Joseph C. Hilton Correspondence

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
400 Landrum Drive
PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Restrictions:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Terms of access:

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Preferred citation:

Joseph C. Hilton Correspondence, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries

Summary

Extent:
0.25 Linear Feet
Creator:
Hilton, Joseph C. and Hillton, Margaret L. Williams
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Joseph C. Hilton Correspondence, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries

Background

Scope and content:

Letters written primarily by Joseph C. Hilton, an American engineer from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, working in and around Medellin, Colombia and Santiago, Colombia from 1926-1933. His wife, Margaret, joined him in Colombia in 1927 and the collection also includes letters written by her. The couple regularly wrote to their two children, Sylvia and Tom, back home in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Ithaca, New York. Content covers Joseph's exploration of Colombia, his work on the tunnel, and social interactions with both the local population and visiting Europeans during their extended stay. Letters are written on "Ferrocarril de Antiquia" and "Fraser Brace Limited" letterheads.

Biographical / historical:

Joseph Churchill Hilton was born November 27, 1872 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Hilton immigrated to the United States in 1892 via Boston. He attended Cornell University and went on to became a Civil Engineer. He married Margaret Williams Hilton in 1901 and the two became American citizens in 1907, residing in Brooklyn, New York. He and his wife Margaret travelled extensively. Joseph C. Hilton died in 1942.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard