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

The collection consists of six penmanship and cypher books kept by William L. Shimer, Susanna M. Shimer, and Nathan M. Shimer of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the 1840s and 1850s and one alphabet card with lower-case and upper-case letters. The blank books include illustrated covers and several have calligraphic titles for their sections. Four of them are dated and range from 1846 to 1853. The cypher books include exercises for arithmetic, fractions, accounting, and weights and measures, with many examples relating to practical issues like farming, business, and estates. Penmanship exercises include the copying of moral proverbs, common business abbreviations, strings of letters, and phrases. Two of the penmanship books are associated with writing systems: George J. Becker's The American System of Penmanship, and Bayson, Dunton and Scribner's National System of Penmanship.

The collection consists of seven penmanship and cypher books kept by William L. Shimer, Susanna M. Shimer, and Nathan M. Shimer of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the 1840s and 1850s and one alphabet card with lower-case and upper-case letters. The blank books include illustrated covers and several have calligraphic titles for their sections. Five of them are dated and range from 1846 to 1853. The cypher books include exercises for arithmetic, fractions, practical geometry, accounting, and weights and measures, with many examples relating to practical issues like farming, business, and estates. Penmanship exercises include the copying of moral proverbs, common business abbreviations, strings of letters, and phrases. Two of the penmanship books are associated with writing systems: George J. Becker's The American System of Penmanship, and Bayson, Dunton and Scribner's National System of Penmanship.

• Uriah Hunt & Son, Booksellers, Philadelphia
• Leary's Cheap Book Store, Philadelphia
• Brower, Hayes & Co., Booksellers and Stationers, Philadelphia
• Henry J. Oerter's Cheap Book & Stationery Store, Bethlehem
• Crosby & Ainsworth, Publishers, Boston

The cover of William L. Shimer's 1848 exercise book includes an inscription "L. Shimer, Co. A 10 reg. Militia Pa." William L. Shimer's 1850-1852 cypher book includes notations that he was attending the Gen. Taylor school and was being instructed by A. Stout, as well as geometrical drawings, calligraphic headings, and a pen-and-ink drawing of an eagle's head holding a banner that reads, "Let teh Stars and Stripes proudly float over you."

This cypher book contains mathematics problems and exercises copied and completed by Samuel Burrier. The sections include multiplication, addition, division, weights (apothecary weights, et al.), and liquid measures. Several of the headers incorporate chickens into the calligraphic lettering.

This cypher book contains mathematics problems and exercises copied and completed by Samuel Burrier. The sections include multiplication, addition, division, weights (apothecary weights, et al.), and liquid measures. Several of the headers incorporate chickens into the calligraphic lettering.

This collection is made up of personal letters that Samuel Abbot Smith received from friends and family members while attending Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard College, and Harvard Divinity School in the mid-1800s. His correspondents discussed their daily activities, Smith's education, and other subjects.

This collection is made up of 10 personal letters that Samuel Abbot Smith received from friends and family members while attending Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard College, and Harvard Divinity School in the mid-1800s. The first letter, written by Horatio H. Whitten of "Great Falls," mentions Whitten's new schoolteacher and local factories (November 6, 1843). The letter includes a small drawing of a face in profile.

Samuel Abbot Smith's grandfather, Abiel Abbot, and his "Aunt Abby" wrote 5 letters to Smith from Peterborough, New Hampshire, between October 15, 1844, and January 9, 1853. They provided news of their lives and of family members' and friends' health and activities. Abby referred to social groups, her religious activities, Smith's education, and, on one occasion, fashionable summer coats (May 25, 1846). Abiel Abbot advised his grandson to read Roman history and take courses in elocution. He also provided suggestions for his grandson's salutatory address and discussed Samuel's mother's finances. In one letter, he shared his distaste for political mass meetings (October 15, 1844). Abiel and Abby's final letter encloses a German-language letter from Marie A. Peabody to Samuel Abbot Smith.

Smith received 2 letters from "Mother," likely his father's second wife and widow, Elizabeth Dow, on September 10, 1848, and July 9, 1849. Writing from Exeter, New Hampshire, she noted the recent anniversary of her husband's death; mentioned her attendance at a lecture by "Bushnell" that touched on Calvinism and other tops; and discussed her plans to travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for her son's graduation from Harvard College. She shared a story of an acquaintance who had served in the Mexican War and reported that the man desired a Canadian revolution so he could earn a commission as captain in a New York militia company.

Smith's final correspondent, Julius Crone, wrote twice from Peterborough, New Hampshire, on October 6, 1850, and February 21, 1851. He discussed his work, local news, a meeting of a social group (the "R. C."), and his envy for Smith, who was associated with "amiable scholars" such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He expressed his concern for Smith's health and his desire that Smith could continue his studies despite his ailments.

In 1820, Robert Galbreath created this cypher book, sold by Bennet & Walton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It includes rules, examples, and exercises for vulgar fractions, raising of powers, square and cube roots, measurements, gravity, and applied mathematics for walling, masonry, paving, shingling, plastering, and digging. The volume has several pen-and-ink drawings of geometrical objects related to math problems.

In 1820, Robert Galbreath created this cypher book, sold by Bennet & Walton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It includes rules, examples, and exercises for vulgar fractions, raising of powers, square and cube roots, measurements, gravity, and applied mathematics for walling, masonry, paving, shingling, plastering, and digging. The volume has several pen-and-ink drawings of geometrical objects related to math problems.

In 1820, Robert Galbreath created this cypher book, sold by Bennet & Walton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It includes rules, examples, and exercises for vulgar fractions, raising of powers, square and cube roots, measurements, gravity, and applied mathematics for walling, masonry, paving, shingling, plastering, and digging. The volume has several pen-and-ink drawings of geometrical objects related to math problems.

In 1820, Robert Galbreath created this cypher book, sold by Bennet & Walton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It includes rules, examples, and exercises for vulgar fractions, raising of powers, square and cube roots, measurements, gravity, and applied mathematics for walling, masonry, paving, shingling, plastering, and digging. The volume has several pen-and-ink drawings of geometrical objects related to math problems.

The Pollard family papers contain correspondence, indentures, and financial records related to Asa D. Pollard and his children, including Joseph G. Pollard, Cyrus W. Pollard, Emily F. Pollard, and George F. Pollard. Members of the Pollard family corresponded about their lives in New Hampshire and Massachusetts from the 1840s-1860s.

The Pollard family papers (334 items) contain correspondence, indentures, and financial records related to the Pollard family of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The Correspondence and Documents series (228 items) includes personal letters between siblings Joseph G. Pollard, Cyrus W. Pollard, Emily F. Pollard, and George F. Pollard. From 1849-1865, the Pollard siblings wrote to each other about their daily lives, social activities, health, local travel, and family news from cities and towns in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York. Some of George F. Pollard's letters concern his education in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Joseph Pollard wrote about his work teaching in a country schoolhouse; in one letter, he mentioned his plans to attend a lecture by Ralph Waldo Emerson, though he suspected it would be "beyond ordinary comprehension" (December 8, 1857). During the Civil War, the Pollards sometimes mentioned topics such as the draft, particularly as it related to Cyrus Pollard and his relocation from Woburn, Massachusetts, to Albany, New York; they also discussed George Pollard's attempt to obtain a commission in the Union Army. The Pollard siblings received letters from other acquaintances, occasionally pertaining to business matters.

The series also includes indentures regarding Asa D. Pollard and land in New Hampshire and Massachusetts; one document pertains to his purchase of a pew in the First Congregational Church in Woburn, Massachusetts (November 1, 1860). Undated items include a manuscript "Report of the School Committee of Woburn," a printed circular letter to children attending Sabbath schools, and a report about Emily Pollard's academic progress at the Charlestown Female Seminary.

The Financial Records series (106 items) is comprised of receipts, invoices, accounts, and promissory notes. Most of the items pertain to the financial affairs of Asa D. Pollard, including receipts for Pollard's tax payments in Derry, New Hampshire. Many of the remaining items, including most of the items dated after the mid-1850s, relate to Joseph G. Pollard's financial affairs in Boston.

This collection is made up of seven penmanship books and six cypher books kept by brothers Stephen Plumer, Daniel T. Plumer, Horace Plumer, and unidentified individuals, dating from 1831-1832 (11 volumes are undated). As the books came from the same source, the unidentified volumes are likely by members of the Plumer family of Newbury, Massachusetts.

The seven penmanship books include two by Daniel T. Plumer, one by Stephen Plumer, and four by unidentified individuals. The students practiced writing individual words and short, largely moral and practical statements. Examples include: "Circumspection," "Saratoga," "Cherokee," "Choctaw," "Empyrean," "Command respect by deportment," "Incumber not the mind with toys," "Sound the waters of science," "God made the world," and many others.

The cypher books include one by Horace Plumer and the others by unidentified individuals. The volumes include arithmetic, decimals and fractions, proportions, weights and measures, Federal and English money, currency exchange, mercantile word problems, copies of bills of exchange, alligation, and interest.

The Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Public Schools record book contains printed circulars, a copy of the society's constitution, and copies of letters that George M. Stroud, a corresponding secretary, wrote about education in Pennsylvania from 1827-1831.

The Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Public Schools record book (around 30 pages) contains printed circulars, a copy of the society's constitution, and letters about education in Pennsylvania dated between 1827 and 1831. Manuscript lists and letters were written directly into the volume, and printed items were pasted in.

The volume's first 2 pages contain a manuscript list of teachers with notes on their locations or addresses. A printed copy of the society's constitution is accompanied by the text of an 1809 Pennsylvania legislative act promising financial assistance for students unable to pay tuition fees, as well as a letter about the society's formation with a list of its officers (November 15, 1827, 3 pages total). George M. Stroud, a corresponding secretary, wrote letters from November 10, 1828-November 25, 1829 (12 pages); from December 17, 1829-December 18, 1829 (1 page); and on March 22, 1831 (1 page). Stroud, who promoted the Lancaster system of education, discussed issues related to public education in the state of Pennsylvania and responded to inquiries about school buildings, hiring teachers, and teachers' salaries. An item laid into the volume among the first group of letters contains manuscript copies of 2 resolutions that the society adopted about corresponding members.

The remaining items are pasted-in copies of printed circular letters and memorials. The society's corresponding secretaries sent a letter to supporters with a list of questions about local schools (November 24, 1829, 1 page), as well as 2 memorials to members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly (December 15, 1830, and undated); Stroud copied lists of the circulars' recipients (7 pages total). The book also contains 2 copies of the undated memorial. Addressing the State Legislature, the society encouraged senators and representatives to uphold the spirit of the educational legislation of 1809, and argued that, despite the legislation's provisions, poor children often did not attend school. The front endpaper contains the name of Mrs. W. Herbert Burk of Valley Forge.

In this book, a traveling New England schoolteacher recorded instructional exercises, instructional explanations, poetry, and biographical information about pupils. The author taught in New Hampshire and present-day Maine. Subjects of instruction include arithmetic, surveying, geometry, nautical navigation, and writing.

A traveling New England schoolteacher recorded instructional exercises, instructional explanations, poetry, and biographical information about pupils in this volume (220 pages, 8" x 12") between 1787 and 1811. The author taught in New Hampshire and present-day Maine and entered personal information about teaching appointments throughout the volume. Individual lessons are dated as early as 1787, and the volume includes several lists of male and female pupils from teaching engagements in various towns, dated as late as 1811. Some lists of students are accompanied by the students' birthdates. Classes convened in schoolhouses, other public structures, and private homes.

Each page has a subject label, and several pages are comprised of miscellaneous questions entitled "A Collection of Questions," occasionally attributed to The London Magazine. Much of the volume pertains to instruction in mathematical subjects such as algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, and it includes diagrams, examples, and practical applications. Lengthy sections are devoted to surveying and nautical navigation (including "plane-sailing"), often with many diagrams. Other sections concern subjects such as writing and history, with examples of proverbs, deeds, marriage licenses, and letters for copying. Some pages have collections of anecdotes, proverbs, and poems, usually pertaining to morality and religion. A number of lengthier poems concern death and weddings, and one is entitled "Rodgers & Victory[:] Tit for tat. Or the Chesapeake paid for in British Blood!!!" Other parts include a cure for jaundice, a "rebus," a table of symbols for astronomical objects, information about "Occult Philosophy or Magic," instructions for gauging a copper kettle and a man of war, and a list of nouns with corresponding verbs and participles. Some of the material is copied from outside sources, such as John Love's Geodesia.

The Myron Barrett letters contain correspondence from his friends and family, who discussed various aspects of life in the mid-19th century, often with a focus on education.

The Myron Barrett letters contain correspondence from his friends and family, who discussed various aspects of life in the mid-19th century, often with a focus on education. Barrett had a wide range of acquaintances across the country, especially several friends who wrote from various educational institutions and, following his stint as a teacher in Columbus, Ohio, from that city. Many of the friendly, personal letters concern agricultural pursuits or teaching, and several letters from J. Collins provide a glimpse into cadet life at West Point in the 1840s. Additional material depicts various aspects of everyday life in the period, including one letter discussing a surgical operation to remove a cancerous tumor from a young woman (March 17, 1846).