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

The Warner papers consist of letters relating to the Warner family including Michael Warner III's Civil War service.

The main interest in the Warner papers is likely to be found in one of two sets of documents. The first concerns the Civil War experiences of Michael Warner III. While only a few individual letters are interesting in themselves (most being filled with routine requests for food or other goods), the letters concerning Warner while he was missing in action are, as a group, the highlight. These letters underscore the confusion of battle and the organizational difficulties inherent in any military campaign, and the many conflicting interpretations of the battlefield fate of Warner are an interesting commentary on the Union army's ability to deal with MIAs.

Of secondary interest are a series of 10 letters concerning a dispute over a fence constructed on the Warners' land by Frederick Dawson. The remarkable aspect of these letters is that the argument over the placement of the fence was protracted over 20 years even though both parties agreed the fence was illegally placed. Dawson's underhanded intransigence in the matter, and Warner's increasing level of frustration is almost comical.

Other non-war material includes a few interesting letters written by friends to Michael Warner, Jr., while he was at college (c.1812-1816), family documents, and some photographs of the Warner (?) home in Maryland probably taken during the 1890's.

This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and realia related to the family of Universalist Rev. James Shrigley of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The collection spans 1761 to 1955, with the bulk of the materials covering the lives of Rev. James Shrigley (1813-1905) and his son James Burley Shrigley (1846-1914).

The Shrigley family papers are divided into four series: Correspondence and Documents; Diaries, School Books, and Scrapbooks; Photographs and Watercolor Illustration; and Realia. The collection spans 1761 to 1955, with the bulk of the materials covering the lives of James Shrigley and James Burley Shrigley.

The Correspondence and Documents series is divided into two sub-series: Family correspondence and documents, and financial records.

The Shrigley family correspondence and documents subseries contains letters from George S. White, Margaret Shrigley, and James B. Shrigley. James B. Shrigley and Ella G. Oler's marriage certificate and license are present. The items in this subseries were found in a portable writing desk, described below. The Financial records subseries is comprised of receipts and warrant deeds for Corlienus DeHart. DeHart's connection with the Shrigley family has not been determined. Two family account books date from 1764 to 1787 and 1803 to 1811.

The Diaries, School Books, and Scrapbooks series contains seven bound volumes. Three journals by James Burley Shrigley date from 1859-1864, while he was a teenager in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The third volume contains several watercolor illustrations, including one of a US steamer Monitor-inspired hat. The collection includes two scrapbooks compiled by James B. Shrigley and Arthur Shrigley. James's scrapbook contains a biography of his father Reverend James Shrigley and several signed letters and clipped autographs of prominent public individuals, such as P. T. Barnum and Daniel Webster. Arthur's scrapbook contains holiday-themed newspaper clippings.

The Photographs series contains images of multiple members of the Shrigley family and scenes of Frankford, Pennsylvania. Among the photographs are cabinet cards of Reverend James Shrigley and Mary Shrigley, and stereograph cards of Frankford, Pennsylvania, in 1875. The series includes ten photographs that were removed from their frames; three of the frames (original to the photographs) were retained and are filed in the Realia series.

The Realia series contains a portable writing desk, a leather pouch, and three frames. The items in the family correspondence and documents series above were found within the portable writing desk. The owner of the desk has not been determined. The three frames were original to three photographs described in the photographs series.