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

This collection contains 20 letters, 1 document, and 1 essay fragment related to members of the extended Jackman family, who lived in Massachusetts, Vermont, Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington during the late 19th century. The material, which includes many letters by women, concerns topics such as religion, family life and news, the Civil War, family history, and education.

This collection contains 20 letters, 1 copied document, and 1 essay fragment related to members of the extended Jackman family, who lived in Massachusetts, Vermont, Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington during the late 19th century. The material, which includes many letters by women, concerns topics such as religion, family life and news, the Civil War, family history, and education. Most correspondents wrote only 1 or 2 letters.

The first item is a letter David McDonald wrote about Indiana University School of Law in 1848, addressed to an unidentified recipient. A notarized document dated April 4, 1851, provides genealogical information about the family of Elijah and Eunice Hall, and most remaining items are letters written to and received by their daughter Mary Ann and her descendants. The letters concern a variety of topics related to daily life throughout the latter half of the 19th century, including educational experiences (Ada's letter of February 14, 1858, from Moline, Illinois, for example) and the problems associated with earning a living in Illinois and Indiana (Mary A. Jackman's letter of July 10, 1859, for example). Some correspondents discussed religion, such as their spiritual beliefs and skepticism about Universalist teachings (January 5, 1862). During the war, one person wrote about an acquaintance who had briefly served in the Union Army, and Mary A. Merriman shared her opinion that the Civil War was a chastisement of the nation for "pride and naughtiness of heart" (June 5, 1863).

Later letters include mentions of Elijah Hall's War of 1812 service and its detrimental effects on him, and William Grupe's Civil War service. One letter concerns an unidentified woman's life in San Francisco, California, in 1878, and 6 late items reflect the Grupe family's life in Dayton, Washington. Among the latter are a letter about social life at the Washington State Normal School in 1900, and an undated essay fragment entitled "When a Western Girl Comes East" (4 pages) about regional differences and misconceptions between the residents of the Pacific Coast and the state of New York.

The San Francisco (Calif.) autograph album contains manuscript inscriptions, portrait photographs, photographs of western scenes, pictures of statues, and reproductions of popular paintings.

The San Francisco (Calif.) autograph album (20cm x 13cm, 180 pages) contains around 125 photographs and prints, as well as manuscript inscriptions. Some of the inscriptions, dated at San Francisco between 1860 and 1888, include brief quotations and uplifting messages, along with the contributor's signature. A few small dried plant specimens are laid into the album. The brown leather cover has a floral design, the word "Autographs," and an illustration of a quill and book inlaid in gold.

The majority of the album's photographic prints are studio portraits of women and, less frequently, men; pencil captions identify many individuals, such as John S. Hittell, an early author of Yosemite guidebooks, and Benjamin P. Avery, miner, journalist, and diplomat. Some photographs are associated with inscriptions and autographs. A number of images are missing. Images include reproductions of popular paintings, and pictures of statues, primarily busts. A number of the paintings are attributed to David Dalhoff Neal.

Of note are views of Yosemite National Park, likely commercially produced stereograph halves; a photograph of a group of men participating in "Hydraulic Washing" in Yuba County, California, published as a stereograph by Lawrence and Houseworth; a view of tourists under giant Redwood trees; the upended tree stump in Mammoth Tree Grove (Calaveras County, California). One view and one portrait carrying the blind-stamp of photographer Carleton E. Watkins and several other views are similar to known Watkins images; at least one (Crystal Lake House) compares to a stereo by Alfred A Hart.

A small number of images are from Europe, showing cathedrals, the view from Trinità dei Monti in Rome, and a view of a waterfall below a village. The majority of the inscriptions are in English, with several in German.