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

This 8-page manuscript speech was written by a currently unidentified author in the United States seeking the presidency in a temperance society, perhaps sometime in the 1840s or 1850s. The orator addressed "Fellow Citizens" and focused their anti-alcohol rhetoric on moral, social, and political issues. They focused on the fiscal costs of prosecutions, imprisonment, and overcrowded jails; on election corruption due to intemperate men selling their votes for alcohol money; and on the damnation of "drunkards" resulting from the immorality of liquor distributors. He expressed sympathy for the intemperate while simultaneously blaming them for moral failings. Brief references to the sex of the intemperate and conflict with Great Britain are present. The orator occasionally drew language and comparisons used in speeches and letters of the American Temperance Union, New-York Society for the Promotion of Intemperance, and others.

This 8-page manuscript speech was written by a currently unidentified author in the United States seeking the presidency in a temperance society, perhaps sometime in the 1840s or 1850s. The orator addressed "Fellow Citizens" and focused their anti-alcohol rhetoric on moral, social, and political issues. They focused on the fiscal costs of prosecutions, imprisonment, and overcrowded jails; on election corruption due to intemperate men selling their votes for alcohol money; and on the damnation of "drunkards" resulting from the immorality of liquor distributors. He expressed sympathy for the intemperate while simultaneously blaming them for moral failings. Brief references to the sex of the intemperate and conflict with Great Britain are present. The orator occasionally drew language and comparisons used in speeches and letters of the American Temperance Union, New-York Society for the Promotion of Intemperance, and others. The manuscript is made up of loose pages, hand-sewn on the left.

• Alcohol should only be consumed as prescribed by a "temperance Physician."
• The intemperate include not only laboring classes, but legislators and justice officials.
• The "stability of our free institutions" is at stake because of intemperate people's willingness to sell their votes for funds to purchase alcohol; the speaker claims that thousands of votes have been corrupted and that political parties filter money into elections for this purpose.
• Enough money is spent on alcohol to pay off the United States' foreign debt. Estimates $15,000,000/year spent in "this state alone."
• Bar rooms prepare people for crimes and God never gave people the right to get drunk. Distilleries are "smoking breathing holes of hell"; "...there are men, who would build grogshops, on a volcano if they could make money by it -- Nay they would go down, to the verry confines of hell and build grogshops there if they could only make money --" Reformed men should take their old rags and give them to the rum sellers, so that they might become paper makers. The drinker is wicked.
• Female drinkers are few and far between (crossed out is a sentence saying "but, I have saw a woman beastly drunk between this and the borough").
• Some of the intemperate succeed in escaping, but those who do not might become robbers or pirates. Wives, children, and society lose nothing when the drunkard dies, regardless of whether he has been a "tender father, a finished scholar, a profound statesman," but the addict loses his soul. They end up "Frozen in a storm, or drowned, or dying on his bed of straw, with delirium tremens, devils seizing him before his time, with none to care for him, none to lament him."
• "Drunkards demand our sympathy, I make no apology for drunkenness -- It is a sin, for which there can be no apology -- The moderate drinker, is master of himself -- He does what he does, deliberately, of free choice, feeling, and knowing, as he says, that there is no danger." But this is a slippery slope.
• "The Queen of England might send an army against us, and we could drive them into the sea -- But we must fight against intoxicating drinks by letting it alone come forward sign the pledge..."

This travel diary records the daily progress of a team of prospectors exploring possible routes for stagecoach lines in Texas, 1838. The entries primarily document details relevant to stagecoach operations such as terrain, populations, soil types, climate, and distances traveled.

This Texas travel diary records the daily progress of a team of prospectors exploring possible routes for stagecoach lines. The author does not record his personal experiences and includes only details relevant to operating a stagecoach line: terrain; banks and depths of rivers to be forded; costs of oats, corn and hay for feeding horses; the presence of Indians; populations to support mail delivery and transportation over the route; availability of timber for building bridges and ferries; competition from other stage lines; availability of potable water; agricultural potential of the land along the route; and mileages from one place to another.

The team set out from Jefferson City in mule-drawn wagons on January 4, 1838, and traveled southwest into the Indian Territory (later Oklahoma). They crossed into the Oklahoma Cherokee Indian Territory at Neosho on January 18, and then headed south to Fort Gibson, where the author went alone on horseback to Fort Smith on the Arkansas border, and rejoined the group later.

They crossed Texas at Preston on the Red River (North of Dallas) at the end of January and arrived at Franklin (now El Paso) on March 17. On March 21, they set out on the return trip, taking a slightly different route, and returned to Preston on Sunday, April 11.

Of special interest are the descriptions of the terrain diagonally southwest across the Indian Territory (later Oklahoma) and Texas in the early days of United States possession, while Texas was still an independent republic. The author notes the difficulties that would be encountered in establishing a mail and stage coach line through this terrain and comments on the agricultural possibilities of the land. He describes streams and rivers and recommends potential settings for stations.

This volume, titled "The Conundrum Crop for 1859," is a blank book containing 36 handwritten riddles and their answers. They include references to agriculture, literature and prominent figures (e.g. Lord Byron, Cowper, Louis Napoleon, Victor Emmanuel, Pope Leo, Shakespeare, Ivanhoe, Bunyan, and John G. Saxe), military culture, technology (iron steamers, railroads), race, gender, and geography.

This volume, titled "The Conundrum Crop for 1859," is a blank book containing 36 handwritten riddles and their answers. They include references to agriculture, literature and prominent figures (e.g. Lord Byron, Cowper, Louis Napoleon, Victor Emmanuel, Pope Leo, Shakespeare, Ivanhoe, Bunyan, and John G. Saxe), military culture, technology (iron steamers, railroads), race, gender, and geography.

This collection consists of volumes II, III, and IV of The History of the Reign of George III, King of Great Britain, which anonymous author "K. H." composed in Gloucestershire, England, between 1820 and 1823. The treatise covers Great Britain's domestic and international political affairs in depth, including conflicts in North America during the Revolutionary War era and the War of 1812.

This collection consists of volumes II, III, and IV of The History of the Reign of George III, King of Great Britain, which anonymous author "K. H." composed in Gloucestershire, England, between 1820 and 1823. The treatise covers Great Britain's domestic and international political affairs in depth, including conflicts in North America during the American Revolutionary era and the War of 1812. The location of volume I is unknown.

The three volumes, formally titled "The History of the Reign of George III, King of Great Britain (Designed as a Continuation of Mr. Smollet's History)," have 1,323 pages that cover the period between 1770 and the King's death in 1820. Volume IV also contains a 214-page appendix that provides supplemental information for the years 1763-1820. Each chapter is preceded by a detailed list of contents.

The densely-written account chronicles the country's internal and external political affairs, as well as events occurring throughout Europe and, to a lesser extent, North America and North Africa. Topics addressed concern parliamentary leadership, wars, shifting alliances among major European powers, the French Revolution, and Britain's relationship with Ireland. The final chapter contains the author's reflections on King George III, written shortly after the King's death.

The appendix at the conclusion of Volume IV contains annual lists of appointments, births, marriages, and deaths between 1763 and 1820, as well as other information about domestic and European political affairs. The appointments include British political, religious, and military figures, and reflect some changes in peerage. Also recorded are births and deaths of European royal families.

Seventeen individuals answered the questions printed in J. E. Spears' The Mental Portrait Album... (St. Louis: John L. Boland Book & Stationery Co., [1895]), which has a pictorial cloth cover showing a female figure and flowers. Entries between 1894 and 1895 were filled in by individuals residing in Missouri, Kentucky, and Kansas, while the later entries from 1910 to 1972 were written by those residing in Texas. Answers reveal contributors' favorite items, their tastes in music and literature, their opinions on admirable and detestable personality traits in men and women, as well as their beliefs about transportation, great reforms, follies, and wonders of the world.

Seventeen individuals answered the questions printed in J. E. Spears' The Mental Portrait Album. For Recording the Autographic Confessions of Friends and Acquaintances Regarding their Opinions, Tastes, Fancies, Etc. (St. Louis: John L. Boland Book & Stationery Co., [1895]), which has a pictorial cloth cover showing a female figure and flowers. Entries between 1894 and 1895 were filled in by individuals residing in Louisville and Danville, Kentucky; Pleasant Hill, Kansas City, Harrisonville, and Hughesville, Missouri; and Kansas City, Kansas, while the later entries from 1910 to 1972 were written by those residing in Forney and Wichita Falls, Texas. Answers reveal contributors' favorite items, their tastes in music and literature, their opinions on admirable and detestable personality traits in men and women, as well as their beliefs about transportation, great reforms, follies, and wonders of the world. Varying beliefs and prejudices are reflected, including those relating to women's rights, immigration, race (in particular against those of Mexican descent), and politics. Common answers celebrating emerging technologies, inventors, and historical figures, such as Thomas Edison and Robert E. Lee, indicate broader social phenomena.

Contributors noted their favorites of the following categories:

Color, Flower, Book, Animal, Season, Poet or Poetess, Prose Writer, Composer, Character in History, Character in Romance, Scenery, Music, Amusement, Occupation During a Summer's Vacation, and My Pet Hobby.

• My Chief Ambition in Life
• The trait I most admire in a woman
• The trait I most admire in a man
• The trait I most detest in each
• The fault for which I have the most toleration in another person
• That for which I have the least
• The qualifications or accomplishments I most desire in a matrimonial partner
• My idea of perfect happiness
• My idea of real misery
• There is always some one person, or thing, for which we have an attachment exceeding all other endearments in intensity. For me it is for
• Of the various modes of traveling, I prefer
• If privileged to make a journey, the single place or locality I would prefer to visit, above all others would be
• As a traveling companion, I would most highly appreciate
• Shipwrecked on a deserted island, I would most desire
• The greatest wonder of the world, according to my estimation, is
• As an inventor, I think the greatest service towards the world's progress has been rendered by
• Of the many reforms at present under consideration, I most sincerely and particularly advocate
• The greatest folly in the Nineteenth Century, in my opinion, is
• My motto

This manuscript, entitled The Number of Polls and the Value of rateable Estates within the Province of Massachusetts-bay during the year 1771, contains a detailed calculation of the total tax revenue generated by Massachusetts in 1771. The manuscript may be in the hand of George Chalmers.

This manuscript is entitled "The Number of Polls and the Value of rateable Estates within the Province of Massachusetts-bay during the year 1771." The figures are presented by county, with each county divided into towns; totals for each town and county are provided, as are totals for the entire colony, multiplied by current tax rates to provide a proportional and total amount of taxes owed in 1771. The information was presented to the House of Delegates.

• Suffolk: 8,446 (including Boston's 2,876)
• Essex: 11,697
• Middlesex: 8,987
• Hampshire: 6,779
• Plymouth: 6,163
• Barnstable: 3,478
• Bristol: 5,842
• York: 3,368
• Dukes: 692
• Nantucket: 1,130
• Cumberland: 2,683
• Lincoln: 1,844
• Worcester: 9,697
• Berkshire: 2,773

A "Recapitulation" shows a total count of 73,478 polls and a total estate value of £549,001 17s. 4d. Taxes accrued equal £382 14s. 0d. from polls, £617 12s. 6d. from estates, and £1000 6s. 6d. total.

The Portland, Washington, D.C. photograph album contains 74 interior and exterior photographs of The Portland apartment building in Washington, D.C. from 1900 to 1903.

The Portland, Washington, D.C. photograph album contains 74 interior and exterior photographs of The Portland apartment building in Washington, D.C. from 1900 to 1903. Most photographs have handwritten notation stating date, location, or subject matter. Exterior images show The Portland and Thomas Circle from various viewpoints. Interior images show various rooms in an apartment; the parlor, bedrooms, dining room, and den. Many of these images appear to include family members, friends and neighbors. The last photograph is of a woman near the shore in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

The album is 14.5 x 12 cm with red artificial leather covers.

This collection is made up of 570 pages of handwritten extracts from Thomas Hutchinson's diary, dated between February 1770 and March 1780. An unknown copyist transcribed and summarized the diary in the late 18th or early 19th century.

This collection is made up of 570 pages of extracts from Thomas Hutchinson's diary, dated between February 1774 and March 1780. An unknown copyist transcribed and summarized the diary in the late 18th or early 19th century. The manuscript includes notations, additions, and corrections.

"Extracts from Gov. H.'s [Dia]ry," begins in England, after Hutchinson's exile from Massachusetts. Hutchinson frequently remarked on political and military circumstances related to Great Britain and the American colonies. The diary includes the author's interactions with and thoughts on many prominent public individuals. Hutchinson occasionally wrote about personal and family matters, such as his son's ailing health in early 1780.

This 238-page volume contains an unknown writer's opinions on the Revolutionary War and proposed military strategies, composed September-October 1776 and February 1778. Among other topics, the author discussed the relationship between land and naval forces and their relative strengths, explained possible ways in which economic affairs might affect the progress of the war, and promoted a strategy of dissolving the unity of the colonies. This volume belonged to Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, and includes his bookplate.

This 238-page volume contains an unknown writer's opinions on the Revolutionary War and proposed military strategies, composed September-October 1776 and February 1778. Among other topics, the author discussed the relationship between land and naval forces and their relative strengths, explained possible ways in which economic affairs might affect the progress of the war, and promoted a strategy of dissolving the unity of the colonies.

The volume is divided into two primary sections, with the author offering his thoughts on the war in late 1776 (pp. 1-146) and in early 1778 (pp. 147-238). Introductory remarks at the beginning of the first section suggest that the author intended his treatise for members of the British government. He focused on financial and economic affairs, such as the colonies' different currencies, the effects of privateering, and the difficulty of funding a war. In addition, he presented detailed proposals for British action, often revolving around a strategy of dissolving the colonies' confederacy. Some suggestions focused on specific cities or colonies.

The second section of the volume contains similar thoughts and strategies, with a focus on the differences between land and sea power. Though the author believed a British victory unlikely, he encouraged the government to focus on naval actions rather than land forces. Despite his skepticism, he concluded by affirming that the rebellion could be defeated by disrupting colonial unity and conquering Georgia by military force.

This volume belonged to Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, and includes his bookplate.

This photograph album contains pictures taken during trips to Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Michigan around the turn of the 20th century. Subjects include Native American homes, dress, and customs; western scenery; and Midwestern waterfronts and steamships.

The Tourist photograph album (15 x 21 cm) contains approximately 245 pictures from around the Southwest and Midwest United States taken by an unknown photographer around the turn of the 20th century. Southwest photographs include mission churches in California and New Mexico, rock formations, cliff dwellings at Canyon de Chelly and Mesa Verde, Balanced Rock in the Garden of the Gods, and a pueblo. Several photographs feature Native Americans, including: women with traditional squash blossom hair styles; a man carrying a small child in a sling on his back; a woman in a shop with baskets, wool and dry goods; a woman seated in front of a loom with partially finished cloth; a man sitting in a white-washed interior with skeins of wool, holding a spindle with a hand carder at his feet. One photograph shows mummified human remains posed next to a bottle of whiskey and skull, indicating likely tomb desecration. Also included are unidentified Southwestern streets, beach scenes, and the storefront of J.M. Archuleta in Colorado. Midwest photos include images of the Palace of Fine Arts (Museum of Science and Industry) in Chicago, Mackinac Island, the Marquette Monument in St. Ignace, Soo Locks, and the Great Lakes steamer North Land, and a lake and cottage. The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and the SS Chief Wawatam are also pictured. Many photographs are significantly faded. Some manuscript captions are included.

The album includes two cyanotypes and a postcard with a cartoon satirizing the Brigham Young's polygamy.

The album has a half bound pebbled leather cover and is stored in a three-part wrap with brown cloth spine.