spare time, he read law. In June 1867, Inman was admitted to the bar in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In 1868, he was appointed prosecuting attorney of the 3rd Judicial Circuit, at Batesville. Six years later, Inman moved to Seattle, Washington Territory. Inman practiced law in Washington. He moved from Seattle to Port Townsend in 1877 and then to Colfax two years later. He lived in Colfax for the next forty-five years, making a long and eventful career as a member of the legal profession. By 1880, Inman was elected probate judge and served until the position was abolished in 1890. He also served as city clerk for Colfax and director and clerk of the district school. He was elected prosecuting attorney for Whitman County in 1898.
Judge Inman was a member of several fraternal organizations: the Order of United Artisans, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Of these, he attained the ranks of grand master of the United Workmen; vice commander of the department of Washington, G.A.R.; and all the offices in the I.O.O.F. In other activities, Inman served as an officer in the Colfax Congregational Church and as president of the Whitman County Bar Association. In politics, he was a Republican. Judge Inman married twice: to Hannah Crosson, in April 1865 (she died in 1900); to Mrs. Margaret M. Donnelly, in March 1901. He had five children by his first wife. Inman died on 11 August 1924, eight months after he suffered a stroke. His second wife and three of his children, Maggie Jane Inman Blair, William C. Inman, and Frank Inman, survived him.
ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION
The William A. Inman Papers contains both items of a personal nature and documents associated with the Colfax Lodge, No. 14, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. They are arranged into three series. The first contains documents pertaining to Inman's careers as an agent with the Freedmen's Bureau in Arkansas and his law career in Arkansas and Washington Territory. It also includes certificates documenting Inman's membership in the I.O.O.F. The second series contains several records of the Colfax Lodge, No. 14, of the I.O.O.F. Many of them are simply newsletters or invitations about social functions with nearby lodges. Other items include legal documents pertaining to the lodge's meeting hall and its furnishings. The third series contains oversize documents. Most are licenses allowing Inman to practice law or serve as a notary public.
SERIES LIST
CONTAINERS
Series 1. Personal Papers of W. A. Inman 1
Series 2. Papers of Colfax Lodge, No. 14, I.O.O.F. 1
Series 3. Certificates and Broadsides 1
Container List
Box Folder
Series 1. Personal Papers of W. A. Inman
1 1 Special Orders No. 235, Extract, Headquarters, Department
of Arkansas, etc., 27 Sept 1864, Discharge of Captain
William A. Inman
2 President's Proclamation of May 29th 1865 [Andrew Johnson's
Amnesty Proclamation] [copy made by Inman with his own
comments, 2 June 1865]
3 Special Order No. 22, J. W. Sprague to W. A. Johnson,
1 March 1866, Appointment of Inman as Superintendent
of Refugees, Freedman, and Abandoned Lands for Craighead,
Green, and Poinsett counties, Arkansas
4 "Barbacue [sic] and Railroad" Meeting, Jonesboro, Arkansas,
4 July 1866, recollections by Inman
5 Appointment, War Department, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen,
and Abandoned Lands, 4 March 1867, appointing Inman as
an agent
6 License to Practice Law, Arkansas, 4 June 1867
7 Autobiography, William A. Inman, finished 16 January 1869,
and Letters to Hannah Inman, 22 January 1867, 1868, 1869
8 Letter of Reference for W. A. Inman by W. Byers, Pres. of
Office of the Secretary of the Bar Assoc. of the 3rd
Judicial Circuit of Arkansas, 1 February 1875
9 License to Practice Law, Washington Terr., August 1875
10 Commission as Notary Public, Washington Territory,
19 December 1877
11 I.O.O.F. Membership Documents, W. A. Inman, withdrawal from
Independent Lodge, No. 4, Batesville, Ark., 8 June 1877
and visiting membership certificate, Mount Baker Lodge,
No. 9, Port Townsend, W.T., 8 November 1879
Series 2. Papers of Colfax Lodge, No. 14, I.O.O.F.
12 Abstract of Title, Lot 3, Block 10, Colfax, W.T., 1886
13 First Mortgage Real Estate Bond, 5 November 1889, Colfax
Lodge, No. 14, I.O.O.F., and Abbot Low Mills
14 Washington Water Power Co. statements for electricity and
electrical fixtures for lodge, 1913
15 Financial Reports, 1922-23
16 Letter, Board of Trustees, I.O.O.F. No. 14 to Members,
20 February 1923, re: purchasing 1/2 of Knights of
Pythias, No. 4, meeting hall in Colfax
17 Abstract of Title, Lots 2 and 3, Block 10, Colfax, Wash.,
1925, Colfax Lodge, No. 4, Knights of Pythias, and
Colfax Lodge, No. 14, I.O.O.F. meeting hall
18 Lease Agreement, Colfax Lodge, No. 14, of the I.O.O.F. and
Adolph Kroll, 1 October 1926
19 Letter, R. M. Hanna to Reuben Green, 17 February 1927,
re: Title Abstracts, I.O.O.F., Colfax Lodge, No. 14
20 I.O.O.F. Newsletters, 1913-34, eastern Washington
21 I.O.O.F. Cemetery Legal Description and Map, 1907 and 1943
22 Miscellaneous Receipts, Papers, Notices
Series 3. Certificates and Broadsides [oversize]
23 Certificate, State of Arkansas, Justice of Peace,
15 December 1865
Broadside, Roster of Officers and Civilians on Duty in the
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned lands, for
Arkansas, 1 September 1867
Certificate, State of Arkansas, Prosecuting Attorney, 3rd
Judicial Circuit, 8 December 1868
Certificate, State of Arkansas, Prosecuting Attorney, 3rd
Judicial Circuit, 25 April 1873
Certificate, Territory of Washington, Notary Public,
22 February 1877
Certificate, Grand Army of the Republic, Spokane Falls,
Washington Territory, Aid on Staff of Department Commander,
28 August 1887
Certificate, State of Washington, Notary Public,
11 February 1895