Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection contains letters that Elizabeth Stanley received from her future husband, Andrew Nichols, and from other friends and family members in Massachusetts, as well as letters that Stanley wrote to Nichols during their courtship.

This collection contains 38 letters related to Elizabeth P. Stanley ("Lizzie") of Salem, Massachusetts. Throughout the 1850s, especially after 1856, Stanley received personal letters from family and friends. In one group of early letters (February 1852-[April 1853]), Stanley's aunt, Elizabeth Hunt, discussed her life in Whampoa, China (now part of Guangzhou), including the birth and death of a young son. Other friends discussed their social lives, Christianity, and education. Stanley's future husband, Andrew Nichols, wrote 16 letters about their relationship, religion, and his farm in Danvers, Massachusetts. The collection includes drafts of at least 3 of Nichols's letters; he signed many items with pseudonyms such as "Warden Cholins." Lizzie Stanley's 8 letters to Nichols pertain to her social life, religion, and news of Salem. The final item is a list of actions such as "tell a joke" and "give a conundrum."

This collection consists of 6 letters that Emeline Breed of Salem, Massachusetts, received from her fiancé, Thomas Delf, an English businessman working in New York City. In addition to providing news of his daily life, he frequently reflected on the couple's engagement and commented on her family.

This collection consists of 6 letters that Emeline Breed of Salem, Massachusetts, received from her fiancé, Thomas Delf, an English businessman working in New York City. He provided updates on his social and business life in the city, and frequently commented on his lodgings with the Cook family, whom he found inhospitable. He made occasional trips to Brooklyn, where he met her father, Holton Breed, and her sisters. While he often wrote of his love for Emeline, particularly after a visit to her home in Salem, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1837, he occasionally mentioned his work and the economic conditions following the Panic of 1837. Several of his letters contain short poems.