1.75 linear feet
This collection is made up of correspondence and other items related to Silas and Rebecca Tenney of Chester, New Hampshire, and to their descendants, including Orlando Murray Tenney of Chester and West Hampstead, New Hampshire; his wife, Emmagene Fitts; and their daughter, Alice Lillian Tenney.
The Correspondence series contains approximately 320 letters addressed to members of the Tenney and Fitts families, particularly Rebecca (or Rebekah) Tenney, Orlando M. Tenney, Emmagene F. Tenney, and Alice L. Tenney.
A small group of letters, dated from the 1820s-1830s, is comprised of letters to Silas and Rebecca Tenney from their children, including Bailey, Thomas, Sally, and Charles; other family members; and friends. Thomas Tenney discussed his philosophical, moral, and religious beliefs; others shared family and local news. Scattered letters dated in the 1840s, 1850s, and early 1860s concern other members of the Tenney and Fitts families, including religious letters that Orlando M. Tenney received from an acquaintance.
The bulk of the series is made up of incoming letters to Orlando M. and Emmagene F. Tenney and their daughter Alice, dated 1867-1925 (bulk 1867-1917). Orlando Tenney and Emmagene Fitts ("Genie") exchanged love letters during their courtship and marriage; in later years, they discussed their children and family news, particularly while Emmagene visited her family in Candia, New Hampshire. From the mid-1870s to the early 1890s, Emmagene F. Tenney also received personal letters from family members such as her sister, Alice C. Fitts; her mother, Caroline Phelps Fitts; and many cousins and acquaintances. Orlando M. Tenney received condolence letters after Emmagene's death in 1892, and his siblings and other family members wrote to him into the early 20th century.
In the mid-1880s, Alice L. Tenney began to receive letters from family members and friends; her incoming correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection after 1892. Letters from a school friend, May E. Norris, concern Norris's life in Boston, Massachusetts, and later letters pertain to family members' lives in New England and New York. Alice's other correspondents included her sister Bertha, her brothers Walter and Sewall, and several aunts and cousins. One brief series of letters by Ralph Candee of Westwood, Massachusetts, pertains to Alice's recent denial of his marriage proposal (included in his letter of July 14, 1903); most of the 20th-century letters pertain to the Tenney brothers' lives in New York and New Hampshire.
The Diary Fragments, Essays, and Poetry series (13 items) consists of items written by multiple authors. One group of diary entries (20 pages), dated January 1809-June 25, [1813], focuses on the unidentified author's religious beliefs and reflections. A second author wrote similar reflections on their 69th and 70th birthdays (May 13, 1842, and May 13, 1843). The remaining items are poems and essays by Helen M. Tenney (July 9, 1851, and February 9, 1856), O. M. Tenney (undated), and others (undated). These writings concern nature and animals, religion, the Eiffel Tower, and other subjects. One essay, entitled "Exercises of My Mind," is a copy of a work by Augustus Sanborn (d. 1823).
Financial Records (8 items, 1867-1911) consist of receipts, a money order, a dividend notice, and accounts related to Orlando M. Tenney, William Tenney, Sewall F. Tenney, and Alice L. Tenney.
The Photograph is an undated carte-de-visite portrait of an unidentified woman, taken in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
The Ephemera and Invitations series (8 items, 1870-1903) contains items addressed to various members of the Tenney and Fitts families. Most of the invitations pertain to weddings. The series also contains calling cards and a blank application for the "Tribe of Ben-Hur."
Miscellaneous material (12 items) includes a notebook that belonged to Orlando M. Tenney in 1881, a drawing of a man riding a plow attributed to "O. M. T." (July 30, 1907), a recipe for corn salve, a newspaper obituary for Frank E. Fitts, and manuscript notes and fragments.
1.75 linear feet
1 linear foot
The Stevens family papers (1 linear foot) consist of correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings related to Frederic W. Stevens and Edith de Gueldry Twining and to their son Neil, who was a medical volunteer in France during the First World War.
The 5 earliest letters in the Correspondence series (around 152 items total), written in November 1884, are addressed to Julia Twining and express condolences about her father's recent death. These are followed by a lengthy series of letters from Frederic W. Stevens to his fiancée, Edith de Gueldry Twining, prior to their wedding. He wrote daily from July to September 1903, giving his future wife updates on his daily life and on mutual friend, and his later letters include a series written in the summer and early autumn of 1906, while Edith lived at her family's summer home in Clinton, New York. These letters focus on domestic affairs and on the state of the couple's household in Morristown, New Jersey.
Neil Campbell Stevens wrote 5 letters from Europe during the World War I era, including 4 concerning his service in French hospitals during the opening and closing months of the war. In a letter postmarked 1914, he related his experiences treating French and German patients while working as a medical aide at the Val-de-Grâce military hospital.
Other items include a letter by a British soldier about military protocol affecting "this Ulster business," which was rioting centered around the Irish Home Rule controversy (April 20, 1914); a letter of thanks from Paul Salembier, a soldier with the 145th French Infantry who received a care package from the Stevens family (March 28, 1916); and a printed letter to Edith Stevens concerning the relocation of her house (November 22, 1928). The series also has 3 letters in French.
The Postcards series (33 items) contains both blank cards and cards with short messages. The majority of the items depict scenes from France, including painted landscapes as well as photographs related to World War I. French general Joseph Joffre is the subject of several photographic postcards, and some show damage done to Senlis, France, and other scenes from the western front.
A large number of Photographs (c. 120, plus 1 photograph album) portray France during World War I, and also family vacations to Niagara Falls and other lakeside destinations. Several of the war-era photographs show members of the ambulance corps, 3 showcase a bullet-strewn Model T, and others present camouflaged military installations, guns, soldiers, and scenery from the western front. Other peacetime material consists of unlabeled portraits, a picture of Barbara Stevens on a tennis court, and a photograph album containing pictures of a family vacation near a lake.
The Identity Papers series consists of 2 items. One is Neil C. Stevens's passport, and the other is his identity paper for the Hôpital Militaire du Val-de-Grâce. Both include photographs of Stevens.
The Newspaper Clippings series contains 53 clippings from The New York Times and The New York Tribune, which document several aspects of World War I. Topics include the outbreak of war, the official declaration of war by the United States, food prices on the home front, submarine attacks on American shipping, and maps of suspected military movements in both the western and eastern fronts. Other items are a political cartoon showing Napoleon chastising the Germans for their plans to invade Eastern Europe, and a report on the return of Neil Stevens from his first three months in France. Two clippings, dated April 18 and 20, 1914, relate to "The Plot Against Ulster" and the controversy over Irish Home Rule.
The Receipts series (3 items) includes a letter concerning the payment of $7 for an article printed in The Independent (March 2, 1895), a receipt for a case of tobacco shipped to Neil Stevens during his time in France (November 21, 1914), and a receipt for a donation from Barbara and Alice Stevens to the Charité Maternelle de Paris (March 5, 1917).
Among the items in the Ephemera series (11 items) are 3 calling cards, 1 invitation, a solicitation for donations to the War Children's Relief Fund, a pamphlet about Yosemite National Park, and a broadside advertising the Morristown Committee Third Liberty Loan.
Notes and Genealogy (7 items) include notes on the history of the Twining family and a typed biographical sketch of Sutherland Douglas Twining (1835-1918) with manuscript notes.
1 linear foot
64 items
The Samuel Ripley papers contain 60 letters, spanning February 1864-February 1865, two brief undated notes, and two photographs. Samuel Ripley wrote 58 of the letters between the commencement of his service in the 36th Wisconsin Infantry in February 1864, and his imprisonment at Salisbury Prison in August of the same year. The recipients were his wife Mary and his mother Abigail. Ripley's early letters, between February and mid-May 1864, describe life at Camp Randall near Madison, Wisconsin, including drilling, taking on the responsibilities of company clerk, and leisure activities. Several letters also mention attempts to visit Mary, as well as to bring her to Madison before his departure for the front.
Between June and August, Ripley wrote 37 long, richly-detailed letters, in which he discussed many aspects of the war: his opinions on its progress and how it was conducted, experiences participating in trench warfare during the Siege of Petersburg, attitudes toward fighting and the Union cause, and, to some extent, politics. He also frequently mentioned his ongoing rheumatism and digestive issues, but generally reported experiencing fair health. Correspondence from June 14-23, 1864, vividly depicts the siege of Petersburg, including being grazed by bullets and participating in an undermanned charge through an unprotected melon field (June 19, 1864). In a letter of June 20, 1864, Ripley described the variety of activity in the trenches: "any one fires from the trench who pleases and when they please, so some are firing some eating some cooking some hunting grey backs." Surprisingly, although an undated note in the collection states that Ripley was wounded on June 22, 1864, his letters do not mention such an event.
A strong believer in the Union and in the abolition of slavery, Ripley admitted to disliking warfare (June 27, 1864), but hoped that peace arbitrations would not succeed unless they ended slavery (July 25, 1864). In several other letters, he expressed distaste for "Copper-heads." He also frequently made predictions about movements and on the outcome of the war, which he believed had neared its end.
Ripley's later letters are particularly introspective and frank; on August 22, 1864, he wrote to his mother, describing his reasons for enlisting against the wishes and advice of friends, and alluded to his own shortcomings and disagreements with his deceased father. He also mentioned his distrust of some Union officers, whom he suspected of receiving bribes from Southerners and stealing packages from Union soldiers. In his last letter of August 28, 1864, Ripley notified his wife about his capture. Two letters from military officials, providing details on Ripley's imprisonment and death, close the correspondence.
The Miscellany Series contains lyrics to a Civil War song, a few biographical details, and two photographs of Ripley (one tintype and one carte-de-visite).
64 items
Approximately 1,045 individual photographs, 12 photograph albums, 3 portfolios and 1 piece of realia
The Richard Pohrt, Jr. Collection of Native American photography contains approximately 1,470 images pertaining to Native Americans and Native American history taken between the 1850s and 1940s. The majority of photographs are individual and group portraits of people from tribes west of the Mississippi, with the Apache, Cheyenne, Crow, and Lakota/Dakota being particularly well represented. The collection contains both studio and outdoor photographs and reflects the dramatic upheavals in Native American life that occurred as a result of the expansion of the United States of America.
For clarity, in this finding aid the most widely-used Anglicized naming conventions have been used for most Native American tribes and individuals. Individual catalog records address the full complexities of these issues and include the most commonly used Anglicized and indigenous names and their variants.
After consulting a number of Native American representatives and scholars, it was determined that select images within the collection will not be digitized on account of the culturally sensitive nature of their content. However, culturally sensitive images have still been cataloged and are available for researchers in the reading room along with the rest of the collection.
Overall, upwards of 70 Native American tribes and subtribes (primarily those west of the Mississippi and in the Midwest) are represented throughout the collection. The amount of material pertaining to each tribe varies considerably. For example, approximately 235 photographs relate to the Lakota and Dakota, while the Hopi and Kootenai tribes are each represented in just one photograph respectively.
All of the individual photographs, albums, and portfolios have been cataloged individually. For more detailed information on specific images, please use the UM Library Search.
With the exception of items deemed to contain culturally sensitive content, all materials in the Pohrt Collection have been digitized and can be accessed online through the Pohrt digital collection platform.
In addition, the Clements Library has also created a Richard Pohrt, Jr. Collection - Partial Subject Index and a Richard Pohrt, Jr. Collection - Contributor Index to help navigate the collection.
The following list provides information on photographs (including select call numbers) pertaining to the 13 most well-represented Native American tribes in the collection as well as other items of interest. For a complete list of all tribes represented in the collection, see the Additional Descriptive Data section.
Algonquian Blackfeet
Approximately 28 photographs pertain to the three affiliated Algonquian Blackfeet tribes (Kainah, Siksika and Piegan) present in the collection. Items of particular interest include 18 studio portraits of Algonquian Blackfoot chiefs made by Tomar J. Hileman in the late-1920s (LARGE Hil.001 - LARGE Hil.018) which serve as prime examples of romanticized depictions of Indians produced in the early 20th century. Other images of note include two studio portraits of Piegan chief Three Calves taken by Mabelle Haney in 1920 (OVERSIZE Han.001 & OVERSIZE Han.002); two photographs likely taken by Thomas B. Magee in the late 1890s showing an Algonquian Blackfoot medicine man named Calf Shirt performing a ritual ceremony involving a live rattlesnake (LARGE Mag.001 & LARGE Mag.002); and two more outdoor portraits by Magee showing construction of a medicine lodge and ceremonial dancers standing before the finished lodge (BOU Mag.001 & BOU Mag.002).
Anishinaabe (Odawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi)
Approximately 168 photographs in the collection pertain to the Anishinaabe.
The majority of the Anishinaabe-related images in the collection (approximately 115 photos) were taken by Grace Chandler Horn between 1899 and 1912 near Petoskey, Michigan (GCH.004 - GCH.043 & GCH.050 - GCH.118). The photography shop operated by Horn in Petoskey was a major tourist attraction built around the annual "Hiawatha Pageant" performed by local Odawa actors as well as Ojibwa actors from the Garden River First Nation in Canada. Her portraits of actors and actresses involved in the Hiawatha shows are heavily represented in the collection. These images are considered prime examples of the romanticized depictions of Indians of the period and document a major Michigan tourist attraction of the time. The actors and actresses depicted in these photographs have not been identified, therefore their specific tribal affiliations have been assumed to be either Odawa or Garden River Ojibwa. The Grace Chandler Horn materials also include four photos of Odawa woman Sophia Assinaway at her home garden in Middle Village, Michigan (GCH.022 - GCH.025). Two printed items related to Grace Chandler Horn (a sample booklet of her photography and a Hiawatha Pageant libretto illustrated with Horn photographs) are also contained in Box 21.
In addition to the Grace Chandler Horn photographs, approximately 48 photos relate to the Ojibwa. Items of particular interest include portraits of Ojibwa men involved in the Dakota War of 1862 taken by Minnesota photographer Joel E. Whitney (CDV WhiJ.017 - CDV WhiJ.028, CDV WhiJ.036 & CDV WhiJ.037); stereographs by Whitney and assistant Charles Zimmerman showing Ojibwa wigwams (STE Whi-Zim.001), canoe-building (STE Whi-Zim.002 & STE Whi-Zim.002); Leech Lake Ojibwa during a payment transaction (STE Whi-Zim.004); and a studio portrait of White Cloud (STE Whi-Zim.005). Also present are photos by Zimmerman showing an Ojibwa deer hunt (STE Zim.002), Sky Down to the Earth (STE Zim.003) and To Keep the Net Up (STE Zim.004).
Other images of note include an outdoor portrait of the "Rapids Pilot" John Boucher seated in his canoe by B. F. Childs (STE Chi.002); three studio portraits of Buhkwujjenene by Thomas Charles Turner and Sydney Victor White taken during a trip to England in 1872 with Rev. Edward Francis Wilson in order to raise funds for the Shingwauk Indian Residential School (CDV Tur.001, CDV Tur.002 & CDV Whi-Whi.001); three studio portraits of Saginaw Band Ojibwa leader David Shoppenagon by Armstrong & Rudd and George H. Bonnell (CAB Arm-Rud.002, CAB Bonn.001 & CAB Bonn.002); an outdoor group portrait by Hoard & Tenney of five unidentified Ojibwa men at White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota (STE Hoa-Ten.001); views by T.W. Ingersoll showing Ojibwa women tanning buckskins and crafting birch canoes (STE Ing.001 & MEDIUM Ing.001); a Leech Lake Ojibwa family posing outside their wigwam (MEDIUM Bro.001); and an outdoor group portrait taken by Dan Dutro in the mid-1910s of several Cree and/or Ojibwa men partaking in a dance ceremony at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, Montana (BOU Dut.002).
The approximately 13 Potawatomi-related photographs in the collection mostly pertain to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Kansas. Items of particular interest include studio individual and group portraits such as Shipshewana & Madeline Lasely (CAB Uni.017); Shob-ne-kak-kak with unidentified wife by Oaks & Ireland (CAB Oak-Ire.001); a studio group portrait by W. M. Oaks of two unidentified Prairie Band Potawatomi women posing with a photograph of what may be a deceased relative (CAB Oak.001); and two portraits of Nancy Weeg-was alone and with husband Weeg-was (CAB Uni.015 & CAB Oak.002). Other materials include a group portrait of Potawatomi and white American individuals posing outside of a storefront on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation in Kansas (MEDIUM Uni.004) and an image captioned "The Reserve Dudes" depicting a group of nine Prairie Band Potawatomi men who performed at Wild West Shows (LARGE Uni.003).
Apache
Approximately 68 Apache-related photographs are present. Specific Apache tribes represented include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Kiowa Apache, Mescalero, Mimbreño, and White Mountain Apache. Of particular note are eight boudoir photographs and one framed group portrait by C. S. Fly (BOU Fly.001 - BOU Fly.008 & FRAMED 10), the majority of which relate to the apprehension of Geronimo and his followers in 1886. Other photographs of interest include a series by Andrew Miller depicting daily life on the San Carlos and Fort Apache reservations in the 1880s (CAB MilA.001, CAB MilA.002 & BOU MilA.001 - BOU MilA.009); portraits of Apache women and scouts such as Nan-tag-a-ra, Dandy Jim and Santiago by Henry Buehman (CAB Bue.002 & STE Bue.001 - STE Bue.007); and outdoor group portraits of Chiricahua prisoners of war including Naiche and Geronimo being held at Fort Sam Houston taken by Frank Hardesty (BOU Har.001 & BOU Har.002).
Studio portraits include photographs by A. Frank Randall of Geronimo, Bonito, Dutche, husband and wife Ze-le & Tzes-Tone, Something-at-the-campfire-already-cooked (wife of Cochise), Old Nana, and Mescalero chief San Juan (BOU Ran.001 - BOU Ran.013). Also present are studio portraits of Apache chiefs and scouts such as Bonito, Chatto, Nalte, and Peaches by Ben Wittick (BOU Wit.001 & BOU Wit.003 - BOU Wit.005); Geronimo while prisoner of war at Fort Sill taken by William E. Irwin (BOU Irw.010, BOU Irw.011 & BOU Irw.024); and a Lenny & Sawyers photograph of a Kiowa-Apache man identified as "Apache Jim" (BOU Len-Saw.005).
Of further interest are photographs of Apache scouts with German-American chief of scouts Al Sieber taken by J. C. Burge (STE Bur.001 & STE Bur.002); group portraits of Apache scouts including Mickey Free, a Mexican-born Apache scout kidnapped by the Pinal Apache as a child and adopted into the tribe (STE WilW.001 & STE Bue.006); an outdoor group portrait by C. S. Fly showing Jimmy "Santiago" McKinn, a white American settler kidnapped as a child by Geronimo's band (BOU Fly.001); and several images of Apache individuals encountered during the Wheeler Expedition taken by Timothy O'Sullivan (STE Wheeler.031 - STE Wheeler.033, STE Wheeler.041, STE Wheeler.042, STE Wheeler.051 & STE Wheeler.052).
Cheyenne
Approximately 53 Cheyenne-related photographs are present in the collection, including photographs of both Northern and Southern Cheyenne, the latter of which are now part of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.
Between 1875 and 1878, several dozen Southern Cheyenne, Southern Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa Indians as well as one lone individual from the Caddo tribe were imprisoned at Fort Marion in Saint Augustine, Florida, for their roles in the Red River War. While imprisoned, these chiefs, warriors and their families became a major tourist attraction. The Pohrt Collection contains numerous images of the Fort Marion prisoners taken by photographers such as J. N. Wilson, O. Pierre Havens, and George Pierron; of particular note are stereograph portraits of Southern Cheyenne chiefs Howling Wolf (STE Hav.001 -STE Hav.003), Medicine Water (STE Hav.005 & STE Hav.006), Mochi (STE Hav.006) and a tintype of Making Medicine made by an unidentified photographer (CASED Uni.006).
Other photographs include images purportedly related to a Southern Cheyenne & Arapaho Ghost Dance ceremony taken by C. C. Stotz in 1890 (BOU Sto.001 & BOU Sto.002); a group portrait of prisoners from Dull Knife's band taken by J. R. Riddle in 1879 (STE Rid.001); a studio portrait of two-spirit person Glad Road by Cosand & Mosser (CDV Cos-Mos.001); outdoor portraits by John K. Hillers of Cheyenne chiefs that attended the Grand Council in Okmulgee in 1875 (STE Hil.001 – STE Hil.003); a studio portrait of White Buffalo taken around the time of his arrival at the United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania (BOU Cho.001); a studio portrait by William E. Irwin of Gertrude Threefinger wearing an elk-tooth dress (BOU Irw.003); and two panoramic views by Henry C. Chaufty depicting a supposed Southern Cheyenne Sun Dance gathering in 1909 as well as a Southern Cheyenne & Arapaho fair at Watonga, Oklahoma, in September of 1912 (FRAMED 1 & FRAMED 4).
Crow (Apsáalooke)
Approximately 94 Crow-related photographs are in the collection. On account of their historical enmity with neighboring tribes such as the Lakota/Dakota, Arapaho, and Cheyenne, the Crow firmly allied themselves with the United States and provided numerous scouts for many U.S. military expeditions in the second half of the 19th century. Several portraits of Crow scouts are present in the collection, including photographs of Curley (CAB BarD.019, MEDIUM BarD.003, STE Rin.006 & PORTFOLIO 1B) and White Swan (BOU MilF.001 & BOU MilF.002), both of whom were present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Other images of note include a series of 56 stereographs by Frank A. Rinehart at Crow Indian Reservation in Montana at the turn of the 20th century (STE Rin.001 - STE Rin.056) consisting of views showing daily reservation life, ceremonies and dances, as well as individual, group, and family portraits, including one photograph of chief Plenty Coups speaking to a crowd about counting coup.
Also of interest are three images showing Plenty Coups and others present at the unveiling ceremony for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (FRAMED 11 - FRAMED 13); photos by O. S. Goff of Crow scouts including Bear Don't Walk and members of "L" Troop, 1st Cavalry (BOU Gof.001, BOU Gof.002, & MEDIUM Gof.003); portraits of Crow chiefs and men including Hoop on Forehead, Bear in a Cloud, and Spotted Rabbit, as well as scenes from Crow Indian Reservation by Fred E. Miller (BOU MilF.003, BOU MilF.004, LARGE MilF.001, LARGE MilF.002 & MEDIUM MilF.001 - MEDIUM MilF.005); portraits of Crow chiefs including Grey Bear, Old Coyote, Hoop on Forehead, Spies on Enemies, Big Medicine Man, Chief Little Head and Old Coyote by F. Jay Haynes (STE Hay.001 & CAB Hay.001 - CAB Hay.009); and a group portrait by an unidentified photographer of Crow prisoners of war including Crazy Head and Coups Well Known being held at Crow Indian Agency following the Crow War of 1887 (LARGE Uni.018).
Ho Chunk (Winnebago)
22 Ho Chunk-related photographs are in the collection. Items of particular interest include stereographs by H. H. Bennett of Yellow Thunder purportedly at the age of 120 (STE Ben.002), a Ho Chunk woman tanning a deerskin (STE Ben.001), a studio portrait of Big Bear (STE Ben.004) and a group of Ho Chunk men playing "Wah-koo-chad-ah" or the Moccasin Game (STE Ben.003).
Other items of note include a group portrait by Charles Van Schaik of Clara Blackhawk and her infant son Andrew (CAB Van.002); another Van Schaik portrait of Little Soldier and wife Bettie (CAB Van.001); a studio portrait by Joel E. Whitney of Chief Little Hill (CDV WhiJ.030); a studio group portrait by W. H. Illingworth of Walk in the Evening and Bear Skin (STE Ill.003); studio portraits of Chief Big Hawk and son David Big Hawk (CAB Uni.020 & CAB Uni.021); a studio group portrait by Brown & Wait of several Ho Chunk men including one individual who appears to possibly have smallpox scars (CAB Bro-Wai.001); a studio group portrait of an unidentified Ho Chunk man from Nebraska posing with Fox chiefs Wa-Wa-Ta-Sah and Ma-Tau-E-Qua (MEDIUM Uni.003); and two outdoor group portraits of Ho Chunk Indians in Wisconsin partaking in a church ceremony (BOU Uni.005 & BOU Uni.006).
Two tintypes, one of an unidentified Ho Chunk father and son (CASED Uni.001) and the other a group portrait of several children (CASED Uni.002), are also present.
Kiowa
Approximately 40 Kiowa-related photographs are present in the collection. Items of particular interest include 19 studio and outdoor individual and group portraits taken by William E. Irwin of Kiowa men, women and girls including Daisy Waterman (BOU Irw.008), Anne "Kiowa Annie" Berry (BOU Irw.004 - BOU Irw.006), Millie Oytant and "Cora" (BOU Irw.007), Joe Goombi with two daughters (BOU Irw.009), Lone Wolf the Younger (BOU Irw.013 & BOU Irw.023), Lone Wolf the Younger's mother Big Black Hair (BOU Irw.014), Poor Buffalo (BOU Irw.017), Kiowa and Comanche scouts near Anadarko(BOU Irw.018 & BOU Irw.019), and Ahpeatone (MED Irw.001).
Also present are five group portraits showing Kiowa prisoners of war at Fort Marion (STE Hav.004, STE Pie.001, STE Pie.002, STE Wil-Hav.001, STE Uni.004 & STE Uni.009); studio portraits of Kiowa girls and children by Lenny & Sawyers (BOU Len-Saw.001, BOU Len-Saw.009 & BOU Len-Saw.013); a studio portrait of Ahpeatone by Trager and Kuhn misidentified as Oglala Lakota chief Young Man Afraid of His Horses (CAB Tra-Kuh.001); a studio group portrait by W. P. Bliss of Gotebo with an unidentified individual (CAB Bli.002); a studio portrait of a Kiowa girl identified as "Ka-o-ta" produced by George W. Bretz (CAB Bre.003); and a group portrait of three unidentified Kiowa girls wearing elk-tooth dresses by C. C. Stotz (CAB Stot.001).
Modoc
The 19 Modoc-related images in the collection include a series of stereographs created by Eadweard Muybridge during the Modoc War of 1872-73 (STE Muy.001 - STE Muy.011). They depict the lava bed landscape, the U.S. army camp near Tule Lake, army scouts from the nearby Warm Springs Indian reservation led by Donald McKay, and the camp of the Modoc warrior Shok-Nos-Ta. Two of the photos depict Modoc women involved in the conflict, including interpreter Toby Riddle as well as a group of Modoc women taken as prisoners of war.
Other items of interest include four studio portraits by Louis Herman Heller of Modoc prisoners of war in 1873 such as the family of Captain Jack (CAB Hel.001), the "Lost River Murderers" (CAB Hel.002), Schonchin (CAB Hel.003), and Bogus Charley (CAB Hel.004), as well as four studio portraits by David C. Herrin produced in the late 1890s showing Klamath men described as having assisted the United States during the Modoc War (CAB Herr.001 - CAB Herr.004).
Nez Percé (Nimiipuu)
13 photographs in the collection have content pertaining to the Nez Percé. Items of particular interest include individual portraits of Chief Joseph (MEDIUM BarD.004, MEDIUM Bow.001, PORTFOLIO 1C); a tintype by an unknown photographer of an unidentified Nez Percé warrior (CASED Uni.003); a studio portrait of Chief Yellow Bull by C. M. Bell in Washington D.C. (OVERSIZE Bel.001); three images produced by W. H. Partridge showing Nez Percé families and homesteads in Oregon including visuals of tipis and a horse corral (BOU Par.001 - BOU Par.003); two studio portraits of "Steps", a Native American man adopted into the Nez Percé tribe (CAB Bai-Dix.002 & CAB BarD.020); and a group portrait by Ebenezer E. Henry showing Chief Joseph, Yellow Bull, Charles Moses, and another unidentified Nez Percé chief while being held as prisoners of war at Fort Leavenworth in 1877 following the cessation of the Nez Percé War (BOU Hen.001).
Oto
21 photographs in the collection relate to the Oto and Otoe-Missouria. Images of particular note include studio portraits of White Horse by Thomas Croft (CAB Cro.001 & CAB Cro.002); studio group and individual portraits of Oto chiefs including William Faw Faw, White Horse, Huma, Opanomnina and Parthayne by Lenny & Sawyers (BOU Len-Saw.004, BOU Len-Saw.006, BOU Len-Saw.007 & BOU Len-Saw.011); a studio portrait of Standing Eating by John K. Hillers in Washington D.C. (CAB Hil.001); an outdoor group portrait of an unidentified Oto family in Indian Territory posing in front of their home (MEDIUM Uni.014); an individual and group studio portrait showing Chief George Dailey (CAB Uni.008 & CAB Uni.009); three photos by William S. Prettyman including two studio portraits of unidentified Oto groups as well as an outdoor group portrait of the family of Baptiste DeRoin(CAB Pre.001, BOU Pre.001 & BOU Pre.002).
Sac & Fox
21 photographs relate to the Sac & Fox tribes, predominately consisting of images related to the Sac & Fox tribes of Iowa, Oklahoma, and to a lesser extent Kansas. Items of particular interest include several studio portraits of Iowa-based Sac & Fox individuals (known today as the Sac and Fox of the Mississippi in Iowa) taken by photographers H. C. Eberhart, J. L. Hudson, and J. S. Moore during the 1880s (CDV Eber.001, CAB Hud.001, CDV Hud.001, CDV Hud.002 & CAB Moo.002 - CAB Moo.008); a group portrait by Oakes & Ireland of a Kansas-based Sac and Fox ceremonial dancer with his son (CAB Oak-Ire.002); an outdoor group portrait taken by William S. Prettyman around 1895 showing a group of people from the Sac & Fox Mokohoko band including Chief Paw-She-Paw-Ho (LARGE Pre.001); a studio portrait of Walter Battice by John K. Hillers taken sometime during the early 1920s before Hillers' death in 1925 (BOU Hil.001); a group portrait of a Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma man at home with his wife and sleeping infant child (STE Key.001); two studio portraits of Sac & Fox chiefs taken by C. M. Bell in Washington D.C. (OVERSIZE Bel.002 & OVERSIZE Bel.003); a studio group portrait of an unidentified Ho Chunk man from Nebraska posing with Fox chiefs Wa-Wa-Ta-Sah and Ma-Tau-E-Qua (MEDIUM Uni.003); a studio group portrait by J. L. Hudson of Charles Keokuk and an unidentified Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa chief (CDV Hud.002); as well as a studio portrait of a Sac & Fox chief claimed by the unidentified photographer to be a grandson of Black Hawk (CDV Uni.003).
Lakota and Dakota
Over 240 photographs pertain to the Lakota and Dakota (also commonly referred to collectively as the Sioux, a term that has pejorative origins). The Dakota consist of three sub-tribes (the Santee, Yankton, and Yanktonai) while the Lakota consist of seven sub-tribes; the Sicangu (Brulé), Oglala, Miniconjou, Hunkpapa, Itázipco (Sans Arc), Sihasapa, and Oóhenunpa. The Pohrt Collection contains photos related to all three Dakota sub-tribes as well as photos related to every Lakota sub-tribe except for the Oóhenunpa.
The majority of the approximately 40 images in the collection related to the Santee Dakota were taken around the time of the Dakota War of 1862 in Minnesota, when several bands initially led by Chief Little Crow revolted against federal Indian agents who had regularly failed to supply promised foodstuffs and annuities. After several months of fighting, most of the Santee surrendered and thirty-eight were eventually executed in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26th 1862 in what remains the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Items of particular interest include four photographs taken by Adrian Ebell prior to and during the outbreak of the conflict (CDV Ebe.001 & STE Ebe.001 - STE Ebe.003); three photographs by B. F. Upton showing Santee prisoners of war at Fort Snelling including Little Crow's sons White Spider and Thomas Wakeman (STE Upt.001, CDV Upt.001 & CDV Upt.002); as well as 21 studio portraits produced by Joel Whitney depicting Santee prisoners of war, many of whom were among the executed at Mankato (STE WhiJ.002, STE WhiJ.003, STE WhiJ.034, CDV WhiJ.001 - CDV WhiJ.010, CDV WhiJ.012 - CDV WhiJ.016 & CDV WhiJ.032 - CDV WhiJ.034). Also present is an outdoor group portrait of Santee men taken by T. W. Ingersoll in the 1890s (MEDIUM Ing.002); a studio portrait of Wabasha III (CAB Lak.001); a Stanley J. Morrow studio portrait of an elderly Santee woman named Sacred Blanket purported to be 133 years old (STE MorS.036); and a studio portrait of Abbie Gardner Sharp, a white American woman who survived being captured by Santee raiders after the Spirit Lake Massacre of 1857 in Iowa in an incident which is generally considered a precursor to the Dakota War (CAB Uni.022).
Other Santee materials include several portraits of physician Dr. Charles Eastman taken by Grace Chandler Horn in the 1910s (GCH.001 - GCH.003 & GCH.044 - GCH.049). Dr. Eastman, grandson of U.S. Army officer and renowned artist Seth Eastman, attended Dartmouth College and then Boston University's medical school, becoming one of the first Native Americans certified as a western-style doctor. He later established the Indian YMCA and helped found the Boy Scouts of America, as well as becoming a national spokesman for Native Americans.
Images of particular interest involving the Yankton Dakota include an outdoor group portrait of Struck-by-the-Ree and Feather Necklace by Stanley J. Morrow (STE MorS.020); a group portrait taken by O. S. Goff of fifteen unidentified Yankton chiefs with an Indian Agent (MEDIUM Gof.001); two photos by W. R. Cross consisting of a studio portrait of an unidentified Yankton man (CDV Cro.005); and a composite photograph showing twelve different photographs of Native Americans from Dakota Territory including an image of a Yankton scaffold burial (BOU Cro.001).
Yanktonai Dakota images of interest include photos by D. F. Barry of Standing Rock Indian Reservation policeman Henry Bull Head who reportedly shot Sitting Bull after having been mortally wounded himself during the arrest (CAB BarD.011); an elevated outdoor group portrait taken during the 1885 census at Standing Rock (MEDIUM BarD.001); a studio portrait of interpreter and scout John Bruguier by George Spencer (CAB Spe.013); two studio portraits of Mad Bear (CAB BarD.017 & CAB Sco.005); stereographs by Stanley J. Morrow showing Yanktonai chiefs Black Eye, Bloody Mouth, Afraid of the Bear (STE MorS.019) and Medicine Bear (STE MorS.003 & STE MorS.004); and a studio portrait of Wolf Necklace by O. S. Goff (STE Gof.008).
Several photos are related to the Ghost Dance movement on the Lakota reservations and the subsequent buildup to and aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Specific items of interest regarding the Lakota Ghost Dance movement include a secret photo taken by Sam T. Clover without the subjects' permission of a Ghost Dance feast in which Sitting Bull supposedly stands at center (LARGE Clo.001); a photograph by James E. Meddaugh showing a Ghost Dance being performed by Oglala Lakota men and women at Pine Ridge (CAB Medd.001); an outdoor portrait by George W. Scott of a Lakota woman named Scarlet Woman who had been arrested in November of 1890 for proclaiming to be the "mother of the Messiah" (CAB Sco.003); and several individual and group portraits by Trager & Kuhn of Lakota chiefs both involved with and opposed to the Ghost Dance movement, including Kicking Bear, Stinking Bear, Hollowood, Crazy Bear, Crow Dog, Two Strike, Young Man Afraid of His Horse, Good Lance, Short Bull, High Hawk and Big Talk (BOU Tra-Kuh.009, BOU Tra-Kuh.015, BOU Tra-Kuh.016, BOU Tra-Kuh.022 - BOU Tra-Kuh.025 & BOU Tra-Kuh.027). Also of note are other photographs by Trager & Kuhn including a studio portrait of Kiowa chief Ahpeatone (erroneously identified as Young Man Afraid of His Horses) who had been sent to visit his Lakota relatives on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in order to learn about their version of the Ghost Dance (CAB Tra-Kuh.001) as well as a "bird's-eye view" of a Ghost Dance at Pine Ridge on November 25th 1890 which may have been originally taken by James E. Meddaugh (BOU Tra-Kuh.031).
Approximately 51 photographs directly pertain to the Wounded Knee Massacre. Materials of note include a view by Clarence G. Morledge of the "Bloody Pocket" valley where the Drexel Mission Fight took place one day after the massacre (BOU Morl.001); a series of studio portraits by George E. Spencer depicting several individuals involved with the Ghost Dance movement who were being held as prisoners of war at Fort Sheridan after Wounded Knee (CAB Spe.004 - CAB Spe.012); and a group portrait by an unidentified photographer in 1902 of Chief Calico with son Frank Calico and wife Good Dog, the latter of whom was purportedly a "great Medicine woman at Wounded Knee in 1890" (LARGE Uni.005).
Photographs from albums compiled by Michigan-based photographer Fannie Hoyt include views of the Wounded Knee battlefield (Albums 4B & Albums 4D) and portraits of individuals known to have survived the massacre such as Joseph Horn Cloud (Albums 4C), Daniel White Lance (Albums 4F) and possibly Dewey Beard (Albums 4C). Graphic photographs by Trager & Kuhn show bodies of victims at the site of Wounded Knee, as well as scenes at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation immediately following the massacre (BOU Tra-Kuh.001, BOU Tra-Kuh.002, BOU Tra-Kuh.004, BOU Tra-Kuh.008 - BOU Tra-Kuh.014, BOU Tra-Kuh.016, BOU Tra-Kuh.020, BOU Tra-Kuh.022 - BOU Tra-Kuh.026, BOU Tra-Kuh.028 - BOU Tra-Kuh.030 & LARGE Tra-Kuh.001 - LARGE Tra-Kuh.004). Photographs by John C. H. Grabill include images of a Grass Dance being performed by Miniconjou dancers four months prior to the massacre (LARGE Gra.001 & LARGE Gra.002); scenes from "hostile" Lakota camps on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (LARGE Gra.003 & LARGE Gra.004); Gen. Nelson Appleton Miles and staff at Pine Ridge (LARGE Gra.008); negotiations taking place between U.S. Army officers and Lakota leaders at Pine Ridge following the massacre (LARGE Gra.007); individual and group portraits of Lakota individuals including Crow Dog (LARGE Gra.009), Plenty Horses (STE Gra.001 & FRAMED 6), Jack Red Cloud (LARGE Gra.011), a wife and family of American Horse (LARGE Gra.005), and survivors of Big Foot's band (LARGE Gra.006); as well as a group portrait of Brulé and Oglala Lakota men, women, and children, including an infant purported to be one of the two babies known to have been miraculously recovered from the Wounded Knee site three days after the massacre (LARGE Gra.010).
Other photographs of note include a group portrait by Frank Currier showing a Lakota delegation to Washington, D.C., in May of 1875, including chiefs Red Cloud, the Oglala Sitting Bull, Swift Bear, and Spotted Tail as well as Prussian-Jewish interpreter Julius Meyer (STE Cur.001); a view of a Brulé "war dance" at Rosebud Agency (BOU Uni.002); a group portrait of Louis Dewitt and family at Fort Bennett, Dakota Territory (MEDIUM Uni.009); and three views by E. A. Fry of lodges at an Oglala encampment on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1883 including a Medicine Scalp Lodge and Sun Dance Lodge (LARGE Fry.001 - LARGE Fry.003).
Also present are views of Lakota scaffold burials (STE MorS.027, STE MorS.029 & BOU Cro.001); a photo showing a group of Lakota dancers in traditional dress posing outside the home of Emma Sickels with American flags and a Benjamin Harrison flag related to the 1888 presidential election (BOU Tra-Kuh.032); three studio group portraits by Robinson & Roe of the Sioux Treaty Commission of 1889 (CAB Rob-Roe.001 - CAB Rob-Roe.003); portraits including Lakota family members related to American frontiersman John Young Nelson (CAB AndD.001, CAB Ell-Fry.001, CAB Fra.001, & LARGE Gra.010); and a Trager & Kuhn view of Red Cloud's wife Pretty Owl inside the couple's cabin at Pine Ridge (Tra-Kuh.005).
Ute
Approximately 16 photographs in the collection pertain to the Ute tribe. Specific Ute sub-tribes represented in the collection include the Capote, Moache, and Tabeguache. Images of particular note include studio portraits by William H. Jackson of Ute chiefs Ouray (CAB Jac.001) and Colorow (CAB Jac.002), Ouray's sister Shawsheen erroneously captioned as being Ouray's wife Chipeta (CAB Jac.003) and Tushaquinot (CAB Jac.004 & BOU Jac.001); a studio portrait by Charles M. Bell of a member of Ouray's band called "Tom Ute" (OVERSIZE Bel.007); and portraits by C. R. Savage of a Ute family (CDV Sav.001) and a warrior identified as "Indian Charley" (STE Sav.001).
Also present are two portraits made by Timothy O'Sullivan during the Wheeler Expedition of Capote Utes including a woman named "Pah-ge" (STE Wheeler.039) and a group of unidentified Ute warriors (STE Wheeler.040); two studio portraits by Ben E. Hawkins showing a group of Ute chiefs (STE Haw.001) and a chief named "Washington" (BOU Haw.001); a studio portrait by J. N. Choate of an unidentified Native American man (possibly a Ute) erroneously identified as Colorow (MEDIUM Cho.001); and a studio portrait of White River Ute leader Chief Johnson by W. G. Chamberlain in which the subject holds a studio prop staff affixed with a scalp lock (CAB Cha.001).
Photo Albums & Portfolios
12 photograph albums and one three-volume portfolio set are present in the collection.
The John Alvin Anderson album consists of 49 images of scenes from the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Photographs depict daily Lakota life on the reservation including landscapes, boarding schools, camp life and homesteads, reservation police, and Fourth of July-related dance ceremonies. Images pertaining to cattle ranching and Native American cowboys are also a prominent theme in the album. Several portraits of Brulé Lakota men are also included, including Hollow Horn Bear, Crow Dog, and Two Strike. Of particular note is a group portrait of several Brulé Lakota men preparing for a "Journey to Eastern Cities".
The Osage Indians photograph album contains 49 images mostly taken by George W. Parsons near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, ca. 1880 to 1900 that for the most part pertain to the Osage tribe. Images of particular interest include photographs of Osage Reservation buildings, boarding schools, portraits of Osage men, women, and children, cattle ranching scenes, and images captioned "Sun Dance" that likely depict Fourth of July celebrations. Also present are 12 photographs likely taken by the unidentified compiler of the album which show street scenes and buildings from Pawhuska, white American sightseers at "Lover's Leap" rock formation, and an Osage lodge flying an inverted American flag.
The Fort Berthold album compiled by an unknown photographer contains 54 images primarily related to the Mandan tribe at Fort Berthold, North Dakota, ca. 1890 to 1910. Images of particular interest from the front two-thirds of the album include landscape views, Fort Berthold Agency buildings and homesteads, reservation police, meat drying, and photographs of Mandan men, women, and children. The final third of the album contains photographs of dead animals, hunting trophies, a taxidermy business, bison farm, and the Northern Pacific railroad bridge in Bismarck, North Dakota. Some of the Native Americans depicted may belong to the Arikara and Hidatsa tribes who also reside at Fort Berthold.
The Fanny Hoyt albums (9 volumes) consist of approximately 287 images taken during visits to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota from 1900 to 1903. Fanny Hoyt (1868-1949) was a photographer from Wayland, Michigan. Images of interest include numerous portraits of Lakota men, women, and children (many of whom are identified with captions), buildings from around Pine Ridge agency, landscape views including the Badlands, and photographs related to cattle ranching and meat distribution. Of particular note are photographs of the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, a Catholic Indian Meeting House, giveaway ceremonies, preparation of boiled dog meat, wooden coffins captioned "Indian Graves", the interior of a Lakota church, scenes from Fourth of July celebrations, and group portraits of Lakota pupils at "No. 29 Day School".
Other Items of Note
52 stereographs taken by Timothy O'Sullivan and William H. Bell relate to the survey expeditions led by Lieut. George Wheeler (STE Wheeler.001 - STE Wheeler.052) in the years 1873 and 1874. These images depict not only the natural landscapes explored during the survey, such as Canyon de Chelle and Shoshone Falls, but also the Apache, Navajo, Ute, and Zuni peoples through whose lands the survey passed. Includes original stereograph box.
Approximately 30 photographs primarily taken by J. N. Choate are directly related to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1879 by Captain Richard Henry Pratt of the U.S. Army, Carlisle was the flagship Indian boarding school until its closure in 1918. Over ten thousand Native Americans attended the school, where they were subjected to a strict regimen devised under Pratt's motto of "Kill the Indian, save the man." Arriving students had their hair shorn and their clothes replaced with European-style dress, while students were also forced to take new English names and forbidden to speak their native languages.
More items of interest related to the Carlisle School include outdoor group portraits of Dakota boys and girls (BOU Cho.004 & BOU Cho.005); a view of the Boy's Quarters (BOU Cho.009); studio group portraits of Navajo students (BOU Cho.008); Laguna Pueblo students (CAB Cho.001); and Arapaho students (BOU Cho.009).
Of further note is an outdoor group portrait taken by William H. Tipton of nearly thirty Cheyenne and Arapaho parents and Carlisle students visiting the Gettysburg battlefield in 1884 (OVERSIZE Tip.001).
Other noted Indian chiefs, leaders and warriors represented in the collection include Wovoka, the Paiute prophet whose preaching formed the basis for the Ghost Dance movement (CAB Butl.001 & CAB Butl.002); Washakie, chief of the Eastern Shoshones (BOU Bak-Joh.001, BOU Bak-Joh.002, CAB Bak-Joh.001 - CAB Bak-John.003, BOU Hay.001 & MEDIUM Hay.001); Osage chief Bacon Rind (MEDIUM Dix.002); Ponca warrior Big Snake (STE MorS.013); Ponca chief Standing Bear (FRAMED 9); Pawnee chief Young Bull (MEDIUM Dix.001); Pawnee warrior Big Spotted Horse (FRAMED 8); Pawnee chief Petalesharo II (STE Carb.002, STE Carb.003 & STE Carb.007); the last "full-blood" Kansa council including Forrest W. Chouteau, Silas Conn, Little Jim, Jesse Mehojah, Roy Monroe and James Pepper (LARGE Uni.002); Hidatsa chief Hard Horn and son Long Arm (STE Gof.005); Bill Jones of the Gros Ventre (BOU Morr.005, BOU Morr.006 & MEDIUM Mat.001); Mandan chief Wa-Shú-Na-Koo-Rá, the son of Chief Four Bears (STE MorS.006); Enoch Hoag, last traditional chief of the Caddo (BOU Len-Saw.010); Northern Arapaho leader Sherman Sage (BOU Hay.001); and Billy Fewell, a Seminole leader and tribal historian of partial African descent (BOU She.001 & MEDIUM Uni.005).
Many images depict encampments, dwellings, dance lodges, and other architectural constructions made by Native Americans as well as American settlers. Particularly noteworthy items include several views of sod buildings (MEDIUM But.001, MEDIUM Uni.013, BOU Tem.001, CAB Tem.001, Albums 4B & Albums 4C); a view by Winter & Brown of two totem poles outside the home of Stikine Tlingit chief Gush Tlein in Wrangel, Alaska (BOU Win-Bro.001); Hidatsa and Mandan structures in Like-a-Fishhook Village at Fort Berthold Agency taken by Stanley J. Morrow (STE MorS.011, STE MorS.012 & STE MorS.030); stereographs by John Carbutt showing Pawnee mud lodges and drying racks laden with sliced pumpkin rinds (STE Carb.004 & STE Carb.005); views showing Ho Chunk chipotekes (STE Ben.002, STE Ben.003 & BOU Ten.001); and buildings and agricultural works at Zuni Pueblo (STE Wheeler.016 & STE Wheeler.018).
Numerous photographs pertain to dance ceremonies, including images related to the Sun Dance, Ghost Dance, Grass Dance, Fox Dance, "Squaw Dance," and more. Photographs related to Fourth of July ceremonies are also prevalent. After the Religious Crimes Code was first enacted in 1884, traditional Native American customs and dances began to be forbidden on reservations. In response, many tribes started using the Fourth of July (which generally overlapped with the historic timing of Sun Dance festivities) as a means of expressing traditional aspects of their cultures while simultaneously displaying patriotism for the United States of America, something which was actively encouraged by Indian Agents.
Items of particular interest with regards to Native American Fourth of July celebrations include an image of what possibly may be Lakota/Dakota dancers in the middle of a performance (LARGE Uni.004); two Trager & Kuhn photographs of Lakota chiefs involved in Fourth of July celebrations at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (BOU Tra-Kuh.007 & BOU Tra-Kuh.015); a view of a large Plains Indian encampment gathered for Fourth of July in 1892 (BOU Uni.001); three photographs by White's Studio related to Fourth of July celebrations by the Cheyenne and Arapaho at El Reno, Oklahoma Territory, on July 4th 1898 (LARGE Whi.001 - LARGE Whi.003); a Norman A. Forsyth photograph of a Kootenai "Sun Dance" lodge being assembled in 1904 (STE For.001); a Frank Bennett Fiske photograph showing tipis painted for a Fourth of July gathering at Standing Rock Reservation (OVERSIZE Fis.001); five photographs by Sumner W. Matteson taken during a Fourth of July celebration among the Gros Ventre on Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Montana (MEDIUM Mat.001 - MEDIUM Mat.005); a panoramic photograph by H. C. Chaufty depicting a "Sun Dance" gathering in 1909 (FRAMED 4); and two photographs related to a Fourth of July parade involving a group of Menominee Indian men, women, boys, and girls (MEDIUM Joh.002 & MEDIUM Joh.003). Three of the Fanny Hoyt albums (Albums 4C, Albums 4D & Albums 4H), the John Alvin Anderson Album (Albums 1) and the Osage Indians Photograph Album (Albums 2) also contain images related to Fourth of July celebrations.
The Pohrt Collection is particularly rich with photographic examples of Native American material culture in part due to the collection creator Richard Pohrt, Jr.'s own personal interest in that subject. Numerous images show various elements of clothing & dress such as shell and bead necklaces, bear claw necklaces, otter fur and cloth turbans, feather and porcupine fur headdresses, breechcloths, buckskins, dresses trimmed with real and/or imitation elk teeth, gorgets, cinder goggles, cloth and fur hair wraps, hats, otter fur and hairpipe breastplates, bow and rifle cases, face and body paint, presidential peace medals, blankets, robes, bandolier bags, moccasins, and articles of clothing embroidered with beadwork, porcupine quillwork, and silk ribbon applique. A number of images also contain examples of traditional weaponry including tomahawks, war clubs, bows and arrows, spears, shields, knives, and coup sticks. Richard Pohrt, Jr. has provided extensive notes regarding elements of material culture that have been incorporated into individual catalog records.
Several photographs present in the collection especially highlight the issues of cultural appropriation and racism with regards to Native Americans. Photographs in which white American subjects appear dressed in "traditional" Native American clothing include an outdoor group portrait by W.E. Vilmer showing a group of white children dressed in Indian costumes (OVERSIZE Vil.001); a studio group portrait by Hans H. Stolze of two white men wearing Indian costumes and holding pistols (CAB Stol.001); and a group portrait showing a room of white men and women dressed in Indian costumes related to an unidentified branch of the Improved Order of Red Men (MEDIUM Uni.011). Also present are two photographs that were used as exhibit pieces by the Western Americana collector Charles Frederick Fish during the Second International Congress of Eugenics Exhibit of Scientific Studies at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 1921; the first photograph is a studio group portrait by E.E. Henry of four Nez Percé chiefs including Chief Joseph, Charles Moses, and Yellow Bull while they were being held as prisoners of war at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (BOU Hen.001); the second photograph is a studio portrait of the Apache chief Bonito by Ben Wittick (BOU Wit.003).
Numerous photographs in the collection contain culturally sensitive content, including images related to sacred ceremonies that were often photographed under duress and/or without explicit permission (such as photographs related to Ghost and Sun Dance ceremonies); images of Native American graves; and images of actual deceased Native American persons, such as the Trager & Kuhn photographs showing the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Other culturally sensitive photographs not mentioned elsewhere in this Finding Aid include a staged view by George W. Bretz showing two U.S. Army soldiers and two unidentified Native American men horsing around in a sweat lodge at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, in what appears to be a mock imprisonment scene (CAB Bre.006); a view by Edward De Groff of a Tlingit grave and cremation ground in Juneau, Alaska (BOU Deg.003); an outdoor group portrait by W. H. Partridge of an Aak'w Kwáan Tlingit family that appears to be dressed for a mourning ceremony (BOU Par.004); and a postmortem portrait of a Sarsi woman sitting at the bedside of her deceased daughter (LARGE Uni.001).
Photographs that have been deemed to contain culturally sensitive content will not be made digitally accessible and will only be available for use in the reading room.
See Additional Descriptive Data Section for more comprehensive listing of subject terms, tribal names, personal names, and contributors.
Approximately 1,045 individual photographs, 12 photograph albums, 3 portfolios and 1 piece of realia
7 linear feet
This collection is comprised of 1,182 letters; 98 diaries; 210 documents; 468 receipts, checks, and account books; seven school papers and writings; three photographs; 34 printed and ephemeral items; and other materials of the family of stonecutter and marbleworker John M. Ramsey, his wife Cyanea, and their children. The family lived in Greenfield, New Hampshire; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Around 60 Civil War letters and one diary of the Ramseys' son Henry, who served in the 16th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, and around 10 letters of a cousin Ridgeway P. Cragin, of the 32nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, are included. Particularly notable are 96 daily diaries of the Ramsey daughters Emily S. and Cyanea H., kept largely while they lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1870s-1920s.
The Correspondence series includes 1,182 items and opens with the 1827-1830s letters of Caroline and Hannah Ramsey of Greenfield, New Hampshire, and a sister, Sarah Marshall, of Augusta, Maine. A group of letters pertain to the courtship and marriage of John M. Ramsey and Cyanea Stevens--including a letter from Cyanea's parents Lemuel and Reliance about Cyanea's request for their approval of the wedding (August 5, 1836). Letters of the 1850s include correspondence of Collins Hinckley Stevens, regarding the death of Cyanea's mother Reliance in 1858, and incoming letters to Emily Ramsey from her schoolmates. A selection of letters to Emily from E. H. Langdon, a schoolteacher in Milwaukee, are present.
In the 1860s, sisters Emily, Frances "Fannie", and Cyanea carried on correspondence with each other and with friends and family, including:
The Ramsey family correspondence includes around 60 Civil War letters of Corporal Henry C. Ramsey of the 16th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry. He wrote from Camp Randall, the steamship Planet, Camp Sabin, Camp near Grand Junction, Camp near Memphis, Camp near Lake Providence, Louisiana, Camp Randall, and Vicksburg. In the mid-1870s, Henry was admitted to the Michigan Asylum for the Insane at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the family received letters from Dr. E. H. VanDensen about his progress, especially around 1876. Around 10 letters of a cousin Paul Ridgeway Cragin, of the 32nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, are included.
Cyanea's and Emily's other correspondents from the 1870s to the 1930s include but are not limited to:
The Diaries series includes 98 daily diaries, 96 of which were kept by sisters Cyanea H. and Emily S. Ramsey between 1873 and 1935, while the two lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The remaining two diaries include Henry C. Ramsey's Civil War diary for the year 1864 and a partial 1921 diary kept by [Howard Stevens?] in a pre-printed 1894 pocket journal. Henry Ramsey's 1864 pocket diary includes entries covering the 16th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry's movements from Vicksburg to Tennessee, to Georgia, with accounts of Kennesaw Mountain and the battle of Atlanta. The diary also covers his experiences as part of Sherman's march to the sea.
The Documents series is made up of 210 legal and financial documents pertinent largely to land and property in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Michigan, between 1786 and 1919 (bulk 1825-1911). Additional items include tax documents, stock-related items, and other materials.
The Financial and Business Papers includes 300 receipts, around 160 bank checks, and eight account books. The receipts date between 1831 and 1928, pertaining largely to John M. Ramsey's marble and stonecutting business. Additional receipts relate to personal property and tax payments. The 160 checks are drawn largely from Grand Rapids, Michigan, banks between December 1869 and October 1880. The account books include:
The collection's School Papers and Writings (7 items) include John M. Ramsey's teacher's book, November 1830-February 1831; a fragment of mathematical rules by J. M. Ramsey; a chronological table by Emily Ramsey, 1851; a reward of merit for Mary Ramsey; two penmanship exercises; and a manuscript issue of The Literary Chip Basket (vol. 111, no. 11), Port Washington, 1861, with list of contributors including Fanny Oatman and Emily Ramsey.
The Photographs series includes one carte-de-visite of Henry C. Ramsey of the 16th Wisconsin Infantry; and one carte-de-visite and one cabinet card of unidentified individuals.
The Ephemera and Printed Items series is made up of invitations, Nashua Manufacturing Company employee regulations (August 31, 1837), advertisements for marble and other products, and torn pages from the History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, ed. Hurd, 1885.
The collection also contains items pertinent to Genealogy (6 items) and an Address Book, Fragments, and Envelopes.
7 linear feet
6 cubic feet (in 7 boxes, 1 Oversized folder, 1 v.)
The collection documents the Parker family of Frankfort and Grand Rapids, Michigan, particularly captain and lawyer N.A. Parker, and his daughter, Dora B. Parker, later of Los Angeles, California. Most of the collection consists of various types of family photographs in a variety of media, correspondence, legal documents, genealogical materials, publications, verse and poetry, and other materials. Dora’s life and that of women of her period and education are documented by photographs of activities, such as biking and trips, travel journals, and by the Woman’s Lakeside Literary Club (Frankfort, Michigan), Annual Programs, 1896/1897, 1919/1920-1925/1926, of which she was a member. N.A. Parker’s life is documented mostly in photographs, notably in a fine photograph album of the Civil War, mostly of the 20th Michigan Infantry, with carte de visites of officers of the unit, and one composite image of President Lincoln. Many of the photographs are autographed or have annotations on them concerning the officer’s death. N.A. Parker is also documented in post-war GAR reunion materials and in family genealogical materials. Two published books were retained in the collection because of the additional materials and personal dedications in them to Dora. Copies are separately cataloged in the Clarke. Although Mary E. Parker’s obituary notes her early activities as a suffragette, there is no documentation of these activities or interests within the collection.
6 cubic feet (in 7 boxes, 1 Oversized folder, 1 v.)
approximately 600 photographs in 1 album
The New England family travel photograph album contains approximately 600 photographs that document the domestic life and foreign travels of an unidentified husband and wife couple from suburban Boston during the first decade of the 20th-century. The album (28.5 x 36 cm) has pebbled black leather covers with “Photographs” stamped in gold on the front. By and large, images are presented chronologically and many have extensive captions which mainly identify the locations pictured as well as certain individuals. It appears that many image captions were cut and pasted from white paper and added on top of pre-existing faded captions that had been written directly on the album pages. Some images that show people of African descent have subtly derogatory captions. Photographs showcasing the family’s domestic life include pictures of annual spring blooms in their backyard; friends and family; various domestic activities including interacting with pet cats; and regional outings such as visits to Mt. Washington, Point of Pines nature park in Revere, Massachusetts, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier's birthplace in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
In the summer of 1905, the couple travelled to Montreal and up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and beyond, resulting in the production of nearly ten pages of photographic highlights (pgs. 7-16). Later that summer, they also took photographs while vacationing in the Lake Sebago region of Maine with friends whom they later visited in Providence, Rhode Island (pgs. 16-20, 22). A visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, and Beauvoir, Mississippi, in December of 1906 is also documented (pgs. 30-37). In 1907 the couple undertook a period of extensive international travel beginning with a trip to England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, and France (pgs. 38-57). A second visit to Quebec in September 1907 is briefly represented (pgs. 57-58), while a series of pictures from a trip to St. Augustine, Florida, in April 1908 are also included (pgs. 59-62). Photographs related to two separate tours of the Caribbean and Central/South America in July and August of 1908 and March of 1909 make up a substantial portion of the album (pgs. 63-103); images from the first tour mainly include scenes from Caribbean islands such as St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, and Barbados as well as British Guiana, while images from the second trip include scenes from Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Panama, Venezuela, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Also present are several commercially-produced photographs, including a number of panoramic views, showing scenes from Mexico (pgs. 104-111). The majority of images taken during the couple’s travels consist of typical sightseeing photographs showing important cultural landmarks and historic buildings as well as street scenes, methods of transportation, and local people and industries. Throughout the album there are also numerous photographs taken aboard various transport vessels mid-voyage.
A few noteworthy historical events are minimally represented by photographs in this album, such as the January 15 1905 Washington Street Baptist Church fire in Lynn, Massachusetts (pgs. 2 & 3); the Quebec Bridge a few weeks after its collapse on August 29 1907 (pg. 57); the Great Chelsea Fire of 1908 (pg. 59); Panama Canal construction in 1909 (pgs. 87-89); long distance views of the site of the village of St. Pierre, Martinique, which was decimated by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pelée on May 8 1902 (pg. 80); and the wreck of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor (pg. 179). Individuals identified by captions throughout the album include Dr. Robert L. Bartlett (pgs. 4 & 89); “Miss Morse” (pg. 5); Stanley and Donald Clauss of Providence, Rhode Island (pgs. 17, 19 & 22); Hattie English, Lizzie English, “Mrs. Boynton,” and “Miss Lord” (pg. 19); Samuel Pickard (pg. 20); Jessie Pauline Whitney (pg. 21); "Mr. Little" (pgs. 19 & 22); William Rhodes (pg. 26); Maud Burdett (pgs. 38 & 58); George C. Hardin (pg. 74); Dr. Selah Merrill, American Consul in British Guiana (pg. 80); "Mrs. Parker" (pg. 85); and Hermann Ahrensburg (pg. 91). Other images of interest include a couple of photographs showing United States cavalrymen at camp in Lakeville, Massachusetts (pg. 2); a multiple exposure photograph showing the wife and other women (pg. 22); four photos showing a group of women that appear to be associated with a possible Masonic organization with the acronym “O.E.O.T.” (pg. 23); two photos of local boys diving in St. Lucia (pg. 72); a picture of a school for natives in St. Thomas where students were supposedly fined 10 cents a day for being absent (pg. 82); photos from Kingston, Jamaica, showing women working on a railroad and men operating a hand-made sugar mill (pg. 86); a group portrait of a baseball team in Venezuela (pg. 92); photos of the natural asphalt deposit Pitch Lake in Trinidad (pgs. 94 & 95); and photographs showing people with Brownie box cameras (pgs. 82 & 103).
approximately 600 photographs in 1 album
2 linear feet
The collection entitled Minto-Skelton family papers is divided into two series: the Walter Minto papers and the Skelton family papers. It began as the Walter Minto papers by donation from Harry B. Earhart in 1934, and this collection, which consists of 21 documents and seven letters, has been incorporated into the new, larger collection of Minto-Skelton family papers given by Jean McIntyre Conrad in 2004. The Skelton family papers contains only a few items from the Earhart donation: specifically, seven of the ten Detargny documents between 1796 and 1798 (in Series 2, sub-series 4) and one printed broadside from 1799 (in Series 2, sub-series 5); the rest come from the much larger Conrad donation. In the Contents Lists that follow each collection it has been noted which papers originally belonged in the Earhart donation.
Walter Minto Papers:
The Walter Minto papers consists of 296 letters and 31 documents, along with nine manuscript notebooks, diaries, account books, etc. and five short handwritten notes by Minto himself. Nearly all of the letters were written during Minto's lifetime, from 1774 to 1796, with four from 1797-98 added to the collection because they refer to him or to his estate. Most of the letters were written to him (253), and they are about equally divided between those written before he left Scotland for America (mid-1786) and those written after he arrived in America. Those from 1779 to 1786 are especially revealing about two events in his life that were either unknown or only hinted at previously.
The first has to do with his sojourn in Italy. He accompanied the Johnstone boys to Italy in 1776 as their tutor and remained with them there until early 1779, when they, and presumably he with them, returned to England. But letters both to and from his father, Walter Minto, Sr., along with references in other letters, make clear that, after entrusting the boys to Captain Machell in Spain, he returned to Slop's home in Pisa in March of 1779, began a formal, concentrated study of mathematics with Slop, that he continued that study there until mid-1782, and that it affected his health.
The second has to do with Minto's previously unknown relationship with a woman named Catherine Drummond. This relationship can be seen in the 49 letters (sometimes in French, occasionally in Italian) written by her to him between March of 1784 and early June of 1786, when he left Scotland for America. The correspondence continued in America, though less frequently; she wrote only three letters between February of 1787 and January of 1788. In a letter (of which there exists only a partial "translation") in response to hers of January of 1788 he tells her that he has loved her for four years and proposes marriage to her. She rejects his proposal by return mail, but continues writing to him until 1791, even after his marriage to Mary Skelton in the fall of 1789.
During his time in America, he met and exchanged letters with a number of influential people, both before going to Princeton (mid-1786 to late 1787) and afterwards (1787-96): for example, John Witherspoon, president of the College of New Jersey; the astronomer and clockmaker David Rittenhouse; Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, with whom he lodged when he first came to America; the army officers James Chrystie and Francis Gurney, who became his friends; even George Washington, to whom he sent a copy of his book on the new planet.
Another 25 letters are neither to nor from him. Most were written from one Minto family member to another and concern primarily family matters; they were probably brought by Minto to America, or were perhaps sent to his wife, Mary (Skelton) Minto, by his Scottish relatives after his death. Two of the letters were written to or from the Johnstones, in 1764 and 1772 (the latter by David Garrick), before Minto had even met the family. Three of the four letters written in 1797-98, after his death, were addressed to his wife, and the fourth to a close friend of hers.
Of the 18 letters written by Minto himself, eight are originals, having been sent to relatives and friends. The other ten are copies or drafts, in his own hand, that he kept for his personal use: these are always marked "copy" or "draft" in the Contents List.
Following the letters are nine manuscript notebooks, diaries, account books, etc. (eight written by Minto, 1776-96; plus one written in 1802, after his death) and five miscellaneous notes in his own hand. Most of the notebooks provide details about events in his life, especially the lists of expenses in the notepads from 1776 and 1779, having to do with his theological education and his dealings with the Johnstone boys, his trip to America in June and July of 1786 from the daily log he kept of it, his travels during his first few months in America from the notepads for late 1786 and early 1787, and the nature of his mathematical lectures at the College of New Jersey from the notebook dated 1802.
Of the remaining 31 documents: 14 date from 1757 to 1786, when Minto left Scotland for America; 14 from 1787, after he arrived in America, to his death in 1796; and three from after his death, the latest of which is dated 1801. The earliest one (a transcript of the entry for Elisabetta Dodsworth's baptism in 1739, from the Baptismal Record of Leghorn in Italy) is dated 1757, when Minto was only four years old. The last is a bill of lading, dated 1801, for what was probably family memorabilia sent from the Minto family in Scotland to Mrs. Mary Minto after her husband's death. In between are documents providing glimpses into Minto's education (24 January 1776), his being set free in Cadiz (13 March 1779), his trip home from Italy in the summer of 1782 (the passport signed by Sir Horace Mann on 11 June 1782), his honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen (3 February 1786), his becoming a United States citizen (24 July 1787), and his membership in the American Philosophical Society (17 January 1789).
Walter Minto Skelton (1804-48) and Family Papers:
The Skelton family papers, unlike the Walter Minto papers, consist of a great variety of materials: 43 letters, written between 1780 and 1940; a large body of prose writings and poetry, including 6 notebooks of prose and poetry, 20 orations, lectures, and essays, and 22 manuscripts of miscellaneous verse; one engraving, one drawing, one print, and four portrait photographs; 50 documents of various kinds; 14 printed materials and 3 newspaper clippings; and 58 items of miscellanea, including 7 notes, 18 invitations, and 24 round pieces of cloth with writing in ink.
The letters are divided into three groups based on the primary correspondent in each group: Mary Skelton Minto (from before 1780 to 1813, and possibly to 1824, the date of her death); Walter M. Skelton (from 1824 to 1843); and the Boyd family (from 1872 to 1940). All three groups of letters provide details about events in the lives of family members. In addition, the first group provides some chronology on the life of Marin Detargny, which is described in detail in the section below on documents. The second group contains some important Skelton family documents, especially the very difficult-to-read letter to Walter Skelton from his father Joseph dated 20 January 1825, and the one from his aunt Elizabeth White dated 22 March 1827. The third group of letters contains a mix of dates and correspondents, mainly regarding the extended Skelton families (especially the Boyds). Two letters in particular are revealing in their insights into the late 19th-century (and later) interest in spiritualism, or spiritism: the one from Edgar Ryder to Ann Skelton dated March 1872 announcing his belief that her brother Walter "is one of the Big Guns in the Spirit world"; and the one from Charles Robb to Elizabeth Boyd dated 12 January 1930 enclosing his transcript of a spirit message from her aunt Ann Skelton during a séance the previous day.
Following the letters are prose writings and poetry, divided into three groups. The first consists of manuscript notebooks containing one or the other or (usually) both genres, and is further divided into notebooks in Walter Skelton's own hand (3) and those in other hands (3). Except for "Elizabeth White's Collection of Poetry," all of these notebooks have Princeton connections, and a few have western Pennsylvania connections.
The second group contains orations, lectures, and essays, nearly all of which are in Skelton's hand and presumably composed by him. The dated ones are from his years at the College of New Jersey in Princeton, and most of the others must be as well. Public speaking was an integral part of the College curriculum, and some of the orations must have been delivered there during his student days (see especially the one dated July 1825).
The third group contains miscellaneous verse. A few of the poems are in Skelton's hand and may have been composed by him (3); the leaf containing the second poem has a few occurrences of the name "(Miss) C. Morford," who may have been a love interest of his. Most of the poems (19), however, are in other hands and range from well known ones like "Don't give up the Ship," Burns' "Auld Lang Syne," and Waller's "Of My Lady Isabella playing on the lute" to obscure ones, including a "Canzonetta" in Italian by Peruchini. Along with Elizabeth White's collection in the first group, these poems indicate a strong interest in poetry in Walter Skelton's extended family.
After a few miscellaneous illustrations and photographs are a large group of documents (certificates, wills, receipts, deeds of land sales, surveys, and the like), divided by the families to which they refer. Most of these families were from western Pennsylvania and related to the Skeltons (Boyd, Craig, McFarland) or were members of the Skelton family itself. The Franklin Heirs also relates to western Pennsylvania, for in January of 1840 Walter Skelton purchased two tracts of land, totaling 410 acres, on the west side of the Allegheny River in South Buffalo Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, which had been owned in the 1780's by Benjamin Franklin; Skelton presumably built a house on the property and lived there until his death in 1848, when it passed into the hands of his sister Ann Skelton. The Scudders were friends of the Skelton family in New Jersey, and the deed of sale described here was probably from a descendant of that family. The two White family documents refer to Elizabeth White, whose collection of poetry is described in Series II, sub-series 2 above and who lived in Scarsdale, New York; she was the sister of Walter Skelton's mother, Sarah White Skelton, wife of Joseph Skelton, Sr.
The most intriguing set of documents has to do with Marin Detargny. It is uncertain how his papers came to be included in the papers of the Mintos or of the extended Skelton family. Moreover, seven of the ten Detargny documents between 1796 and 1798 were in the Earhart donation; why or how they became separated from the rest of the Detargny documents is a mystery, especially since they are not so different from the other three of the same date. From the documents (and four letters referring to him) one learns that Marin Detargny was born in France on 26 June 1776, son of Jean Francois Detargny. He is twice called "homme de lettres," once "Professeur," and is later referred to as "Reverend." He remained in France until at least 1798, not leaving until 1800 or a little later. By December 1802 he was in Virginia, residing in Alexandria and trying to open a school, but at about the same time he must have moved to Annapolis, where he taught French until at least April 1804. Between November 1805 and August 1807 he was in Charleston, South Carolina, but by 1810 he was in Philadelphia and being looked after, at least financially, by Benjamin Hopkins (husband of Mary Skelton Minto's niece, Elizabeth, the daughter of Mary's brother Josiah). By early 1813, Detargny was destitute and was in danger of being sent to the overseers of the poor; his wife was also destitute and depended on "relatives" who could not afford to help her husband.
How the Skeltons and the Hopkinses came to know him, and especially how the Hopkinses came to be responsible for him, is unknown, though intriguing; sometime after 1807 (see undated letter from M. Chrystie to Mary Minto) a "Mrs. Ditennia" (probably Mrs. Detargny), who had been ill, visited Mary Minto in Princeton.
The next category consists of printed materials (a broadside; an interesting advertisement and list of fees for Mrs. Graham's school in New York from the early 19th century; two newspapers; some pamphlets and announcements; and three newspaper clippings about family events). The most numerous group is the pamphlets and announcements, which contains primarily the Proceedings of seven Boyd family reunions held in western Pennsylvania and Ohio between 1881 and 1892 (at least ten reunions through 1900, but no other Proceedings appear in the Skelton family papers). These Proceedings contain lists of the participants and attendees at the various reunions, along with biographies of some of the Boyds (including Walter Skelton Boyd [1864-92], who was named for his uncle, Walter Skelton, in the 7th Proceedings), and an in-depth study of some of these people might help to unravel the connections both among the Boyds and of the Boyds with the Craigs, Earharts, and McIntyres.
The final group consists of miscellaneous materials, including notes by Walter Skelton; invitations to parties, dances, and college exercises; a statement from students at the College of New Jersey directed to James Carnahan, president of the College; a notebook containing "By-Laws of ‘The Princeton Blues'," a militia group in Princeton whose captain in 1830-31 was Walter Skelton; a booklet of proverbs and common sayings in English and Spanish on facing pages; a series of primarily 20th-century family notes and lists about the contents of the second Minto-Skelton collection before it was given to the Clements Library; and some obscure pieces of cloth with writing on them. Three of the five notes written by Walter Skelton are presumably from his days at the College of New Jersey; a fourth is apparently a record of the books in his library; and the fifth is a unique list of "Provincialisms noticed in the Western part of Pennsylvania," which he must have recorded when he first went out to that part of the country in 1826. Fourteen of the eighteen invitations (some on the backs of playing cards) are addressed to one or more of the Skelton sisters requesting their attendance at parties, dances, and college exercises, and they attest to the active social life for young women in Princeton and environs in the 1780's.
The last item in the group of miscellaneous materials is a set of twenty-four round pieces of cloth with writing in ink on one side of twenty-two of them. The writing has various configurations: always the name of the writer and, in addition, occasionally the name of the addressee, usually a sentiment of some kind, and frequently a date and the home of the writer. The addressee, when given, is always Mary or Mary McFarland; the year, when given, is 1845, usually in October; the home addresses are nearly always somewhere in Indiana County or Armstrong County, Pennsylvania; and the writers are often relatives (five are Skeltons).
2 linear feet
0.5 linear feet
This collection contains correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and other items related to the McViccar and Antes families of northern New York.
The Correspondence series (168 items) contains 1 letterbook and 167 personal letters that members of the McViccar and Antes families received from 1802-1901; most letters are dated 1817-1845 and 1865-1894. The earliest items pertain to Elizabeth Todd McViccar of Cambridge, New York, and her sons, John and Peter. John McViccar received personal letters from acquaintances and family members, including his brothers-in-law, Palmer, Halsey, and Nathaniel Townsend. John McViccar also received a series of letters from his brother Peter, who described his journey from New York to Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia in 1821. Peter McViccar continued to write about life at the college until the mid-19th century. One of Peter's letters contains ink drawings of Mount Vernon, the United States Capitol, and government buildings in Washington, D.C. (December 22, 1821).
On September 4, 1832, John McViccar wrote to his brother Archibald about the death of his young daughter, Louisa. John T. McViccar wrote several letters to his parents, John and Rhoda McViccar, relating his experiences at school in the 1840s. Other correspondents mentioned subjects such as travel to the South and discussed political issues. Most items dated after 1850 are related to the Antes family of Cicero, New York. Harriet (or "Harriette") Fiske McViccar wrote to her cousin, Mary McViccar Antes, wife of Evert Antes, with news from Fayetteville, New York (September 16, 1856). M. M. Duncan, an acquaintance of Mary Antes, discussed her employment and aspects of domestic life.
John McViccar's letter book (approximately 66 pages) contains copies of his personal and professional letters, dated September 8, 1818-October 3, 1840. He commented on aspects of his daily life, his finances, and his business affairs. Some of the letters from 1823 concern Elizabeth McViccar's estate.
The Legal and Financial Documents and Invitations series (64 items) concerns members of the McViccar (earlier items) and Antes (later items) families. Financial records include wills, receipts, and indentures, many of which relate to land in Onondaga County, New York. Evert Antes received several preaching licenses in the late 1800s; the series also contains 2 marriage certificates. Later items include a military discharge for Paul J. Antes, who served with the 3rd New York Volunteers during the Spanish-American War.
The Genealogy, Poetry, Obituary, and Visiting Card series (12 items) includes a newspaper obituary for John McViccar, genealogical notes about the McViccar family, essays by Evert Antes, and a calling card.
Three Photographs are portraits of Nancy Barkly Antes Benedict: one is a carte-de-visite, one is a large card photograph, and one is a tintype.
0.5 linear feet
0.25 linear feet
This collection contains 62 letters, 41 documents and financial records, 27 photographs, 26 genealogical manuscripts, 5 pieces of ephemera, and 6 newspaper clippings related to Chapin and Mary Dean Howard of Meriden, Connecticut, and Grafton, Vermont. Mary Howard's incoming correspondence includes letters from her two sisters and her brother-in-law, who lived Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the late 19th century. Other material concerns various Howard family members' financial affairs, estate administration, and family genealogy.
The Correspondence series (62 items) primarily consists of incoming letters addressed to Mary Dean Howard. She received 11 letters from her mother, Angeline Cobb Dean, about life in Chester and Grafton, Vermont, between 1865 and 1873; around 40 letters from her sisters and brother-in-law, who lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and others from female friends. Lucy Dean Woodworth, Harriet Dean Tufts, and Arthur H. Tufts all commented on their social lives, family health, and other aspects of their lives in South Dakota Mary received 2 letters about a friend's experiences as a schoolteacher in Sand Beach, Michigan (October 14, 1883, and February 27, 1884), and a letter from Lewis B. Hibbard about the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, which he composed on the exposition's illustrated stationery (January 8, 1885). The remaining letters include business letters addressed to Chapin Howard (3 items), additional family correspondence, and a letter that William Battison wrote to the Grafton postmaster about the history of the wool industry in Grafton, Vermont (July 7, 1904).
The collection's Documents and financial records (41 items) primarily concern the fiscal affairs of Ormando S. Howard, Chapin Howard, and the estate of Aurelius C. Howard. They include inventories, land documents, accounts, account books, and receipts. A series of oversize ledgers documents Ormado S. Howard's involvement in settling Aurelius C. Howard's estate. Chapin Howard kept records of his transactions with W. H. Wellard, most of which involved the lumber trade. Two account books document C. Howard's accounts with C. O. Howard (3 pages, 1887) and Gladwin Howard's accounts with S. J. Hall for foodstuffs and other goods (17 pages, 1890). Two later documents relate to claims against the estates of Chapin and Mary Dean Howard. Also included is a manuscript report of a committee that visited several schools in 1878.
The Photographs series (27 items) is made up of 16 cartes-de-visite portraits; 7 cabinet card photographs including images of a young Chapin Howard at Saxtons River, Vermont; 1 tintype of 2 young men; 2 paper prints of an unidentified family; and a picture of a house in Meriden, Connecticut.
The Genealogical papers series (26 items) is comprised of notes, family trees, lists, and other material pertaining to the ancestors of Mary Dean and Chapin Howard and to the history of Grafton, Connecticut.
The collection's Ephemera series (5 items) contains advertising and business cards, a program for an event at the Winthrop Hotel (November 27, 1883), an invitation to members of the Montowese Tribe no. 6 (to Chapin Howard, 1887), and a patented envelope for "mailing photographs, fancy cards, etc."
The Newspaper clippings (6 unique items) include 21 copies of Mary Dean Howard's obituary, an article about the history of the Grafton Library, an article respecting several Vermont ministers, a list of Republican voters in Grafton, and obituaries for Peter W. Dean and Chapin Howard.
0.25 linear feet