Size: 2 linear feet

Provenance:  Mildred K. (Mrs. Jared) Beard of Toledo donated this collection to the University of Toledo Libraries about 1976. 

Access: open

Collection Summary: Collection spans the entire history of this Spanish-American War veterans' organization. Includes minutes, membership lists, correspondence, and memorabilia. 

Subjects:  War, Soldiers, and Veterans

Related Collections: 

Processing Note:

 

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns.  Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code.  The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

 

Processed by: Paul Gifford, August 1986

 

Reformatted by:  Arjun Sabharwal, September 2009; last updated: June, 2014

 

 

 

Introduction

 

The records of Egbert Camp No. 10, United Spanish War Veterans, document the activities of a Spanish-American War veterans organization from its inception to its demise. Included are minutes, membership lists, correspondence, and memorabilia of Egbert Camp No. 10, and communications from the state and national organizations. The minute book of an East Toledo lodge, General Bates Camp No. 64, is also included. These materials form a good source for veterans' activities in Toledo, especially for those during the 1910s.

 

 

Historical Sketch

 

The United Spanish War Veterans was comprised of veterans who served in the armed forces of the United States between 1898 and 1902. The national organization resulted in 1904 from the amalgamation of four veterans' associations. In Toledo, a local association was organized on May 17, 1901. The organizers named their group the Egbert Command of the Spanish War Veterans, in honor of General Harry C. Egbert. By 1904 the local organization was known as Egbert Camp and was affiliated with the national organization.

 

The United Spanish War Veterans drew more members from Ohio than from any other state. Egbert Camp in Toledo, with those in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, was one of the largest and most active in the state. There were, for a time, enough veterans in Toledo to form another "camp." On June 9, 1909, veterans living in East Toledo formed General Bates Camp No. 64. By 1953, however, the latter group had disbanded. Ladles' auxiliaries for both groups were also organized.

 

Meetings of the local organizations were held every two weeks. Routine activities in their earlier years consisted of planning banquets, dances and Memorial Day  celebrations, admitting new members, and electing officers and delegates to conventions. In the 1910s, Egbert Camp also had a band. As time progressed, memorials for deceased

members took on greater prominence in the organizations' activities.

 

By 1970, few members remained. Statewide membership declined rapidly---between 1970 and 1971, 22.2 percent died. Already by the 1950s, the Auxiliary United Spanish War Veterans was playing a greater role in the state and national organizations. Egbert Camp No. 10 was apparently inactive by 1972.

 

Scope and Content Note

 

Most of the material in this collection dealing with activities of Egbert Camp No. 10 dates from the first two decades of this century. The local organization kept minutes faithfully from 1901 to 1916. These document routine activities, such as admittance of new members, reports of committees, and election of officers and delegates. Resolutions are mainly condolences sent to survivors of deceased members. Membership is well documented. The early roster book lists members, including their addresses, occupations, service record and rank, birthplace, age, and name of nearest relative. Later lists, from the 1930s and 1940s, record payment of dues, dates of death and obituaries for each deceased member, and information regarding transferred and dropped members.

 

Information regarding many of the organization's political activities, such as lobbying for veteran's' benefits and participation in patriotic affairs, can be found in the correspondence files, covering the  years from 1906 to 1922, and in the general orders and proceedings of the state and national organizations. The correspondence files also include a number of letters written by members serving in Europe during World War I. Frank Auth, Quartermaster of Egbert Camp during much of the 1910s, was the chief correspondent on behalf of the Toledo organization.

 

Worthy of mention also are a number of regalia, banner, a gavel (for the Military Order of the Serpent, an independent, contemporary organization), various Insignia, and an early Philippine flag. Although the collection lacks minutes and correspondence for the later years of both Egbert and General Bates Camps, its content is comprehensive enough for the researcher to realize a good picture of the history of Spanish- American War veterans' organizations in Toledo.

Folder List

 

Box	Folder	Description
1		United Spanish War Veterans Egbert Camp No. 10 (Toledo)
	1	Constitution and by-laws
	2*	National Army Charter, 2 October 1901
	3	Minutes
			17 May 1901 - 24 June 1913
			8 July 1913 - 27 June 1916
	4	Resolutions, 1910 - 1918, n.d.
		Membership
	5		Roster
			Members lost by death, A-S
	6		Members lost by death, T-Z
	7		Members dropped and transferred
		Correspondence
	8		1906-1916
	9		1917-1918
	10		1919-1922
	11		Miscellaneous
		General Bates Camp No. 64 (East Toledo)
	12		Minutes, 9 June 1909 - December 18, 1917
			Miscellaneous
		Department of Ohio
	13		General Orders and special orders, 1910-1918, 1955, 1964-1972
	14		Annual encampments - Proceedings 1953-1971
		National
	15		General orders and special orders, 1912-1919
	16*		Charter, 18 April 1904
	17		Encampments - Proceedings, 1967, 1971-1972
		General
	18		Programs
	19		National Auxiliary
2		Rules and regulations
			1907
			1910
Box	Folder	Description
2		Constitution, rules and regulations
			1920
			1929
			1936
			1941
			1951
		Book of Ceremonies
			1909
			1913-1916
			1913-1929
			1938
			1944
		Ritual
			1902
			1907
			1912
			Amendments, 1915
			1929
		Insignia
		Miscellaneous
			Military Order of the Serpent gavel
			Egbert Camp No. 10 banner
	*		Philippine flag

 

*=oversize cabinet, drawer 1

^=oversize area

**=locked cabinet