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Correspondence and miscellaneous business papers including Civil War letters exchanged between John C. Buchanan and his wife, Sophia Bingham Buchanan, while he was serving as first lieutenant in Co. D. of the 8th Michigan Infantry. Many of the letters are almost sermons and philosophical essays about his home and family, religion, his country and the war and its leaders. Others are detailed descriptions of camps and camp life, such as Seabrook plantation in South Carolina and its Negroes, James Island and its reptiles; his quarters and food; sea transports; marches, skirmishes and battles with the Army of the Potomac in the Maryland campaign and around Fredericksburg. The collection also includes letters from Claude Buchanan while he was a student at the University of Michigan; letters (1847-1858) of J. Irwin Beaumont of Mississippi and Minnesota to Angie Bingham (Gilbert); notebooks, speeches, business papers, and a diary of a trip to the South in 1884 made by Claude Buchanan.

Family diaries of the Cumings family of Apine Township, Michigan.

Diary of Philip Cumings describing farm life in New York and his settlement in Kent County, Michigan; also diary of his son Edwin recording farm and church activities, local affairs, and weather; and diary of his daughter Grace describing a trip by rail to Florida.

David Wheeler Palmer was a Bridgewater, Michigan school teacher and farmer. His papers consist of diaries, 1846-1864, 1876-1882, and 1887-1892, concerning daily activities and farm life. There are also papers of other family members, including Emmett Newton Palmer, a Brooklyn, Michigan physician, Fred E. Palmer, a surgeon who served in the Spanish-American War, and Louisa Palmer, who was a teacher in Hawaii.

The David Wheeler Palmer collection consists mainly of his diaries and other papers. These diaries, dating from 1846 to 1892 with some gaps, comment in detail on his life, his family, the weather, financial transactions, and local politics. Other portions of the collection include materials of other family members: Palmer's wife Fidelia Randall Palmer; her brother Roswell Randall, Jr.; Emmett Palmer, the son of David and Fidelia; Fred Palmer, the son of Emmett; and Joseph Palmer, the father of David. Of interest are the photographs accumulated by Dr. Fred Palmer while he was serving in the Philippines. These include images of Hawaii on route to the Philippines and of the Santa Mesa facility in the Philippines. Another family member represented in the collection is Louisa Palmer who taught in Hawaii. She was an inveterate traveler who wrote extensive letters describing places visited for her students and family.

Paulus den Bleyker family of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Papers of Paulus den Bleyker, his son John, John's wife, Anna Balch den Bleyker, and other family members relating to family and business affairs.

The collection includes the correspondence and business papers of Paulus den Bleyker, papers of his son John den Bleyker and John's wife Anna Balch, Paulus' daughter, Martha, and other family members and descendents. Much of the correspondence is in Dutch, but an English calendar of these letters (in box 1) has been prepared by Harry DeVries and Effa Zwier.

Many of the papers for the years 1828-1851 are on affairs in Holland and the den Bleyker settlement near Kalamazoo. For the years 1851-1856, the correspondence deals with personal affairs, the building of a flour mill and a saw mill and land transactions. For the years 1856-1857, there are many letters from family and friends but the bulk of them concern den Bleyker's real estate dealings. For 1872 to 1936, the correspondence is of John and Anna Balch den Bleyker and relates to family and business.

Of special significance in the collection is the file of letters exchanged between Paulus den Bleyker and A.C. Van Raalte, the founder of the Dutch community in Holland, Michigan.

Niles, Mich. businessman and officer in the Sixth and Nineteenth Michigan Infantry regiments during the Civil War. Includes correspondence, diaries, and photographs related to Griffin's personal life and military service in addition to genealogical information and miscellaneous materials.

The Eli A. Griffin papers are organized into a single Personal Papers series, which includes family genealogical information, correspondence, personal diaries, photographs, military records, and other materials. The collection documents Griffin's various travels (including trips to the California gold fields in 1849 and 1853 and other trips to Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, and Utah), service in the Union army during the Civil War, and information about his family.

Resident in China from Farwell, Michigan; papers concern her family life in Farwell, and missionary activities; include letters, diaries, and accounts of father, Josiah L. Littlefield, Farwell lumber dealer and visitor to China, 1916-1917; letters, 1918-1928, of husband, Dr. Dennis V. Smith, medical missionary to China, describing in part Chinese politics and civil war, 1918-1920; letters and other papers of Hazel Littlefield Smith, including materials concerning various European travels, and manuscripts of writings about Irish author Lord Dunsany, her father, and Farwell, Michigan; and photographs. Other correspondents of Hazel Smith include world-renowed scientists (Edwin Hubble and William Beebe), from Chinese Princess Der Ling, and from distinguished European writers and actors (Pierre LaMure, Selma Lagerlof, Brian Aherne, and Ronald Colman).

This collection was accumulated by Hazel Littlefield Smith and consists of materials concerning her career and interests and those of her family, specifically her husband, Dr. Dennis Smith, and her father, Josiah Littlefield (1845-1935), a pioneer lumberman and businessman in Farwell, Michigan.

The collection is particularly valuable for three topics: early days (late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) in Farwell, Michigan; missionary life in China in the period ca. 1915-1928; and the travels and writings of Hazel Littlefield Smith. The materials include correspondence, compositions and business-related materials of Josiah Littlefield; correspondence and other materials of Dr. Dennis Smith, Hazel Littlefield Smith (and Josiah Littlefield) concerning conditions in early republican China; and correspondence and other materials of Hazel Littlefield Smith concerning her travels in Europe (1920s-1950s), her management of the family farm near Farwell, Michigan (1940s), and her essays, poetry and other publications, including Lord Dunsany: King of Dreams.

The three principal figures in the collection--Hazel Littlefield Smith, Dennis Smith and Josiah Littlefield--were highly perceptive observers of persons and events. Their letters are rich in detail, whether describing travel experiences or everyday life in rural northern Michigan.

The collection is arranged into six series: Littlefield Family, China-related materials, Hazel Littlefield Smith, Miscellanea, Dr. Dennis V. Smith, and Visual Materials.

Professor of Latin and acting president of University of Michigan. Correspondence, 1855-1856, to his wife, describing his travels and experiences in Europe; also material pertaining to affairs of University of Michigan, including letters from Andrew D. White of Cornell University; biographical and genealogical material on Frieze, eighteen volumes of records of European travel; and photographs.

The Frieze papers are comprised of personal and professional materials, including correspondence to colleagues and family; travel diaries and letters to his wife, Anna, written while traveling in Europe, 1855-1856 and 1872-1873; lectures and essays; papers from his years as a student at Brown and as a Latin instructor; various papers on his views of university education and his ideas for curriculum improvements; biographical material on the Frieze family; and photographs. For additional details on correspondents, see the Selective Index to Correspondence, which includes Frieze's wife, Anna, daughters Carrie and Addie, James B. Angell, President James A. Garfield, and other notable people.

Detroit, Michigan, newspaper publisher. Papers of Scripps and of the James E. Scripps Trust established to ensure that control of Scripps's Evening News Association would remain with his immediate family. Series in the collection include: biographical material, notably unpublished biography and personal diaries, 1858-1868 and 1872-1881; business records of various Scripps newspapers and publishing companies; George H. Scripps probate records; and James E. Scripps trust records. Also, European journals by Scripps' wive, Harriet Josephine Scripps.

This collection contains both the personal papers of James E. Scripps and the records of the thirty-year trust he created shortly before his death in 1906. This collection is divided into four series: Biographical Materials, Business Records, George H. Scripps Probate Records, and James E. Scripps Trust Records. The bulk of this collection concerns the running of the Evening News Association. The records of the Evening News Association, the James E. Scripps Corporation, and the James E. Scripps Trust, with related litigation materials, attest to the complexity of this Detroit newspaper operation. Two European journals in the Biographical Materials series belong to Scripps' wife, Harriet Josephine Scripps. The journals contain information about the Scripps family, including relations with James Scripps' sister, Ellen Browning Scripps, who was a journalist and a philanthropist, and the founding donor of the Scripps College.

Eight letters of recommendation for Fisher from fellow officers relating to his Civil War service; correspondents include Melvin Brewer (Sept. 18, 1863), John W. Geary (June 31, 1863), W. D. Mann (Aug. 27, 1863), Angelo Paldi (Oct. 7, 1863), C. H. Town (Oct. 17, 1863), and C. I. Walker (Aug. 13, 1861); also one letter (April 21, 1863) from George C. Gordon of Company I, 24th Michigan Infantry. Collection also includes a typescript of excerpts from Fisher's diary describing a Michigan boat trip from Detroit to Ontonagon via Sault Ste. Marie in 1850, and student days at the University of Michigan in 1860; also diary of an overland trip to California in search of gold and the return trip by sea, with comments on mining; three University of Michigan student notebooks on courses by James V. Campbell, Thomas M. Cooley, and Charles I. Walker; and notes on the James Fisher family by Max Fisher.

Papers collected by Margaret Leutheuser of Ann Arbor, Michigan, relating to ancestor families, notably the Leach, Waterman, and Armstrong families. Civil War materials of Morgan L. Leach, member of the 1st and 9th Michigan Cavalry; farm account books of Edgar and William Armstrong of Mundy Township, Genesee County, Michigan; correspondence of other family members; and scrapbooks containing newspaper accounts of settlement of Leach family in Genesee County, and account of trip of Morgan Leach to Traverse Bay, Michigan, in the 1860s.

Margaret Leutheuser collected a variety of materials pertaining to her ancestors, notably among the Leach, Waterman and Armstrong families. The collection dates from the 1850s to the 1930s, and includes family correspondence, newspaper articles written by Morgan (M.L.) Leach, and farm account books. The materials are arranged in one Family Papers series by the originator/author of the item.