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Collection includes 67 glass-plate negatives of farm families in Fork, Millbrook, and Hinton, Mecosta County, Michigan, as well as the Flint Post Office, Mill Pond, and Hall's Lake. Also documented are patent models of Michigan inventors William M. Hill and Newman G. Denney.

The creator is unknown. The collection is organized by size first. There are 50 glass-plate negatives, each measuring approximately 3.25 inches by 4.25 inches, #5-96 (scattered), in numerical order. Next, there are 17 glass-plate negatives, each measuring approximately 4.25 inches by 6.25 inches, which were not numbered originally, now labeled A-S, filed in alphabetical order.

The collection documents farm families in Fork, Millbrook, and Hinton, Mecosta County, Michigan, as well as the Flint Post Office, Mill Pond, and Hall’s Lake. The automobiles of doctors Franklin and Purdius are identified, as is Newman G. Denney, an inventor from Millbrook, Michigan, and some of his patent models for reels of Air Silk. Also included are front and rear views of dirigible headlights patented by William M. Hill, an inventor from Mount Pleasant, Michigan, on January 1, 1929. Two of the negatives are broken and one is fading.

This collection of family papers includes photographic materials, papers, family trees, and newspaper or magazine clippings of the Copeman and Reimer families and their friends and family from the Mount Pleasant, Michigan area.

This collection of family papers includes photographic materials, papers, family trees, and newspaper or magazine clippings of the Copeman and Reimer families and their friends and family from the Mount Pleasant, Michigan area. The collection is organized by series, alphabetically, and chronologically. Overall, the collection is in very good condition with some acidification, one glass plate negative with a broken corner, and tintypes which are a bit warped with minor edge damage. The major series of this collection are Copeman, Reimer, and Simonds. Nina Copeman is the main person in connection in the Copeman papers due to her historical family research. Much of the series consists of photographic materials including multiple formats of photographs from ambrotypes and tintypes through color photography. Papers consist of family correspondence, including about family history, materials related to their relative Linda Ronstadt, and the Henry Baldwin Copeman family farm in Crawford, Michigan. The Reimer series also consists of family photographs and materials, with photographs of reunions and family headstones in Palo and Mount Pleasant cemeteries. The Simonds series consists of photographs of family and their grocery store located in Mount Pleasant. The rest of the collection consist of family photographs and materials from the related Brownell, Ettinger, and Preston Families, as well as materials related to Palo Schools, Central State Teachers College, later Central Michigan University, history, and postcards with substantive notes between family members and photographic postcards of family members. The Oversized folder contains photographs of the Henry Baldwin Copeman Farm and Copeman and Reimer family trees.

Researchers should note that materials related to the family’s homestead in Idaho, Kenneth and Taimie Preston’s college photographs, Kenneth Preston’s work with the Civilian Conservation Corp, and Henry B. Copeman’s remaining diaries (including all Ku Klux Klan entries) were donated to the University of Idaho by the donor. The remaining material related to the family’s lives in Idaho were donated to Coeur d’Alene Museum and the Kellogg Museum by the donor.

Processing Note: .75 cubic feet of photographic materials, miscellaneous, and duplicates were withdrawn during processing. Acidic news clippings and materials were photocopied and the copies retained within the collection. Interfiled into other collections in the Clarke were seventeen postcards, two Michigan vertical file items, and a CMU commencement program. In August 2023, a 1852 wedding bedspread from Centreville, Pennsylvania, two Michigan friendship pillows, and miscellaneous family jewelry were transferred to the Ionia County Historical Society, and an Almont, Michigan, miniature tourist creamer or pitcher was transferred to the Almont Michigan Historical Society. Other miscellaneous items without a definite family provenance were withdrawn during processing.

The Thomas Silver scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, drawings, correspondence, and ephemera related to Silver's steam engine governor, which he patented on July 3, 1855.

The Thomas Silver scrapbook (9.5" x 11.25") contains newspaper clippings, drawings, correspondence, and ephemera related to Silver's steam engine governor, which he patented on July 3, 1855. Early clippings pertain to Silver's other inventions, but the majority of material concerns his steam engine governor. Among the clippings are articles about marine engineering and about competing inventors' designs. Some articles discuss marine disasters and, as a result, call for the implementation of improved equipment. Silver also collected incoming letters, advertisements, and other ephemera items associated with his engine governor. Though Silver was based in Philadelphia, many items originated from France and Great Britain, where his inventions were more widely used than in the United States. Some articles and other items are illustrated with diagrams of steam engine governors, and one ink sketch depicts a boat carrying an oversize engine. Two issues of The Patent Bulletin, both dated 1871, are laid into the volume.