Treasurer's Office. Talcott Wait Brewer Records
Talcott Wait Brewer was the great-grandson of the University's first presient, Samuel Wait, who served as University treasurer from about 1912-1958. Materials include North Carolina Baptist Students Aid Fund, later known as the James W. Denmark Loan Fund, record books, College Board of Trustees and committees meeting agendas, notes, and related materials, and items related to propoerty bequests to the Univeristy and their settlements.
Biographical and Historical Note
The N.C. Baptist Student Aid Fund was renamed the James W. Denmark Fund, also known as the Denmark Fund, in July 1925.
Talcott Wait Brewer was born October 9, 1882, in Raleigh, NC. He was the son of Samuel Wait Brewer and Bessie Felt Brewer. His paternal grandparents were Ann Elizabeth Wait Brewer and John Marchant Brewer, and his paternal great-grandparents were Sarah Merriam Wait and Samuel Wait, first president of Wake Forest College (1834-1845) and one of the fourteen founders of the NC Baptist State Convention. The Brewer family also has strong ties to Meredith College: Samuel Wait Brewer was a long-serving member on Meredith's Board of Trustees and uncle Charles Edward Brewer taught at Wake Forest (1889-1915) and Meredith College before becoming Meredith's president (1915-1939).
Talcott Brewer graduated from Wake Forest College magna cum laude (1903). While at Wake Forest, he was very active: Track Team manager, a Glee Club member, Wake Forest Band president, and Raleigh Club president. Nine years after his graduation from Wake Forest, Brewer became the school's treasurer, serving from 1912-1958. In 1960, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award of Wake Forest.
In addition to his work for the College, he worked in Raleigh, N.C., at the agricultural implement business S. W. Brewer and Son that his father had started around 1903. When Brewer retired from the business in 1960, it closed. In addition to being a merchant, Brewer also was an insurance agent, and according to the Meredith College Twig he "has distinction of being one of the oldest in-service agents in NC."
Talcott was an active member of First Baptist Church in Raleigh, where he was a life deacon and superintendent of the Sunday School for over 20 years. He served two terms (1948-1960) on the board of the Biblical Recorder and on the Board of Directors for the Raleigh YMCA and the Raleigh Board of Adjustment. He received a Distinguished Service Citation from Wake Forest on February 4, 1960.
Brewer also made a large donation to Meredith College to construct the Ellen Brewer House for Home Management (1960), in honor of Ellen Brewer, Talcott's cousin and the daughter of Charles Edward Brewer. Ellen Brewer was chairwoman for Meredith's Department of Home Economics beginning in 1922.
Talcott Wait Brewer married Alice Elizabeth Watkins from Winston-Salem, N.C. on January 8, 1906. The couple had no children, and Alice died in 1934. Talcott died July 1, 1970.
Sources:
- Leath, Suzanne. "Ellen Brewer House to be Occupied Second Semester," The Twig, Meredith College, 1960 January 22. Accessed via Newspapers.com.
- The Howler, 1903.
- "Talcott W. Brewer Gives Home Management House to Meredith College," Biblical Recorder, 1959 April 25. Accessed via WFU's Digital Collections.
Collection Overview
This collection documents the work of Treasurer Talcott W. Brewer and the Board of Trustees, the bulk of which dates from the 1930s to the 1950s. Materials include North Carolina Baptist Students Aid Fund, later known as the James W. Denmark Loan Fund, record books, College Board of Trustees and committees meeting agendas, notes, and related materials, and items related to propoerty bequests to the Univeristy and their settlements.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by: John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex, 2004
- Revision Description
- Revised by Parker Beverly and Stephanie Bennett, Stephanie Bennett and Nancy Sullivan, 2021, 2023
- Access Restrictions
- This collection is open for use.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- Treasurer's Office. Talcott Wait Brewer Records (RG25.9), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.