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

Virtually all of Henry Pippitt's surviving Civil War correspondence consists of letters addressed to his mother, Rebecca, documenting two intertwining themes: the Petersburg Campaign from start to finish, and Pippitt's personal campaign to keep himself and his family in good order.Pippitt's letters offer commentary on the last year of the war as seen through the eyes of a young working class man, grown up far beyond his years.

Virtually all of Henry Pippitt's surviving Civil War correspondence consists of letters addressed to his mother, Rebecca, documenting two intertwining themes: the Petersburg Campaign from start to finish, and Pippitt's personal campaign to keep himself and his family in good order. Well written, if not particularly polished, Pippitt's letters offer fine commentary on the last year of the war as seen through the eyes of a young working class man, grown up far beyond his years.

Pippitt's personal struggles weave throughout the collection, surfacing at numerous points, and his various ways of dealing with his ragged home life are reflective both of the depth of his difficulties and his resourcefulness. He alternately castigates, cajoles, threatens or ignores his dead beat father, does his best to assuage his mother's depression over losing her son to the army, and her jealousy of the woman he courts, and he does his best to deal with or explain away his financial problems and his own lapses into drink. Throughout all of his experiences, military and personal, Pippitt matures physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Of particular interest is the letter of September 4, 1864, in which Pippitt describes why he is (again) out of cash. After sketching a somewhat fantastic tale of heavy rains, floods, and an entire camp swept away in the deluge, he swears that the story is the truth and not a lie. This and other letters illustrate an interesting dichotomy in Pippitt's character. Having grown up in a lower-class family, he is constantly aware of the shortage of money, both in camp and at home, but despite his frequent promises to send home sizable sums, he manages to fritter away most of his pay and at times, dips liberally into the already slender family purse to supply himself with what he calls "necessaries."

In more narrowly military terms, the collection contains several brief, but powerful letters describing the hard life in the Petersburg trenches, skirmishes, and the battles of Petersburg, the Crater, and Cold Harbor. A curious side note is Pippitt's tale of the Confederate defenders of Petersburg under-mining Union forts facing the city following the Crater disaster. The series of letters written from Point of Rocks and Chafin's Farm illustrate not only the constricting stagnation of the siege effort during the winter of 1864-65, but the gradually deteriorating morale of the Confederate forces, seen in a flood tide of deserters.

Finally, Pippitt's use of language is often as interesting as what he says. His use of phrases such as "dead beat" (24:45), "helter skelter" (24:66), "if he don't like it, he can lump it" (24:37), or "let [the landlord] know that you haint a going to be shit on by him" (24:38) seem thoroughly up to date, and are an excellent record of urban, working-class patterns of speech.

This scrapbook includes clipped articles and images, original drawings, and written entries within the pages of a 1850s blankbook of receipts. Contextual clues indicate that individual(s) added to the volume at later dates, pasting clippings over used pages, and internal evidence suggests at least one compiler may have lived in Maine. Original drawings primarily center on themes of violent encounters between scouts and Native Americans, romantic entanglements, and conflict. Sometimes illustrated newspaper and magazine clippings are pasted throughout the volume, many relating to themes of marriage, love, women, family, and memory. Several pages were used to copy a portion of an undated letter, an essay, and a manuscript poem.

The individual(s) who created this scrapbook pasted items, drew scenes, and wrote entries within the pages of a 1850s blankbook of receipts, seemingly created for use by a Boston shipping or exportation company. Contextual clues indicate that persons added to the volume at later dates, pasting clippings over used pages, and internal evidence suggests at least one compiler may have lived in Maine.

Penmanship exercises and short notes are written on many of the pages, either where no additional content has been added or where clippings have been pasted on top. The names James Randall Reeves and Orren Cunningham appear on some of these pages, as well as place names of Bennington and Windsor, Maine, possibly indicating one of the early owners of the volume. The handwriting appears to match the text that accompanies the original illustrations.

Original drawings made using pencil, colored pencil, and ink can be found throughout the volume, sometimes with dates added, ranging from 1863 to 1869. Remnants of clippings that had previously been affixed to the page indicate that an owner of the volume must have pasted items into the scrapbook at a later date than the drawings were originally produced. Many of the images depict scenes of conflict or relate to two fictional characters, Hezekiah and Ezekiel. The two men appear to be scouts, and the images depict their encounters with villains, Native Americans, and a love interest, Flora. Violence, unrequited love, and emotional disappointment are central themes, and the concept of a "gas of hope" that spontaneously streams from Ezekial's head appears several times when the character experiences excitement or distress.

• Page 1: "Back Villains for your lives, says Peter, or you shall all die at the break of day by Cats." At the base of the page: "Indifference.". The illustration shows a man carrying a revolver in one hand while a woman holds his other arm. She extends an arm out behind her towards two men following them, one with a darker complexion and a machete raised over his head and the other pointing a musket at them.
• Page 3: "As the Villains again leaped against the door, an arm was thrust through the broken hand, and a voice cried out." The illustration is a nighttime scene with three men with a battering ram striking at a closed door of a house, where a man points a pistol out of an opening at them.
• Page 6: "Rescued from fire..." (the text is partially obscured by remnants of a newspaper clipping). The drawing depicts a firefighter descending a ladder from second story that is ablaze, holding a woman in his arm.
• Page 8: "...burly scout. A Sioux Chief captured" (the text is largely obscured by affixed clippings). The drawing shows a mustachioed man in military garb, a fur hat, and a cape who is holding a knife covered in blood. He is grabbing the arm of a Native American man who has dropped his knife and who is bleeding from a wound in his arm. Two ink drawings of insects (a beetle and a dragonfly) are pasted on the page.
• Page 10: "Perrilous adventure of Hezekiah the Scout, under cover of the darkness at the haunted schoolhouse." The image is a nighttime scene of a small building with a man climbing through a window. Another man runs behind him saying, "stop villain stop."
• Page 12: "The fate of Hezekiahs beaver is inevitable" and "Wonderful adventure of the Scout, Hezekiah cries out with a loud voice Ezekiel come here, help me bind these knaves." The drawing is of a bare-chested man in a green hat, holding two Native American men by the throat, one in each hand. A pencil marking indicates the year 1865.
• Page 16: "...The robber of the Rhine" (at least one additional word is partially obscured). The drawing depicts a balding man smoking a long pipe, wearing a musket on his back, and holding a bloody sword in front of him. A pencil marking indicates the year 1866.
• Page 18: "Death of Heavy [?]" and "Desperate adventure of Hezekiah, Slatt down in Kintuck..." The image is of a shirtless man (with a green hat) facing off with a Native American man, the former wielding his musket overhead and the latter his tomahawk each to strike the other. They stand over three dead or dying Native American men.
• Page 21: "Ezekial, & he knows who, on sunday eve, at the schoolhouse coming from meeting, by cats." The drawing depicts a man kneeling beside a seated woman who is holding a handkerchief or piece of cloth. One of his hands is on her shoulder, the other holds one of her hands. Another man lies face down in the corner.
• Page 24: "Weep stricken one your sorrows will have an end." Text at the bottom of the page is largely obscured by clippings, but "Ezekiel" and "Flora" are both visible. The drawing shows an upset man with mussed hair and arms akimbo, holding a handkerchief. One of the clippings over the man's head is "FIRST LOVE." A pencil marking indicates the year 1866.
• Page 26: "A streak of hope for Ezekial." The drawing shows a smiling man wearing a yellow hat that is releasing a stream of green gas, labelled "gas of hope."
• Page 27: "weep on str[i]cken one thy sorrows shall never end." The image depicts two men standing before a small grave with headstone reading "Dead Hope." Ezekiel, wearing a yellow hat from which "gas" spews, points down to the grave, saying, "What Have You Buried There Hezekiah." Hezekiah, barefoot, wearing a green hat and ragged pants, and holding a shovel, replies, "A. Dead Hope. I. Thought. She. Loved Me. But. She Did. Not Oh. Dear. What. Shall. I. Do Boo Hoo Boo Hoo." The illustration is marked in ink: "Drawn by Ezekiel himself in 1867."
• Page 30: "N.E. View of the royal oak of Shag Town, May 2d 1867." The drawing is a landscape featuring a large barren tree with a wooden plank/case/contraption and musket leaning against it. A sun smiles in the sky.
• Page 32: "View of Mud Pond, & Poccihog Hill, Sketched on the eastern rock, At half past three O'Clock." A landscape drawing shows a lake and a heavily wooded hillside. A smiling sun is in the sky and a person rows a boat on the lake.
• Page 36: Portrait of a bearded man in military uniform, with blue and gold epaulettes.
• Page 38: "A sorrowful meeting of the two scouts, Dialogue. Ezekial - 'Oh the letter, the letter, she loves me not.' Hezekiah - "Weep not Bro Scout, I pronounce it a forgery, by cats." The image is of two men wearing hats, muskets, and powder horns. One holds a slain animal in his hand, and the other cries while holding a letter and gas spews from his hat.
• Page 40: "Tallow plenty, or courting by candle-light, Stebbins telling Flora about his farm, out west." The drawing is an interior scene of a room with wallpaper, curtains, chairs, and a table. A man and woman embrace while holding candles, and additional candles are located on the table, chair, and floor.
• Page 44: Text at the top of the page is partially obscured but reads in part, "Bachelor . . . the famous scout," while additional text at the bottom reads "The inocent subject of my contempt by day, and my dreams by night." The drawing is a portrait of a man in a rumpled green hat, shirt, and suspenders, likely representing Hezekiah. A printed, pasted-on caption reads "THE GHOST OF OAK GROVE."
• Page 46: The letters "P.L.L." appear at the top of the page, and the note "Signed in the first degree, P.L.L." appears beside a highly stereotyped pencil portrait of an African American man.
• Page 48: Portrait of a bearded man.
• Page 50: Portrait of a man with moustache and goatee, with the text, "Art. Miller, California" written beside him.
• Page 52: "Poor old maniac, but once powerful scout, now dwindled away with sorrow for the lost Flora." The image shows Ezekial holding a wooden cane and a large "grief bag" on his back that has a vent spewing gas. On the bag is a printed, pasted-on caption reading "THE HAND OF FATE". He is wearing ragged pants and his hat spews green gas. Hezekiah wears his green hat and proffers something to Ezekial, saying, "Poor old fellow you must be hungry. Can I do anything for you, you seem to be weary of life. I guess I take you to a place of safety at once." Ezekial: "Answers with great vigor. I'm not hungry it is grief that gnaws like hunger at my very vitals. No never. You are the man that ruined me, if I was a smart man as I [...] I would kill you."
• Page 54: "Ezekial goes home with -- gets near home when the old scout jumps through the gateway inclosed in a sheet, See the consequences, of his rush act." The image shows a man draped in a white sheet standing in the doorway of a round stone structure. A well-dressed man and woman run apart from each other, leaving their hats on the ground. On the opposite page, several notes are written: "The identical hat worn by Hezekiah at the siege of Tattletown"; "The hat worn by Hezekiah at the destruction of Troy"; and "The sad effects of first love."
• Page 56: A man wearing a feathered hat and cape brandishes a sword while standing with one foot on the back of a slain man who has dropped his sword. He continues to fight with a man in a robe with a cross on it. A woman sits on the ground with a hand to her head. A printed, pasted-on caption reads "WHO''S TO WIN." A pencil marking indicates the year 1869.
• Page 58: "The burly scout, the stabbed scout, & Frankrifle, outscouted, by the bank scout at the old barn . . . gets valuable information concerning the conspiracy, by cats." The image shows four men in a hayloft, one, likely Ezekial, wears a yellow hat that is expelling gas. A printed, pasted-on caption reads "HUNTED DOWN."
• Page 60: "In dishabille," and at the bottom of the page: "Stebbins - 'Get out of my bed, Oh get out of my bed!" The drawing is of a woman wearing a shift and draped with a blanket reclining in a bed. A man in a nightshirt is seated on floor gesticulating at her.
• Page 62: "Who's Been here?" The drawing shows a woman looking out the window, while a man in a nightshirt, carrying the rest of his clothes, flees from the open door. A nicely dressed man with cane approaches him. A printed, pasted-on caption reads "TAUGHT BY EXPERIENCE."
• Page 64: "My idea of domestic bliss. or High life in the Lowlands." Text at the bottom of the page reads, "Stebbins about played out. 20 years hence." The drawing shows a man holding a hatchet in one hand, while wearing ragged clothing and a green hat spewing gas. A woman hits him over the head with a broom, while many small children are strewn about the floor and pull on the adults. A pencil marking indicates the year 1864.
• Page 66: A flying lizard/dragon with a shouting sun.
• Page 90: A checkerboard.

Newspaper and magazine clippings are pasted throughout the volume. While content varies, many relate to themes of marriage, love, women, family, and memory. Poetry is heavily represented. A fair number of the clippings include jokes, humor, and wordplay. Several are directions for household maintenance or preventing pests, and a number of others relate to scientific topics.

In addition to articles and written text, the compiler also pasted in clipped illustrations from newspapers and magazines. Several feature Union Army officers, most of whom appear to have a connection to New York State. Landscapes of New York City and the Amazon River are also included, as well as several satirical illustrations and animals.

A number of the printed images relate to women, including Tennie C. Claflin, Victoria C. Woodhull, and Elizabeth R. Tilton. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher's image appears twice in the volume, including once where he is placed facing Elizabeth R. Tilton and a chain connecting the figures by the nose has been added in by pen (page 14). A short poem written in ink appears below it, reading:

Henry W. B., so buoyant with glee,

And Lizzie R. T., so innocent and free,

As happy as bees in the sweet apple trees

Raised a slight (?) breeze and made the whole world sneeze!

Several pages appear to have been used to copy a portion of an undated letter, which referenced a trip from Portland to Augusta, Maine, on the Maine Central Railroad, attitudes towards funerals, the teaching profession, arguments, and placebos (beginning page 57). Another passage appears to be an essay entitled, "to old Bachelors & maids" (pages 86-88) and a manuscript poem is written on the back inside cover that seems related to scouts and Native Americans.

The Ingle family papers center around Olive Ingle, the daughter of a Free Methodist minister. The collection includes her diary and family record album, family correspondence, and photographs.

The papers include the diary of 16 year old Olive, which runs from 13 January to 14 March 1880. The collection also includes one letter from a boyfriend to Olive written in 1884, two letters written by members of the Ingle family in 1849, five other family letters, a funeral notice, notes for a funeral service, a family record album, and photographs of Olive, her father, her friends, and her husband, James Bortel.

In her diary Olive wrote about the things that were important to a young girl living in a rural area in the 1880s: home life, school, family, friends, and above all, boys. A young man who received much consideration in the early pages of her diary was a fellow named Frank. On Friday, January 16 Olive wrote, "Oh, I wish he would write for I want to hear from his so bad." On January 20 she did receive a letter from him and wrote, "I was fearful glad to hear from my darling once more."

One of Olive's recurring problems was how to handle competing suitors. On January 21, she considered one boy, Will Doll, who seemed to like her. "He thinks I like him but I do not it will never do him any good to think any thing of me." On January 25 she discussed two other boys, "Johnie Hartsell and Mr. Golden wanted to go home with me but I would not let them. Oh how I wish that they had not asked me for I did hate to say no but I would not let either go with me as long as I am corresponding with Frank he is all the one I care a bout at one time." It seems that Johnie Hartsell was persistent; Olive noted three occasions when he did serve as her escort. Soon, his name appears with frequency and there is no further mention of Frank. The relationship between Mr. Hartsell and Olive can be characterized as slightly competitive as well as affectionate. She wrote on February 6 of a social event that she and John Hartsell both attended, "he thought he was going to act so smart that evening but I did not care. I can act just as smart as he can." By February 13, Olive and her friend Esther were scheduling rendezvous with John H. and his friend Dan G.

Olive wrote about her young girl friends, Amy, Daisy, Nancy, Emma, and in particular, Esther. Olive and her girl friends spent their days in school or at home ironing, baking, cooking, and cleaning. Their social lives revolved around choir meetings, social functions, Church, Sunday school, and house calls. Their greatest thrills were being a little bit bad and flirting with boys. On February 18, Olive's school teacher had to separate her from Esther for talking too much during class. On February 28, Olive and Esther had an adventure together:

Esther and I went out calling went to Simptons and then to Uptergrass and while us was thair, thair was to tony fellows cam a long on the side walk they was a going to Fremont one he through a kiss at me and I through one back and then Esther and I both got to flirting with them (Oh we had a boss time).

In the same entry, Olive divulged, "Had my fortune told to night. She told me I would have an offer of marrage from a tall heavy set person light completion blue eyes dark brown hair She does not know everything."

In addition to news about boys and friends, Olive's diary also discussed her parents, especially when they were absent. Her parents were often away, presumably because of Thornton Ingle's work on the circuit. Olive did not write about her father's work. Instead, she discussed its impact on her, particularly her sadness about being left alone and in charge of the house keeping.

The Ingle collection also includes several letters. The first, written July 25 1849, is from Ann E Cowdrick, Olive's relative on her mother's side. Ann wrote home from Turkey, [New York] to her friend Sarah A. Clapp of Henry Co. Ohio. Ann apologized to Sarah for behaving badly before leaving Henry, regretting that they parted on such bad terms. "I am a great way from you I may take sick and die or perhaps a watery grave may be my doom on my return you know there is danger on the lake and on the land also. But I hope Sarah to return safe home to meet you in friendship for I am sure there is nothing else between us."

A later letter is directed to Olive Ingle from a suitor, known only as A.F.W. He wrote to Olive on September 22, 1884, relieved that she had written, as he thought she no longer wanted to correspond with him. A farmer, he seemed to want to convey a sense of his financial success, and discussed why his career was more promising than others. He responded to Olive's mention of attending a holiness meeting, which suggests that Olive was following the family tradition of religious involvement.

The last part of the Ingle family papers is Olive's family record album, in which she recorded the detailed history of her family. She recorded birth, marriage, and death dates for several generations. By the time that she recorded her family's history, she had married James Bortel and had two children; Doris, born in 1892, and Genevieve, born in 1894.

Olive's family record begins with an account of the life and death of her maternal grandparents, Joseph and Margrat Cowdrick, and her paternal grandparents, Isaac and Susan Ingle. Of her grandmother Cowdrick's death she wrote, "I remember when I stood beside her coffin, the peaceful smile that rested on her dear old face and the hands folded on her breast that had so often waited on me."

Religion is a recurring theme in Olive's album. Of her parents she wrote, "I have all way[s] had good Christian parents who tryed to raise us in the way of christians and the fear of the Lord. How thankful we aught all to be for good Christian parents, for how may children have drunken fathers and mother, who never speaks a pleasant word." Olive also described the conversion experiences of her father and mother, "My mother was converted when but a girl she was a good Baptist. She was baptized when thair was ice in the river. they cut a hole in the ice a baptize them."

The Jayne papers contain letters from Samuel Ferguson Jayne, during his service as a relief agent with the U.S. Sanitary Commission, to his fiancée Charlotte Elizabeth Jayne in the summer of 1864. He described his work at the U.S. Colored Hospital at City Point, Virginia, treating wounded soldiers from the battles at Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Battle of the Crater (Petersburg).

The Jayne papers consist of 17 letters from Samuel Ferguson Jayne, during his service as a relief agent with the U.S. Sanitary Commission, to his fiancée Charlotte Elizabeth Jayne in the summer of 1864. The letters, dated May 22-August 19, 1864, track his travels on the Mary Rapley steamboat and document his efforts at the U.S. Colored Hospital at City Point, Virginia. They discuss the numerous wounded soldiers coming from battles at Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Battle of the Crater (Petersburg), and include vivid details on the treatment of the men and the facilities of the hospitals. Jayne often notes the difficulties of getting the Union doctors to treat black troops. He wrote, "We have had to almost fight the doctors to get them to treat the colored men decently and to find them proper attention. When we came here most of the men were without beds. Now we have them upon, not only beds, but every man has also an iron bedstead, entirely covered by mosquito netting" (July 12). On August 9th, Jayne wrote that "There are very few agents here, who are adapted to such 'low' work as that of taking care of sick negroes" (August 9).

Jayne described in depth the types of wounds and afflictions the solders suffered. On August 4, he wrote "we are overcome with sick and wounded...I have found many who fought hand to hand with rebels, as their wounds are those made by the butts of muskets or clubs...We have twelve men digging graves today for our hospital alone." In a letter dated April 9th, he described a "terrible explosion" of an ammunition boat at City Point, Virginia, and its aftermath. Though the letters contain many details on his work managing the sick in the hospitals, they also include expressions of love for Charlotte, who Samuel was "compelled to write" in order "to keep [his] wits straight" (August 9, 1864). Jayne also commented on political and ethical issues of the war. For example, in the letter from August 19, 1864, he questioned the morality of paying black soldiers to fight in place of a drafted white soldier:

"I do not think it would be exactly fair to obtain a negro for a substitute. In the first place, in all modesty, they do not make as good soldiers as the whites, and at the present crisis of affairs, from all that I can learn from observation and report, one white man, even as insignificant as myself, is equal to two negroes for war purposes. Then, the negro fights under great disadvantages. If taken prisoner he is either murdered or sold into slavery--and I think that a government that permits its soldiers to be thus dealt with, without retaliating upon the enemy ought to go to perdition, or at least to a strongly seasoned purgatory. I would not ask a man to go as my substitute who would be murdered in cold blood because he was not of my race and color. Until we can procure the African some rights of civilized warfare, let the Anglo Saxon fight his own battles."

Jayne drew several sketches and commented on them. Of note is a picture of a ground plan of the U.S. Colored hospital, City Point, Virginia camp, annotated with the functions of many individual tents. It includes the positions of hospitals for the 5th, 6th, and 9th Corps. This plan accompanies the letter from July 15, 1864, in which Jayne provided additional details of the hospital camp.

• "Our pet lamb Molly," City Point Virginia, a pencil sketch of a young Black woman sitting in front of shelves of supplies (July 26, 1864).
• "Special Diet," a barefoot black man walking past army tents holding a mug and plate of fish (August 10, 1864).
• "For this are we Doctors," a black soldier with a bloody amputated arm (August 10, 1864).
• "Lizzie," a profile of a black woman sitting on a crate with her hands to her head (August 10, 1864).
• "Hospital bed" on the back: "This is a drawing of our hospital beds, with mosque-to netting. Made by Roberts, S. "(August 19, 1864).

The Jewett-Lee collection centers around Azubah Miller Jewett and her daughter Mary (Mollie) Jewett Lee, early settlers to the Saginaw Valley of Michigan.

Most of the Jewett-Lee collection centers around Azubah Miller Jewett and her daughter Mary (Mollie) Jewett Lee. Three letters from Azubah to her daughter were written in the 1850s; they contain family news and information about friends. Azubah wrote her reminiscences in 1888, about a year before she died, describing her early days in Michigan. The other letters are primarily to and from Mollie Jewett, and include a courtship correspondence with her future husband, Newton Lee. Most of these letters were written while she was away from Saginaw City visiting her father's family in New York in the summer and fall of 1853. The collection also includes three speeches, two for delivery on holidays to the people of Saginaw (1858 and 1861) and one addressed to a literary society. There are a couple newspapers and newspaper clippings as well.

The most important document in the Jewett-Lee collection is the reminiscences of Azubah Jewett. She wrote this manuscript upon the request of her brother Judge Albert Miller of Bay City, who asked her to record some of her memories of pioneer life. The document begins:

"Very many things have occorred in the fifty-seven years that I have been in Michigan that would be worthy of note but I hardly feel competant for the task; Suffice it to say that the present inhabitants would think it quite impossible to endure the privations and sacrifices that a few of the first have pass'd through; and in almost every instance without a word of complaint."

Azubah Jewett went on to outline her experiences as one of the first pioneers of the Saginaw Valley. She saw the first settlers arrive and establish industries, including lumbering. She witnessed the first steam boats in the area, the first roads and street cars, and the population explosion that occurred as the next wave of settlers arrived in the Saginaw Valley. The eighty-three year old closed her account with these words, "My bodily health is good, and unless this article indicates contrary, my mental faculties are unimpared, and I enjoy life as much at present as at any period on my existence." She died one year later.

There is a short series of courtship letters between Dr. Newton D. Lee and Molly Jewett while she was in New York. Lee fantasized a future life together: "when I would get tired of the office, I could go to you & be always greeted with a lovely smile & a sweet kiss, then you would sit down beside me and put both your hands in mine & lean your head upon my bosom as your support in this life, then look up in my face & talk to me. . ." (1853 August 7). These winning words won Molly's heart, and the two were married in November.

One letter stands apart from the main collection because it was written by a woman named Delia, who had no connection to the Jewett family except that she knew and possibly courted Dr. Lee before his marriage to Mollie. Delia's words provide insight into the social risks and responsibilities that women had to face when contemplating engaging in a courtship. Lee had apparently visited and written her, and expressed an interest in pursuing his suit. Delia's letter diplomatically expressed a certain amount of skepticism about the sincerity of Dr. Lee's gestures. While she would accept a sincere offer, she would not risk the injury and humiliation that might come from accepting an insincere offer: "It is still more gratifying to meet a worthy friend, prove him such and then feel that I share his thoughts and friendship, but as frankly confess, that a mere avowal of such a friendship is no convincing evidence to me that it exists" (1850 February 7).

The most chilling letter in the collection is from Mollie's friend Louisa. The tear-stained letter reported that a mutual friend of theirs had died of consumption. Susan Harris had been part of their group of six girls all the same age. Lousia, keeping vigil at Susan's bed side when she passed, wrote "I scarcely left that lifeless form until it was returned to mother earth helped to robe her for burial and dressed her hair for the last time which for so many weeks had been my care fearing to trust anyone else" (1853 October 16).

The three public address manuscripts are of unclear authorship. One is a Fourth of July speech that makes indirect but sustained references to the conflict between the North and the South, and the second is an address to citizens who have answered the call to defend the Union flag. The last is an address to the ladies and gentlemen of a literary society on the occasion of the last of the society's meetings.

This collection is comprised of 8 letters written by John Barr to his girlfriend, Ethel Mae ("Polly") Trueblood, of Cleveland, Ohio, during his World War I service with the YMCA near Paris in 1918. In these love letters, Barr discussed his experiences near the front, his negative opinions of the Germans, and the nature of his daily work.

This collection is comprised of 8 letters written by John Barr to his girlfriend, Ethel Mae ("Polly") Trueblood, of Cleveland, Ohio, during his World War I service with the YMCA in Paris in 1918. In these love letters, Barr discussed the nature of his daily work and his experiences. Despite being located near the front and witnessing some of the horrors of war, he maintained a positive attitude, and optimistically told Polly, "One has to be here to fully realize the importance of winning the war. And we are going to win" (June 27, 1918); however, he did not brook any tolerance toward the "Jerrys," "Boches," and "Huns," whom he often disparaged in his letters. Along with his descriptions of life in France and frequent proclamations of love and hope for the couple's future, he responded angrily to reports of strikers in the United States, questioning their loyalty and reinforcing the importance of men in the American Expeditionary Forces. In the letter of September 14, 1918, Barr attached a clipping from the June 7, 1918 issue of Stars and Stripes, featuring an article about war refugees captioned "Helpless Victims of the Hun."

The Joseph F. Field papers are primarily composed of letters from Field to Kittie Chapman, his fiancé and later wife, while Field served with the Union Army. The letters document Field and Chapman's relationship and the effects of the war on that relationship.

Twenty-six of the 40 letters in this collection were written by Joe Field to his fiancé/wife, Kittie, with the balance including nine documents that Field acquired while adjutant for the regiment, one letter from Kittie to Joe, and two letters from other women to Kittie.

Field's letters contain little war news outside of some discussion of the conditions where he is encamped. In many letters, in fact, it is difficult to detect that a war is even going on. Field's letters are intensely focused on his relationship with Kittie, and are generally lighthearted and playful in tone. The war creeps in at the edges that the relationship defines: it is the war that separates the two, the war that affects the lives of their relatives and friends. For this reason, the collection is most likely to be of interest for the study of the effect of war and separation upon one couple's relationship.

Among the more interesting, specifically war-related, aspects of Field's letters are descriptions of various social activities and camp life, attitudes toward officers, and an account of a soldier who was accidentally poisoned by drinking a bottle of liniment that he had mistaken for alcohol. Field's attitudes toward civilians can be very interesting, as well, as he can be quite favorably disposed toward them. The citizens of Norfolk were particularly pleasant to Field and his company, though Virginia women, he wrote, were "too fancy" for his tastes, and the "native" women tended to shutter themselves in their houses, never showing themselves in public. At the end of the war, Field wrote that the Colonel intended to bring a 14 year-old white slave boy he had found to the north and educate him as a missionary, with the intention of seeing the boy return to the south later to spread the gospel. Field's attitude toward African-Americans was less benevolent, and his reaction to the enlistment of African-American soldiers, in particular, is worth noting. Field writes to Kittie that he hated the thought of the North "trying to raise niggers to do their fighting for them. As though Nigs were equal to your Joe" (1864 August 19), and on another occasion, he joked that he might bring home a freedman to sell as a draft substitute.

This collection consists of incoming letters sent to Mary Averell Knap of Brownsville and Ogdensburg, New York, between 1850 and 1862, and letters sent to her granddaughter, Lydia Averell Hasbrouck, of Ogdensburg, New York, in 1885 and 1886 by her cousin, Thomas Whitney Brown. The correspondence concerns daily life, occasional references to the Civil War, literature, and Brown's attempts to gain admission to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

The Knap-Whitney family letters consist of approximately 88 letters. The correspondence addressed to Mary Averell Knap includes 4 outgoing and approximately 75 incoming personal letters dated between 1848 and 1864. Her parents, friends, cousins, and other family members commented on their daily lives, with occasional references to the Civil War. Mary Knap's father, Thomas Knap, informed his daughter about his life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1850, and occasionally discussed the sermons he heard. After 1850, Mary's correspondents primarily included her cousins and friends. In the mid-1850s, Maria M. Campbell (later Smith), a cousin, wrote about her education and social life at St. Mary's Hall, Burlington, New Jersey, and in October 1858 discussed her relocation to Fort Mason, Texas (resultant from her husband's affiliation with the United States Army's Second Cavalry). Susie P. Willene wrote of her life in "Frankford," and in one letter she shared her distaste for recent political developments in South Carolina, despite her southern heritage (June 22, 1855). Other friends reported social news, such as marriages and, in one instance, the author's secret engagement. Knap also received letters from several men, including one written in German.

Though Mary Knap continued to receive letters throughout the Civil War, her correspondents primarily focused on personal matters, such as her cousin Will's efforts to establish a forge at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania. Others described a visit to an army encampment in Washington, D.C., and mentioned a soldier's aid society.

Mary A. Knap also wrote 4 letters to George Whitney in 1857, about her life in Brownsville and his unreciprocated romantic advances.

The correspondence sent from Thomas Brown Whitney of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to his cousin, Lydia Averell Hasbrouck of Ogdensburg, New York, includes 8 letters dated from 1885 and 1886 and 1 letter dated in 1940. He shared family news and stories, and commented on his daily life. An avid reader, he frequently discussed literature and literary figures, such as Lords Tennyson and Byron, and occasionally copied poetry into his letters. Whitney enjoyed fencing, and drew several figures fighting in his letter of December 26, 1885. After September 1885, the letters concentrate on his desire to attend College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), and he wrote of his studies, college entrance exams, and classes in Latin. On April 6, 1886, he voiced his concerns about "hazing and general fighting" at Princeton. His letter dated March 23, 1940, reflects on a bout of "grippe" and attitudes towards the Second World War, including German anti-war sentiment.

The Langstroth Family papers document the activities and relationships of several generations of the Langstroth family, originally of Philadelphia, including the founding of several schools for women and African Americans, the experiences of a patient the Friends Asylum, and service in the Civil War.

The correspondence series comprises 600 items covering 1831-1955, and sheds light on the personal lives, careers, and activities of several generations of the Langstroth family. The bulk of the earliest letters, dating from the 1830s, are from Catharine Langstroth to her father and siblings. These letters concern the death of her sister Sarah, financial issues, and the health of several family members, including Margaretta, and refer to temperance (July 20, 1835 “It affords me much pleasure to know that you gathered in your hay on temperance principles”) and religious study. One letter of particular interest is dated January 3, 1839, and was written by Margaretta during a stay at the Friends Asylum in Philadelphia. It describes a harrowing series of treatments for unspecified mental problems: “My head has been cut open to the bone for 3 inches; and large [peas?] inserted; a lead placed over the slit and on the top of this a bread & milk poultice has been applied for two months… My hair has been shaved at least 6 times; and three times since the head was opened.” Margaretta also described the Asylum’s lectures, food, and other patients (“only deranged at intervals”).

Letters from the 1840s and 1850s were written by a variety of family members and document the founding of Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies; the courtship of Thomas Langstroth, III, and Mary Hauss; and a range of religious attitudes, from Margaretta’s intense piety to Thomas’ doubt (December 12, 1853: “most all the young men in our church just before they got married have made a profession of religion, and how have they turned out! Look at them one half are as bad as they were before: but I have no right to judge.”). In early 1855, Margaretta wrote a series of letters from near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, describing her efforts at religious and educational outreach to slaves, for whom she felt sympathy (February 7, 1855: “Slaves! poor slaves! how my heart bleeds for them, they toil from night to morn, from morn to night--live and die here without knowledge enough to save the soul.”).

Little documentation of the family exists from the Civil War period, despite Edward and Thomas’ service on opposite sides, but Edward’s letter to Margaretta of July 14, 1865, indicates a rift between himself and his sisters, perhaps arising from his joining the Confederacy. Letters of the 1860s and 1870s are mainly incoming to Margaretta and concern teaching, finances, and advice. A number of letters to Thomas from the 1880s contain information about his brother Edward’s health. Approximately 25 folders of letters date from the 20th-century and were written between Hugh Tener Langstroth, his sister, Sara Paxson, and other relatives. These concern travel, social visits, health, and business matters.

The financial and legal documents series consists of 124 items relating to the Langstroth family, covering 1778-1913. It includes wills, records relating to milling, land indentures, an account book of 1814-1817 kept by Thomas Langstroth, Jr., paperwork related to loans, and other materials. Some materials relate to the bank failure which forced Langstroth to sell his mill in 1836. Only 15 items date from 1851-1913.

The diaries and journals series represents six volumes and a few fragments, covering the 1830s to the 1860s, all written by Margaretta Langstroth. The volumes dating from the 1830s contain biographies of historical figures and may have been used in school. Subsequent diaries recorded daily entries of varying length, covering parts of 1864-1868. The 1864 volume includes Margaretta’s memorials of deceased family members and is thus a good source of genealogical information. More commonly, her entries describe daily activities, religious meditations, and frequently seem to reflect a fragile mental state, as in this exceprt of April 15, 1865: “Abraham Lincoln shot in the Washington Theatre Secretary Sewar [sic] had this throat cut I hope Edwar [sic] has no hand in this what makes me fear that he had” or an entry of June 19, 1866, describing the death of a robin: “I felt very badly cannot describe my suffering poor bird…read hymns as it was dying wondering if it would live elsewhere[.] In bed all day so distressed so wretched…” In a number of passages, Margaretta noted the Sunday School classes that she taught, and commented on the number of students and the subjects of her lessons.

The Leighton-Mount family papers are made up of incoming correspondence to Pearl Leighton and her husband, John L. Mount, of Otsego, Michigan, as well as letters written by John Mount. In the latter, Mount discusses his work as a traveling salesman of "Royal Scrolls" for Powers, Higley, & Company (Valparaiso, Indiana).

The Leighton-Mount family papers are made up of incoming correspondence to Pearl Leighton and her husband, John L. Mount, of Otsego, Michigan. Other members of the Leighton and Mount families lived in various townships of southern Michigan, for the most part in and around Albion, Otsego, and Springport.

The collection also contains letters written by John Mount; by John Mount's father, George L. Mount (most from Concord, Michigan); by Pearl's father, Amos Leighton (a lumber manufacturer in Otsego, Michigan); by Pearl's cousin, Alva Sebring (in Utah and California); and by numerous Michigan friends of Pearl Leighton.

The most frequent writers in the Leighton-Mount family papers are John and his father, George Mount. John wrote about his relationship with Pearl, sermons and moral issues, work as a traveling salesman, and family-related topics, while George offered financial and family advice. Pearl's friend, Alice S. Beal, of Northville and Albion, Michigan, was a faithful correspondent, who discussed her own schooling and social topics.