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

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Collection

Western Brand book, 1899-1900

1 volume

This volume (198 pages) contains 184 pages showing various branding marks used by horse and cattle dealers throughout the western United States in the late 19th century, as well as 15 pages of accounts recording purchases of cattle in December 1899 and January 1900. The 184 pages of brands are divided into several sections based on the types of identifying marks used; approximately 1,480 brands are represented. The notebook is accompanied by a 35-page pamphlet entitled "Cattle Brands of Texas," published in the mid-20th century.

This volume (198 pages) contains 184 pages showing various branding marks used by horse and cattle dealers throughout the western United States in the late 19th century, as well as 15 pages of accounts recording purchases of cattle in December 1899 and January 1900. The 184 pages of brands are divided into several sections based on the types of identifying marks used, and approximately 1,480 brands are represented. The notebook is accompanied by a 35-page pamphlet entitled "Cattle Brands of Texas," published in the mid-20th century.

The brand book, once owned by a livestock buyer, contains both graphic and textual descriptions of brands used by livestock breeders throughout the Great Plains and western United States. The vast majority of brands are for cattle. Each page has 8 images of cattle or horses stamped in purple ink, with hand-drawn brands placed on the images. Animals' ears are represented by a stamped infinity symbol. Some dealers used variations, which are recorded in red ink. Each livestock stamp is accompanied by the dealer's name, cattle range, and primary city. Suppliers originated from Colorado, "Dakota," Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming. A newspaper clipping showing 7 branded cows of the Warren Live Stock Company of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and their ranges, is pasted on page 23. The brands (pp. 2-185) are followed by 15 pages of accounts recording purchases of cattle made primarily from F. H., W. H., & M. B. Gill Brothers of Greeley, Colorado, in December 1899 and January 1900 (pp. 186-201). Each account includes a stamped image of a cow with a brand, the supplier, and the price, each spread across two pages. A total price appears at the bottom of every two pages.

The Western Brand book is accompanied by a short pamphlet entitled Cattle Brands of Texas, published by the First National Bank in Dallas around the mid-1950s. A forward by Wayne Gard introduces the history of cattle branding within the state. The book contains historical notes for numerous brands that decorated the bank's executive dining room.

Collection

Western travel and mid-Michigan photograph albums, 1901

1 volume

The Western travel and mid-Michigan photograph albums (2 volumes, each 23 x 36 cm) contain a total of 417 photographs primarily pertaining to travel in the western U.S. and the mid-Michigan region, likely taken by a member of the Charlesworth/Abraham family of Flint, Michigan.

Volume I: Western photographs include views of Yellowstone, the Yosemite Valley, cliff dwellings with pictorgraphs, a petrified forest, hiking across a glacier, buildings of the Panama-Pacific Exposition, the Saltair resort in Utah, cliff dwellings, the California coast, a bull fight, Native Americans selling pottery on the street, California houses, and a concert band dressed in kilts. Also included are single views of a city waterfront, possibly St. Paul, Minn., Milwaukee grain docks, and the Minnesota State Capitol. Album contains 232 images. Photographs lack captions.

Volume II: Mid-Michigan photographs show chiefly outdoor activities and rural scenery, including house and barns, country roads, hunting and fishing trips, boating, swimming, hunting dogs and game birds, a circus parade in downtown Flint, farm animals and cow-milking, and picnics. Nine photographs show a collection of bird amulets and carved relics, some belonging to the Silas Collins collection at the Flint Public Library. Also shown are burnt-out ruins of the Michigan School for the Deaf and postal carriers in Flint with sleds and wagons piled high with Christmas packages. Several photographs feature automobiles, including an overturned auto in the street being contemplated by a young man in swimming costume with handwritten caption, "Berston killed;" automobiles stuck in potholes and rescued by horse-teams; filled with hunting dogs; and a Buick Model C burnt out and restored. Michigan locations include: Flint, Prescott, Stiles Lake, Long Lake, Houghton Lake, Rifle River, Ortonville, and Skinner Lake. Identified individuals include: W.B. Ormsbee, A.G. Abraham, Herb Mitchell, Howard Casler, E. Rockafellow, Luella Charlesworth, John Brewer, Emma Abraham, Ernest Oldfield, M.B. Shirk, William Somerville, Hattie Barker, George Dell, Gert Fellows, Glenn Jones, Edgar Ries, John Ries, George Havers, John Wildanger, George Havers, Clyde Baldwin, George Frye, Edgar Rice, Chancey Straber, Elsie Caverly, Clarence Caverly, Leo & Mrs. Boomhower, Bud & Mrs. Evans, Ed Brown, Llloyd & Mrs. Algoe, Alice Charlesworth, Anna Charlesworth, George Holmes. Album contains 185 images. Most photographs include manuscript captions on verso.

Albums housed in three-part wraps with blue cloth spines.

Collection

"Western Trip" photograph album, 1899

1 volume

The "Western Trip" photograph album contains pictures of people, natural scenery, and cities in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington. The album includes photographs of the traveling party, popular tourist destinations, and residents of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This album (17cm x 25cm), entitled "Western Trip-Summer-1899," contains 95 photographs of people and scenery in several western states. Each page contains two photographs housed in 8cm x 8cm windows; all items have captions, usually providing the location of the photograph. The title "Photographs" is printed in gold on the album's faded green cloth cover.

The photographer took three photographs of railroad stations, railroad tracks, and the prairie in Nebraska and Kansas before reaching Colorado. A photograph on the first page, identified as Lincoln, Nebraska, is likely mislabeled. A manuscript caption on the back of this photograph identifies the location as Omaha, Nebraska. In Colorado, where the photographer visited Manitou Springs, several canyons, Pikes Peak, and the Garden of the Gods. Several photographs are views of mountain passes and similar Colorado scenery some of which were taken from the front of a horse drawn carriage. The photographs from New Mexico include street-level views of Las Vegas and Santa Fe, as well as informal portraits of a woman and a child in front of a pueblo, a woman ("Belle of Santa Fe"), and a boy ("Dude of Santa Fe"). In Arizona, the traveler visited cliff dwellings, canyons, and the Grand Canyon; some images show the horse-drawn carriage the party took from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon, and others show tourists (including the compiler) on horses. The caption of one photograph implies that a railroad car on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway had caught fire, though no fire or smoke is apparent.

After visiting the Southwest, the traveler continued to California, where he or she collected several photographs of the Pacific Ocean as seen from Santa Catalina Island, California. These are followed by a group of pictures from Yosemite National Park, including views of mountains, waterfalls, lakes, and forests, and a picture of Mount Shasta. The final items feature the Hotel Portland in Portland, Oregon; Umatilla House in The Dalles, Oregon ("Where Measles Flourish"); the Columbia River and riverside scenery; Tacoma, Washington; Seattle, Washington; and the shore of Lake Washington.

Collection

Western Views - Kodak Snapshot Album, approximately 1895

104 photographs in 1 album

The Western views - Kodak snapshot album contains 104 photographs primarily of Western landscapes including canyons, rivers, waterfalls, and the Monterey, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz coasts.

The Western views - Kodak snapshot album contains 104 photographs primarily of Western landscapes including canyons, rivers, waterfalls, and the Monterey, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz coasts. The album (26.5 x 32 cm) is fully bound in leather with gilt lettering "Kodak" on the front cover. Most of the locations depicted are represented in one or two photographs with the exception of Yellowstone (approximately 20 images) and the Grand Canyon (approximately 12 images). Other photographs show trains and train tracks, with two photographs of train station gardens in Sacramento and Ypsilanti, Michigan. Non-western locations and objects depicted include the Hudson, Niagara, and Mohawk Rivers, Niagara Falls, Minnehaha Falls, and Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. In general people appear to be incidental to the scenery, save for two photographs showing posed groups; one in front of a topiary maze, and another in a grove of giant trees. Most photographs have numbers and captions derived from labeled negatives.

Collection

Wilhelm Schneider manuscript translation, Theory of Harmony..., [late 1840s or early 1850s]

53 pages

This collection is an undated 53-page manuscript, containing portions of the English translation of a work of organ music theory and practical application by German organist and instructor Wilhelm Schneider. The manuscript's first page corresponds to page 87 of Schneider's Practical Organ School . . . to which is added a complete Treatise on Harmony and thorough Bass. Translated and Adapted to the wants of Young Organists (Boston: Oliver Ditson & Company, 1851). Afterward, the manuscript follows a different organization from the printed work—chapter one of the manuscript corresponds, for example, to chapter two of the published version. A comparative analysis has not been completed, though a cursory review suggests that the manuscript has textual and possibly other variations from the published version.

This collection is an undated 53-page manuscript, containing portions of the English translation of a work of organ music theory and practical application by German organist and instructor Wilhelm Schneider. The manuscript's first page corresponds to page 87 of Schneider's Practical Organ School . . . to which is added a complete Treatise on Harmony and thorough Bass. Translated and Adapted to the wants of Young Organists (Boston: Oliver Ditson & Company, 1851). Afterward, the manuscript follows a different organization from the printed work—chapter one of the manuscript corresponds, for example, to chapter two of the published version. A comparative analysis has not been completed, though a cursory review suggests that the manuscript has textual and possibly other variations from the published version.

Collection

William A. Carter typescript, 1857-1859

1 item

This collection is made up of typescripts of letters that William A. Carter sent to his wife Mary from July 1857 to January 1859. Carter described his journey from Kansas to southwest Wyoming throughout 1857 and later discussed his life at Fort Bridger, where he became a prosperous sutler. Many of the letters refer to Native American tribes and to ongoing conflicts between Mormons and United States troops.

This collection (71 pages) is made up of typescripts of letters that William A. Carter sent to his wife Mary from July 28, 1857, to January 23, 1859. From September 1857 to January 1858, Carter wrote about his journey from Atchison, Kansas, to Camp Scott and Fort Bridger, Wyoming, describing the changing landscape and aspects of daily life as part of a traveling wagon train. He referred to Native American tribes such as the Pawnee, Cheyenne, Snake, and Sioux, sharing news of reported attacks on other wagon trains and mentioning a friendly encounter with a group of Sioux. Carter and his companions also feared attacks by groups of Mormons and he commented on the ongoing conflicts between Utah Mormons and U.S. troops. After reaching Fort Laramie in October 1857, the party sometimes travelled alongside U.S. forces under the command of Philip St. George Cooke; during this time, Carter relayed reports of heavy fortifications around Salt Lake City.

In early 1858, Carter wrote several letters from Camp Scott in southwest Wyoming, joining U.S. troops in their winter camp. There, he pursued a mercantile career; his letters from this period sometimes refer to the large sums of money that could be earned by transporting freight between the Utah Territory and "the States" back east. By mid-1858, Carter had settled at Fort Bridger, where he was officially appointed sutler in June 1858; he later became postmaster as well. At Fort Bridger, Carter shared news of the Utah War, reported on his finances, and discussed his plans to build a store; on one occasion, he discussed a visit to Salt Lake City. He increasingly referred to his unhappiness about being separated from his wife and children and eventually announced his intention to bring them to Wyoming. By January 1859, he anticipated a reunion with his family.

Collection

William Bull and Sarah Wells Pageant photograph album, 1908

1 volume

The William Bull and Sarah Wells Pageant photograph album contains 33 photographs of an elaborate outdoor pageant of the story of William Bull and Sarah Wells, two early settlers of Orange County, N.Y.

The William Bull and Sarah Wells Pageant photograph album (19 x 26 cm) contains 33 photographs of an elaborate outdoor pageant of the story of William Bull and Sarah Wells, two early settlers of Orange County, N.Y. It features locals dressed up as settlers and Indians and a house of logs constructed on site. Images of the reenactment also include the courtship and wedding of Bull and Wells, a wedding dance, and the making of plans to build a stone house. This pageant may be part of a family reunion, an ongoing Independence Day ritual, but also includes thanksgiving scenes of a meal shared by Indians and settlers. Prominently featured in one photograph are William Bull V and VII, descendants of William Bull and Sarah Wells.

The album has an unmarked black cloth cover and is housed in a gray wrapper with blue cloth binding.

Collection

William Eighinger ledger, 1798-1801, 1850

1 volume

The William Eighinger ledger contains two sections: a ledger kept by a Baltimore shipping merchant between 1798 and 1801 and math problems and copied compositions compiled by George Eighinger in 1850. The accounts pertain to the shipment of goods between North America, the Caribbean, and Germany, and the copied material includes a narrative told from the point of view of a slave.

This volume contains 2 sections: a ledger kept by a Baltimore shipping merchant between 1798 and 1801 (about 105 pages) and math problems and copied compositions compiled by George Eighinger in 1850 (5 pages).

The financial records intermittently cover the period from October 1, 1798, to June 24, 1801, on pages numbered 47-144 and 188-211; some pages have been torn from the book. The accounts concern the affairs of a Baltimore shipping merchant who imported linens and other items from Europe while exporting coffee, tobacco, sugar, and other goods to Bremen, Hamburg, and other German ports. Each entry reflects a transaction with a merchant, and the ledger often records the names of the ships carrying the cargo, as well as inventories, prices, the names of shipmasters, and consignment agents' marks. The ledger occasionally includes costs of storage or insurance. On December 31, 1799, the bookkeeper recorded "postage of 1798 & 1799" (pp. 131-133). Cartoonish drawings illustrate a few pages throughout the accounts (e.g. pages 93 and 239).

The pages numbered 235-239 contain arithmetic problems, copied prose, and cartoons by George Eighinger, who received the book from Nash G. Camp on March 4, 1850. The pages, which are labeled "Compound Subtraction" and "Compound Addition," include a narrative told from the point of view of a slave (p. 235).

Collection

William Potts student notebook, 1720-1819 (majority within 1720)

1 volume

This student notebook contains Latin-language treatises on logic, metaphysics, and related subjects, composed around 1720. The book also includes a few pages of sermon notes, an example of a Porphyrian Tree, and additional notes by later owners.

The bulk of this volume is comprised of Latin-language treatises about logic, metaphysics, and related concepts, written or copied around 1720. Each section is broken into multiple chapters, some with appendices. The volume also includes small groups of shorter writings in Latin and an example of the Porphyrian Tree. The Latin writings are infrequently interrupted by additional entries, such as a few pages of English-language notes from an August 1761 sermon based on a verse from 2nd Corinthians. Notations throughout the volume refer to William Potts, Georgius M. Conchie, George Potts, and William McCauly (with several variations on the spelling of the surname).

Collection

William W. Winters biography, [1853?]

1 volume

This manuscript is a 141-page biography of William W. Winters (1826-1895), a one-time medical student from Ohio, cabinetmaker, daguerreotypist, and Methodist Minister, among other professions. The biography and subsequent pasted-in documents draw heavily from Winters's own diary entries and trace the events of his life from 1826 to 1853, including his divorce from his wife, who he accused of adultery.

This manuscript is a 141-page biography of William W. Winters (1826-1895), a one-time medical student from Ohio, cabinetmaker, daguerreotypist, and Methodist Minister, among other professions. The biography and subsequent pasted-in documents draw heavily from Winters's own diary entries and trace the events of his life from 1826 to 1853.

Written largely from a third-person perspective, Winters's biography stylistically embodies nineteenth-century artistic and literary Romanticism. Here, a younger Winters is characterized as "schivalrous and full of gallant deeds in matters of Cupid, came off first best." Likewise, Winters is cast as "our hero" within the narrative. A later portion of the volume continues Winters's history, but from a first-person perspective, using "extracts [taken from] his journal in his own language."

Winters's employment experiences include tanning, cabinetmaking, operating a drug store, taking daguerreotypes, and serving in appointments as a deacon and then a reverend in the Methodist church. Descriptions of these occupations are conveyed with varying detail. Also noted are his experiences as a student, first at Oberlin College and, later, at Norwalk Seminary. Winters's courtship and marriage to Philenda Howard, as well as his divorce from her in 1853 on grounds of adultery, is richly detailed.

Laid into the front of the volume is a "Methodist Episcopal Church Quarterly Ticket" and the end of the journal is pasted in a fragment of Winters's 1844 wax-sealed appointment as a church deacon, and 12 fragments of a manuscript, four of which are photocopies.

Among many notable topics of interest are:

  • Mormonism (pp. 12-13)
  • Body snatching (pp. 66-67)
  • Work as a daguerreotypist—Springfield, Ohio (p. 123)
  • Divorce—Springfield, Ohio (pp. 131-32)
  • Ordination as a Methodist deacon (pp. 88-91)