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

The Abigail Clark Farley collection is made up of essays, poetry, letters, and fiction that Farley wrote around the 1860s and 1870s. Topics include slavery, the Civil War, Seventh-day Adventists, and the state of Wisconsin.

The Abigail Clark Farley collection is made up of approximately 150 pages of essays, poetry, letters, and fiction that Farley wrote around the 1860s and 1870s. Some individual items contain more than one work, and she occasionally practiced decorated penmanship. The lengthiest item is a story entitled "Slander," a 52-page work (pages 5-8 are not present), and other essays or letters are as long as 4 pages. Though most items are attributed to Abigail Clark (later Abigail Farley), some are excerpts from other sources, such as "The Narative of Lewis Clark" [sic].

Around the time of the Civil War, Farley wrote essays expressing her opposition to slavery and her feelings about the war's high death toll. In many letters, poems, and essays, she commented on Seventh-day Adventism, various religious and moral topics, and friendship. Other essays and copied poems concern nature and the geography of Wisconsin. A group of elegiac poems are accompanied by genealogical notes. The collection includes a brief biographical note about Queen Victoria.

Abigail Farley's letters include an item written under a male pseudonym chastising a female acquaintance for unbecoming behavior (October 7, 1865) and a letter to Ellen G. White about her new husband's abusive behavior (March 28, 1871). One manuscript concerns a prophecy that came to Quaker minister Joseph Hoag. Small ink drawings of birds appear on one page of poems. One item documents partial terms for Abigail Clark's employment as a penmanship instructor. The collection includes recipes for lemon pies, rheumatic drops, several kinds of cake, and nerve ointment.

The African American and African Diaspora Collection is comprised largely of individual letters, documents, and other manuscript items relating to slavery, abolition movements, and aspects of African American life, largely dating between 1781 and 1865.

The African American and African Diaspora Collection is comprised largely of individual letters, documents, and other manuscript items relating to slavery, abolition movements, and aspects of African American life, largely dating between 1781 and 1865. Topics addressed in the letters and documents include the experiences and work of enslaved persons in the North and South; the buying and selling of enslaved men, women, and children; participation in the French and Indian War, American Revolution, and Civil War of African descended persons; abolitionists and abolition societies; the American Colonization Society; the lives of formerly enslaved persons; African American education; and many other subjects. For details on each document, see the inventory located under "Detailed Box and Folder Listing"

This collection contains approximately 430 items, nearly all of which are incoming letters addressed to Artemas Hale, a cotton gin manufacturer and politician from Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Hale received correspondence from acquaintances and political contacts throughout southeastern Massachusetts, as well as from politicians serving in Washington, D. C., and from family members who resided in Mississippi. Most letters concern mid-19th century politics on both national and local levels, and writers address issues such as the Whig Party, education, the Mexican War, and slavery. Approximately 10 items are letters by Artemas Hale, invitations, and a manuscript poem.

This collection contains approximately 430 items, nearly all of which are incoming letters addressed to Artemas Hale, an agent for a cotton gin manufacturer and a politician from Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Hale received correspondence from acquaintances and political contacts throughout southeastern Massachusetts, as well as from politicians serving in Washington, D. C., and from family members residing in Mississippi. Most letters concern mid-19th century politics on both national and local levels, and writers address issues such as the Whig Party, education, the Mexican War, and slavery. Approximately 10 items are letters by Artemas Hale, invitations, and a manuscript poem.

The majority of Hale's incoming letters concern political matters in Massachusetts and throughout the United States, particularly between 1839 and 1860. Most authors wrote from the area near Hale's home in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, or from Washington, D. C. Several politicians were frequent correspondents, and many discussed their involvement with the Whig Party, as well as other aspects of party politics. Others commented on local and national elections; the collection contains commentary on each presidential election between 1844 and 1860. Additional frequent topics include the Mexican War, slavery and sectionalism, and the affairs of the United States Congress. Early letters often concerned the budget and workings of the Massachusetts State Normal School (now Framingham State University), as well as national affairs. Notable contributors include Julius Rockwell, Horace Mann, Samuel Hoar, Samuel J. May, John S. Pendleton, Robert C. Winthrop, Daniel P. King, and Joseph Grinnell.

Personal letters Hale received from family and friends are interspersed throughout the collection, including family letters written before 1839 and 2 letters written in 1840 by Thophilus P. Doggett, a minister in Bridgewater, regarding his travels to Florida and throughout the Caribbean. Hale's brother Moses wrote of his life as a farmer in Westport, Mississippi (June 5, 1843). Another relative, Harrison Hale, wrote 4 letters between 1847 and 1851, providing his impressions of southern life and, particularly in his letters dated April 8, 1859, and February 3, 1861, about the upcoming Civil War. In addition, 2 of Thomas B. Lincoln’s letters concern railroad construction in Texas (December 23, 1855) and the outbreak of military hostilities (December 11, 1860), and [Keith A.] Bartlett wrote 1 letter about his Union Army service at Camp Brightwood (October 8, [1861]). The collection also holds two pages of indexes, possibly taken from a letter book, and a patriotic poem entitled "Sleeping for the Flag" (undated).

The Barbourville (Ky.) Debating Society minutes concern the group's weekly meetings in the late 1830s. Each set of minutes contains attendees' names, the number of affirmative and negative votes regarding that week's question, and the next week's discussion topic. Members discussed subjects related to national and state politics, finances, penal codes, gender, and morality.

The Barbourville (Ky.) Debating Society minutes (122 pages) concern the group's weekly meetings between May 27, 1837, and November 16, 1839, with breaks between November 18, 1837-March 10, 1838, and August 4, 1838-March 30, 1839. The first entry and those that immediately follow the breaks contain the society's 3 constitutions. In addition to meeting minutes, the volume includes a 2-page membership list.

Most sets of weekly minutes list the names of attending members, the names of members selected to debate that meeting's assigned topic, the results of the society's vote, and the topic to be discussed at the following meeting. The minutes also reflect administrative matters settled during meetings, frequently regarding the admittance of new members and the election of officers. The Barbourville Debating Society mainly discussed political matters; some topics were debated on multiple occasions. Issues for debate included banking and taxation, the death penalty, revision of the Kentucky constitution, the admission of Texas to the Union, the relative worth of wealth and talent, the intellectual capacity of men and women, foreign immigration to the United States, the propriety of sanctioning divorces, and the desired amount of government funding for education and infrastructure. On at least two occasions, the society considered whether Native American removal or slavery was the greater evil, and on one occasion they considered whether the United States government could be justified in its actions against the Seminole tribe (July 13, 1839). The society also debated the legacies of politicians such as Andrew Jackson and Napoleon Bonaparte, and discussed the possibility of Henry Clay running for president in 1840.

• Bradley, Erwin Stanley. Union College, 1879-1954: Written in Commemoration of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of Its Founding. Barbourville, Ky.: The College, 1954.
• Cobb, Ann. Kinfolks: Kentucky Mountain Rhymes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1922.

This book contains two editions of the Boys' Excelsior Lyceum's magazine Excelsior, containing essays and poetry by students in Cohoes, New York. Topics explored in the issues include morality, intemperance, and slavery. The volume also contains an insert of 30 pages, which seems to be another edition of the magazine.

This book contains two editions of the Boys' Excelsior Lyceum's magazine Excelsior, containing essays and poetry by students in Cohoes, New York. The bound volume, third in a series, contains manuscript copies of two issues from the magazine's 4th volume, numbers 15 (March 26, 1861, pp.1-62) and 16 (April 9, 1861, pp.63-97), edited by Charles Francis Doyle and Lizzie L. Giles. Each begins with a lengthy essay addressed to the editor, reflecting an ongoing debate between "John Brown, Esq.," and "Dick" on the merits of slavery and temperance. Both authors utilized Biblical quotations while offering lengthy moral justifications for their positions. Additional essays address a range of topics such as war, gambling, and truth, and a number of poems reflect more lighthearted topics, such as ice skating and kissing. What appears to be a third edition of the magazine, dated May 15, 1862 (30 pp.), is inserted into the volume and tied together with red, white, and blue ribbons. Its topics are similar to those in the previous volume, though the debates on slavery and temperance are not addressed. One essay in this edition, attributed to "Alice," pertains to a visit to "the Washington Hospital" and a discussion with a convalescent soldier.

The Calow Weld papers contain five letters on major issues of the 1830s, including slavery, immigration, and education.

The Calow Weld papers contain five letters, spanning January 9, 1836-June 3, 1837. Schoolteacher Calow Weld wrote all of the letters to a friend, Philo Bund, debating several important issues of the day. In his letter of January 9, 1836, Weld described the classes he taught, and expressed a wish that the common schools be elevated to greater "eminence" and that teachers receive more respect. In other letters, he discussed slavery, which he considered a "national and moral evil," some possible scenarios of emancipation (March 12, 1836), and his belief that Congress had the power to abolish slavery (May 21, 1836). In his final two letters, Weld explained his opposition to foreign immigration, which he believed would "impair the tranquility of community" (July 30, 1836). On June 3, 1837, he elaborated on his position on immigration, arguing that the variety of cultures and languages in the world disproved the notion that people "were destined to live as one great and social family."

In August 1861, Frank Shepard enlisted in the 1st Michigan Cavalry. His papers consist of 8 letters written to his wife, Amanda, during the early months of the Civil War.

The collection consists of 8 letters written by Frank Shepard to his wife, Amanda, during the early months of the war. Frank's letters are thoughtful, highly literate and display a deep affection for his wife and a devotion to duty. Shepard anticipated that if received a commission, he would bring his wife to the "seat of the war" to be near him, but under any circumstances, she was a great comfort to him, even if she were not the most faithful of correspondents. "If I am away from you, perhaps not see you for some time I have the consolation of knowing," he wrote, "that although I am absent I am not forgotten, neither shall I be while life lasts, and reason holds her throne" (1861 November 29).

Noteworthy in this small collection are letters in which Shepard ascribes the backward appearance of southern cities (Washington, D.C.) to the degrading influence of slavery, and in which he writes of a soldier's desire for action, rather than the dry routine of camp life. "What Patriotic American would not rather die upon the battle field, or in the camp, than in the Palace, or Mansion." His description of Camp Brodhead, Md., and of the daily routine of soldiers is also excellent.

This collection contains 17 letters that former Congregational minister Daniel Grosvenor of Petersham, Massachusetts, wrote to his son, Reverend Moses Gill Grosvenor, and to a relation, Payson Grosvenor, between 1819 and 1833. He provided local news, shared advice, and commented on his religious views. Also included is a descriptive travel letter by "Lansingh" from Darien, Georgia (1838), and a satirical essay by Charles J. Wood entitled "Portrait of an Alarmist" (1848).

This collection contains 17 letters that former Congregational minister Daniel Grosvenor wrote to his son, Reverend Moses Gill Grosvenor (16 letters), and to a relation, Payson Grosvenor (1 letter), between 1819 and 1833. Also included is a travel letter by "Lansingh" from Darien, Georgia (1838), and a satirical essay by Charles J. Wood entitled "Portrait of an Alarmist" (1848).

Grosvenor frequently commented on the health of family members and on the affairs of acquaintances in Petersham, Massachusetts. His reports often concerned illnesses and deaths, and he sometimes mentioned his attendance at funerals. Grosvenor wrote about religious topics, such as devotion to God, and gave news of the local church. He reflected on his advanced age, discussed the effects of his children leaving his household, and anticipated his own death. Daniel and his wife Deborah jointly wrote a portion of the later letters. Grosvenor's final letter, addressed to Payson Grosvenor, "Eunice," and "Sarah," concerns his brother's death. Two of Grosvenor's letters include additional copied correspondence: a letter from Alvan Whitmore, who discussed commerce around New Orleans, Louisiana (September 19, 1818, copied in Grosvenor's letter of January 27, 1819), and a letter from D. H. G. Newton to Moses Gill Grosvenor, his uncle.

The final items in the collection are a descriptive travel letter by "Lansingh" to Miss Angelina Warden, from Darien, Georgia (April 19, 1838), and a 3-page essay attributed to Charles J. Wood entitled "Portrait of an Alarmist" (February 1848). The satirical piece criticizes a noted "alarmist" and his opinions on the Irish and Catholics, and the possibility that arguments over slavery might dissolve the union.

This collection contains letters and documents related to the family of Congressman Ebenezer Jackson, Jr., of Savannah, Georgia, and Middletown, Connecticut. Jackson and his father wrote and received personal letters about contemporary political issues. The letters offer commentary on the Missouri Compromise, the 1860 United States presidential election, secession, and the Civil War. Jackson also wrote about his travels in Boston, Massachusetts, and offered advice to his brother Amasa, who attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in the mid-1820s.

This collection contains 9 letters and 2 documents related to the family of Ebenezer Jackson, Jr., of Savannah, Georgia, and Middletown, Connecticut. Jackson and his father wrote and received personal letters about contemporary political issues such as the Missouri Compromise, the 1860 United States Presidential election, secession, and the Civil War. Jackson also wrote to his father about his travels in Boston, Massachusetts, and offered advice to his brother Amasa, who attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in the mid-1820s.

Ebenezer Jackson, Jr., authored 4 letters in this collection. He wrote 2 letters to his father in which he discussed his impressions of Boston, a publication in support of the War of 1812 (March 13, 1814), and his Pennsylvania to Connecticut travel plans (July 5, 1825). Jackson's mother, Charlotte Fenwick Jackson, contributed to his first letter, urging her husband to keep "Harriette" in school. Ebenezer Jackson sent 2 letters to his brother Amasa, who attended the Cheshire Academy in Cheshire, Connecticut, in 1820, and the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1823; he offered educational advice and congratulated him on his academic achievements.

Ebenezer Jackson, Jr., received 4 political letters from acquaintances. A committee in Middletown, Connecticut, strongly urged Jackson to accept his nomination for a United States Senate seat in 1834 and explained the reasons why he would be a strong candidate (March 13, 1834). Hezekiah Huntington wrote about political parties and the 1860 presidential election (August 21, 1860); former Florida governor Richard K. Call strenuously voiced his opposition to secession (January 19, 1861); and United States Senator Lafayette Sabine Foster affirmed his support for the Union's military efforts against the Confederacy, as well as his disdain for the peace efforts of Horace Greeley and others (January 27, 1863).

Ebenezer Jackson, Sr., sent 1 letter to William Van Deusen, in which he shared his opinions about the Missouri Compromise (March 25, 1820). He anticipated continued conflicts between the North and South over slavery, and mentioned the possible effects those conflicts might have on British opinion about the United States.

The collection's documents are an undated copy of a 1672 deed between John Stows and John Willcoke for land in Middletown, Connecticut, and an 1836 memorandum of the estate of Ebenezer Jackson, Sr., addressed to Mary C. Oliver of Boston, Massachusetts.

This collection contains two poems, one letter and various ephemera of the prominent poet and abolitionist writer Elizabeth Margaret Chandler.

This small collection holds two poems, one letter, various ephemera, and printed materials. The first, and most substantial poem is Elegy (1793): On a Negroe Woman of the name of Rose, deceased in Philadelphia, remarkable for her innocent and sincerely pious life. Wrote by a person well acquainted with her conduct and virtues. The poem, which was written before Chandler's birth, is unattributed, and apart from its abolitionist sentiment, its relation to Chandler is unclear. The second poem is a small piece of paper with three short undated stanzas, written by Chandler. The letter, dated December 20, 1830, is addressed to the "Female Antislavery Society of Philadelphia" (not the eponymous society founded by Lucretia Mott in 1833), and sent from Lucy Townshend and Mary L. Lloyd of the Female Society, for Birmingham, West-Bromwich, Wednesbury, Walsall, and Their Respective Neighborhoods, for the Relief of British Negro Slaves. The ephemera items are two small calling cards, one "Lady's Ticket" to lectures at the Franklin Institute, and 1 cut-out silhouette of a female.

Printed material includes 5 prints regarding slavery, 3 books, and a small broadside (see Separated Items for descriptions and locations of this material). The graphic materials are black and white prints depicting: an image of a kneeling slave, often captioned "Am I not a Woman and a Sister?" taken from, and popularized by, Chandler's "Female Repository" page of The Genius of Universal Emancipation (October 16, 1829); a black man being held and whipped by a party of four other black men, all watched by a white man; overhead and cross-section views of a slave ship, with a detail showing the tiny slave quarters; and a black man on one knee looking forlorn as a white master whips a four-man working party in the background; and a picture entitled "United States Slave Trade" that shows well-to-do white men, one on a horse, inspecting and choosing chained male slaves as a black female and two children watch on. Visible in the background of this last piece are the United States Capitol Building, black work parties, and a slave being whipped.