Benjamin Sawtell Hanchett Papers, 1858, 1888-1958 (majority within 1888-1931)
3 linear feet
3 linear feet
5 linear feet — 1 oversize volume
The Birney Family collection documents the lives and activities of three inter-related families: the Birneys, McClears (variant spellings), and Hankerds. Covering the years 1835-1972, the collection consists of family correspondence, legal papers, personal and financial ledgers, and clippings; materials relating to Bunker Hill Township in Ingham County and Henrietta Township in Jackson County; and collected materials pertaining to SS. Cornelius and Cyprian Catholic Church in Bunker Hill.
The collection has been arranged into nine principal series: Family / Genealogical James Birney Family, the Henry Birney Family, the Patrick Hankerd Family, Henrietta Township, Bunker Hill Township, SS. Cornelius and Cyprian Catholic Church in Bunker Hill, Photographs, and Robert Stack research papers.
15 volumes (in 3 boxes) — 1 oversize volume
The Carl E. Schmidt collection consists of sixteen volumes of scrapbooks documenting the wide scope of Schmidt's interests. These scrapbooks were compiled and numbered by Schmidt himself, although some of the explanatory text was added by a friend, Dr. Tobias Sigel, who was himself a German immigrant and prominent citizen of Detroit. The scrapbooks are filled with a variety of printed material, photographs, handwritten accounts of sentiments and occasions, and hand-drawn ink illustrations. Much of the scrapbooks' text is in German, including many clippings from German language newspapers. The illustrations in Volume II are particularly attractive. They are hand-drawn red and black ink illustrations of fanciful, legendary themes relating to Walhalla.
The following inventory is a general guide to the contents of each volume. For those scrapbooks that were paginated by Schmidt, specific sections of special interest have been noted in the inventory. Volume 2 also has its own, original index. There is one corresponding folder for each of thirteen of the volumes. These folders contain loose items removed from volumes one through eleven, thirteen, and fourteen.
As the inventory shows, Schmidt was most thorough in documenting his recreational and farming interests, and his political activity in Detroit, at the state level, and in the German-American community. There is, however, very little information about his tannery business.
3.3 linear feet (in 4 boxes) — 1 oversize folder
The Weissert collection includes correspondence, 1893-1947, including letters from Joseph Bailly, Clarence M. Burton, Gurdon S. Hubbard, Chase S. Osborn, Albert E. Sleeper, and George Van Pelt. There are also speeches, and writings mostly on Michigan history topics, including Indian history and the history of Kalamazoo and Barry County. The series of research notes illustrates the variety of Weissert's interests: historical personalities, forts, Michigan cities, and early state history. The photographs and snapshots pertain to Weissert's interest in Michigan history, especially homes, churches, mills, hotels, businesses, and other sites primarily in western Michigan, but also including Sault Ste. Marie and Mackinac Island. There are also photographs of Michigan pioneers, particularly from the Hastings, Michigan area.
21 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 2.22 GB
1 volume — 1 envelope
The collection consists of personal accounts showing income and obligations; a portrait, and photographs of chicory farming and marketing near Bay City and Port Huron, Michigan.
1 linear foot
Materials on agriculture, resort property in northern Michigan, tariffs, American neutrality prior to World War II, and Lutheran Church-sponsored resettlement of refugees and displaced persons after World War II; also photographs. Correspondents include: Prentiss M. Brown, Elford A. Cederberg, Fred L. Crawford, Philip A. Hart, J. Edgar Hoover, Resettlement Service of the National Lutheran Council, George Romney, Arthur H. Vandenberg, and Roy Woodruff.
Photos of railroad wreck, steam hauler, and Whittemore house in Tawas City, Michigan. Photographs are dated 1911 and 1963.
12.5 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 2 oversize volumes — 6 film reels — 2 digital audio files
The Harold Gray papers have been divided into seven series: Correspondence; World War I era activities; Personal and Miscellaneous; Printed, clippings, and miscellanea; Family and genealogical; Saline Valley Farms; and Visual Materials (photographs and motion pictures). The great strength of the collection are correspondence, administrative files, diaries, and visual materials documenting the operation of the Saline Valley Farms. There is significant, though smaller quantities of papers detailing Gray's opposition to serving in the military during World War I and his career as a teacher in China in the 1920s.
5.2 linear feet
The collection includes correspondence, manuscript articles, and conservation columns; materials collected by the Michigan Writers' Program concerning Michigan logging; also diaries, speeches, newspaper clippings, notebooks, genealogy, photographs, and miscellaneous material concerning Titus' interest in conservation, forestry, and fishing.
15 microfilms (6.5 linear feet and 1 oversize folder) — 5.5 linear feet — 3 oversize volumes (not microfilmed)
The Crapo papers have been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Personal and Biographical; Political; Business records; and Miscellaneous (mainly financial). The collection relates primarily to the career of Henry H. Crapo with the files dating after 1869 pertaining to the business activities and political activities of his son W. W. Crapo.
In 1992, the bulk of the Crapo papers was microfilmed. This finding aid begins with a listing of the contents of the microfilm followed by a container listing of those portions of the collection which were not microfilmed. For reasons of preservation, the researcher should use the microfilm copy. Access to the original materials will be limited to the unmicrofilmed portions of the Crapo papers.