Brearley-Pingree Collection, ca. 1860s-1949

University of Michigan William L. Clements Library

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Summary

Creator:: Brearley, William Henry, 1846-1909
Abstract:: The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. In addition to the photographic materials, 36 manuscript items and two bound volumes are also included in the collection.
Extent:: approximately 166 photographs, 36 manuscript items, and 2 bound volumes
Language:: English
Authors:: Collection processed and finding aid created by Jakob Dopp, February 2024

Background

Scope and Content:

The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. An additional 36 manuscript items and 2 bound volumes are also included in the collection.

The collection appears to have been first started by Brearley during the mid-1860s, possibly during or immediately after his Civil War service. He seems to have solicited the autographs of a variety of famous individuals (including authors, performers, musicians, scientists, spiritual leaders, politicians, foreign rulers, and military officers) primarily by mailing them photographs of themselves and requesting their signatures. Possession of the collection appears to have been transferred to Pingree at some point, and he continued to make further contributions. Pingree’s daughter Hazel retained possession of the collection after her father’s death before eventually donating it to the Clements Library. All components of the collection are stored together in one box.

While most portraits in the collection are original studio photographs taken by a variety of photographers including Mathew Brady and Napoleon Sarony, a relatively small number of photographic reproductions of non-photographic portraits are also present (including depictions of James Monroe, Stonewall Jackson, and Henry and Clara Ford).

Volume 1: Brearley collection reproduction souvenir album

This album (16.5 x 15 cm) has green leather covers with lines of poetry from Henry W. Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life stamped in gold on the front. An index included at the beginning lists the names of 96 individuals represented across the album’s 24 pages. After the index, a passage written by William H. Brearley and dated August 1st 1874 explains that he created a limited number of facsimile copies of his original autographed portrait collection at the “urgent solicitation” of many interested friends. Brearley also explains that he acquired the original photographs and autographs in his collection “by long and patient effort, & tending over a period of ten years, and involving an expense of several Hundred dollars.” Subsequent album pages each contain four individually pasted 5.5 x 4 cm albumen print photographic reproductions of original portraits found in Brearley’s collection. This item was acquired from a separate source and was not part of the original collection of materials donated to the Clements Library by Hazel Hope Pingree Mills.

Volume 2: Brearley-Pingree collection original album

This album (30 x 26 cm) has brown leather covers and the words “Portraits. Autographs” and “Brearley” stamped in gold on the spine. The original autographed portraits of the Brearley-Pingree collection were once housed in this album before Clements Library staff removed the original photographs and substituted them with photocopies in 2010 for conservation and preservation purposes. Manuscript captions were also added by Clements Library staff. The original photographs are housed separately in smaller boxes and have been arranged according to size/format and ordered alphabetically by subject surname. See below for a complete list of photographic subjects contained in each box.

Of additional interest are three manuscript items, including the clipped signature of Hyacinthe Loyson and an October 15th 1873 letter from Henry W. Longfellow containing the same lines of poetry from A Psalm of Life that appear on the cover of the Brearley collection souvenir album. Also present is a letter from Buckingham Palace sent to Brearley in 1873 by Sir Thomas Biddulph explaining that the “enclosed Photograph” of Queen Victoria is being returned but that “The Queen’s Autograph is never given away.” Three wax seals are also included in the volume including an “Imperial Chancellor’s seal” (associated with a portrait of Otto von Bismarck); “the Napoleon Seal” (associated with a portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte); and a Great Seal of the Realm attached to the 1873 letter from Buckingham Palace.

Box 1.1: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, A-E

This box contains 47 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

Adams, Charles Francis, 1807-1886.
Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873.
Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888.
Anderson, Richard Heron, 1821-1879.
Anderson, Robert, 1805-1871.
Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906.
Bancroft, George, 1800-1891.
Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891.
Barrett, Lawrence, 1838-1891.
Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant), 1818-1893.
Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887.
Billings, Josh, 1818-1885. [Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Birney, David Bell, 1825-1864.
Bishop, Anna, 1810-1884. [Anna Riviere Schultz]
Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898.
Bonaparte, Jérôme, King of Westphalia, 1784-1860.
Bonner, Robert, 1824-1899.
Booth, Edwin, 1833-1893.
Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875.
Bright, John, 1811-1889.
Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878.
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868.
Bülow, Hans von, 1830-1894.
Bunker, Chang, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Eng Bunker]
Bunker, Eng, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Chang Bunker]
Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824-1881. [two portraits included]
Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893.
Carleton, Will, 1845-1912.
Chapin, E. H. (Edwin Hubbell), 1814-1880.
Clem, John Lincoln, 1851-1937.
Clough, J. E. (John Everett), 1836-1910.
Coan, Titus, 1801-1882.
Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885.
Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889.
Cook, Eliza, 1818-1889.
Coombs, Jane, 1842- .
Curtis, George William, 1824-1892.
Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876.
Dana, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1819-1897.
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.
Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932.
Dix, John A. (John Adams), 1798-1879.
Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883.
Doubleday, Abner, 1819-1893.
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.
Emory, William H. (William Hemsley), 1811-1887.

Box 1.2: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, F-N

This box contains 46 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

Farragut, David Glasgow, 1801-1870.
Ferrero, Edward, 1831-1899.
Field, Cyrus W. (Cyrus West), 1819-1892.
Field, Kate, 1838-1896. [Mary Katherine Keemle Field]
Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874.
Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821-1877.
Fowler, O. S. (Orson Squire), 1809-1887.
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879.
Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898.
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885.
Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872.
Greenwood, Grace, 1823-1904. [Sarah Jane Clarke Lippincott]
Hall, John, 1829-1898.
Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872.
Hancock, Winfield Scott, 1824-1886.
Hay, John, 1838-1905.
Heintzelman, Samuel Peter, 1805-1880.
Hoar, E. R. (Ebenezer Rockwood), 1816-1895.
Holland, J. G. (Josiah Gilbert), 1819-1881.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
Hooker, Joseph, 1814-1879.
Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909.
Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885.
Jackson, Stonewall, 1824-1863.
Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875.
Kirby-Smith, Edmund, 1824-1893.
Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905.
Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Locke, David Ross, 1833-1888. [Petroleum V. Nasby]
Logan, John Alexander, 1826-1886.
Longstreet, James, 1821-1904.
Loring, Charles G. (Charles Greely), 1794-1867.
Loyson, Hyacinthe, 1827-1912.
Lucca, Pauline, 1841-1908.
Mario, Giovanni, 1810-1883. [Mario, T.]
McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885.
Mitchell, Maggie, 1837-1918.
Moltke, Helmuth, Graf von, 1800-1891.
Monroe, James, 1758-1831.
Morse, Edward Sylvester, 1838-1925.
Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877.
Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh, Shah of Iran, 1831-1896.
Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902.
Nilsson, Christine, 1843-1921.
Nutt, Commodore, 1848-1881. [group portrait with Minnie Warren]

Box 1.3: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, O-Z

This box contains 36 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

Ord, Edward Otho Cresap, 1818-1883.
Parepa-Rosa, Euphrosyne, 1836-1874.
Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919.
Phillipps, Adelaide, 1833-1882.
Porter, David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891.
Rogers, Randolph, 1825-1892.
Salvini, Tommaso, 1829-1915.
Saxe, John Godfrey, 1816-1887.
Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906.
Scott-Siddons, Mary Frances, 1844-1896.
Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888.
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.
Sothern, Edward Askew, 1826-1881.
Spinner, Francis Elias, 1802-1890.
Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon), 1834-1892.
Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904.
Stephens, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), 1812-1883.
Strakosch, Max, 1835-1892.
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874.
Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892.
Terry, Alfred Howe, 1827-1890.
Thiers, Adolphe, 1797-1877.
Thomas, George H. (George Henry), 1816-1870.
Thomas, Theodore, 1835-1905.
Thumb, Tom, 1838-1883. [Charles Sherwood Stratton; group portrait with Lavinia Warren]
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. [Samuel L. Clemens; both names signed on photograph]
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 1794-1877.
Waite, Morrison R. (Morrison Remick), 1816-1888.
Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882.
Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878.
Willcox, Orlando B.
Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875.
Woodhull, Victoria C. (Victoria Claflin), 1838-1927.
Wright, Horatio Gouverneur, 1820-1899.
Yates, Edmund, 1831-1894.
Young, Brigham, 1801-1877.

Box 2: Brearley-Pingree collection cabinet cards

This box contains 27 cabinet cards. Represented individuals include the following:

Andrade, Ignacio, 1836-1925.
Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886.
Bernhardt, Sarah, 1844-1923.
Booth-Tucker, Emma, 1860-1903.
Booth-Tucker, Frederick St. George de Lautour, 1853-1929.
Bull, Ole, 1810-1880.
Cable, George Washington, 1844-1925.
Chamberlain, Joseph, 1836-1914.
Dickinson, Donald McDonald, 1846-1917.
Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881.
Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph, 1832-1918.
Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893.
Janauschek, Francesca Romana Magdalena, 1830-1904.
Kellogg, Clara Louisa, 1842-1916.
Kennan, George, 1845-1924.
Kruger, Paul, 1825-1904.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882.
Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884.
Ranavalona III, Queen of Madagascar, 1861-1917.
Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902.
Stead, W. T. (William Thomas), 1849-1912. [three portraits included]
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896.
Urso, Camilla, 1842-1902.
Victoria, Queen of Britain, 1819-1901.
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892.

Box 3: Brearley-Pingree collection large photographs and manuscript materials

This box contains 9 large format mounted photographs and 33 manuscript items. Represented individuals among the photographs include the following:

Cleveland, Frances Folsom, 1864-1947.
Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
Ford, Clara Bryant, 1866-1950.
Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.
Gibbons, James, 1834-1921.
Guzmán Blanco, Antonio, 1828-1899.
Mace, Aurelia Gay, 1835-1910.
Milles, Carl, 1875-1955.
Wilder, Marshall P.

Manuscript materials of interest include a number of letters dating to the mid-1870s from various individuals (including John A. Dix, C. H. Spurgeon, H. W. Longfellow, and Lucretia R. Garfield) possibly sent to William H. Brearley in response to autograph solicitations and other requests; and numerous letters addressed to Hazen S. Pingree from various individuals (inlcuding William Thomas Stead, Ignacio Andrade, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley) dating to the 1890s. Other items of interest include a copy of "Special Order No. 166 'Extract' Head Quarters 2d Brigade 3d Div 2d A.I." dated June 15th 1865 stating that the 1st Mass Heavy Artillery had been ordered by Brig. Gen. Franklin Pierce to repost to General Hancock; calling cards for "Sixto Sanchez Director General de Coreeos - Postmaster" as well as "The Admiral of the Navy" George Dewey from "when he called on Gov. Pingree in Detroit"; a clipped signature of "Louis Botha Commandant General"; an undated note to poet Louise Chandler Moulton; a document dated August 1st 1892 detailing financial investment information related to the Michigan-Peninsular Car Company with pasted clippings of wealthy politicians and their net worths as well as annotations by Pingree; a letter dated Feb 19th 1892 from Don M. Dickinson to Pingree regarding the prospective visit of Grover Clevland to Detroit, Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan; a letter dated March 9th 1949 from Hazel Hope Pingree Mills to Director of the William L. Clements Library Randolph G. Adams regarding progress being made on research regarding the life of William H. Brearley; and an undated typed copy of a short essay titled "Brearley - Man of Action, Started Many Important Detroit Activities" by historian George B. Catlin.

Biographical / Historical:

William Henry Brearley was born in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 18th 1846. During the Civil War he served with the 17th Michigan Infantry after enlisting at the age of 15. Following the war’s conclusion, Brearley returned to Detroit and ended up working for the Detroit Locomotive Works for several years before eventually joining the advertising department of the Detroit Tribune. In 1873 he became the advertising manager for the Detroit News shortly after its founding. He later purchased the Detroit Journal in 1887 with his own fortune. Brearley held a fine reputation as a prolific fundraiser, event planner, and publicist. In 1883, his idea for a Detroit Art Loan Exposition led to the first public art exhibition of its kind in Detroit and formulated the organizational and financial basis for what would later become the Detroit Institute of Art. Brearley passed away on March 26th 1909.

Hazen Stuart Pingree was born in Denmark, Maine, in 1840. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 and served with the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery Regiment and the Second Corps, Third Division of the Army of the Potomac. After the war, Pingree relocated to Detroit and in 1866 formed the successful shoe-making enterprise Pingree and Smith Company. He married Frances A. Gilbert (1841-1907) in 1872; they had three children together, Gertrude Elizabeth Pingree (1874-1894), Hazen S. Pingree, Jr. (1877-1976), and Hazel Hope Pingree Mills (1881-1976). In 1889 he was elected mayor of Detroit and led reformative efforts to fight against local corruption and utility monopolies. In 1896, he was elected Governor of Michigan after being given the Republican nomination. Pingree died in London, England, in 1901.

Acquisition Information: