Fast Family papers

The bulk of significant information in the Fast Family Papers may be found in the three folders of correspondence, although this information is sketchy at best. The letter of Dec. 6, 1885 is most notable for its account of William's experiences at the prison camp at Cahawba and survival of the explosion of the Sultana. The family correspondence and the Coons correspondence centers mostly around William Nicholas Fast, but there are letters between brothers John, Isaac, and Christian Fast, whose relationship to William is not known. The Amos Ewing correspondence is devoted singularly to his friendship with Bertha Fast, the wife of Harry C. Fast. Also personal in nature, the letters provide a chronology of his rise in Oklahoma politics.

Secondary information on William Fast may be found in the legal documents which highlight his army career with the 102nd O.V.I. during the Civil War. Also, the printed material includes several programs from annual reunions of the 102nd Regiment, with one announcement of a reunion of Sultana Survivors.

One unrelated printed item of interest is an admission card for the execution of Wesley Johnson on May 29, 1884 in Napoleon, Ohio, only the second hanging in the history of Henry County. The ticket is one of just two hundred issued by the sheriff.