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Collection

David P. Gerberich family account book and recipe book, 1840-1888

1 volume

This volume contains financial records pertaining to David P. Gerberich of Niles, Michigan, as well as other accounts and recipes. Daybook accounts pertain to sales of whiskey in Washington, Illinois, and of ales and foodstuffs in Howard, Michigan; later financial accounts relate to farm labor and personal expenses. The volume also includes culinary, medicinal, and household recipes.

This volume (around 320 pages) contains financial records pertaining to David P. Gerberich of Niles, Michigan, as well as other accounts and recipes. Daybook accounts pertain to sales of whiskey in Washington, Illinois, and of ales and foodstuffs in Howard, Michigan; later financial accounts relate to farm labor and personal expenses. The volume also includes culinary, medicinal, and household recipes.

The first section (pages 1-174) contains daybook records for sales of whiskey and other goods in Washington, [Illinois], from April 1, 1840-December 11, 1841. The merchant's customers included members of the Gerberich family. David P. Gerberich's daybook records sales of dry goods, especially wheat, as well as meats and other goods in "Kingsbury" and "Belmont" from August 6, 1842-September 6, 1845 (pages 178-181) and at Howard Township, [Michigan], from August 1868-February 27, 1872 (pages 187-238) and [March?] 8, 1873-July 27, 1873 (page 243). Page 182 contains a list of household expenses, pages 240-241 are comprised of estate records (November 3, 1873-December 10, 1873), and pages 244-293 contain accounts dated September 13, 1883-1888, which largely pertain to farm labor, livestock, blacksmithing, and personal expenses. Pages 178-238 and 183-186 of the daybook are missing.

Additional financial records and notes appear on pages 302 and 321-324. Pages 248-258 and 268-272 include recipes for food and household products such as cured meats, baked goods, and cleaning solutions.

Items laid into the volume include an 1888 receipt for Mrs. Gerberich's purchase of lumber from John L. Reddick in Niles, Michigan, dried leaves, and a blank fire insurance application for D. P. Gerberich of Niles, Michigan.

Collection

Hoyt family book, 1762-1882

1 volume

This volume was owned by successive generations of the Hoyt family in Stamford, Connecticut, and Hudson, Michigan, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its contents include military accounts from St. Johns, Newfoundland; arithmetic problems and solutions; and drawings of animals and natural scenes, including two hunters' encounter with a bear.

This book was owned by successive generations of the Hoyt family in Stamford, Connecticut, and Hudson, Michigan, in the 18th and 19th centuries. The front cover of the hide-bound volume bears the faint remnants of the English royal arms. Writing on the inside of the front cover indicates that the volume was owned by Jonah Hoyt (or Hait) before being presented to his grandson, Fred L. Hoyt, on his 21st birthday. The early pages include 7 pages of accounts for the receipt of military stores and provisions at St. Johns, Newfoundland, between September 1762 and August 1764. The section also contains a birth register regarding the children of Jonah and Anna Polmateer Hoyt.

The bulk of the volume is mathematical problems and solutions, including exercises related to multiplication, division, fractions and decimals, currency reduction, and the rule of three (cross-multiplication). Several measurement conversion tables, brief poems, penmanship exercises, and geometric line drawings are interspersed throughout this portion of the book, which also includes signatures by Jonah Hoyt and his son Lewis. Most of the poems are brief and humorous, with longer poems concerning a visit to London and the virtue of patience. Newspaper clippings regarding the death and funeral of George Washington, the wealth of Cornelius Vanderbilt, presidential election results from 1789 to 1872, and Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "Boston" are laid and pasted into the volume. A few plants are also laid in, as well as a letter from T. Andrews to Mary Andrews about life in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in February 1837. Decorated cutouts made from colored paper are pasted into the volume.

Emery Hoyt and other family members created many drawings, which appear after the arithmetic problems. Two are colored: a partially colored view of a church resembling a castle and a reproduction of an engraving showing a waterfront scene (the original engraving is laid into the volume). Most of the remaining pictures are pencil drawings and sketches of wild animals, including woodland creatures such as squirrels and deer; farm animals such as horses, cattle, and pigs; and African animals such as elephants, an oryx, and rhinoceroses. Other scenes of note show two hunters during an encounter with a bear, with one of the hunters preparing to hit the bear with the butt of his rifle; a safari hunter beside an elephant; and cavalry officers stabbing and shooting Native Americans. Also included are an outline of the state of Maine and a sketch of a sailing ship.