Wildman family papers

These letters and business papers of the Wildman family of Danbury, Connecticut, mainly concern Zalman Wildman and his son, Frederick S. Wildman. Zalman Wildman, lawyer and congressman, and his brother, Seymour Wildman, were proprietors of Z. & S. Wildman, Hat Manufacturers, and the first manufacturers from Danbury to establish outlets in the South for Danbury hats.

Included in their papers are forty-four letters, arranged chronologically 1816-1877, all of a business nature except one. The exception, dated September 20, 1847, is from Lucy S. Wildman to her brother, Horatio Wildman, recounting family news. There are, further, ninety-five other items, 1808-1869 and undated, consisting of bills, receipts, writs, records of sales, notes, drafts, agreements, and similar papers, all arranged in one chronological sequence, except for two oversize items located in the folio. The collection is completed by a receipt book, 1803-1821, of Z. & S. Wildman. The receipts are nearly all for commodities such as saddles, shoes, hats, butter, and farm produce consigned to their Charleston, South Carolina store.

These papers were purchased in two lots in 1944 and 1945. Papers of more distantly related Wildman family members living in Colorado form part of the Collection of Western Americana in the Beinecke Rare Book Library.