Eli M. Oboler Library
Fred T. Dubois-Table of Contents
Scope and Content
The Dubois Collection, as originally received by the Historical Museum (University of Idaho Southern Branch, now Idaho State University) in the 1930's, contained the papers of Fred and Edna Dubois, their daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret (Toussaint). After close examination of the papers it was decided that the papers of each of the above individuals would be treated as separate collections. Fred T. Dubois items account for approximately two-thirds of the material, while the fur remaining collections represent approximately one-third of the material.
The Fred T. Dubois Collection contains approximately 60 five-inch wide boxes of his official correspondence, family letters, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, speeches, subject files, memorabilia of his career, and a few photograph albums. Individual photographs are maintained in a separate photograph collection.
The collection covers Dubois' public career from his arrival in Idaho (1880) to his death (1930). The bulk of the collection focuses on the period from the free silver campaign of 1896 through the end of his Senate career in 1907. Scholars will find this collection useful for such subjects as free silver, anti-imperialism, forest reserves, anti-Mormonism, and Idaho politics.
A new filing order was established to replace the original order which had been lost over the years. Approximately one-half of the collection is comprised of correspondence files. These files have been arranged chronologically. Items with incomplete dates have been filed at the end of each month, or year, if that part of the date is reasonably certain. Undated material is located at the end of the correspondence file. Fragments of letters, and letters between other people, have been filed in the main correspondence file.
Some evidence suggests that the original arrangement included extensive subjects files, which contained some of the correspondence. Virtually all of the letters, formally in the subject files, are now filed chronologically I the correspondence file. The subject files are now organized under very broad headings. These headings reflect representative of what topics might be found in the correspondence and scrapbook files.
Most of the financial records for the Dubois family appear to have been handled by Mrs. Dubois. So, with few exceptions, the financial records have been consolidated and maintained in the Edna M. Dubois Collection.
Some of the scrapbooks and letterbooks have overlapping dates. Most of the newsclippings are not identified ads to source. Memorabilia ranging from invitations to photo albums fill the last few boxes of the collection.
Fred Thomas Dubois (1851-1930)-Chronology
| 1851 | Born on May 29th, the fifth child of Jesse and Adelia Morris Dubois, in Crawford County, Illinois. |
| 1857 | Moved with his family to Springfield, Illinois. |
| 1868 | Graduated from Shurtleff Preparatory School, Alton, Illinois, and enrolled at Yale, where his brother Jesse was also a student. |
| 1872 | Graduated from Yale with Jesse, who went on to study medicine, while Fred became a salesman for the wholesale dry goods house of John V. Farwell & Company in Chicago. |
| 1875 | Was appointed Secretary of the Board of Railway and Warehouse Commissioners of the State of Illinois. He resigned the following year. |
| 1880 | Moved to Idaho Territory with his brother, Dr. Jesse K. Dubois. |
| 1881 | Served in various posts at the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. |
| 1882 | Appointed U.S. Marshal for Idaho Territory by President Arthur. At this time Dubois became involved in the anti-Mormon agitation over polygamy and the alleged influence of the Mormon Church in politics. |
| 1886 | Elected as Territorial Delegate to Congress. |
| 1888 | Elected to a second term as Territorial Delegate to Congress. Dubois became a leader in the movement to admit Idaho as a state. |
| 1890 | Elected to serve as Idaho's first full-term U.S. Senator in recognition of his leadership in the statehood movement. |
| 1892 | Chairman of the Idaho delegation to the Republican National Convention, where he supported James G. Blaine's unsuccessful bid for the presidential nomination. |
| 1893 | Led the unsuccessful fight to prevent repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. |
| 1896 | Along with other "Silver Republicans" from the west, Dubois walked out of the Republican National Convention and became one of the founders of the Silver Republican Party. This move cost him his Senate seat as a fusion of Democrats and Populists won control of the Idaho legislature. |
| 1897 | Dubois traveled to Japan and China with his friends Frank Cannon of Utah and Richard F. Pettigrew of South Dakota. |
| 1898 | Opposed U.S. annexation of the Philippine Islands following the Spanish-American War. |
| 1899 | Married Edna M. Whited, January 11th, a school teacher from Morrison, Illinois. |
| 1900 | Elected as a Silver Republican to a second term in the U.S. Senate. |
| 1901 | Announced that he was joining the Democratic Party. |
| 1902 | Helped to draft the National Reclamation Act. |
| 1903 | Alleging intervention in the 1902 election by Mormon leaders, Dubois launched a campaign to expel Reed Smoot of Utah from the U.S. Senate. At the same time Dubois supported the Roosevelt administration's plan to create new forest reserves in the West. This led to a dispute with Idaho's Republican Senator, Weldon B. Heyburn, who opposed the plan. |
| 1904 | Believing that the Democratic nominee, Alton B. Parker, had no realistic chance of winning the presidency, Dubois attempted to place an anti-polygamy plank in both of the national party platforms. |
| 1905 | Traveled to the Philippines, China and Japan with a party of congressmen and their wives. Secretary of War William Howard Taft and Alice Roosevelt led the delegation. |
| 1907 | Ended his Senate career as the Republican-controlled Idaho legislature elected William E. Borah. |
| 1908 | Published The Idaho Scimitar at Boise as a vehicle for his anti-Mormon campaign. Dubois was ousted from leadership of the Idaho Democratic Party by a decision of the state supreme court in favor of the faction led by John Nugent. Jessie K. Dubois, Jr. died October 31st. |
| 1912 | Served as floor manager of Champ Clark's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. In the fall, Dubois became regional Democratic manager for the Wilson campaign in the Pacific Northwest. |
| 1914 | Failed to get the Idaho Progressive Party's nomination for U.S. Senate. |
| 1916 | Served as Woodrow Wilson's Western manager. |
| 1918 | Organized endorsement by the Nonpartisan League of both incumbent U.S. Senators, Republican William E. Borah and Democrat John Nugent, despite opposition from regular party leaders. President Wilson appointed Dubois as a civilian member of the War Department's Board of Ordnance and Fortifications, a post he held for two years. |
| 1924 | Appointed by President Coolidge to the International Joint Commission for the Settlement of Boundary Disputes between the United States and Canada. |
| 1930 | Died on February 14th, in Washington, D.C., of bronchial pneumonia and myocarditis. Buried in Blackfoot, Idaho. |
Manuscript Collection (MC 004)
Processed by: Gary Domitz
Completed: November 1985
Register published: 1985. Reprinted 1994 minor format revisions.
Collection size: approx. 26 linear feet; item count = 13,763
Located: Eli M. Oboler Library - Archives; Idaho State University
This register is the final product of a grant funded by the Association for the Humanities in Idaho and sponsored by Idaho State University, Eli M. Oboler Library.
Related Collections:
Edna M. Dubois Collection (MC 003)
Toussaint Dubois Collection (MC 005)
Charles E. Arney Collection (MC 006)
PMC 004 Photographs...