The Syphus-Bunker Papers date from 1891 to 1994, with the majority of the collection consisting of correspondence between Mary Etta Syphus and John Mathieson Bunker from 1891 to 1895. The collection also contains correspondence from friends and relatives, and documentation related to Mary Etta Syphus' attendance at Brigham Young Academy Church Normal Training School. Other materials include family history information and two color photographs of family homes. The collection also includes typed transcripts of the correspondence.
The Syphus-Bunker Papers date from 1891 to 1994, with the majority of the collection consisting of correspondence between Mary Etta Syphus and John Mathieson Bunker from 1891 to 1895. Much of their correspondence is from 1891 and 1892, while Bunker lived and worked in El Dorado Canyon, Nevada, and Syphus lived in Panaca, Nevada. In later years, the two corresponded while Bunker was in Logan, Utah, and Syphus attended the Brigham Young Academy Church Normal Training School. The collection also contains correspondence from friends and relatives, and documentation related to Mary Etta Syphus' attendance at Brigham Young Academy Church Normal Training School. Other materials include family history information and two color photographs of family homes. The collection also includes typed transcripts of the correspondence.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Materials are arranged chronologically.
Mary Etta Syphus (1871-1895) was born January 5, 1871 one of ten children born to Luke and Christiana Syphus. Luke and Christiana converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and left England to settle in Utah. After a series of moves, the family settled in Panaca, Nevada in 1867. Mary Etta Syphus attended Brigham Young Academy Church Normal Training School and graduated in 1893. She taught school in Panaca intermittently between 1892 and 1895. She married John Mathieson Bunker in the St. George, Utah Temple on September 12, 1895. Mary Etta Syphus Bunker passed away just two months later on November 30, 1895 in St. Thomas, Nevada.
John Mathieson Bunker (1870-1946) was born September 12, 1870 to Edward Bunker and Mary M. McQuarrie in Santa Clara, Utah. In 1877, the Bunker family moved to the Virgin Valley of Nevada and settled in what became known as Bunkerville. John Mathieson Bunker lived and worked in the mines of El Dorado Canyon, Nevada. He attended the Agricultural College of Utah in Logan, Utah for one year. He married Mary Etta Syphus in the St. George, Utah Temple on September 12, 1895. After her passing on November 30, 1895, John Mathieson Bunker served a mission to the Southern United States from 1896-1899. He married Eloise Turnbaugh in 1906 and fathered six children. He passed away on July 31, 1946.
Syphus-Bunker Papers, 1891-1994. MS-00169. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Materials were donated in 1977 and 1983; accession numbers 1977-95 and 1983-063.
In 2018, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, John A. Heldt processed the collection and he and Angela Moor entered the data into ArchivesSpace.