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The Eaton-Shirley family papers consist of personal diaries, correspondence, military papers, legal and business documents, printed materials, and photographs. A primary figure in the collection, John Eaton, Jr., was Civil War Superintendent of the Freedmen and later Commissioner of Education under Grant. The papers also contains substantial material from other Eaton family members, including military papers and correspondence of his brother, Lucien B. Eaton, and papers of the Shirley family (the family of John Eaton, Jr.’s wife, Alice E. Shirley).

The Eaton papers consist of 1,903 items, dating from September 1790 to July 30, 1939. The bulk of the collection falls between 1850 and 1906. The papers contain 318 letters, 9 diaries/journals, 60 personal documents of John Eaton Jr., 275 legal documents and business papers, 112 military documents, 923 photographs, 84 printed items, and 122 miscellaneous items.

The majority of the correspondence is personal and relates to family matters. The 168 letters of John Eaton, Jr., contain extensive biographical information. Of particular interest are 44 Civil War-era letters including information about the freedmen, three letters pertaining to the publication of The Post, and two with content regarding the Ku Klux Klan. The collection also contains 22 letters to and from Alice (Shirley) Eaton, 31 letters to and from Lucien Eaton, and 32 miscellaneous letters from members of the Eaton family. Of the 30 letters written by Alice Eaton's parents (James and Adelaine Shirley), 10 letters regard compensation for the damage done to the Shirley House during the Civil War. Various other members of the Shirley family wrote 15 letters, and 20 letters are from other people unrelated to the Eaton and Shirley families.

John Eaton Jr.’s aunt, Ruth Dodge Eaton, wrote two diaries which consist almost entirely of Christian hymns and essays. John Eaton Jr.'s uncle, Horace Eaton, wrote one diary that contains Christian material written while he attended Dartmouth College. John Eaton, Jr., wrote two diaries, one of which he wrote as a youth, and the other as a student at Dartmouth. Other journals include two by John Eaton Jr.'s brothers, Frederick and Charles, and a household account book, kept by his sister Christina. Of particular importance is Alice Shirley’s diary, in which she described pre-civil war tensions between the north and the south, speculation on the upcoming Siege of Vicksburg, the early stages of the Siege of Vicksburg, and very personal feelings regarding her marriage to John Eaton, Jr.

The 60 personal papers of John Eaton Jr. include 17 documents regarding his appointments and titles, two documents about freedmen, and 41 miscellaneous address cards and invitations (including an invitation to the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge).

Of the 275 legal papers, 74 documents pertain to the sale of land in Mississippi; 7 concern Robert M. Jones’s claim to Choctaw Nation lands; and 25 relate to estate papers, deeds of trust and documents about the proceedings of Adelaine Shirley’s post-war relief claims; and a receipt for the sale of an African American woman. The remaining 176 legal papers are miscellaneous financial documents, such as tax documents, checks, and receipts.

Of the 112 military documents, 58 pertain to John Eaton, Jr., 7 of which are about freedmen. The military documents of Lucien B. Eaton number 54.

The 923 photographs consist of six photo albums, 31 cased daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, 144 cabinet cards, and 421 loose photographs and snapshots all depicting members of the Eaton and Shirley families, scenic locations, and the Shirley House.

Of the 84 printed items in the collection, 49 newspaper clippings pertain to the occupational and personal activities of John Eaton, Jr., and 9 miscellaneous clippings relate to the Eaton family. The remaining 26 items are published pamphlets, including addresses and reports concerning John Eaton, Jr.; a sermon written by Horace Eaton; a report of proceedings of an Ohio Brigade reunion; an Anti-Slavery Almanac from 1838; and an incomplete piece describing the history and restoration of the Shirley House.

The 122 miscellaneous papers of the John Eaton, Jr., collection consist of 53 recipes and 69 miscellaneous items including a partial autobiography of Alice Eaton.

The Fenno-Hoffman papers contain the personal correspondence of three generations of the Fenno and Hoffman families of New York City. Correspondence from, to, and between the family members of Maria Fenno Hoffman, daughter of John and Mary (Curtis) Fenno of Boston and Philadelphia, and wife of Josiah Ogden Hoffman of New York.

The Fenno-Hoffman papers contain the personal correspondence of three generations of the Fenno and Hoffman families of New York City. It appears that the collection was initially assembled by Maria Fenno Hoffman, who was the bridge linking the Fennos and Hoffmans, or one of her children. The majority of the letters in the collection are addressed to Maria, and those written following her death are mainly from her three children. As a whole, the collection forms a diverse and uniformly interesting resource for the study of family life, politics, and literary culture in the early Republic. The Fennos and Hoffmans seem all to have been blessed with literary talent and excellent educations, enjoying interests ranging from politics and commerce to publishing and writing, but cursed with short lives and disastrous fortune. Their correspondence creates a vivid impression of a once-wealthy family struggling with adversity and personal loss. Yet despite all of their connections to the centers of political and social power, and despite all the setbacks they encountered, the overriding impression gleaned from the Fenno-Hoffman correspondence is of the centrality of family in their emotional and social lives.

The collection can be roughly divided into two, interrelated series: the letters of the Fenno family, and the somewhat later letters of the Hoffmans. Within the Fenno series are 25 letters from John Fenno to his wife, Mary, and six from Mary to John, written primarily during two periods of separation, in the spring of 1789, and summer, 1798. This correspondence conveys a sense of the passionate attachment these two held for each other, expressed with their exceptional literary gifts. John discusses the founding of the United States Gazette in 1789, including a visit with Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia where he had gone to purchase type. His letters are full of political commentary relating to the establishment of the federal government in 1789 and the young nation's Quasi-War with France, 1798. Although Fenno's letters to his wife are filled with political opinions, he urged her not to get involved in political controversies herself, nor to form opinions of her own. Mary apparently felt free to express herself to her husband, but significantly, her letters tend to mirror his staunchly Federalist political sympathies. The collection also contains four letters from John Fenno to his children, in which he discusses the French Revolution (1794) and general political news (1797-98), while doling out some fairly standard fatherly advice.

All nine of the Fenno children who survived infancy are represented as writers in the Fenno-Hoffman Papers, each one of whom seems to have been blessed with literary talent. The most frequent correspondents among the Fennos -- Maria, Charles J., and Edward -- display an intense interest in the affairs of their family, and express a powerful attachment for one another.

The collection contains twenty letters from Maria Fenno Hoffman (1781-1823), wife of lawyer and judge Josiah Ogden Hoffman (1766-1837), and most of the other letters in the collection were addressed to her. The letters written by Maria were nearly all addressed to her children and contain information on the family, laden with large doses of motherly advice. Among her most notable letters is one addressed to Washington Irving, whose fiancée, Matilda Hoffman, Maria's step-daughter, had died shortly before their wedding day.

The young British Navy officer, Charles J. Fenno, wrote thirty-nine letters, all to his siblings, and the collection also includes one letter to Charles from British Navy officer Charles Williamson (1757-1808), advising him to take an appointment in the West Indies. Fenno's letters include detailed descriptions of his attempts to cope with the debts incurred by his brother, John Ward Fenno, his part in the Tripolitan War and the turmoil in Haiti in 1802-3, naval sparring between French and English on the high seas, and family matters. With the typical Fenno style, Charles' letters provide an excellent view of these conflicts from the perspective of a young junior officer. His last letter was written while on vacation at Coldenham, N.Y., five weeks before his death.

Charles' younger brother, Edward, wrote 69 letters to his sister and surrogate mother, Maria, and 31 to his brother, James, along with a few miscellaneous letters. As lengthy as they are literate, Edward's letters provide an engrossing, running commentary on all facets of life in New Orleans during the 1820s and 30s, when it was still more a French city than American. His interests range from politics to business, high society to love affairs (his own, as well as others'), the annual yellow fever season, death and dying, race relations, piracy, and military exploits. They offer an intimate and detailed view of Louisiana during the years in which it was undergoing a rapid Americanization, and Edward's membership in the American militia, and his keen observational abilities provide a memorable account of the changes. His last letter to Maria, written a month before her death, discusses the necessity of family loyalty.

Comparatively speaking, the other Fenno children are represented by only scattered letters. Only two letters survive from the shortest-lived of the adult Fennos, John Ward, both written in 1797. In these, Jack discusses the acute controversy between Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) and the Federalist Gazette of the United States. Three of Harriet Fenno Rodman's letters survive -- containing social news and observations -- along with seven poems, including love poetry to her husband. Harriet's daughter, Anne Eliza Rodman, is represented by 24 letters, mostly addressed to her aunt Maria Hoffman, that include excellent descriptions of politics, society, and race relations in St. Augustine. George Fenno's four letters, also to his sister Maria, reflect the tedium felt by an educated urbanite set down in the countryside. Mary Elizabeth Fenno Verplanck's nine letters describe social life in Philadelphia, Fishkill, and Ballston Springs, and her efforts to mend a serious rift between her fiancée (later husband) and her brother-in-law Josiah. The ill-fated Caroline Fenno apparently had little time to write before dying, leaving only two letters describing life in Albany in 1804. James Bowdoin Fenno's six letters concern the business climate in South Carolina and Georgia and, as with all other Fenno correspondence, underscore the importance of family ties.

The second major series of correspondence in the Fenno-Hoffman Papers is centered on the children of Josiah Ogden Hoffman and his second wife Maria Fenno, Charles Fenno, George Edward, and Julia Hoffman. This series also includes eight letters from Josiah to his wife and sons, consisting principally of advice to his wife on how to run the household and, to his sons, on how to study industriously and become a credit to their "indulgent father." The letters he received in his old age from his children are particularly revealing of Josiah's personality. In these, Josiah appears as a hypochondriac and as a literal-minded businessman obsessed with commerce who had difficulty understanding any mindset other than his own.

As a poet and writer, Charles never ceased to perplex and irritate his father. Charles was a sensitive, observant man and an exceptional literary talent whose ability to express his thoughts and feelings grew as he grew older. His 62 letters to his brother (1826-1834, 1845) and sister (1833-1845) include discussions of many issues close to his heart, from his literary career to the "place" of the artist in society, from the continual rack and ruin of his personal finances to his family relationships, pastimes, politics, and general reflections on life. His letters to George are pun-filled and witty, even when he was in the throes of adversity. Charles wrote nine letters during his famous western trip, 1833-34, some of which were rough drafts intended for publication in the American after his sister Julia edited them. His letter of July 22, 1829 offers a marvelous description of an all-night party, and the single extant letter to his father (April 26, 1834) exhibits an uncharacteristic interest in politics, perhaps to please the elder Hoffman. There are also five excellent letters from a classmate of Charles, written while Charles was recuperating from the loss of his leg in New York. These are enjoyable, but otherwise typical schoolboy letters describing the typical assortment of schoolboy pranks.

The largest run of correspondence in the series of Hoffman letters, and the core of the collection, consists of the 63 letters from Julia to George. Julia's letters (1834-45) relate her experiences in several residences, particularly in the Philadelphia home of Jewish philanthropist, Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869). Julia comments frequently on Charles's literary activities and George's checkered career as a civil engineer. Much of what she writes is commonplace yet her style makes each episode intrinsically interesting. There are no letters from George. Considering that George was Julia's executor in 1861 and was responsible for Charles's well being after being committed to an asylum in 1849, suggests that George may have assembled the collection. The only item in the collection written by George is a love poem written for Phoebe on their first wedding anniversary. He was the recipient of letters from his brother and sister, but also his cousin William J. Verplanck, niece Matilda Whitman, sister-in-law Virginia Hoffman, and nephew Ogden Hoffman, Jr.

There is a single letter from Ogden Hoffman (1794-1856), Josiah's son by his first marriage to Mary Colden, in which he gives friendly advice to his young half-brother Charles. Ogden appears to have been a valued friend to his half-siblings. He was considered the outstanding criminal lawyer of his generation. There are no letters from the servant, Caty, but there are several excellent discussions of her, particularly in Julia Hoffman's letter of February 18, 1837 and James Fenno's letter of December 1, 1821.

Among the few miscellaneous pieces written by non-members of the family are four letters from Rebecca Gratz, a close friend of the family whose name runs throughout the entire collection, particularly in Julia Hoffman's correspondence.

The Clements Library's collection of individual friendship and autograph albums (the ones that are not part of larger bodies of family papers) dates primarily from the second half of the 19th century. The creators of these albums sought out friends, family, schoolmates, public persons, and others to write signatures, sentiments, poetry, extracts from books and serials, personal sentiments, and more. Contributions often emphasize ties of friendship, exhortations to seek love, happiness, or Christian religious salvation. Most of the volumes in this collection were compiled in the Northeast United States and areas in the Midwest, with urban and rural areas represented. The greater number of the albums were kept by young women and the bulk of the signers were also female. Contributors occasionally illustrated pages with calligraphic designs, trompe l'oeil visiting cards, animals, flowers, and themes that had particular significance to their relationship with the keeper of the album. The volumes in this collection are largely decorative blank books adorned with tooled covers, sometimes containing interspersed engravings of religious, literary, historical, and landscape themes. Some include pasted-in photographs, die-cuts, or stickers.

The Clements Library's collection of individual friendship and autograph albums (the ones that are not part of larger bodies of family papers) dates primarily from the second half of the 19th century. The creators of these albums sought out friends, family, schoolmates, public persons, and others to write signatures, sentiments, poetry, extracts from books and serials, personal sentiments, and more. Contributions often emphasize ties of friendship, exhortations to seek love, happiness, or Christian religious salvation. Most of the volumes in this collection were compiled in the Northeast United States and areas in the Midwest, with urban and rural areas represented. The greater number of the albums were kept by young women and the bulk of the signers were also female. At least one volume was kept by an African American man, Lewis G. Mosebay. Contributors occasionally illustrated pages with calligraphic designs, trompe l'oeil visiting cards, animals, flowers, and themes that had particular significance to their relationship with the keeper of the album. The volumes in this collection are largely decorative blank books adorned with tooled covers, sometimes containing interspersed engravings of religious, literary, historical, and landscape themes. Some include pasted-in photographs, die-cuts, or stickers.

This collection is made up of correspondence, speeches, a travel diary, and a published history related to the family of General George S. Patton. The bulk pertains to Patton's parents, George S. Patton, Jr., and Ruth Wilson Patton, and to his sister, Anne W. Patton ("Nita"), though items written by and addressed to General Patton are also present.

This collection (0.75 linear feet) is made up of correspondence, speeches, a travel diary, and a published history related to the family of General George S. Patton.

The largest selection of correspondence pertains to George S. Patton, Jr., and Ruth Wilson Patton. Letters written by Patton to Wilson during their courtship and after their marriage provide news of his life, work, and travels. Some items mention their son Georgie (George S. Patton III). Patton also wrote letters to his family, including five to his mother while participating in the punitive expedition to Mexico in 1916. Letters written by Nita Patton largely concern her experiences while living in London, England, in 1919. Some of her letters refer directly to her acquaintance and relationship with John J. Pershing, whom she met during a visit to New Mexico after the punitive expedition of 1916.

Multiple letters written by George S. Patton, Jr., relate to the future general's admission to and studies at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in the 1900s. Patton provided his son with personal advice and encouragement, and news from home. The collection includes miscellaneous family letters, addressed to and exchanged between numerous family members between the 1870s and 1890s.

The Patton family papers contain a daily diary of Nelly Davenport and her father's trip to Antigua from December 1789-1790, taken in an attempt to improve Nelly's ailing health. The diary and an accompanying description relate Nelly Davenport's final illness, medical treatments, and death.

A selection of George S. Patton, Jr.'s, speeches is included in the collection. Most were delivered while Patton attended the Virginia Military Institute in the late 1870s, including his valedictorian speech. The speeches concern topics such as the Civil War, the Battle of New Market, and politics. One later item, the text of a speech delivered before the Sunset Club on November 25, 1904, concerns interactions between African Americans and Europeans, particularly with regard to black slavery and suffrage in the United States.

This collection contains business correspondence, financial accounts, and receipts related to Philadelphia merchants John Hamilton and John M. Hood, and to the firms Hamilton & Drew and Hamilton & Hood. The receipts pertain to goods such as food, alcohol, and tobacco.

This collection (179 items) contains business correspondence, financial accounts, and receipts related to Philadelphia merchants John Hamilton and John M. Hood, and to the firms Hamilton & Drew and Hamilton & Hood. The receipts pertain to goods such as food, alcohol, and tobacco.

The Business Correspondence series (9 items) contains letters to John Hamilton (3 items, June 14, 1809-July 5, 1813); to his firm, Hamilton & Hood (5 items, May 21, 1818-May 5, 1820); and to his business partner, John M. Hood (2 items, November 8, 1831, and June 18, 1832). The letters concern business interests and financial affairs, particularly related to shipments of tea, coffee, and brandy.

The Thomas and Elizabeth Leiper Receipts series (21 items, 1814-1823) consists of receipts between Thomas and Elizabeth C. Leiper, John Hamilton, and Hamilton & Hood. Thomas Leiper sold "pigtail tobacco" to the merchants, and Elizabeth C. Leiper signed vouchers for products such as general groceries, brown sugar, and clover seed.

The Receipts and Financial Documents series contains 149 accounts, receipts, and financial documents related to the business interests of Hamilton & Drew (1806), John Hamilton (1811-1816), John M. Hood (1816), and Hamilton & Hood (1817-1828). The bulk of the items are dated in 1806 and from 1811-1818; most are receipts concerning the firm's purchases of consumable items, including sugar, brown sugar, molasses, salt, tea, coffee, oil, crackers, and alcoholic beverages. The series also includes receipts for wharf rental (April/May 1806), store rental (December 8, 1814), professional services (January 1, 1825), and frying pans (October 20, 1816). An account for butter shipped onboard the brig George Beckworth reflects a charge for "negro hire" (September 27, 1822). The final item is a bill of lading for coffee shipped on the Decatur (May 8, 1828).

Collection of wide variety of research and reference materials on Native Americans, mostly Potawatomi, Ojibwe and Ottawa, mainly in Michigan and Kansas, but also includes Wisconsin, Canadian, and other Native American tribes. The main series are: Clifton personal, research, reference, and academic materials, Bay Mills Indian Community Court Case materials, Canadian Potawatomi research materials, Kansas Potawatomi research materials, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community vs. the State of Michigan court case materials, Michigan tuition waver project materials, [Native American] Removal documents, reprints, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe court case materials, and Wisconsin vs. Baker court case materials.

Abbreviations: Due to the size of this collection, the following abbreviations have been used to cut down on the size and of the finding aid. Abbreviations used include the following: ABCFM for American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM was used by Clifton in many of his notations in the Reprints series). ARSMPIS for Annual Reports of the Superintendent of the Mount Pleasant Indian School. AG for Attorney General. BIA for Bureau of Indian Affairs. COIA for Commissioner of Indian Affairs. ICC for Indian Claims Commission. IL for Illinois. IN for Indiana. JL for journal. KN for Kansas. KUPS for University of Kansas Potawatomi Survey. MAG for Michigan Attorney General. MI for Michigan MHS for Minnesota Historical Society. MN for Minnesota. MO for Missouri. MS for Mississippi.i NAM for National Archives Microfilm. NEB for Nebraska. NY for New York. NWT for Old Northwest Territory. OK for Oklahoma. PA for Pennsylvania. Qly for quarterly. Re: for regarding. SD for South Dakota. US for United States. W for West WI for Wisconsin

Spelling Note: The spelling of Indian words, such as villages, tribes, bands, and the names of individuals, varies greatly among and within nineteenth century documents and articles. I copied the spelling [errors] or phonetic pronunciations used in these older documents for this finding aid.

Series Description: Overall, Clifton’s collection documents his academic papers, large research projects, and his reference collection. It also includes a small amount of biographical material on Clifton.

The collection consists almost entirely of photocopies or photo-static copies of published and unpublished articles or drafts of articles, speeches, complete or partial books, correspondence, contracts, curriculum vitaes, government documents, treaties, grant proposals and related materials, faxed information, lists, notes, and various other reference materials, maps, a small number of duplicated black and white photographs, mainly from the Smithsonian Institute, and other materials, including a few overheads.

The originals in the collection include some Clifton’s correspondence and some of his notes and notecards. Many of his notes, particularly in the KUPS series are typed.

The collection is first divided by the size and format of the material into three groupings. First, (mostly) letter-sized material (with some legal-size material). Second, note cards, and, third, oversized material.

The letter-size material is then organized into a number of series. Each series is then organized alphabetically by subject, and then within each series alphabetically and chronologically by the folders’ headings, as appropriate. As much as possible, the archivist used Clifton’s headings, or an expanded version of them, as needed, for ease of use by researchers. In cases were there were no folder headings, or indeed no folders, the archivist sought to organize and label materials as simply as was possible for reasonable easy use by researchers.

The following letter-size series (a total of 18 cubic ft.) are found in this collection: 1) Clifton Materials-Biographical and Academic Papers; and his large research projects and reference collection are documented in the following series: 2) Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC) Court Case Materials; 3) Canadian Potawatomi Research Materials; 4) Kansas Potawatomi Research Materials; 5) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community vs. the State of MI Court Case Materials; 6) MI Tuition Waver Project Materials; 7) [Native American] Removal Documents; 8) Reprints; 9) Saginaw Chippewa Tribe Court Case Materials; and 10) WI vs. Baker Court Case Materials.

Most of the remainder of the collection consists topical 5x7 inch handwritten Notecards (15 cubic ft. in 19 boxes). Oversized materials (approximately 3 cubic ft.) include an oversized folder of some Isabella County (MI) plat maps (copies), 1891; and an oversized volume of various pages from multiple nineteenth century Tract Books of the General Land Office (Ionia, MI).

1) Clifton Materials, 1963-2000 (total approximately .5 cubic foot), includes his Biographical Material, 1987, 2000 (1 folder), with his Obituary, 2000; and his Academic Papers, 1963, 1972-1989, 1990, 1993, 2000, consisting of Clifton’s bibliography on Old Northwest Indian removal, 1825-1855; copies of book reviews, introductions to books and articles, his coursepack for a class; papers for publication and presentation, published articles, reports for the WI Dept of Justice for WI vs. Stockbridge [Mohican] Munsee Community (Case No. 98-C-0871), a case he researched for the WI Attorney General’s office, some of his research materials, and notes.

The Judicial Update website of Morisset, Schlosser [who specializes in federal litigation, natural resource and Indian tribal property issues], Jozwiak and McGaw (http://www.msaj.com/papers/WIcases.html), on Nov. 18, 2004, describes the WI vs. Stockbridge Munsee Community Case No. 98-C-0871 67 F Supp. 2 d 990 (E. D. Wisc. Sept. 30, 1999) as follows: “[The] State [of WI] brought action seeking to prevent the tribe from operating Class III electronic games of chance at a casino located outside boundaries on [the] Indian reservation. Upon [the] state’s motion for preliminary injunction, the district court held that: (1) [the] state demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success of their claim that Act of 1871 resulted in diminishment of [the] tribe’s reservation, and (2) other factors warranted granting preliminary injunction. Motion granted.”

This series documents various aspects of Clifton’s academic, publication, and research interests and activities. The rest of the collection documents his large research projects, particularly those regarding Native American court cases in MI and his Kansas University Potawatomi Survey research project.

Personal information on Clifton, aside from that found in his obituary, is not available in this collection.

2) Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC) Court Case Materials, 1936-1998 (Scattered) (approximately 1.5 cubic ft.), which documents two court cases. The court case for which there is the most material is the BMIC vs. Western United Life Assurance Co., et al. Documenting this court case are copies of court records, correspondence and email, reference and supporting documentation, 1936-1937, 1974-1975, 1992, and, mostly, 1997-1998, collected and notated by Clifton, who worked for the MAG. The Peninsula Legal Services, P.C., served as the tribe’s legal counsel.

BMIC vs. Western began in 1996 as a land claims settlement case. The BMIC had a claim to over 100 acres of land in what is now Charlotte Beach (MI). The land was to be held in trust for ancestral bands of the BMIC by the Governor of MI. Eventually the land was sold for delinquent taxes, without BMIC’s knowledge or consent. The court case resulted in the severe decrease of the value of the Charlotte Beach property and the inability of the current owners to verify their deeds. The tribe desired the land back or an equitable settlement. The case continued with various compromises being offered and not accepted by the BMIC for ten years. Part of the continuance, documented by a smaller amount of copied material (three folders), is the BMIC vs. the State of MI, et al. court case, 1998.

The Judicial Update website of Morisset, Schlosser [who specializes in federal litigation, natural resource and Indian tribal property issues], Jozwiak and McGaw (http://www.msaj.com/papers/WIcases.html), on Nov. 18, 2004, describes BMIC vs. Western United Life Assurance Co., no. 99-1036, (6th Cir. 2000) as follows: “Plaintiff Bay Mills Indian Community filed a complaint Asserting an interest I a parcel of property within the county [Charlotte Beach, MI]. Bay Mills alleged various federal constitutional and statutory violations in connection with the 1884 ouster from the property of its predecessors in interest, two aboriginal Chippewa bands, and sought either equitable title to the property or damages equal to its value and damages for the loss of the use and enjoyment of the land since 1884. The defendants, individuals and entities currently possessing various interests in the property, moved to dismiss the action under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12 (b)(7) and 19 for failure to join an indispensable party,the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The district court granted the defendants’ motion and dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint. Affirmed.”

In 2002 the US Senate proposed a bill to offer property in Sault Ste. Marie (MI) to the tribe, on which they could operate a casino. The committee on Indian Affairs heard the bill’s supporters and detractors and adjourned, declining the proposed bill. [Information from US. Congress. Senate. Committee on Indian Affairs. BMIC Land Claims Settlement Act. Hearing before the Committee on Indian Affairs, US Senate, 1077th Congress, 2nd Session on S. 2986 Oct. 10, 2002, a e-copy of which is available in the Park Library.]

3) Canadian Potawatomi Research Materials, 1835-1975, and undated (Scattered) (7 folders). This small series includes copies of acts, treaties, and constitutions of the Prairie Potawatomi in Kansas, 1936; materials relating to the Caldwell Band of Point Pelee, Pelee Island, and Malden, Ontario, Canada; Potawatomi Agency Correspondence, 1837-1870-1878; and Potawatomi Study Correspondence, 1973-1975; and Correspondence to/from Clifton, and Reference materials.

4) Kansas Potawatomi Research Materials, 1880-1883, 1886 1932, 1940, 1948, 1952, 1962-1965, 1973-1974, mainly 1962-1965 (approximately 2 cubic ft.)

General Kansas Potawatomi materials, mostly copied reference materials, 1880-1883, 1886 1932, 1940, 1948, 1952, 1973-1974, (9 inches, or approximately .5 cubic foot), are open to researchers. This includes correspondence, miscellaneous notes, and genealogies (family trees), as well as a large amount of reference materials, including newspaper clippings, bibliographies, and copies of articles. Also included are instructions for coding field notes and research materials for the Kansas University Potawatomi Survey (KUPS) Clifton led.

Of particular note here are the KUPS materials, mostly 1962-1965. The KUPS materials include: field notes, cross reference notes to field notes, and other research or reference materials, such as citations and maps. These materials were accumulated and categorized by Clifton, his wife, Faye, and his research assistants, Bob Bee and Ann Searcy, during their interviews with and observations of Kansas Potawatomi, also called the Prairie Band of Potawatomi, from 1962 through 1965. Many of these Potawatomi lived in the Mayetta (Kan.) vicinity. Notes and reference materials were filed within an extensive, coded KUPS folder arrangement. Many of the folders were found to be empty during processing, so researchers will notice gaps in the numerical sequence of the KUPS folders.

The FIELD NOTES of the KUPS (approximately 1.5 cubic ft.) are CLOSED TO RESEARCHERS for 70 years until 2045 [1965+70], because of the personal information in the detailed field notes, including: medical and psychiatric patient case records, alcoholism, the use of peyote, criminal records, sexual orientation, marital status, perceptions of those who were thought to practice witchcraft, sexual or physical abuse some people in the study suffered or received, and the detailed information about their financial states, as well as governmental support received, the field notes are closed.

6) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community vs. the State of MI Court Case Materials, were collected and annotated by Clifton for the State of MAG, 1988-1989 (approximately 3 cubic ft.). The Reprints in this series include copies and typed transcripts of materials sent to the MAG, which are organized either chronologically by the date of the event documented in the information, or alphabetically by topic, and include materials from 1820 through 1946 (Scattered), 1957, 1960, 1965-1966, 1972, 1979, 1982, 1985, and 1992. Types of materials in this series include: copies of depositions, notes, evidence copies of newspapers, magazines, and academic articles, books, maps, land patents and deeds, government documents, and correspondence, usually between the COIA and various Indian Agents.

According to the Michigan Indian Gaming website’s section documenting newsworthy events of 1998 (url is http://www.michigangaming.com/IndGame/IGNews-98-html), this court case is described as follows: “On Feb. 12, 1998 Judge David McKeague issued a decision stating that the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community statellite[sic] casino is operating illegally because the tribe did not adhere to IGRA [Indian Gaming Regulation Acts] in opening these facilities.” “On Aug. 21, 1998 the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa Indians launched a media campaign to gather support to prevent the closing of its Turtle Creek Casino in Acme, MI. The United States Attorney General’s office filed for a preliminary injunction to shut down the tribes[sic] casino because it claims that the casino is operating illegally. This came after the U.S. 6th Circuit [Court] overturned a decision in Keweenaw vs. MI. The Court is expected to hold a hearing on the issue in November of this year.”

7) Michigan Tuition Waver Project materials, (8 folders), includes copies of materials compiled or created in 1996 by Clifton. This project resulted from the demands of MI tribes for free tuition at the University of MI, which they believe was granted to them in old MI treaties. Materials found here include: reference materials, notably several articles written and published by Alice Littlefield about Native American education and the US Indian Schools, 1989, 1993, and 1996; Mount Pleasant Indian School (Mount Pleasant, MI) documents, 1934-1996 (Scattered); some legislation, 1968; Clifton’s report, correspondence, and contract with the MAG, 1996; and the MAG’s conclusion, Dec. 1995. Clifton contracted with the MAG to collect materials to defend their side of the case.

The MI [Indian] Tuition Waver was adopted by the MI Legislature in 1976 as an entitlement descending from old federal treaty rights. The program had a long beginning, which will be briefly described here.

In 1934, the federal government dissolved the federal Indian school program, transferring the buildings, property, and care of Native American students to the state of MI. For thirty years thereafter the state of MI did not meet its obligations of providing equal treatment and education to Native American children. Student activism in the 1960s led a University of Michigan (UM) student, Paul Johnson, to sue the UM in 1971. He believed the UM should provide free tuition to Native Americans based on Article 16 of the Treaty of Fort Meigs, 1817. Ultimately, his suit failed. However, the students who worked on the lawsuit contacted members of the state legislature for support. Rep. Jackie Vaughn carefully constructed a bill based on MN’s existing tuition waiver program. In the summer of 1976, his bill, know as Public Act 174, 1976, created the MI Indian Tuition Waiver Program.

The Waver, which was amended in 1978, allows students to have their tuition paid if they are one-quarter North American Indian and have been a MI resident for at least one year. [This information is from the Clarke website (url is http://clarke.cmich. edu/ tretytuition.htm), on Dec. 3, 2004, and CMLife, p. 1 and 4A, Fri., Oct. 29, 2004.]

Ultimately, the tribes’ demands developed into the court case Children of the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomy Tribes, et al., vs. Regents of the University of MI, a case which the tribe lost. However, the University of MI agreed to offer Native American students scholarships, which amounted to free tuition. (For further information on the case, see the Elmer White’s collection which is also housed at the Clarke. White acted as the attorney for the tribes.)

8) [Native American] Removal Documents, created or compiled in 1982-1983, and undated (2 cubic ft.).

The removal research project was funded by a grant from the NEH, and resulted in Clifton’s bibliography Old Northwest Indian removal, 1825-1855: a bibliography, a copy of which is found in Box 1 of this collection. A tiny part of this series includes three folders of materials relating to the grant, including: Illustrations…, undated; Notes and Correspondence, 1982; and NEH Microfilm Work reports of James McClurken to Clifton, 1982-1983.

The bulk of the series, however, consists of copies of published articles and historical Removal Documents, and some notes from Clifton, which were compiled by Clifton for reference purposes.

The published articles are in alphabetical order by author’s surnames.

The Removal Documents are in chronological order, 1807-1855, with a small amount of post-1855 materials, 1856-1980 (Scattered). Commonly found examples of historical Removal Documents in this series include: the Dept. of War, Office of Indian Affairs officials’ correspondence, journals, reports, disbursement accounts, and regulations regarding the removal of Native Americans; records of annuity payments; correspondence and other papers regulating the functions of the Superintendency, agencies, and sub-agencies; a journal of treaty negotiation, 1833; treaties and lists [sometimes censuses] of [members of] tribes or bands either remaining in their area or removed to west of the Mississippi [which have been noted specifically in the box and folder listing]; petitions of various Native Americans to the President of the US; maps; published journals of the US House and Senate; and personal correspondence.

Finally, there are a few topical Removal Document folders, which are in alphabetical order, 1839-1888 and undated [copies made in 1982 or 1983].

9) Reprints, a caption used by Clifton, (6.5 cubic ft.) is the largest series in this collection. It includes copies of general reference and/or research materials, 1820-1992 and undated, regarding various aspects of Native Americans, Africa and Africans, African-Americans, slavery, and other native peoples around the world, as well as anthropological articles. However, the majority of the series documents Native American history, including, but not limited to: Indian treaties, Indian agents, Indian removal policies, reservations, missions and missionaries, wars, captivity or travel accounts, as well as other topics. A sizable section of this series is various articles and documents from multiple issues of the WI Historical Collections. Types of materials in the series include: dissertation abstracts; parts of or complete academic or popular articles and books; reference articles, such as biographies from encyclopedias; reprints of academic articles; student papers; drafts of academic papers; papers for presentation at conferences; correspondence; notes; maps; statistics; and other materials. These materials were collected by Clifton during his academic career.

10) Saginaw Chippewa Tribe Court Case Materials, includes materials created or compiled, 1991-1992, (2.5 cubic ft.) by Clifton. Clifton was under contract with the MAG to collect materials to defend their side of the case.

Compiled materials include copies of historical documents and reference sources about the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, including: court records, reprints of articles, treaty journals, annual reports of the Mount Pleasant Indian School, Indian Claims Commission records, the amended Constitution and By-Laws of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, 1986, and other documentation, as well as Clifton’s correspondence, agreements, other information he exchanged with MAG and other associates,1797-1992 (Scattered).

Two court cases are documented in this series, mostly the US et al., vs. State of MI, et al., 1992 and, very minimally, the US vs. the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of MI, et al., 1990-1991, 1997.

The case for which there is the most material, that of the US et al., vs. State of MI, et al., dealt with tribal fishing rights. There is a long history of lawsuits in MI over Native American fishing rights. In brief, this particular lawsuit, which began in 1973 and was tried in 1978, was eventually settled out of court on March 29, 1985. In the case, the Native Americans attorney strongly argued three points. First, that the tribes involved had historically fished in the Great Lakes. Second, that they had retained the right to fish under treaties signed in 1820, 1836, and 1855. And, third, that they had actively participated in commercial fishing after those treaties and thus could logically assume that they should be allowed to continue to do so. In May 1979, the judge settled the case in favor of the tribes, however various issues remained that had to be agreed upon by both parties.

Finally in 1985 an agreement, called the Sault Ste. Marie agreement, was reached. As part of this agreement, the Great Lakes were divided into zones. The MI tribes were allowed to fish unrestrictedly to a defined maximum catch, mostly in the northern zones, and sports fishing was relegated mostly to the southern zones. The Bay Mills Chippewa community was unsatisfied with the agreement and vetoed it. After a brief trial, the agreement was put in place with the force of law until 2000. [This information is from the Clarke website (url is http://clarke.cmich.edu/treatytuition.htm), on Dec. 3, 2004.]

11) WI vs. Baker Court Case Materials, includes copies of materials created or compiled in 1976 and 1978 (1.5 cubic ft.) by Clifton, who served as an expert witness for the tribe. Materials in this series include: records of related court cases, correspondence, Clifton’s expert testimony, and published articles, mostly about removal from the WI Historical Collections, date from 1830s-1934.

The State of WI vs. Baker, et al., was predated by the Voigt decision in WI. The Voigt Decision recognized the rights of the tribal hunting, fishing, and gathering activities of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Chippewa in WI as they were granted to the tribe in the treaties of 1837 and 1842.

In 1978, the Federal District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the state. In 1983 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court ruling. At that point, the State of WI petitioned, in vain, the US Supreme Court to review the case. Five other WI Chippewa Bands then joined the case, which continued in District Court. There were three phases: I: Declaratory; II Regulatory; and III: Damages. (A Guide to understanding Chippewa treaty rights: WI edition, 1994, pp.2-3, a copy of which is in the Clarke.)

The WI vs. Baker case was brought by the State of WI against the chairman (Ordie Baker) and all of the officers of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board. As documented here in the Opinion and Order [by Judge James Doyle], Sept. 20, 1978 (76-C-359), the state’s contention was that the tribe’s enforcement of its established codes for fishing on its reservation, which mandated that people who were not members of the tribe to purchase fishing licenses from the tribe, was illegal and interfered with the rights of the state’s citizens. The tribe’s interpretation of its treaty rights were that the tribe, as a sovereign nation, had the sole right to hunt and fish within the borders of its reservation. The state contended that this had not been the intent of the agents of the federal government who created the treaties which led to the creation of the reservation. Clifton and Judge Doyle, however, believed otherwise.

When Judge Doyle died in 1987, the case was assigned to Judge Barbara Crabb. After denying the state’s request to appeal Judge Doyle’s ruling, “she held that tribes held the authority to regulate their members and that effective tribal self-regulation precludes state regulation.” on Aug. 21, 1987 (ibid, p.3). Later, Judge Crabb decided that the tribes were self-regulating regarding the state’s walleye and muskellunge harvests held in October (1989), and in regards to the state’s deer population (1990). In 1991, Judge Crabb also ruled that while tribes did not have treaty rights to harvest timber commercially, they did have treaty rights to gather other forest products (ibid, p. 4).

12) Notecards. There are 19 card boxes (15 cubic ft.) of topical 5x7 inch handwritten notecards, documenting the removal of various Native American tribes, Clifton’s bibliography and biographical index, as well as related Native American topics. There are organized alphabetically by topic, and then either chronologically (if notes about removal documents) or alphabetically (if names or sources).

13) Oversized Materials, include an oversized folder of some Isabella County (MI) plat maps (copies), 1891; and an oversized volume of copies of various pages from multiple Tract Books of the General Land Office (Ionia, MI), 1800s.

Processing Notes: I have tried to observe Clifton’s topical and organizational scheme as much as possible. A number of items in many boxes were without folders and identifying information. These items have been placed in the most likely series or, when a topic and therefore a location was otherwise undeterminable or multiple, into the general Reprints series.

Items withdrawn from this collection include all published books, periodicals, maps, and court records, which were separately cataloged.

Also withdrawn were duplicates, illegible materials, blank sheets of papers, binders, photocopying instructions, forms for requesting copies (from many institutions), generic correspondence and post-it notes without informational value, cover sheets, and the “This article is not available.” notices from inter-library loan departments. All post-it notes with notes of substance were removed after they had been copied and a copy put in the folders.

The Norton Strange Townshend Family papers include correspondence, diaries, essays, lectures, printed matter, clippings, financial and legal papers, photographs, daguerreotypes, ephemera, realia, maps, and books belonging to the Townshend and Dodge families, who were connected by the marriage of Margaret Wing (granddaughter of Norton Townshend) and Homer Levi Dodge (grandson of Levi Dodge) in 1917. Much of the collection documents the life and career of politician and agricultural educator Norton Strange Townshend, including his political, educational, and social reform activities.

The Norton Strange Townshend Family Papers consist of 20.5 linear feet of manuscripts, 66 cased photographs, 3 linear feet of paper photographs, 8 cubic feet of photographic slides, and 7 cubic feet of realia, arranged into 13 series. For more detail, see scope and content notes, below.

The Correspondence series (Boxes 1-10) contains all the collection’s letters, postcards, and telegrams (with the exception of official military correspondence, financial correspondence, and genealogy correspondence, which are under "Topical Files," "Financial Correspondence," and "Genealogical Correspondence," respectively). Correspondence spans the years 1827-1989 and makes up around one quarter of the collection. It is subdivided by family into the "Townshend Subseries" and "Dodge Subseries," and arranged chronologically, with undated items at the end. The series contains correspondence to and from prominent Ohio politicians, such as Salmon P. Chase; who wrote 34 letters to Townshend; William Medill; Rutherford B. Hayes; and notable agricultural educators, including James Sullivant and John Klippart. Correspondence among family members is also voluminous, and documents a wide variety of issues during the mid-19th to early-20th centuries, including social and family life, courtship, women’s work and viewpoints, travel, and attitudes toward education. For an index of correspondents, see "Additional Descriptive Data."

The Joel Townshend papers series (Box 10) brings together documents by and related to Norton Townshend’s father, Joel Townshend (1780-1864). It includes a few religious writings, as well as financial and legal documents that shed light on the family’s life in Northamptonshire, England, and Ohio. Most items date from 1810 to 1830, with the exception of a biography of Townshend written in the 1930s or 1940s by his great-grandson, H. Percy Boynton.

The Norton S. Townshend papers series (Boxes 10-26) is the largest series in the collection and contains diaries, published and unpublished writings, printed materials, clippings, broadsides, biographical materials, and other items relating to nearly every facet of Townshend’s adult life. These materials document Townshend’s political involvement, particularly in local and national antislavery, in agricultural movements, and in the U.S. House of Representatives. The series also includes papers about his educational career, family life, Civil War service, and religious views and work. Townshend frequently worked and reworked his ideas on paper, and both his published and unpublished writings are a rich source of intellectual and reform history. Townshend was also an inveterate collector and preserver of interesting items, including materials relating to northern Ohio’s Liberty Party, his admission tickets to medical courses and the World Anti-Slavery Convention, an application to the Ohio State Asylum for the Education of Idiotic and Imbecile Youth, of which he was a trustee, and dozens of fliers and handbills for lectures given by himself and others.

The Margaret Bailey Townshend papers series (Boxes 26-27) is comprised of two diaries, a rich autobiographical writing entitled "Genealogy," describing her childhood and education, a small number of clippings, and materials relating to her education and career as a teacher in Illinois and Ohio in the 1850s. Many items in the Realia series (below) also relate to Margaret Bailey Townshend.

The Other Townshend family members’ papers series (Boxes 28-30) contains materials relating mainly to Townshend’s children and their spouses, but also includes James B. Wood (Townshend’s father-in-law), Harriet Wood Townshend (Townshend’s first wife), Margaret Wing Dodge (Townshend’s granddaughter), and several other relatives. The bulk of this series is made up of their writings, which are autobiographical, religious, and cultural in subject. Also of interest is biographical information on family members, including articles on Townshend’s children, who were early students of Ohio State University, and a number of obituaries of these family members.

The Dodge family papers series (Boxes 30-34) consists of materials produced and collected by the Dodges of upstate New York, from 1839 to approximately 1970, and documenting their family life, travels, hobbies (in particular the outdoors and canoeing), financial and legal transactions, and civic engagement. Incorporated are some writings by various family members, including Levi R. Dodge, F. Isabella (Donaghue) Dodge, Homer Dodge, and family friend Lydia Sayer Hasbrouck; topical files, the bulk of which are 20th century; biographical materials such as obituaries and clippings; and periodicals on topics of interest to the Dodges.

The Genealogical research series (Boxes 35-37) reflects the family’s interest in its own history and consists of correspondence, family trees, historical essays, as well as commercially produced family histories for some lines. The materials reflect a particular interest in finding links between various family members and such prominent figures as the Townshends of Raynham Hall, the Green family of Vermont, and General Grenville Dodge. This series pertains mainly to the 20th century and is arranged by family, except for the correspondence, which is arranged chronologically.

The Collection-related materials series is made up of documents and articles that shed light on the outreach efforts made on behalf of the collection, particularly for the Easterly items, prior to their accessioning by the William L. Clements Library. The series is comprised of fliers, museum publicity materials, and articles on exhibits. Materials date from the late 20th century, particularly the 1990s.

The Books series contains three items that are housed with the collection: Sermons on Various Subjects by the Late Rev. Thomas Strange, Kilsby, Northamptonshire, with Some Memoirs of His Life (1807); the Townshend Family Bible (with manuscript notes on births, deaths and marriages); and Robert W. McCormick’s 1988 self-published biography of Townshend: Norton S. Townshend, M.D. Antislavery Politician and Agricultural Educator. The rest of the books, including books from the personal libraries of Norton Townshend, Joel Townshend, Margaret Bailey Townshend, and the Dodge family, are housed in the Book Division of the Clements Library; for the list of titles, search for "M-3437" in the University of Michigan's library catalog.

The Visual materials series is arranged by type of item and then by subject. This includes daguerreotypes by prominent daguerreotypist Thomas M. Easterly, other photographs, drawings/prints, and maps. The materials range from the 1840s to the 1970s. See also Realia series below.

The Realia series contains approximately 8 linear feet of objects, including items from the childhood and teaching career of Margaret Bailey Townshend, intricate hairwork jewelry and a hair wreath made with the locks of at least 16 family members, geological materials and fossils collected by Norton Townshend and possibly Thomas Easterly, and other three-dimensional objects such as a glass vial for medicine, ribbons from the Ohio State Fair, and decorative objects. Also noteworthy are a number of paper objects, such as Civil War era chromolithograph animal toys, a Japanese paper lantern, and an alphabet game for children.

The Dodge Photographic Slides series includes eight cubic feet of photographic slides, totaling approximately 22,000 slides, attributed to Homer L. Dodge. They document travels around the southwest United States and to countries such as Japan, Canada and Sweden.

The Miscellaneous series contains envelopes without accompanying letters, blank letterhead, and a binder of transcriptions of select letters from Harriet Wood Townshend to Sarah Wood Keffer.

The Suckley family papers provide documentation of family life, mercantile business, and the Methodist Church in antebellum New York City.

This Suckley collection is only a small residuum of a much larger collection, yet what remains provides important documentation of several aspects of nineteenth century life, particularly relating to commercial life in antebellum New York City and the Methodist Church.

Boxes 1 and 2 consists primarily of in-coming correspondence dated between 1791 and 1839, centering on the personal and professional life of George Suckley, with the earliest material originating in the family of his first wife, Miss Lang, in England. The letters contain some information on English Methodism (1:1-6, 16-18). Of particular interest are the letters of the Methodist missionary, Francis Asbury (1:10-11) and of the wife of Richard Reece, who began his itinerant ministry in 1787 (The Christian Advocate and Journal, May 13, 1846, contains a brief sketch of Reece's life). The letters of Catherine Rutsen Suckley and Joseph Holdich include discussions of the Methodist Church in America, and the missionary Freeborn Garretson, is discussed in several letters (1:21-23,25,26,32).

George Suckley's business correspondence includes dealings with the English firm of Holy, Newbould and Suckley (1:33-42,47) and two sets of letters from agents who Suckley retained to manage his vast land holdings, John Reed in upstate New York and John Rangeley in Maine. Among the personal correspondence are several letters from Philadelphia lawyer(?) Cornelius Comegys and letters from three of George Suckley's sons. John Lang Suckley wrote frequently to request money to pay his servants; Rutsen Suckley assisted in managing his father's properties, and Thomas Holy Suckley was a college student.

Box 3 contains family correspondence written after George's death in 1846. Among the family members represented are George's children Rusten, Mary, and Thomas Holy Suckley, and his grandson Dr. George Suckley (1830-1869). George's letters are the most intrinsically interesting, as they were written during a period in the 1850s when he was practicing in Oregon and Washington Territory and considering land investments in California. During this same period, Dr. Suckley was the recipient of several letters from David and Jack Green (apparently cousins of some sort). One item (3:39) relates to George's Civil War service. The later correspondence heavily concerns New York charities. One interesting letter (3:52) is a stableman's apology for drunkenness on Christmas.

Boxes 5 through 9 are arranged in folders by subject. Of particularly interest are materials that document the various New York City rental properties owned by Rutsen Suckley, recording rents collected and upkeep expenses between the 1840s and 1870s. The cost of living in New York can be calculated from bills and receipts for a wide range of products and services.

The Wilkes County, Georgia collection is made up of probate inventories, estate records, indentures, receipts, accounts, and other documents relating to the inhabitants of Wilkes County, Georgia.

This collection contains 204 items, chiefly probate inventories, receipts, records of sales of decedents' property, indentures and other legal documents. Eighty-seven of the items pertain to the estate of Robert Toombs (d. 1826). Most of the items date from between 1778 and 1830. Twenty-one items date from 1839 to 1867; there are no probate inventories for those decades. Almost all of the material in this collection comes from Wilkes County, but a few documents are from other counties.

The probate inventories provide a wealth of details about the lives of Wilkes County residents, enslaved and free. Inventories can be used to reconstruct some details of slaves' lives. These documents show the number of slaves on plantations with the monetary value assigned to them, often give names of slaves, and indicate if women had children. Sometimes appraisers noted the names of a woman's children. For some decedents, the records of the disposition of estates show the scattering of slaves to various slaveholders as well as the distribution of other property. The "List of the property sold of Lewis Biddles Estate Deceased," has unusual value: It breaks down the slaves sold into family groups (information beyond the more frequent notations of mothers and children). A poignant 1828 estate sale record relates that Old Andrew and Old Amy were "offered & no bidder." The collection includes other material about slaves and slavery, such as records of the hiring out of slaves and a 1784 bond that expressed a preference for a "country born negroe boy." Four court documents from the late 1780s and early 1790s reveal cases of "Negroe Stealing" but with scant detail. Another court document, from 1792, declares that a Capt. John Man "saw a Negro man Ben, said to be the property of Richard Baily on the morning of the 29th June Instant, much wounded, which appeared to be done by shooting." Man testified that one Norcut Slaven had told Man that Slaven "has shot the said Negro Ben." The court took action against Slaven and other men, though the documents do not show the final outcome of the case. The records in this collection can be used to study the economy of Wilkes County. In addition to slaves, inventories list livestock and equipment, such as plows, cotton cards and looms, and blacksmiths' tools -- details that allow scholars to study the extent of plantations' self-sufficiency or participation in the market. With qualifications due to uncertainty about completeness, these inventories can be used to study wealth and consumption over time and to compare the lifestyles of the well-off versus the poor. The records also allow analysis of levels of literacy. The collection also offers information regarding material culture and consumption. William Grant furnished his house with "3 Painted Pine dressing tables," "1 Dozen Rush Bottom Chairs," and several pieces of mahogany furniture among other things. Inventories indicate that Wilkes County residents might own musical instruments, pillow cases, sugar dishes, custard cups, decanters, looking glasses, and books (occasionally listed by title) to name a few of the consumer goods that turn up in the records. The "Inventory of the estate and effects of William Rogers" suggests that Rogers may have been a teacher or bookseller. His books included Lessons for Reading, Schoolmasters asst, two copies of Ovid's Metamorphoses, a few dictionaries and a number of grammars. Some other miscellaneous inventory items listed were traps for rodents, 55 gallons of peach brandy, 22 thimbles, spice mortars, coffee mills and waffle irons.

Inventories can be used to study women's and men's legal and financial roles. Some probate inventories contain lists of debts. Women rarely served as administrators or controlled property that went through the probate process, but a few women appear in this collection in those positions. Women's presence is greatest as buyers of property sold at estate sales and as slaves. The collection contains a few wills, receipts, contracts and miscellaneous legal documents.

Approximately 80 documents about Robert Toombs's estate provide an especially full record of one family's spending on goods and services. Toombs's wife, Catherine, settled the estate's accounts over the few years after Toombs's death in 1826. Pages of accounts and receipts show the cost of education, library fees, the children's board, food, clothes, furniture, postage, medical services (including those of midwives), legal services, piano tuning, transportation, and taxes. The records also show the price that Toombs's got for their cotton and corn. A picture of the lives of the Toombs's family emerges from these records. The sons attended Franklin College, daughter Sarah Ann played the piano. The family received the Wesleyan Journal according to a receipt for paying postage for the journal. To drink, the Toombses might choose from coffee, gin, whisky or "the best Madeira Wine."