Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Marshall, Michigan, general store, founded by Chauncy M. Brewer and Charles T. Gorham in 1836. Daybooks, blotters, sales books, and other materials relating to the operation of the store; also records of Fink and Butler Store.

The records of the Brewer store are very full. Most significant are the firm's daybooks, which are virtually complete for the entire period of the Brewer's operation of the store. Such gaps as exist are adequately documented through secondary record groups, such as blotters and salesbooks. In addition to this complete documentation of the goods sold each day, their price and purchaser, there are several inventories, a few timebooks, and a small body of correspondence related to the store.

The Brewer family was also involved in local real estate speculation and agricultural production, and a few records documenting these interests were retained with the store's records. Most complete is the hay scale register, covering the years 1839 to 1879. There are also records of land purchases, both in rural areas and in Marshall's "Eagle Block" which the family owned; land rental agreements; and timebooks apparently for laborers who worked the family's farmland.

Finally, the collection contains a few records generated by firms not owned by the Brewer's themselves. Most interesting are those of the Ceresco Mill, Ceresco Distillery, and the Fink & Butler store in Marshall. These records, however, are very incomplete.

The majority of the Brewer records retained at the Michigan Historical Collections are available on microfilm only. Filming was selective and information that was redundant or of minimal value was not placed on film. All original material not retained by the Michigan Historical Collections, whether filmed or not, has been placed on permanent loan with the Marshall Historical Society.

Ludington, Michigan lumber company; business records, including day books, inventories, time books, and ledgers.

The record group consists of financial records from the various camps and mills which Charles Mears owned in Mason, Muskegon, and Oceana counties. The earliest record is an account book, 1837-1843, showing expenditures from his first lumbering venture near White Lake, Michigan.

This collection consists of the record of Cyrus Beckwith's general store and other business activities, as well as portraits of Beckwith and his wife, Amarilla.

Papers of Franklin L. Parker and the Parker family of New York (State) and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Family correspondence, business papers, diaries, 1850-1893, and other materials concerning land transactions.

The Franklin L. Parker collection relates mainly to land investments and other financial dealings, and family matters. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Letterpress books; Land records; and Personal and miscellaneous.

Republican governor of Michigan, 1905-1910. Account books, and legal and business papers of P. Dean Warner, Oakland County, Michigan, farmer and cheese manufacturer; and political scrapbooks and other papers of his adopted son, Fred M. Warner, largely concerning election campaigns; and photographs.

The Fred M. Warner papers include papers of P. Dean Warner and Fred M. Warner. Included are letters, legal documents, business papers, a volume recording customers of Warner's cheese business, and scrapbooks. Except for a few folders relating to aid given to California following the 1906 earthquake, there are few documents relating to Warner's terms as governor.

Ann Arbor, Michigan businessman and surveyor general of the Dakota Territory; correspondence and business papers.

The George D. Hill papers consists of correspondence and financial papers relating to his Ann Arbor business interests and to his service as surveyor general of the Dakota Territory in the 1860s. Some of the additional topics covered in the collection include the Free Homestead Association of Central New York, lumbering activities (1854-1857), the Michigan militia (1858-1861), the removal of President Henry P. Tappan from University of Michigan, and Hill's role in Republican Party politics (1856-1857). Hill numbered among his correspondents Cyrus Aldrich, Henry J. Alvord, Moses K. Armstrong, Kinsley S. Bingham, Philemon Bliss, W. W. Brookings, Walter A. Burleigh, Zachariah Chandler, Frederick W. Curtenius, Mark W. Delahay, Charles H. Dennison, James M. Edmunds, Newton Edmunds, Alpheus Felch, James S. Foster, Orrin N. Giddings, Bradley F. Granger, William Jayne, Whitney Jones, Francis R. Stebbins, Henry P. Tappan, T. J. Townsend, Jerome M. Treadwell, Seymour B. Treadwell, and Benjamin F. Wade.

Lawyer at Coldwater, Michigan, Civil War officer, U.S. Marshal of Eastern District of Michigan and Minister to Belgium. Correspondence from family, friends and associates regarding personal and business affairs, military matters, and Democratic politics; miscellaneous other materials and photographs.

The John G. Parkhurst collection consists of correspondence from family, friends and associates regarding personal and business affairs, military matters, and Democratic politics; miscellaneous other materials and photograph. the collections has been divided into the following series: Correspondence; John G. Parkhurst Civil War service; John G. Parkhurst diplomatic and other activities; and Other family materials, business records, and miscellaneous.

Republican congressman and U.S. district judge from Lansing, Michigan. Correspondence, business and legal papers, manuscript addresses, photographs, and miscellaneous items; include material concerning Michigan politics and his Civil War activities as a member of Congress; journal, 1871 containing a few brief entries on business matters.

The papers of John Wesley Longyear spans the period from 1837 to 1875. The bulk of the collection covers two periods of Longyear's life: his two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1863-1866) and his service as U.S. district court judge (1870-1875).

Business records of J.C. Satterthwaite, primarily of his flour and lumber mill, but also documenting his activities as railroad freight agent and his other business interests in Tecumseh, Michigan.

The business records in this collection chronicle the commercial and financial transactions of J.C. Satterthwaite and family in the period of 1844-1874 (with the bulk falling in the 1850s and 1860s). Though there are some records prior to the period when Satterthwaite had control of the "Raisin Mills," the great majority of records document the various commercial activities of the Satterthwaite family. Concerned with the routine of daily business life in Raisin and Tecumseh, Michigan, the daily transactions offer a microcosm of small town commerce in nineteenth-century Michigan.

The collection has been arranged by the different kinds of enterprises in which the Satterthwaites were involved: the grain and flour mills, a warehouse (or possibly warehouses), and a retail store. For each of these, Satterthwaite maintained day books, ledgers, and journals. The day books document the daily register/receipts of the grain mill, retail establishment, and warehouse. These volumes encompass the years 1844-1865, with an emphasis on the activity at the grain mill.

The ledgers contain the running documentation of individual customer accounts with an emphasis on accounts established at the warehouse. In addition to ledgers for the grain mill and warehouse, the collection contains two which list railroad freight accounts. These last, seemingly unrelated to any of the other businesses, are presumably evidence of J.C. Satterthwaite's additional career as a railroad freight agent.

The cash books record the cash flow of the various establishments, with, as in the day books, an emphasis on the grain mill transactions. Somewhat unrelated to the rest of the collection is a cash book related to the selling of plaster. Its connection with the other Satterthwaite business records is unclear.

The day books, in particular, offer insight into the bulk quantities of staples purchased by individuals at that time, while that of the retail store reflects other, smaller necessities purchased regularly by the townspeople of Raisin and Tecumseh. The collection concludes with a miscellaneous series consisting of the personal financial documents of J.C. Satterthwaite, coupled with two folders of loan documents and receipts, which together suggest an active borrowing and loaning of funds outside of the confines of the Bank of Tecumseh.

Several volumes in the collection have illegible pages due to their later use as scrapbooks. These scrapbook pages contain contemporaneous newspaper clippings consisting of poetry, caricatures, and inspirational stories.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, resident and local historian. Collected Washtenaw County historical documents and scrapbooks of clippings, programs, photographs, and memorabilia.

The Lucy Chapin collection includes collected letters and manuscripts, most notably papers of James Kingsley, Washtenaw County public figure and member of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. Of great importance are the scrapbooks maintained by Lucy Chapin on the people and events of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. These scrapbooks document life in the nineteenth century from the 1840s to 1900. The volumes include clippings, programs, photographs, and memorabilia.

Collector of Cross Village, Michigan materials. Collection consists of business records for a general store, land patents made to members of the Native American community, a letter and photograph of Catholic priest N. Louis Sifferath, a panorama of the village waterfront, and a plat map of Cross Village Township.

The Mary Shurtleff collection consists of documents and images relating to Cross Village and its inhabitants. The collection is arranged in 3 series: Business records, Other collected documents, and Visual materials.

The Michigan Central Railroad Company was originally incorporated to provide rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The records consist of letter books of the company president and general manager, administrative records, financial papers, maps, and photographs. Included is correspondence from Alpheus Felch, James F. Joy, and William Woodbridge.

The Michigan Central Railroad Company record group is an amalgam of various records received from different donors. The materials have been divided into the following series: James F. Joy Administrative Records and Agreements; Letters Received; Miscellaneous; President/General Manager/Chairman files; and List of Stockholders.

Ann Arbor, Michigan family. Ledger, of Elijah W. Morgan, attorney and businessman, compiled in the 1840's containing his comments and evaluations of business and professional abilities of early businessmen of Washtenaw County, Michigan; correspondence, autobiography, and other miscellaneous business papers and deeds; also correspondence, drawings, and writings of his wife Lucy Stow Morgan, including letter describing life and customs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1831; and other papers of Elijah's parents, including autobiographies of Elisha Morgan and Polly Babcock Morgan.

The Morgan family collection consists primarily of the personal and business papers of Elijah W. Morgan, one of Ann Arbor's pioneer citizens who had a distinguished career as an attorney and banker; letters and other materials of his wife Lucy Stow Morgan; and autobiographies and scattered papers of Elijah's parents, Elisha and Polly Babcock Morgan of Watertown, New York.

The bulk of the collection consists of the personal and business papers of Elijah W. Morgan. This includes correspondence (1821-1889), autobiographical material, essays on religion and temperance, and a large section of business and financial papers generated as a result of his law practice or his various business dealings.

Records of railroad companies, mainly Michigan lines, absorbed with the merger of the New York Central Railroad Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company into the Penn Central Transportation Company.

The nature of the records of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad reflects the recent history of the two companies. When the Penn Central Transportation Company was formed in 1968, the offices of New York Central--the junior merger partner--were dismantled and only a small percentage of records retained. Therefore, the extant New York Central records consist almost entirely of minutes and account books of a routine nature. By contrast, records of the Pennsylvania Railroad were relatively undisturbed by the merger and are today richer and more varied than those of the New York Central. The Penn Central records are most useful for their documentation of the growth of the railroad industry. They depict an industry in constant flux due to the opportunities for success offered by a burgeoning industry and the intense competition among railroads that resulted. A single volume of records often contains minutes of two or more railroads, reflecting either the failure of the original company or its takeover by or merger with another company.

Besides documenting the history of individual railroads and of the railroad industry as a whole, the Penn Central records are a good source on the economic and commercial development of Michigan and neighboring states, and provide insight into the rise and decline of various towns along the railroad. Minutes of New York Central subsidiaries, for example, contain discussions of negotiations with town officials over the proposed construction of tracks, bridges, depots, and the like. Similarly, the locality files in the Superintendent--Toledo Division series of the Pennsylvania Railroad records consist of correspondence and memoranda regarding improvements to, or the abandonment of, stations in small towns in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. This series also contains substantial correspondence files on Toledo, Detroit, and Grand Rapids.

Labor and social historians will find the Penn Central records useful in illuminating the lives of workers and in documenting relations between management and workers. More than 40 feet of labor relations files of the Ann Arbor Railroad include agreements between the company and unions, grievances, petitions concerning work rules and pay, wage and hour schedules, and circular letters. There are small series of labor relations files of other companies scattered throughout the collection. Researchers will also find information on the workplace and working conditions in the locality files of the Superintendent--Toledo Division series of the Pennsylvania Railroad; these files contain, for example, memoranda concerning clubrooms and sleeping quarters for workers in city depots.

There is very little technical material in the Penn Central records; photographs are likewise scarce. The most notable exceptions are in the car ferry files, found in three subseries of the Pennsylvania Railroad records: General Manager--Western Region, Vice-President and General Counsel, and Subsidiaries: Mackinac Transportation Company. The car ferry files include maps, plans, specifications, blueprints, and some photographs.

A large portion of the collection consists of records of small railroads that ran through Michigan or were based in Michigan. Records of these companies are brief, often including nothing more than articles of incorporation, a few pages or a volume or two of minutes, and perhaps some annual reports and financial records. Although many of these railroads were subsidiaries of either the Michigan Central Railroad, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, or the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, they have been filed under the parent company of which the sub-system was a part (New York Central, Pennsylvania, or Ann Arbor Railroad) to promote ease of access. Thus, for example, records of the Canada Southern Bridge Company, a subsidiary of Michigan Central Railroad, are filed under New York Central Railroad, the parent company of Michigan Central. Researchers uncertain of the parentage of a particular railroad should look in the subsidiaries section of the contents list under Ann Arbor, New York Central, and Pennsylvania Railroads. The railroads in each of these subsidiaries sections are arranged in alphabetical order.

Brief histories of individual railroads can be found in the "Green Books"--the annual reports of the New York Central Railroad Company and its subsidiaries. There are several published histories of the Pennsylvania Railroad in boxes 183 and boxes 155-157 and on microfilm in box 60.

A card file giving the date of incorporation, name changes, and parentage of subsidiaries of the Michigan Central Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad has been photocopied and can be found in box 1 of the collection. This folder also contains a list of records in the Public Archives of Canada of Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway system properties in the United States. Finally, there is a section of Aids, Gifts, Grants and Donations to Railroads Including Outline of Development and Successions in Titles to Railroads in Michigan by the Michigan Railroads Commission (1919).

Information in this finding aid concerning the histories of the various railroads was drawn from the collection itself, from sources compiled by the project archivists, and from the following published sources: William Frederick Dunbar All Aboard! A History of Railroads in Michigan (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969) and Henry E. Riggs, The Ann Arbor Railroad Fifty Years Ago (Ann Arbor Railroad Company, 1947?)

State representative from Chippewa County, Michigan. Correspondence and business papers dealing with mining, fishing, shipping, fur trading, lumbering and other businesses in the Northern Peninsula, particularly in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; also maritime papers, ships' manifests from Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, miscellaneous American Fur Company papers, and papers on lighthouse administration, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and Republican politics.

This collection of eight microfilm rolls divides into two series: Correspondence and business papers, and Maritime papers. Although titled the Peter Barbeau collection, the papers are of Barbeau and others Northern Michigan businessmen. The papers detail business activities, particularly in Sault Ste. Marie area and concern mining, fishing, shipping, fur trading, lumbering, and other businesses. Also included are maritime papers consisting of customs papers and ships manifest from Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie. Found within the collection as well are miscellaneous American Fur Company papers, papers on lighthouse administration, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and some Republican politics.

Businessman, of Washtenaw County, Michigan, publisher of Ann Arbor Courier, and chairman of Executive Committee, Michigan Republican Party. Correspondence, account books, business records, receipts, deeds, and other financial records.

The Rice Aner Beal collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Political and Legal papers; and Financial records. Among Rice Beal's correspondents were such personages as James B. Angell, Henry P. Baldwin, Zachariah Chandler, Isaac P. Christiancy, Omar D. Conger, Thomas M. Cooley, Charles M. Croswell, Byron M. Cutcheon, Thomas W. Ferry, James F. Joy, James McMillan, Thomas W. Palmer, John T. Rich, Moses C. Tyler, Henry Waldron, Edwin Willits, and Alexander Winchell. Within the Political and Legal papers series there are materials relating to litigation with Alvin W. Chase and Silas Douglas. His political career is partially documented in ledger volumes that he maintained while attending the Republican State conventions in 1878 and 1880. In these volumes, Beal listed the names of delegates with comments on their candidate preferences and abilities.

Papers and photographs collected by Robert D. Aldrich relating to the history, people and institutions of Concord village in Jackson County, Michigan; include correspondence, diaries, account books and other papers of Concord residents; records of Concord social organizations, businesses, schools, and church and governmental bodies.

The Robert D. Aldrich collection consists of materials--manuscript, printed, and photographic--documenting the history of Concord, Michigan, in western Jackson County. The collection spans the period from the arrival of the first settlers in 1831 to the 1980s. There are a few items dating back into the eighteenth century (as early as 1783) since the papers of some pioneer families predate their arrival in Concord. The bulk of the collection, though, falls in the period since the Civil War.

The collection documents every facet of life in Concord. Included are the papers of numerous Concord citizens consisting of personal correspondence, diaries, account books and newspaper clippings about them. In addition, Aldrich collected the records of various Concord businesses and organizations, as well as some church, school, and governmental records.

The collection has been divided into two series: Manuscript and Printed Materials, and Visual Materials. Both series are arranged alphabetically either by personal name or name of organization, or by general subject area, such as Circus, Underground Railroad, etc.

Residents of Highland Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Civil War reminiscences and other papers of James D. Rowe, soldier in the 1st Michigan Cavalry; Civil War letters of Spencer D. Lee, related family member, also in the 1st Michigan Cavalry; business records of Grant and Carrie Jackson Rowe, publishers of the Milford Times; sermons of Samuel Simpson Marquis as transcribed by Mrs. G. S. Rowe; collected materials largely concerning Milford and Highland Township history; and miscellaneous photographs and Civil War print.

The collection is divided into three series: Rowe Family Papers, Milford Historical Materials, and Milford Times Records. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, genealogical material and reminiscences relating to the Rowe family. The Civil War years are particularly well documented in letters written by in-laws: William Putnam, brother of Helen; the wife of James Rowe; and Spencer Lee, who married Helen's sister, Sarah. The Milford Times Records series contains business correspondence and records of the Milford Times, a newspaper published and edited by members of the Rowe family from 1890 to 1950. Carrie Jackson Rowe, who ran the Times for 46 years with her husband, Grant, was interested in Highland County local history; her writings on historical topics, as well as the historical documents she collected, form the Milford Historical Materials series.

Tecumseh, Michigan, builder; account books and miscellaneous family papers.

The collection consists of account books of Salmon Crane's business activities, including a ledger previously used for the accounts, 1838-1841, of Spafford and Smith, Tecumseh merchants, and as day book, 1857-1858, of the Tecumseh Herald newspaper. In addition, there are miscellaneous papers of Crane's sons, Theodore H. and Eugene W. Crane, both soldiers in Co. E, 18th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. Other family members represented in the collection include Charles S. and Verner B. Crane. Photographer Walker Evans was the great-grandson of Salmon Crane.

Papers of the Squier family of Battle Creek, Michigan. Include letters and diary of John E. Hickman, Civil War soldier in Co. C, 13th Michigan Infantry; letters and miscellanea of Theodore L. Squier, Sr., University of Michigan undergraduate student, medical student and instructor ca. 1914-1921 and Nina La Barge Squier, student in the University of Michigan Nurses' Training Program, 1919-1920; and letters and miscellanea of several family members who served in WWII. Also some records of the American Manufacturing Company of Battle Creek, Michigan.

The Squier Family Papers are organized into nine series, eight series of documents related to specific members or branches of the family and one series of photographs.

Ypsilanti, Michigan business; account books and daybooks.

The record group consists of account books and daybooks of the firm. Included is a record of log purchases, 1845-1853, and accounts of wheat purchased in 1842.

Business and commercial family of Ionia, Michigan; correspondence and financial records of Angelo E. Tower and Osmond S. Tower; correspondence and business records of Louis S. Lovell, W.B. Heath, and George Webber, Ionia, Michigan, businessmen.

The collection was accumulated and donated by Ada Health Owsley, the daughter of W.B. Heath, who had himself married into the Tower family. Most of the collection relates to the business dealings of Tower family members. The most important exception is a portion of the correspondence dealing with the Civil War service of Angelo Tower, a captain with Company E, Sixth Michigan Cavalry. These papers include both letters to his family and other documents relating to his military responsibilities. The collection, both correspondence and financial records, documents the development and commercial growth of Ionia, Michigan, and includes various records of Louis S. Lovell, bank cashier W.B. Heath, and George W. Webber, president of the Second National Bank of Ionia. The fact that there are some papers of George W. Webber, a banking competitor to the Towers is curious. Perhaps a possible merger of the two Ionia banks led to the storage of retired records in a common area. Regardless, the banking records of Tower and Webber offer some insight into the commercial development of Ionia.

Pioneer Ann Arbor, Michigan family, involved in farming, then real estate, developed the Tuomy Hills area of the city. Papers include personal and business correspondence of Cornelius and Kathryn Tuomy and of other family members; ledger books, 1868-1890, 1911-1938, and diaries, 1920-1921, 1925, 1926, 1936 concerning business and personal affairs; also papers of Kathryn G. Tuomy as president of the Michigan Federation of Business and Professional Women; and photographs.

The Tuomy Family papers document the daily life of three generations of a pioneer Ann Arbor area family. The three linear feet of papers span the years 1840-1966 with the bulk of the material falling within the decades bound by 1905-1945. The papers have been divided into four series, a small set of documents with biographical information, a larger set of personal and business correspondence, and family material arranged as a set of topical files. There is also a box of unidentified family portraits

A strength of the Tuomy Family papers is the documentation of daily life for a prominent Ann Arbor family from 1900 until the 1960's. Kathryn G. Tuomy's materials provide good exposure to the life of an Ann Arbor woman who has a university education and a family business to maintain. The papers are weaker in their coverage of the Tuomy and Tuomy real estate business. There is only marginal documentation regarding Cornelius W. (Bill) Tuomy's time in political office as drain commissioner. The photographs are not strongly backed up by the written documentation regarding the Tuomy and Tuomy real estate office and properties.

Saginaw, Michigan, lumberman and businessman, and Michigan State Tax Commissioner, 1912 and wildlife conservationist and sportsman. Papers include extensive correspondence files, business records and photographs.

The William Mershon collection consists of correspondence dealing with Mershon's various activities as a lumberman, Saginaw businessman, and member of the State Tax Commission in 1912. Subjects included in the papers are Michigan wildlife conservation, the Michigan Sportsmen Association, the Michigan Manufacturers Association, the Michigan State Tax Commission, Michigan politics, the Democratic party, personal business investments, lumbering and mining interest, and personal affairs.

The collection also includes diaries, a book of notes on hunting and fishing trips, and various business records such as cash books, time books, ledgers, and journals. These primarily concern his investments and lumbering business. Many of the business records are available on microfilm. The collection also includes photographs.

A. L. Williams family of Owosso, Michigan. Personal and business correspondence of A. L. Williams, Owosso, Michigan pioneer, railroad entrepreneur, and spiritualist; and personal letters of other members of the family, including May Williams Dewey, wife of E. O. Dewey (Thomas E. Dewey family); and miscellaneous newspaper clippings, business ledgers, and personal and business diaries concerning business affairs and daily activities; "spirit messages" received from departed family and others; also photographs.

The Williams Family [Owosso] collection consists of 2 linear feet of material. It includes the personal and business papers of four generations of Williamses from 1838 to 1953. However, the bulk of the material relates to the family of Alfred Leonzo Williams between 1860 and 1890.