Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Beeson family papers consist of genealogical notes, travel journals, business documents, and correspondence relating to several generations of the Beeson family, who settled in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in the 18th century, and later migrated to Michigan and Wisconsin.

This collection consists of 137 items, including: 55 items relating to financial matters -- receipts, bank and stock records, subscription lists, etc.; 39 items relating to Beeson family history and genealogy, including handwritten notes, and a 33-page typed transcription; 11 letters written by members of the Beeson and Lukens family (related to the Beeson family by marriage); 2 travel journals; 1 daily diary; 1 oversized journal, containing entries on family history, genealogy, and travel; 6 maps, including one pasted onto the flyleaf of the oversized journal; 9 newspaper clippings; 6 legal documents; 7 miscellaneous items; and one unidentified photograph.

The majority of the financial documents consist of lists of stockholders and subscriptions for the Union Bank of Pennsylvania. One document, a receipt for glassware dated 9 August 1827, is written on the illustrated letterhead of the glass manufacturer Bakewell, Page & Bakewell, of Pittsburgh.

The history and genealogy notes concern the branch of the Beeson family that was instrumental in the founding and settling of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Two descendants of this branch, Edward Beeson and Jacob Beeson (b. 1807), contribute diaries and journals to the collection.

Jacob Beeson's 1829-1830 travel journal (with occasional notes in shorthand) relates, in brief but lively entries, a journey from Uniontown to New Orleans, to help an uncle in the mercantile business. While traveling by steamer down the Mississippi, Jacob Beeson gives colorful descriptions of his fellow passengers and shipboard events. "We had scarce went 500 yds. when we were rous'd by the cry of ‘a man overboard'--drop the Stern Boat, etc. I rais'd my eyes from the book & they were immediately fix'd on the face & arm of a Slave who had pitch'd himself from the Bow of the Boat. He was between the Steamer & her boat when I saw him. By the time he got to where I saw him, he appear'd tired of his sport. He gave a piercing scream & sunk amid the Billows. The Boat was dropped awhile for him but twas to no purpose." (27 March 1829) Jacob describes going to the theater in New Orleans (13 May 1829); the landscape and climate of the area east of New Orleans (8 September 1829); a visit to "Crabtown", at Bayou St. John, where Spaniards subsisted solely by fishing for crabs (23 May 1829); battling a forest fire (14 February 1829); and the inadequacy of his boarding house fare: "For dinner, we have the standby dish of bacon, venison, cornbreads and sour milk served in tea cups, handed round on a waiter that for aught I know to the contrary performed the same service prior to the Revolution. For Supper we have the remains of dinner with the addition of coffee that would be better off than on the table." (16 June 1829) He takes several business trips by boat along the gulf coast. The journal ends with a trip North up the Mississippi in early 1830. A later diary kept by Jacob Beeson in 1873 records the business and personal affairs of a now-settled business and family man living in Detroit Michigan.

Edward Beeson provides much of the family history and genealogy in the collection. His handwritten notes, both loose and in a large bound journal, chronicle Beeson family history and lore, and contain names, dates, and narratives of his direct ancestors, and sketchier details of the wider Beeson clan.

Edward Beeson is also the author of two interesting travelogues. The first is included in the journal he kept in an oversized volume, originally intended for shipping manifests for the shipping agent Monson Lockwood, each page headed with an illustration of ships and a lighthouse. In this journal, Edward recounts a trip he takes from Wisconsin west to Kansas in 1866. He describes the towns he visits on the way, and reflects on the scars left by the Civil War. In Aubry, on the Kansas/Missouri border, his Quaker sense of outrage at the violence perpetrated by both sides is aroused by the abandoned and burnt-out homesteads:

"At this place a cavalry camp was maintained during the greater part of the war. From here the lawless Jayhawkers often started on their thieving raids into Missouri and this was also made a place to be retaliated on by the equally desperate and thievish bushwackers and guerillas of Mo. …Here a voice raised for humanity, honor, mercy, justice or freedom of speech was made the occasion for suspicion, persecution, and defamation, often ending in the murder or robbery of the luckless men who dared to think or speak. These scenes of violence, and the always present danger of life and property, had the effect of almost depopulating the country. The graves of the victims of violence are scattered over the country. The bare chimneys of burned houses loom up on the prairie, monuments of vandalism and violence such as the world has seldom seen. They stand there in the desolate silence pointing upward to heaven -- upward ever -- as if to remind the victims of war who sleep in graves nearby, that mercy and justice alone is to be found above." (9 September 1866, p. 78).

Edward Beeson's second travel journal is an account of a trip to Italy, taken by Edward Beeson and his family in 1877-1878. While his daughter, Abbie Beeson Carrington, takes voice lessons, Edward observes Italian life and customs, largely in and around Milan, and is particularly struck by the overall poverty of the region. Edward reports on the Italian diet, domestic arrangements, attitudes toward religion, and local funeral customs. He is present in Rome for the funeral of King Victor Emmanuel II, and attends celebrations commemorating the 1848 Italian Revolution against Austrian rule.

Five of the maps in the collection are hand-drawn survey maps, likely of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, dated from 1830-1850, with one undated. The sixth map, an undated, hand-drawn map of Uniontown, labeling buildings of significance to the Beeson family, is pasted onto the flyleaf of Edward Beeson's oversized journal.

The Benezet family papers consist of scattered documents and letters from the family of Claude Benezet (b. 1737) including items from trips to India and China.

The Benezet family papers consist of scattered documents and letters from the family of Claude Benezet (b. 1737). Among the few items present in this collection are an elaborately detailed marriage contract between James Benezet and Elizabeth Fonnereau, the wills of James and Elizabeth, two letters from Claude's daughter Maria, and two letters from Claude written while in India during the Mysore War. There is also a small series of documents relating to the financial problems of the former British diplomat, Edward Allen, who was seeking a pension from the government. Noteworthy in the collection are three slender volumes of a diary kept by one of the Benezets, probably one of Claude's sons, during a trip to China between March and September, 1780. Though the entries are brief, the journal does give an impression of the emotions and hardships endured in a long ocean voyage.

The most important item is a letter from Claude's first cousin, Anthony Benezet. Anthony, having joined the Society of Friends and emigrated to Philadelphia many years previously, sought to reinitiate correspondence with Claude's family in the hopes of perpetuating the amicable feelings his father felt toward Claude. Benezet continues beyond family matters into a lengthy and powerfully worded argument for the abolition of slavery and the reform of British colonial law relating to slaves.

The Benjamin Bussey collection contains letters and financial records related to Bussey's shipping endeavors, loans and philanthropy, land holdings in Massachusetts and Maine, and his estate in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Though the collection reveals little about Bussey's personal life, it is a great source of information on his diverse business interests and his far-reaching network of friends and colleagues such as Henry A. S. Dearborn, Josiah Quincy, William H. Sumner, and Samuel Thatcher.

The Benjamin Bussey collection contains 198 letters, 38 financial records, and one biographical note. These primarily concern Bussey's shipping interests, loans and philanthropy, land holdings in Massachusetts and Maine, and his estate in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The papers document Bussey’s business dealings throughout New England, as well as in New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Barbados, Jamaica, London, Rotterdam, Naples, and Madeira. The collection reveals little about Bussey's personal life but much about his diverse business interests, his far-reaching network of friends and colleagues, and philanthropy in the first half of the 19th century.

The bulk of the collection consists of letters written to Bussey concerning shipping and commerce and other business matters. Bussey's firm traded salt, pepper, sugar, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, flour, fish, saffron, and wine with various European nations. Many of the letters describe the state of trade with Europe and the challenges of shipping operations in the early 19th century, as well as the locations of the best markets for certain goods and the methods of making the most money off a shipment. For example, Bussey’s associate Jonathan Arnold described the volatility of the markets in New Orleans, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, and recounted many of the difficulties encountered in moving goods between these ports (June 2, 1796). In a letter from 1832, George Kuhn, his friend and partner in the Dedham Worsted Company, discussed the price of clothes (as well as Andrew Jackson's electoral prospects in Pennsylvania). Letters from March 22, 1806, and December 17, 1806, concern attempts to salvage barrels of wine from the wreck of the ship Hercules after it was damaged near Kingston, Jamaica.

The political climate concerning international commerce is also often discussed. A letter from September 20, 1810, is representative of how American traders saw the strained relationship between the United States and Europe. Napoleonic Wars were mentioned in several letters dated between 1807 and 1815, as they pertain to commercial interests, primarily the difficulty of American ships safely reaching European ports. Of particular interest are discussions of the British practice of boarding American ships, imprisoning passengers, and impounding cargoes. In a letter dated London, August 5, 1808, Fred Gebhardt described a British ship that seized and impressed non-American citizens aboard the Tyger, on which he was sailing. He was not impressed, because he held a passport, but he was detained for two weeks. He wrote, "Even private individuals can no longer travel or pass the seas without exposing their personal freedom and safety. In England they have become as arbitrary as on the continent." He also discussed Napoleon's violent invasion of Spain and the impending War of the Fifth Coalition. In another letter, he mentioned a particularly unfortunate confrontation in Spanish waters, where a ship was captured, the crew put in irons, and the captain had to stand for trial before the court of Spanish Admiralty (April 21, 1807). The incident resulted in Bussey and his partner Boardman losing $150,000 worth of goods. Along with the many business letters in the collection are receipts, accounts, inventories, and records of Bussey's business dealings, which list prices and destinations for goods. An 1804 note, for instance, contains information on the value of a shipment of coffee and sugar on board the Sampson.

The collection also represents Bussey's non-shipping interests. These include information on wool and sheep for his wool manufacturing facility in Dedham, Massachusetts (May 21, 1812), and details on the prosperity of the Middlesex Canal, which ran from the Merrimack River to Boston Harbor (January 20, 1816). Other items address Bussey’s interests in public office. In a letter, presumably to Bussey, ,dated January 27, 1841, B. Pierce mentions a meeting with John Quincy Adams regarding a petition to the Committee on Indian Affairs, an upcoming visit of "Tipicanoe and Tyler Too," and notes that he will only send the letter "if he can get Congress to pay for it…it isn't worth his own money for postage."

The collection holds a number of letters from acquaintances, organizations, and even strangers asking Bussey for loans and charity. Bussey belonged to the Unitarian Church in Roxbury but believed that other religious institutions also deserved his support. He donated to the Boston Baptist Church, the Summer Street Methodist Church, the First Church of Belfast, Maine, the First Church of Christ, Bangor's Theological Seminary, and to the Frankfort Village Religious Association. Bussey was not targeted for charity only by religious institutions. He received requests to support the Winslow Blues, a local light infantry unit (June 7, 1817); to give to the Massachusetts General Hospital (April 5, 1814); to fund educational institutions, such as a school under the Synod of New York and New Jersey that trained African American men become schoolmasters in America and in Africa (December 31, 1819); and to invest in Sarah Hale’s “Ladies Magazine” (September 26, 1837). He also gave land to the Congregational Female Academy in Augusta, Maine (June 28, 1827).

Bussey received loan and charity requests from individuals as well. Lucy Knox, widow of General Henry Knox, lobbied Bussey to supply books and money for her son's medical education (December 26, 1813 and January 20, 1822). Edward Robbins also asked for financial assistance for his son who was just starting out in life. Bussey was requested to support the arts by an Italian musician from Naples named Norberto Hadrava, who asked for a $100 loan to support his musical endeavors, such as printing and performing his opera The Island of Capri (March 6, 1812). Bussey was a supporter of multiple societies including the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association (1818), Prison Discipline Society (1830), the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians, Massachusetts Charitable Meetings Association, and was the vice president of the Massachusetts Society for the Encouragement of American Manufacturing.

The collection contains only a few personal letters to Bussey and his family. Five are from Bussey's son-in-law Charles Davis, husband of Bussey's daughter, Eliza. In letters from August 2 and 13, 1816, for example, he gives Bussey an update on the construction progress of his Roxbury estate. The collection contains one lengthy letter from Eliza (married to Enos Stewart), dated September 27, 1837, in which she described her time in Florence, Italy, and mentioned current events in Europe. An letter from September 15, 1823, contains a report from Catherine Putnam about the health of Bussey's sick wife, and after Bussey's death, Josiah Quincy, president of Harvard, wrote a letter to Judith inquiring about the Gilbert Stuart portraits owned by the Bussey family. The collection also holds a few letters from Bussey's friends and acquaintances, including letters of introductions and a letter from Commodore William Bainbridge accepting an invitation for a social call to Bussey's estate (November 1819).

The collection contains many letters concerning prominent Boston citizens: many of Bussey's Roxbury neighbors such as General William Sumner (1780-1861), son of the prominent Roxbury merchant Increase Sumner and grandson of William Hyslop, a prosperous Boston merchant; lawyer philanthropist John Lowell; businessman Ebenezer Thatcher and his brother Samuel Thatcher, congressman from Massachusetts; secretary of war and Massachusetts congressman Henry A. S. Dearborn; and Harvard President Josiah Quincy. Other prominent people represented in the collection include Philadelphia lawyer and author William Rawle (November 5, 1831) and Joshua Bates, President of Middlebury College. While some letters from these men directly concern Bussey, many are only tangentially related in discussions regarding topics such as Boston shipping matters or Roxbury events and development. One notable item is from John Brooks, Governor of Massachusetts, to William Sumner about establishing military defenses stationed on Noddle's Island, Massachusetts (April 17, 1813).

The Benjamin Bussey papers contain a few miscellaneous items including notes for a biography or obituary for Roxbury lawyer, John Lowell, and an invitation to an annual visit for donors to "the African School."

The Benjamin Franklin collection is made up primarily of letters that Franklin wrote to Joseph Galloway, when Franklin was an agent for the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in Great Britain from 1764 to 1775.

The Benjamin Franklin collection is made up of 21 letters, 17 of which Franklin, as agent for the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in Great Britain, wrote to Joseph Galloway from 1764 to 1775. Franklin addressed numerous political issues, including the Stamp Act, Galloway’s appointment to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, the Currency Act, and other Parliamentary discussions. The letters contain evidence of Franklin’s frustration with British taxation leading up to the Revolution. Four additional letters by Franklin and one document signed by him comprise the remainder of the collection.

The box and folder listing below contains notes respecting contents of each item in the collection.

This collection contains letters and documents related to the early history and economic development of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

This collection contains letters and documents related to the early history and economic development of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Most of the items originated in the town itself, though correspondence addressed to Bethlehem locals also forms a significant portion of the material. Examples of documents are a copy of the original indenture for the plot of land that became Bethlehem (July 18, 1741), an order to open a road through the town (June 7, 1755), and a number of receipts and financial documents. Of interest is a petition sent to the Pennsylvania General Assembly on behalf of a group of Bethlehem residents, who wrote, "...the said Brethren are willing and ready, to contribute whatever sums of Money shall be necessary for the Defence of his Majesty's Person and Government in such Proportion, as such sum is usually rated on other Persons residing in the said Northhampton County" (March 30, 1759). Moravian and other religious influences are apparent throughout the collection, which has a minute book kept by an anonymous religious society between 1745 and 1747. Other material includes a significant amount of correspondence focusing on financial matters, as well as a series of affectionate personal letters written by John Okely of Philadelphia to Heartzel Brownfield in Bethlehem. Also of note is a German-language letter from Peter Böhler to an unnamed group of brethren about Native Americans and treatment of Native Americans in Philadelphia at the close of the French and Indian War.

The Bland family papers contain correspondence, documents, and genealogical information related to the family of Theodoric Bland, a Continental Army officer, delegate to the Continental Congress, and Virginia politician.

The Bland family papers contain correspondence, documents, and genealogical information related to the family of Theodoric Bland, a Continental Army officer, delegate to the Continental Congress, and Virginia politician. The earliest items in the Correspondence and Documents series are related to his ancestors, including a court document from "James Citty," listing a "Theo. Bland" as a member of the court (October 16, 1665), and a 1720 letter regarding British military affairs. The Theodoric Bland in this collection wrote the majority of items, often copies of his outgoing correspondence related to local and national politics in the latter years of the American Revolution; among these are letters to Benjamin Harrison and to Patrick Henry. Two items concern the Siege of Gibraltar, including a 1778 warrant for John Sweetland and a letter by Thomas Cranfield to his mother and father about his experiences during the siege (September 7, 1783). The collection also holds a muster roll of Lt. Purviss's Company, in a regiment of guards, from 1779. Later legal documents pertain to the career of Maryland judge Theodorick Bland, of another branch of the Virginia Bland family. Later material includes several personal letters to "Mr. and Mrs. Bland" from family and friends dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as responses to genealogical inquiries.

The Genealogy and Images series contains engravings and drawings of several Bland family members, including a detailed pencil drawing of P. E. Bland, who served as a colonel in the Civil War. Other genealogical notes trace branches of the family through the mid-19th and early-20th centuries.

The Bookplates and Printed Items series holds several bookplates, 20th century newspaper clippings, and pages from books.