Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Hussey Family (1833-1965) series, which runs eighteen linear inches, is arranged according to the familial generation of creation for the materials and mainly consists of correspondence and financial materials. The John Milton and Mary C. Hussey subseries is arranged alphabetically according to type of material. This subseries is the result of substantial rearrangement of the materials. The letters between John Milton and Mary C. Hussey reveal much about his confidence in her ability to manage the farm while he was in the service during the Civil War. The originals of John's correspondence are held by the Clements Library. Their correspondence with their children illuminates a typical late nineteenth-century occupational mobility pattern as the children leave the landed gentry for professional positions.

The family life and customs of this particular family are further revealed in the Children of John M. and Mary C. Hubbell subseries. This subseries has also been altered in the course of processing and is now arranged alphabetically by name of child. The bulk of materials in this subseries was created by Lenora Hussey Griffin; that more of her papers remain extant is likely due to her remarkable longevity and to the fact that her daughter, Grace Griffin Hubbell, carefully saved them. There are also William J. Hussey materials in this subseries; these should be viewed as complementary to the Hussey Family collection housed at the Bentley Library.