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The Albert J. Schimpke collection consists of photographs, audio-tapes, and other materials collected by Mr. Schimpke relating to Manistee, Michigan, especially the activities of one of its most prominent local lumbermen, Richard G. Peters.

The Albert J. Schimpke collection of R.G. Peters materials contains papers, photographs, negatives, and audio-tapes of interviews largely relating to lumbering in Manistee, Michigan.

Dexter, Michigan, collector of materials relating to the history of railroading in Michigan. Correspondence, subject files, printed matter and photographs; contain material concerning the Ann Arbor Railroad, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, the Manistee and Northeastern Railway Company, the Michigan Central Railroad, the Pere Marquette Railroad, and Ephraim Shay.

The Stoner collection contains about 3,600 photographs and negatives collected by Stoner, relating primarily to Michigan railroads. The collection also contains related manuscript materials.

Stoner's major collecting interests were in the Ann Arbor, Grand Trunk Western, and Pere Marquette Railroads and their predecessors, and in logging railroads, especially Ephraim Shay's railroad and others using Shay locomotives. Along with these lines, the collection contains photos of dozens of other railroads, not all in Michigan.

The photographs most commonly depict locomotives, often with their crews posed beside. Other common subjects are railroad stations (exteriors only), train wrecks, trains in motion, logging operations, carferries, railroad bridges, the Detroit-Windsor railroad tunnel, and street railroads.

Dozens of Michigan cities and towns and a number of places in other states are represented in the collection. Places depicted most often in the photos include Ann Arbor, Cadillac, Detroit, Durand, Frankfort, Harbor Springs, and Howell, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario.

The collection is organized into seven series: Classified photos, Unclassified photos, Albums, Unclassified negatives, Papers, Classified negatives, and Duplicate material.

Appended to this finding aid are two indexes, one for railroads and company names, the other for subjects. The indexes contain references to all items in the Classified photos, Unclassified photos, Albums, and Unclassified negatives series.

The index to railroads and company names indexes logging and industrial companies that operated railroads, as well as railroad lines themselves. It does not index locomotive manufacturers, nor does it index the names of railroad museums where some of the photos were taken.

The index to subjects indexes place names and topical subjects. It does not index the term "locomotives" since the majority of the photos in the collection would be indexed under that heading. Place names are indexed if the photo includes a view of some part of the place or of some event at the place. Close-up views of locomotives that do not show any background are not indexed by place, even if the description of the photo identifies where it was taken.

The Stearns collection consists of 45 letters written by Ezra Stearns to his sister, Ellen M. Brewer while he served as a private soldier in the 1st Michigan Engineers, plus two letters from his brother, Edwin (a private in the 20th Michigan Infantry), and 10 post-war letters from Stearns' wife, Mary, all written to Ellen. Ezra Stearns' letters document aspects of camp life, particularly his culinary activities as a military cook, including recipes of several dishes.

The Stearns collection consists of 45 letters written by Ezra Stearns to his sister, Ellen M. Brewer while he served as a private soldier in the 1st Michigan Engineers, plus two letters from his brother, Edwin (a private in the 20th Michigan Infantry), and 10 post-war letters from Stearns' wife, Mary, all written to Ellen.

Stearns' letters provide an account of service in an important Engineer regiment in Tennessee. While the letters do not include much insight into the engineering activities of the regiment, they are quite useful at documenting aspects of camp life, particularly the culinary activities and tastes of a talented military cook. Stearns relishes in his descriptions of cooking and he provides recipes for biscuits and pork soup, among other dishes. Other interesting letters include one with a description of a guerrilla attack on a train (1863 October 23), some letters with commentary on the recruiting and service of African-American soldiers, and the series of letters written during the Atlanta Campaign.

Finally, among the post-war correspondence are two excellent letters from Ezra's wife, Mary. The first, written from July 29-August 2, 1868, includes a description of settling into a new life on an isolated farm, becoming a "real Mohawk" in their new life in the woods and battling a fire threatening their new home. The second letter, written on October 11th, 1870, provides an account of the malarial infection afflicting Ezra and their young son, Arthur.

The Lantern slides and glass plate negatives collection consists of approximately 1,260 magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and glass plate transparencies from commercial and non-commercial sources documenting a wide range of subjects.

The Lantern slides and glass plate negatives collection consists of approximately 1,260 magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and glass plate transparencies from commercial and non-commercial sources documenting a wide range of subjects.

The collection contains a total of 33 boxes and is loosely organized by topical groupings. The following list references individual boxes and the general nature of their contents.

• 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives of views of Ann Arbor, Michigan, ca. early 1900s taken by an unidentified photographer. Includes views of several University of Michigan buildings, hospitals, fraternity houses, and private residences.

• Sixteen 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted slides showing posters for upcoming films and local product advertisements intended for use in movie theater intermissions. Producers include Excelsior Illustrating Co., Inc. and Photo Repro Co., Inc. Identified films include High Steppers (1926); The Blind Goddess (1926); Without Mercy (1926); Chickie (1925); Stop, Look and Listen (1926); West Point (1927); Pals First (1926); Ella Cinders (1926); Paying the Price (1927); The Avalanche (1919); and Turn to the Right (1922).
• Ten 7.5 x 7.5 cm slides documenting damage caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (two of the slides are broken).

• 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives including scenic views of fields, woods and towns, Canterbury Cathedral, ships in harbor, New York City streets, Coney Island beaches, street merchants, and children interacting with dogs (often humorously). All or some the images were produced by photographer William S. Pearsall in 1906 or earlier.

• Twenty-two 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted slides (some damaged) showing motion picture posters intended for display during movie theater intermissions with play dates handwritten in space at bottom. Dates listed range from 1918 to 1929. Identified films include The Devils Circus (1926); The Love of Sunya (1927); The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929); Mademoiselle Modiste (1926); Classified (1925); Chang (1927); The Demi-Bride (1927); The Swell-Head (1927); Steele of the Royal Mounted (1925); The Voice of the City (1929); His Supreme Moment (1925); Monte Carlo (1926); An Old Fashioned Boy (1920); Lovers in Quarantine (1925); Riders of the Dawn (1920); Paid Back (1922); The Breaking Point (1921); and Gypsy Blood (also named Carmen - 1918 in Germany, 1921 in U.S.A.)
• Seven 8 x 10 cm hand-colored slides showing scenes from the popular book The Bad Boy and His Pa by George W. Peck produced by the Chicago Projecting Co. in 1904. Tableaux are carefully staged and elaborately tinted.

• Includes 8 x 10 cm slides showing scenes from The Bad Boy and His Pa by the Chicago Projecting Co. Other identified films include Babe Comes Home (1927); Figures Don't Lie (1927); and The Danger Girl (1916).

• Twenty-six 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted movie theater slides related to coming attractions or local products. One item of particular note includes a notice to female patrons that they do not need to remove their hats if they are seated in the women’s section. Identified films include The Taxi Dancer (1927); Square Crooks (1928); The City Gone Wild (1927); Too Much Money (1926); The First Night (1927); Broadway Nights (1927); Rainbow Riley (1926); The Wizard (1927); Vamping Venus (1928); The People vs. Nancy Preston (1925); Lovely Mary (1926); Rookies (1927); The Swan (1925); The Cohens and Kellys (1926); His People (1925); and My Official Wife (1926).

• Twenty-three 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted movie theater slides related to coming attractions or local products. Identified films include The Phantom Police (1926); The Testing Block (1920); The Brute Master (1920); The Cowboy Ace (1921); The Song and Dance Man (1926); His Brother's Keeper (1921); Private Izzy Murphy (1926); The Wanderer (1925); Eve's Leaves (1926); Good and Naughty (1926); It's The Old Army Game (1926); Vanishing Trails (serial, 1920); Don't Shoot (1922); The Whirlwhind of Youth (1927); The Shield of Honor (1927); Across to Singapore (1928); Naughty But Nice (1927); The Barrier (1926); For The Love of Mike (1927); The Dark Angel (1925); Keeping Up With Lizzie (1921); and Top O' The Morning (1922).
• Seven 8 x 10 cm slides (mostly duplicates) related to the Yale “Pageant of America” series showing damage in the aftermath of World War I.
• One 8 x 10 cm slide showing an ancient Egyptian tablet depicting battle.

• Twenty 8 x 10 cm slides documenting various activities in the town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, around the turn of the 20th-century, including a hot-air balloon excursion and a fire engine race, along with other local scenes.
• Thirty-nine 8 x 10 cm slides showing scenic views (some hand-colored) in New Jersey and New York between 1896 and 1907. Most are attributed to Dr. J. T. Morehouse, but other noted contributors include the Charles Beseler Co., Dr. Ferdinand G. Kneer, William Archibald, and George W. Lamoreux. Items of particular interest include an aerial view of lower Manhattan; a map of New Jersey showing holdings of Esso; and a hand-colored view of a high railroad bridge in Portage, New York.

• Twenty 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain documenting select manuscripts and maps from the William L. Clements Library.
• One 10 x 12.5 cm glass negative view of the Clements Library exterior.
• Seven 8 x 10 cm slides of outdoor scenes in Alaska and California from around 1900.
• Two 8 x 10 cm copy negatives of elaborate unidentified interiors.

• Six 8 x 10 cm slides of scenes in California and British Columbia. Includes view of a redwood logging train.
• Ten 8 x 10 cm glass negatives of scenes in British Columbia, mountain views, and photos of maps.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain of items from the William L. Clements Library.
• Nine 8 x 10 cm slides showing people and places (notably Firle Place) in the United Kingdom during the 1920s.

• Six 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain showing exterior and interior views of the William L. Clements Library in the 1940s.
• Twenty-four 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain of items from the William L. Clements Library. Includes an image of materials from the Thomas Gage papers stored in one their original document chests.

• Five 8 x 10 cm slides showing unidentified locations (possibly in Alaska) produced by the Seattle, Washington studio of Asahel Curtis.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slide reproductions of paintings.
• Three 8 x 10 cm slides of miscellaneous content.

• 8 x 10 cm glass negatives documenting a 1728 French translation of an earlier memoir by Jerome Lobo regarding attempts to convert Ethiopians to Christianity. An enclosed note says slides were for “a Prestor [sic] John talk.”

• 8 x 10 cm slides from an extensive educational series on lumbering processes and techniques produced ca. 1910. Images detail the production of railroad ties, including loggers’ methods of shaping each piece with their axes, and the proper method of stacking ties. Most of these views appear to be from Michigan’s lower peninsula, but one slide is from Wyoming in 1910.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing various stages in logging operations and mill processes in states from Maine to California. Includes one hand-colored view of a mill pond in Virginia and a map of the U.S. that renders the size of each state relative to its timber resources.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing production stages for treenails and stulls. Also includes images of various types of mill saws in marketing photos as well as working mills.

• 8 x 10 cm slides primarily related to pulp production with views showing logging sites, stages of the milling process, and specific machinery used. Includes images showing both ox-drawn and wooden-wheeled logging wagons.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing portable mills set up near logging sites and log flumes in various stages of construction and operation. Several images of elaborate flume constructions are present.

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to fir logging, possibly in Sitka, Alaska. Also present are a couple views showing treenail production.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing locust logging, log loaders, and lumber yards.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing different types of log loaders as well as maps of the U.S. highlighting population and timber resources.

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to the Lidgerwood (written as “Ledgerwood” on slide labels) logging system which made extensive use of winches and pulleys. The Lidgerwood Company was instrumental in building the Panama Canal and later developed machinery for the logging industry. Also present are more images of log loaders and diagrams/photos of mill machinery.

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to the Lidgerwood system as well as views of logging and mill operations in several states.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing pull boats towing log rafts and various logging and milling operations.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing finished lumber products being shipped by boat, rail, and wagon as well as images related to shingle production.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing steps in the production of shingles, stulls, and poles as well as steps in paper production, including micro views of linen and cotton paper fibers.

• Twenty-eight 8 x 10 cm slides showing stages in paper production as well as views of portable mills and flumes, especially flume dumps.
• Ten 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives by unidentified photographer ca. 1902 related to estate in Berlin, Maryland nicknamed “Anchuha.” Includes snapshots of house and family members.

• Despite the separate accession number, these lumbering slides appear to be from the same educational series contained in other boxes. The topics covered by the 8 x 10 cm slides in this box include agricultural use of logged spaces, large mill operations, redwood logging, steam tractors, splash dams and charcoal kilns.

• 8 x 10 cm slides covering log jams, barrel staves and cooperage, flumes, big tree logging, and maps of national forests. Non-Michigan locations also represented. Includes color slide by Asahel Curtis showing Douglas fir timbers on railroad car.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing pole roads, agricultural use of logged land, large mills, machinery used in distillation and cooperage, logging of wide range of individual tree species. Non-Michigan locations also represented.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing tramways, pull boats, portable mills, geared locomotives, and skidways as well as a graph comparing regional production. Nine shattered slides are present.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing gasoline and steam skidders, lumber yards, motor trucks, and Arizona tree species. One image of particular interest shows an early Kelly truck with a full load of logs and an African American driver.

• Eight 8 x 10 cm glass negative copies of photos showing scenes in Alaska, including the Muir Glacier.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slide views of British Columbia, possibly from a Canadian Pacific Railroad car.
• Three 12.5 x 18 cm glass negative self-portraits by Charles P. Steinmetz, ca. 1904/5.
• One 12.5 x 18 cm glass negative titled “Girl on Bicycle”

Williamston, Ingham County, Michigan, family. Financial records, clippings, and correspondence relating to Mullett Farm and John Mullett, surveyor; extract, 1864, from Meridian Township Register Book; letterpress book, journal, and correspondence, 1852-1893, of John H. Forster, surveyor, agent for Pewabic Mining Company, Hancock, Mich., and later owner of Springbrook Farm, Ingham County, Michigan; diary, 1840-1841, of Catherine Hall; and map, 1859, of Mullett Farm; and photographs.

The Mullett family collection contains many useful descriptions of the state, and is a good source of information for some of the state's economic and topographic conditions during the 19th century. The papers, 1825-1936, are broken down into four series.

This photograph album contains pictures that P. C. Colony took while visiting Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montréal, and Québec City in the summer of 1897. Most of the pictures show street scenes, buildings, and scenery.

This album (23cm x 18cm) contains 71 photographs that P. C. Colony took while visiting Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montréal, and Québec City in mid-July 1897. The volume's cardstock pages were once bound. With the exception of three larger prints, the photographs (approximately 10cm x 11.5cm) are pasted two to a page. The first two items are labeled with lengthy manuscript captions, and the remaining items are identified by typed captions. The typed title "Toronto Trip, '97" is glued onto the front cover.

With the exception of the second item, a picture of P. C. Colony driving a plow pulled by two horses, the photographs show scenes from Colony's 1897 trip to Canada, where he attended the Third International Convention of the Epworth League in Toronto. Colony captured several images of a "bicycle sunrise prayer meeting" and a "firemen's exhibit," and one picture is titled "Toronto waif." He also took a series of pictures at a lacrosse game and two of a "Highland bagpipe band." The remaining photographs show street scenes and buildings such as churches (sometimes with interior views), a restaurant, a penitentiary in Kingston, and the Québec Parliament Building, as well as scenic views taken on or near water. The album has pictures of Niagara River rapids, the Lachine Rapids, Toronto Bay, a sailboat on Lake Ontario, a Canadian Pacific railroad bridge, Montmorency Falls, the American Falls, the Horseshoe Falls, and the Thousand Islands.