The collection contains daguerreotypes, tintypes, diaries, a print, a metal name card printing plate, and a scrapbook. A folder of biographical information from ancestry.com is found in the front of Box 1. The folders are organized in alphabetical order. Much of the collection contains daguerreotypes and tintypes of the Frank and Kent family dating from the mid-19th century. There are seven daguerreotypes, some have been tinted. The daguerreotype in the “Likely Adeline Kettle Frank Seated, Undated” folder has a lot of emulsion damage and is hard to see. The daguerreotype in the “of a Man in Uniform, Undated” folder is very dark and hard to see. Two daguerreotypes are of children, ranging in age from two to five. There are five tintypes with only one identified person who is Joseph Kent. There is also one tintype of a child. There are two Frank family diaries in the collection, one used by Bell Frank (maybe Kate Bella) in 1876. The other diary creator is unidentified. The collection also contains a photograph album / scrapbook of a fishing trip at the Au. Sable and Little Manistee Rivera, Michigan. The trip lasted three days with Pratt, Bruce, Dr. Hudson, Austin, and one unidentified person. The trip was reported to be enjoyable with great success and good weather. The collection was donated by Al Wildey, whose own processing notes are found in the, Al Wildey’s Processing Notes, 1970-1980.
Processing Note: During processing only a miscellaneous newspaper clipping was withdrawn.
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The Frank and Kent families lived in Southeastern Michigan. The families united together as one through marriage of Lucius Lyon Frank and Adaline Kent Frank. Lucius Frank (1843-1939) fought in the Civil War serving in Twenty-Second Michigan Volunteer Infantry for thirty-five months. He owned a 120-acre farm in Avon Township, now known as Rochester Hills in Oakland County, Michigan. Additionally, Frank was a Republican, served as a school director and was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He had eight children with his wife whose names were John R., Lucius H., Joseph K., a son who died in infancy, William L., Kate Belle, Harry S., and Loren B. Lucious's father was Col. John Frank (1799-1911), and his wife Adeline Kettle Frank (1798-1886) was Lucius’s stepmother. Col. John Frank was a member of the Michigan Territorial Militia during the Toledo War between Ohio and Michigan. Adaline Kent Frank (1841-1923) was originally from Boston and moved to Avon Township where she married Lucius Frank in 1867. Her father was Joseph Kent. The family is buried in Mount Avon Cemetery, Rochester. (This information was from ancestry.com. See Family Biographical Materials, 2021 folder).