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

This collection consists of 11 typed and printed materials relating to the McDonnell Agency, a matrimonial matchmaking service run by Walter J. McDonnell of Chicago, Illinois, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It includes typed personal advertisements for the agency, printed advertisements for the agency, a blank application form, two private lists with selections of women who subscribed to the agency, and two envelopes.

This collection consists of 11 typed and printed materials relating to the McDonnell Agency, a matrimonial matchmaking service run by Walter J. McDonnell of Chicago, Illinois, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It includes typed personal advertisements, printed advertisements for the agency, a blank application form, two private lists with selections of women who subscribed to the agency, and two envelopes.

The typed personal advertisements include physical descriptions and financial situations for four women from Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. The printed materials include a notice from O. C. Seemiller stating he sold his interest in the Columbian Agency to Walter McDonnell and a statement by McDonnell about his experience and skills, purporting to have introduced "thousands of happy and prosperous married couples." Other items include advertisements and price lists for the "Celebrated Columbian Photographs," "elegant pictures" rather than "the miserable stamp photos used by all other agencies and matrimonial papers." They also advertise free copies of the book, Reading Character from Photographs, sent to subscribing men. "Are you corresponding with a lady you have never seen? You want to know something about her character and disposition? Exchange photos and then study her photography . . . If the lady would make a true and loving wife, this book will say so."

A blank application form for McDonnell's Private Agency is present, requiring the applicant to list their physical description, their income, property or means, use of tobacco and liquor, occupation, nationality, religion, previous marital status, and what kind of correspondents were desired.

Women seeking matches are separated into two different classes depending on net worth. Private List No. 12 contains Class A advertisements of “Ladies Without Means or Property,” while Private List No. 13 contains Class B advertisements of “Ladies With Means or Property.” Each woman provided a short description of their appearance and/or personality traits, as well as abbreviations indicating their faith, nationality, occupation, weight, etc. The agency also includes an abbreviation for whether women would be capable of the duties of a farmer’s wife, or if the woman was a widow. List 13 also includes asterisks to identify women "willing to share the life of a poor man if he proves himself worthy, industrious and temperate." The list also notes that the agency has extensive profiles available "of thousands of ladies of all ages, living everywhere. By allowing us to select, you may get introductions to ladies living nearer your own residence."

Men seeking potential matches would receive a different number of photographs and introductions depending on how much they were willing to pay and what class of women they were requesting from.

There are two envelopes in the collection, one printed return envelope to Walter McDonnell, and the other addressed to Alfred Ames of Machias, Maine, possibly one of the agency's members.

This collection consists of 11 typed and printed materials relating to the McDonnell Agency, a matrimonial matchmaking service run by Walter J. McDonnell of Chicago, Illinois, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It includes typed personal advertisements for the agency, printed advertisements for the agency, a blank application form, two private lists with selections of women who subscribed to the agency, and two envelopes.

This collection consists of 11 typed and printed materials relating to the McDonnell Agency, a matrimonial matchmaking service run by Walter J. McDonnell of Chicago, Illinois, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It includes typed personal advertisements, printed advertisements for the agency, a blank application form, two private lists with selections of women who subscribed to the agency, and two envelopes.

The typed personal advertisements include physical descriptions and financial situations for four women from Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. The printed materials include a notice from O. C. Seemiller stating he sold his interest in the Columbian Agency to Walter McDonnell and a statement by McDonnell about his experience and skills, purporting to have introduced "thousands of happy and prosperous married couples." Other items include advertisements and price lists for the "Celebrated Columbian Photographs," "elegant pictures" rather than "the miserable stamp photos used by all other agencies and matrimonial papers." They also advertise free copies of the book, Reading Character from Photographs, sent to subscribing men. "Are you corresponding with a lady you have never seen? You want to know something about her character and disposition? Exchange photos and then study her photography . . . If the lady would make a true and loving wife, this book will say so."

A blank application form for McDonnell's Private Agency is present, requiring the applicant to list their physical description, their income, property or means, use of tobacco and liquor, occupation, nationality, religion, previous marital status, and what kind of correspondents were desired.

Women seeking matches are separated into two different classes depending on net worth. Private List No. 12 contains Class A advertisements of “Ladies Without Means or Property,” while Private List No. 13 contains Class B advertisements of “Ladies With Means or Property.” Each woman provided a short description of their appearance and/or personality traits, as well as abbreviations indicating their faith, nationality, occupation, weight, etc. The agency also includes an abbreviation for whether women would be capable of the duties of a farmer’s wife, or if the woman was a widow. List 13 also includes asterisks to identify women "willing to share the life of a poor man if he proves himself worthy, industrious and temperate." The list also notes that the agency has extensive profiles available "of thousands of ladies of all ages, living everywhere. By allowing us to select, you may get introductions to ladies living nearer your own residence."

Men seeking potential matches would receive a different number of photographs and introductions depending on how much they were willing to pay and what class of women they were requesting from.

There are two envelopes in the collection, one printed return envelope to Walter McDonnell, and the other addressed to Alfred Ames of Machias, Maine, possibly one of the agency's members.

The Meadville (Pa.) and Scandia (Kan.) photograph album contains cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, and other photographs of men, women, and children taken in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Scandia, Kansas, in the late 19th century. Pictures of the National Monument to the Forefathers and a grave marker are included, as is a remembrance card for Nancy Anderson.

The Meadville (Pa.) and Scandia (Kan.) photograph album (27cm x 22cm) contains 38 items, including 26 cabinet cards, 8 cartes-de-visite, 1 tintype, and 3 additional photographic prints. The volume's purple-padded covers are bound in cloth, and it has a large metal clasp. A metallic plate shaped as the word "Album" was once affixed to the front cover and is now laid into the volume.

Most of the photographs are studio portraits of individual men, women, and children taken in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Scandia, Kansas, in the late 19th century; the children pictured are infants and toddlers. Occasionally, the subjects are shown with a drum, a book, a dog, and one man posed on the sill of an artificial window. Two items laid into the volume are outdoor portraits of adults standing in front of a house, with a windmill visible to the side. A piece of tissue paper affixed to one of the cabinet cards has printed line drawings of a girl's face and flowers. The remaining items are a photograph of the National Monument to the Forefathers in Plymouth, Massachusetts; a photograph of a headstone for members of the Smock family; and a black card dedicated to the remembrance of Nancy Anderson (1818-1889), with a brief poem and other details printed in gold.

Lila Moran kept this notebook while a student in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1889. The bulk of the volume consists of compositions relating to British history and vocabulary terms and their definitions. Other content includes two drawings of women, a partial tracing of a hand, and directions for two supernatural rituals or games relating to predicting the future.

Lila Moran kept this notebook while a student in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1889. The bulk of the volume consists of compositions relating to British history and vocabulary terms and their definitions. Other content includes two drawings of women, a partial tracing of a hand, and directions for two supernatural rituals or games relating to predicting the future. They read:

"Start from bed and walk to the door reading 3rd. verse 3rd. chapter amor when you reach the door walk backwards to the bed still reading get in to bed backwards put the book under your pillow wish blow out the lamp without getting out of bed and go to sleep, you must sleep alone you will dream of your future husband"

"Put three saucers in a row put dirt in one a ring in another and watter in the other blindfold any body who wants to try it change the saucers round then lead the person up turn her round three times and stand her before the saucers which must be in a row then let her put her finger in one if she puts it in the one with watter in it she will take a voyag on the watter before a year if she puts it in the one with a ring in it she will be married before a year if she puts it in one with the dirt in it she will die before a year."

Two receipts and one bank notice for Samuel Moran of Norwich, Connecticut, dated between 1883 and 1905, are laid into the volume.

The collection consists of two letters and five empty envelopes written between 1868 to 1879 by various businesses relating to human hair goods and services. They are addressed to C. E. Hartung & Company, hair importers and dealers of New York.

The collection consists of two letters and five empty envelopes written between 1868 to 1879 by various businesses relating to human hair goods and services. They are addressed to C. E. Hartung & Company, hair importers and dealers of New York. The two letters include one written on May 5, 1870, by H. Holcomb, "Manufacturer and Dealer in Human Hair Goods" of Galesburg, Illinois, on printed, illustrated stationery featuring a white woman with curled hair. He acknowledged he would not be able to pay his bill on time. The other was written by A. Domec, an importer of human hair from Louisville, Kentucky, ordering hair products. All of the envelopes in the collection are advertising covers for the various hair businesses.

The empty envelopes date from 1868 to 1879, with several undated.

• Madame Zwick of Cincinnati, Ohio, "Ladies' Wig Store, Braids, Fronts, Curls &c. All kinds of hair jewelry done to order. The Hair furnished by customers always used, and the Gold warranted."
• N. Demongeot of Washington, D.C., "Importer of Human Hair and Perfumery, Ladies Hair Dresser and Wig Maker."
• Mrs. M. Survey of Utica, New York, "Manufacturer of all kinds of Ornamental Hair Work."
• J. Y. Smyth of Peoria, Illinois, "Manufacturer and Dealer in Human Hair, at Wholesale and Retail."

The collection consists of two letters and five empty envelopes written between 1868 to 1879 by various businesses relating to human hair goods and services. They are addressed to C. E. Hartung & Company, hair importers and dealers of New York.

The collection consists of two letters and five empty envelopes written between 1868 to 1879 by various businesses relating to human hair goods and services. They are addressed to C. E. Hartung & Company, hair importers and dealers of New York. The two letters include one written on May 5, 1870, by H. Holcomb, "Manufacturer and Dealer in Human Hair Goods" of Galesburg, Illinois, on printed, illustrated stationery featuring a white woman with curled hair. He acknowledged he would not be able to pay his bill on time. The other was written by A. Domec, an importer of human hair from Louisville, Kentucky, ordering hair products. All of the envelopes in the collection are advertising covers for the various hair businesses.

The empty envelopes date from 1868 to 1879, with several undated.

• Madame Zwick of Cincinnati, Ohio, "Ladies' Wig Store, Braids, Fronts, Curls &c. All kinds of hair jewelry done to order. The Hair furnished by customers always used, and the Gold warranted."
• N. Demongeot of Washington, D.C., "Importer of Human Hair and Perfumery, Ladies Hair Dresser and Wig Maker."
• Mrs. M. Survey of Utica, New York, "Manufacturer of all kinds of Ornamental Hair Work."
• J. Y. Smyth of Peoria, Illinois, "Manufacturer and Dealer in Human Hair, at Wholesale and Retail."

Rd. Kraker created this 20-page handwritten booklet titled "Little Girl's Own Book," with an introduction dated April 1, 1864. The manuscript was "Brilliantly Illustrated by Darling" and identified as a first edition in the "1st Series of Confederate Primers," "printed" by the "Southern Emesis Book and job Printing Office." The booklet contains a story, with added notes on proper behavior. According to Kraker's introduction, the content was gleaned from conversations in the "Lager Bier Saloon of Hanns Kroftler" and its earnestness and sentiment was adapted to the "comprehension and bias of mind of the female children of the south." The author told the story of a Northern and a Southern girl, in which the girl in the north became tired of living on a farm and eating onions, so decided to travel to the warmer climate of the south and visit her friend. Upon arriving by train, she witnessed a battle and fell in love with a Confederate soldier. After he returned to the battlefield, she gained solace from her southern friend, through listening to music, by singing and writing, and by seeking treatment for sadness from a physician.

Rd. Kraker created this 20-page handwritten booklet titled "Little Girl's Own Book," with an introduction dated April 1, 1864. The manuscript was "Brilliantly Illustrated by Darling" and identified as a first edition in the "1st Series of Confederate Primers," "printed" by the "Southern Emesis Book and job Printing Office." The booklet contains a story, with added notes on proper behavior. According to Kraker's introduction, the content was gleaned from conversations in the "Lager Bier Saloon of Hanns Kroftler" and its earnestness and sentiment was adapted to the "comprehension and bias of mind of the female children of the south."

The author told the story of a Northern and a Southern girl, in which the girl in the north became tired of living on a farm and eating onions, so decided to travel to the warmer climate of the south and visit her friend. Upon arriving by train, she witnessed a battle and fell in love with a Confederate soldier. After he returned to the battlefield, she gained solace from her southern friend, through listening to music, by singing and writing, and by seeking treatment for sadness from a physician. One of the songs referenced is Charles Carroll Sawyer and Henry Tucker's "When Will This Cruel War Be Over?"

• A moving train, "ye adventurus maid going to the Sunny South."
• A battle scene, with firing cannon, and a freestanding chimney beside two men (one laying on the ground, the other standing), "Findeth ye home desolate."
• Boxes and barrels of goods, "Tobacco &c Tar & Turpentine" and "Pine Trees" beside a jug marked "apple jack."
• Barrels, with a pitcher and glass atop one of them marked "Buorbon" [i.e. Bourbon], "ye Stapels continued."
• A woman in a rocking chair weeping into a handkerchief while a man in a soldier's uniform walks away.
• A piano.
• Four people walking; the two in front are a man and a woman.
• A woman standing, holding what appears to be a fan.
• A farmhouse beside a fence, animals, a birdhouse, and a tree with gourds hanging from its branches (as homes for Martins).
• A woman seated, knitting.
• A woman playing the piano; another woman stands beside her with a hand on her shoulder. They are singing, "When this Cruel war is over-!"
• Vision of injured soldiers, one leg amputee standing with crutches.
• A woman seated and writing a letter.
• A physician seated at a tent opening, reading a letter.

The text includes a parody of physician's explanation and prescription to the disconsolate young woman. The instructions read:

"The exostotic exudation overcoming the endosmotic implication in the peri and endocardium, pluviates the sanguinious, and decalorificates the systemic platitudes. The circumambient exoteric disintegrates the envelope and allows the exoteric functions to retrospect the perihelion of animal deficiancies. The pia mater interconvoluted with the [?] covering and becomes simultaneously congested by contact with the [?] substance. Hence retrovision becomes duplicated and prevision imparalelized. The remedy is equally perspicuous and followed earnestly will inevitably effect a cure..."

The volume includes several lines and paragraphs written in German Kurrantschrift. The most robust is the final page, headed by the text "The Soldier's Lament" and "Der Betrübte-lammantiert Soldadt," followed by a poetic description of snow-capped mountains and remarks on girls' behavior, i.e. "Wie schön wäre es [wenn?] die kleine Mädchen immer die Wahrheit sprächen" (How nice would it be [if?] little girls always spoke the truth), etc.

This small hand-made volume contains 24 locks of men and women's hair, some of them tied with ribbon, braided, or looped. While its creator is not indicated, internal evidence suggests that Maryette Canedy of Northfield, Minnesota, likely compiled the booklet in 1863, to document friends and relatives in Minnesota and Vermont. A pencil, colored pencil, and ink illustration of a woman holding a bouquet of flowers is pasted on the front cover. Its inscription includes "Miss Emely [Shurpy?] drawing," her residence in Northfield, Minnesota, and the date of January 25, 1863.

This small hand-made volume contains 24 locks of men and women's hair, some of them tied with ribbon, braided, or looped. While its creator is not indicated, internal evidence suggests that Maryette Canedy of Northfield, Minnesota, likely compiled the booklet in 1863, to document friends and relatives in Minnesota and Vermont. A pencil, colored pencil, and ink illustration of a woman holding a bouquet of flowers is pasted on the front cover. Its inscription includes "Miss Emely [Shurpy?] drawing," her residence in Northfield, Minnesota, and the date of January 25, 1863.

• The name of the individual who provided the hair.
• The place the person lived, such as Stanford [i.e. Stamford, Vermont]; Wilmington, [Vermont]; North Adams, [Massachusetts]; and Northfield, Minnesota.
• Short sayings or further identifying information. For example, the entries for Charles C. Phipps, Anna Phipps, and Anna Canedy mention their relationship to the compiler: grandfather, grandmother, and mother, respectively.
• The age of the individual when the clipping was taken.

Maryette Canedy's hair sample is missing.

The Albert Wilder papers primarily consist of Wilder's letters home to his sister, Sarah, and brother-in-law, William, while he served in the Civil War. Wilder enlisted in the 39th Massachusetts Infantry in 1862 at the age of 21 and died after being wounded near Spotsylvania, Pennsylvania, 1864.

The Albert Wilder Civil War letters are written almost entirely to his sister, Sarah, and her husband, William, whose last name may have been Flaisdell. One letter, written from the hospital following his wounding, is addressed to his mother, and the final letter in the collection, written a week before his death, is badly tattered, showing how much it was fondled, read and reread, as a relic from the late Albert. Because his regiment saw so little military action for so long, the war news which Albert encloses in his letters is almost entirely second hand; he had little to report first-hand. There are no letters at all for three months after Mine Run, suggesting that the collection may be incomplete.

A constant theme of the early letters is advice to friends back home as to whether or not they should come to the war. He advises his married brother-in-law to stay at home, because there are enough single men to fight the war. He discusses the shoe trade back home in Massachusetts, and politics in the home state, with some information on camp life and the common soldiers' perspective on the leaders of the war. His letters to William are more substantive on the whole; those to Sarah are little more than one-liners in answer to her letters.

Two letters in the collection were written by James R. French to his parents. Men from the French family were in the 39th Massachusetts, but James was not among them. His letters are semi-literate, but illustrate well the quality of life found in the lower (rural?) class: he writes that morale in the regiment is low "sens we found out we ar fitine for nigers" and admonishes his parents to keep the money he sends to them: "I dont want that wife of mine if I must carle her wife to have a sent of it."

This collection consists of two penmanship copybooks Frederick Fisher, possibly of Easton, Pennsylvania, kept in 1861 and 1863. The volumes contain examples of penmanship exercises, mostly sentences and phrases organized alphabetically by the first letter of the sentence or words. Themes relate to duty and honor, good manners, productivity, geography, education, Andrew Jackson and George Washington, and vanity, among others.

This collection consists of two penmanship copybooks Frederick Fisher, possibly of Easton, Pennsylvania, kept in 1861 and 1863. The volumes contain examples of penmanship exercises, mostly sentences and phrases organized alphabetically by the first letter of the sentence or words. Themes relate to duty and honor, good manners, productivity, geography, education, Andrew Jackson and George Washington, and vanity, among others.

The 1861 copybook was sold by William Maxwell of Easton, Pennsylvania, and features an illustrated front cover showing three female figures, including one with dark skin, seated at a wharf, likely allegories representing industry and commerce. Fisher added pen-and-ink drawings of quills on the front cover and inside front cover.

The 1863 copybook was produced by Kiggins & Kellogg, booksellers and stationers in New York. It has printed covers bearing illustrations of children outside of a public school and a multiplication table.