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

The George Hunt papers include two pocket diaries kept by Hunt during his service in the 15th New York Cavalry, a memoir, "Custer and his Red Necks: A brief Sketch of incidents of the Civil War of 61 & 65," written at least a decade later, and a pocket-sized carte de visite album containing photographs of Hunt and fellow cavalry members.

The George Hunt papers include two pocket diaries kept by Hunt during his service in the 15th New York Cavalry and a memoir, "Custer and his Red Necks: A brief Sketch of incidents of the Civil War of 61 & 65," written at least a decade later. The diaries consist of terse entries that provide few details about battles and events.

In contrast, his memoir is fully fleshed out and filled with anecdotes and patriotic flourishes, suggesting that in writing this account, he may have relied as much on printed works as on his own notes and memory. "Custer and his Red Necks" has the earmarks of an address written for a veterans' reunion, and was clearly written after Custer's death. Slightly over half of the memoir concerns Custer's early life and military experience before Hunt's regiment were placed under his command. Hunt was enamored of the dashing figure cut by Custer, and the memoir is celebratory of the man and his achievements.

The collection also includes several other items, including Hunt's pocket-sized carte de visite album, containing photographs of Hunt, fellow members of the 15th New York Cavalry, and selected generals, including Grant and Sheridan; a pocket New Testament; an Ithaca Trust company notebook containing miscellaneous notes (1907); and a file of newspaper clippings relating to veterans' reunions.

The George W. Patterson collection is comprised of correspondence related to the New York state textile industry and to New York and United States politics in the 1840s and 1870s. The collection includes 6 letters to Patterson and 1 letter that Patterson wrote to manufacturer Simon Newton Dexter.

The George W. Patterson collection is comprised of 7 letters related to New York textiles and to New York and United States politics in the 1840s and 1870s. Patterson's letter to cloth manufacturer Simon Newton Dexter of Whitestown, New York, concerns wool that Patterson and others shipped to Dexter; Patterson added a postscript about the destruction of the steamer Erie (August 9-10, 1841). The remaining 6 items are letters that Patterson received on October 13, 1843; on November 20, 1847; and from January 9, 1878-July 11, 1878. Correspondents such as Thurlow Weed and Charles G. Maples discussed political issues including appointments, the actions of Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, and the Republican Party; Weed also briefly commented on Belgium and France (October 13, 1843). J. A. Upton, one of Patterson's constituents during his time in the United States House of Representatives, offered his opinions on the currency question, the Silver Bill, and greenbacks (April 26, 1878). William Henry Seward, Jr., requested advice about a potential land deal in his letter of July 11, 1878.

The Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson printed ephemera collection contains over 5,000 pieces of assorted ephemera, the majority of which were commercially printed in the United States during the mid to late 19th-century.

The Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson printed ephemera collection contains over 5,000 pieces of assorted ephemera, the majority of which were commercially printed in the United States during the mid to late 19th-century.

The Maxson collection provides a valuable resource for the study of 19th-century visual culture, commercial advertising, and humor in addition to the role of gender, ethnicity, and race in advertising. American businesses are the predominant focus of the collection, though many international businesses are also represented. While trade cards are by far the most prevalent type of ephemera found in this collection, an extensive array of genres are present including die cut scrapbook pieces, photographs, engravings, maps, serials, and manuscript materials.

The 23 binders that house the Maxson collection were arranged by the collectors themselves. Items are organized somewhat randomly in terms of topical arrangement. While pockets of related materials can be found here and there (for instance, the entirety of Volume 16 contains circus-related items while Volume 11 contains an extensive number of Shaker-related materials), for the most part any given subject may appear in any given volume. In some cases, items are clustered as a result of having been acquired together or due to a documented common provenance. Occasional typed annotations written by the Maxsons help provide additional context for certain items.

The Maxson Collection Subject Index serves as a volume-level subject index for materials found throughout the binders. The subjects indexed here are generally representative of both visual and commercial content. In addition to more general subjects, many names of specific people, places, buildings, events, and organizations that appear in the materials have also been listed. Researchers engaging with this collection should be aware that they will encounter numerous examples of racist caricatures, especially ones depicting African American, Native American, Irish, and Chinese people.

The Gibbons family papers are made up of correspondence, land indentures, and lecture notes of the Gibbons family of Muskingum County, Ohio, Kansas, and Oregon. A primary focus of the collection is Thomas A. Gibbons, a teacher in late 19th century Ohio.

The Gibbons family papers consist of 180 items, dated from 1858 to September 10, 1941, though the bulk falls between July 11, 1868 and September 10, 1941. The collection contains letters, financial papers, documents pertaining to land ownership, lecture outlines and notes, and miscellaneous papers.

These papers reveal many difficulties confronted by a middle class family during this time period, such as obtaining education and employment. The letters also periodically mention notable historical events such as a new draft law (August 21, 1918), the undeclared war on Germany (September 10, 1941), and the lowering of Canadian lumber tariffs by Roosevelt. Among the more local concerns is the mention of a classmate's tuberculosis (August 9, 1940).

The 44 financial papers consist mostly of receipts and cashed checks. The land documents include deeds and indentures for land in Ohio, Kansas, and Oregon. The lecture outlines, notes, and drafts are primarily those of Thomas Gibbons in Ohio. They discuss subjects such as biology, classical history, education, and physiology. The miscellaneous papers include documents such as teaching certificates, a memorial, and letter fragments.

This collection contains correspondence, documents, financial records, reports, and other items pertaining to Gilbert L. Thompson. The material relates to Thompson's work as the United States Navy's chief engineer from 1842-1844, and his involvement in the coal and transportation industries in the mid- to late 19th century.

This collection (1 linear foot) contains correspondence, documents, financial records, reports, and other items pertaining to Gilbert L. Thompson. The material relates to Thompson's work as the United States Navy's chief engineer from 1842-1844, and his involvement in the coal and transportation industries.

The Correspondence series (155 items) is mostly made up of incoming business letters to Gilbert L. Thompson; outgoing drafts by Thompson and business letters between other persons are also present. The first group of items concern Thompson's service as the United States Navy's chief engineer from 1842-1844, addressing many topics related to naval engineering and United States Navy vessels. The remaining correspondence, dated 1850-1861 and 1865-1872, largely pertains to Thompson's business interests and his stake in various ventures. Thompson wrote and received letters about coal and oil industries, railroads, domestic commerce, and attempts to establish regular steamship trade between the United States and Europe after the Civil War. Many of the latter items pertain to the Norfolk and St. Nazaire Steam Navigation Company and to commerce in the South during the early years of Reconstruction. Thompson's prominent correspondents included Secretary of the Treasury Walter Forward, Secretary of the Navy Abel Parker Upshur, and Virginia governor Francis Harrison Pierpont.

The Documents series is divided into two subseries. The Legal Documents (34 items), which include copies of legislation, by-laws, indentures, and other items, pertain to naval engineering, transatlantic trade between the United States and Europe, and Gilbert L. Thompson's business affairs. Several items relate to the Norfolk and St. Nazaire Steam Navigation Company and to the American Iron Shipbuilding, Mining, and Manufacturing Company. One indenture relates to land that Thompson and his wife owned in Fairfax County, Virginia, and includes a manuscript map of the property (December 13, 1844). Financial Documents (14 items) are made up of accounts and other items pertaining to the Western Virginia Coal Company, the Coal Oil and Paraffin Company of Baltimore, steamship construction and operation, the USS Missouri, and other subjects.

Reports and Drafts (53 items) pertain to the Norfolk and St. Nazaire Steam Navigation Company, steam boiler explosions, coal lands in Pennsylvania and Virginia, the United States Navy, and transportation. Some memorials addressed to the United States Congress mention relevant legislation.

The Notes and Drawings series (90 items) contains technical drawings, manuscript maps, and notes about steam engines, mining and drilling equipment and practices, and other subjects.

Three Newspaper Clippings from the early 1870s concern the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, a property dispute involving General Bradley T. Johnson, steamships, and the sale of an iron furnace.

The Giles family papers document an American family through various generations and locations, though the focus of the papers is on Elizabeth Shipton Giles of Maryland and New York City.

The Giles family papers document an American family through various generations and locations, though the focus of the papers is on Elizabeth Shipton Giles. Her 13 letters to Aquila and to sons Henry and George are literate and engaging, depicting a strong-willed woman who did not lose her spirit and sense of humor in the face of life's trials. Writing in 1780, as a flirtatious young woman enjoying the attentions of an army officer, she accuses her "pretty Major" of flirting with other women: "Upon my word tis a high joak, I should be very glad to know what right you have to dispose of your pretty Person in this manner? ... I'll not endeavor to soften any misfortunes you bring upon yourself so I give you fair warning."

It must have been difficult to descend from youthful romance into the harsh realities of a financially-pinched existence, enduring separation from family, the early deaths of most of her children, and estrangement from the two surviving daughters. But Eliza pinned her hopes on son George, reminding him in 1817 that "your life and mine hang on the same hinge..." and that his father, "tho' he provides for all your necessities, leaves me still the Guardian of your comforts and where will such true comforts be found as in an Honest Heart, and Virtuous Mind." She urges him to imitate his namesake, "the greatest man that ever lived," and become "an ornament to the World, an able Statesman and defender of your countrys Laws, and Rights." Fearing that George's temper may "blast my hopes in you or bring me in sorrow to the Grave," his mother begs him to learn restraint, and to look to God, so that he may seek her in heaven after she is separated from him, whom she regards as "heaven's last, best Gift" on this earth.

The nature of Eliza's relationships with other family members is not readily apparent, except in the case of daughter Elizabeth Thorne, who married well and evidently took pride in showing off, which her mother resented. In one instance the haughty Mrs. Thorne agitated to be given Mrs. Giles's most prized possession, a portrait of husband Aquila. Eliza described the dispute in an 1817 letter to son Henry, declaring that the painting had been her companion, never out of her sight, for 7000 miles of travel and four years of separation, "and I have often fancied I wiped tears from its eye." Her daughter, she felt, merely wanted to display it "over her fine sideboard." But Mrs. Thorne sent a servant to remove the painting the next day, and her mother vowed never to look at it again.

Eliza Giles did not live long enough to see son George married and successfully established, and her life was difficult until the end, but she never ceased to see better days ahead. Writing to George in 1820, two years before her death, she tells him not to worry about his parents, assuring him that "God willing I trust we shall live to see better days. The prospect dawns. So keep your spirits and health to meet the cheering ray."

The other correspondence in this collection is scattered. Two courtship notes from Aquila Giles to Eliza in 1780 exhibit youthful charm, while one letter to Eliza in 1815 and two to son George in 1819-1820 dwell on good intentions thwarted by bad debts. A series of letters to George and Elizabeth Giles in Europe from children and other family members, dating from 1838-1840, comment on the children's schooling and on family health and social matters. An interesting product of that trip is Elizabeth Giles's journal of their visit to Spain and France en route to Madeira, which features detailed description of buildings and art in Seville. Two 1823 New York City court depositions, evidently made to establish property claims of the surviving Giles children, reveal the sad fates of their siblings.

This collection holds 2 volumes of meeting minutes and 1 volume of dividend payment records documenting the affairs of the Gloucester Manufacturing Company of Gloucester, New Jersey. Also included are related enclosures, including receipts, accounts, and correspondence.

This collection holds 2 volumes of meeting minutes (approximately 550 pages total) and 1 volume of dividend payment records (approximately 70 pages) documenting the official affairs of the Gloucester Manufacturing Company of Gloucester, New Jersey.

The first 2 volumes (13.5"x8"x2" and 13"x8"x2") contain approximately 550 pages of minutes from meetings of the Gloucester Manufacturing Company's directors and stockholders, compiled between December 4, 1850, and April 20, 1909. The first volume begins with a manuscript copy of the company's charter, followed by 3 brief administrative notes and meeting minutes recorded between December 4, 1850, and June 25, 1894. The second volume contains meeting minutes recorded between November 10, 1894, and April 20, 1909. Most meetings were held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Minutes document the company's internal affairs, such as its finances and elections of its board of directors and other personnel. Many sets of minutes include financial statements about the company's assets and liabilities, often printed or written on enclosures pasted or laid into the volumes. Several records made during the Civil War allude to the war's impact on manufacturing, such as the effects of new commercial legislation and the depressed economy. The minutes made in the spring of 1909 concern aspects of the company's dissolution, such as the sale of its equipment and other property. Both volumes of minutes contain several enclosures, primarily related to the Gloucester Manufacturing Company's financial affairs. These include a printed pamphlet containing its original charter and by-laws, printed in 1862; convertible loan documents; receipts and payment notices; reports on profits and losses; and typed sets of minutes, integrated into the main chronological sequence.

The third volume (15.5"x6"x.75", approximately 70 pages) holds records of dividends the Gloucester Manufacturing Company paid to its stockholders between July 1, 1859, and March 24, 1909. Each record consists of the check number, recipient's name, amount of stock held, amount of dividend due, date of payment receipt, and recipient's signature. Many items are laid or pasted into the volume, such as receipts and payment notices. Several late items, all dated March 24, 1909, document the company's purchase of its stock from shareholders prior to its dissolution.

The Goodman-Vent papers contain letters and writings from the families of Thomas Goodman and Charles Frederick Vent, two prominent 19th century Chicago and Cincinnati businessmen. Of note are detailed eyewitness accounts the great Chicago Fire of 1871.

The Goodman-Vent papers (1,333 items) contain letters and writings from the families of Thomas Goodman and Charles Frederick Vent, two prominent 19th-century Chicago businessmen. The collection consists of 1,285 letters, a diary, an account book, 4 poems, 5 genealogical items, 33 printed items, 4 maps, and a lock of hair. Of note are detailed eyewitness accounts the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

The Correspondence series (1,285 items), 1837 to 1896, centers on business, family, and social lives of Charles Frederick Vent, Thomas Goodman, and their families. Other families represented are the Chickerings and the Saxons.

The earliest letters were addressed to Vent from his family and friends during the time when he was a teacher in Massachusetts (1837), as well as his ventures in Jacksonville, Illinois (1838), Boston, Massachusetts (1842), Dartmouth, New Hampshire (1848), and Pittsfield, New Hampshire (1849). Of interest are several letters from his maternal grandfather, Jonas Chickering, the noted piano-maker, who paid for his education. In the 1850s, while Vent was working as an Ohio salesman, most of his letters were from salesmen working under him; these offer a view into everyday life in small towns in the Midwest.

From the 1860s through the end of the collection, the letters are largely to and from the Goodman and Vent families and their many well-known and influential friends. Charles Vent and Thomas Goodman discussed a wide range of subjects, including personal and family affairs; business dealings; city, state, and national politics; the Civil War; and social and religious topics. In one instance, Goodman wrote to Vent: "A collection of your letters and mine would form a pretty fair history of the family" (December 3, 1871). While not necessarily comprehensive, these items also document many aspects of Chicago and Cincinnati society during the last half of the 19th century.

The Civil War era letters contain items from both the front lines and the home front. Highlights include a gloomy eyewitness account of First Bull Run, in which friend John Hirshorne reprimanded Union soldiers for being too confident (July 24, 1861). Vent was involved in raising a brigade called the Teachers Home Guard, made up largely of teachers in Cincinnati, that was formed to fend off any potential attacks on Cincinnati. In one letter he described purchasing arms for the regiment from Colt and Justice and Ketteridge (June 1861).

Of particular note are letters that describe the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Hannah Goodman started to write one letter shortly after the fire began to spread, and provided a minute by minute account of the inferno as it blazed from the west bank of the river toward the downtown area. The family wrote updates throughout the night and for several days after the fire; these provide a detailed record of the destruction. Later letters document the families' personal struggles (tensions within the family, the death of Vent's 14-year-old daughter in 1877) and economic hardships.

• 7 letters from Vent’s schoolmate James Emerson, a noted abolitionist, who described the conditions of blacks in the South (March 18, 1855, January 13, 1856, December 21, 1856, January 27, 1858, March 16, 1860, March 1, 1866, and undated).
• Mentions of the first African Americans to be baptized in the family’s church (February 11 and October 28, 1866).

• May 30, 1861: an engraving of the Colt factory
• June 28, 1861: a letterhead engraving of the Charles Cammell and Co. Cyclops Steel Works, in Sheffield, England
• March 20, 1862: a lithograph letterhead of a riverscape in Peoria, Illinois
• 1871: a map of the "burnt district" in Chicago, Hannah Goodman to Emily Goodman Vent and Charles Vent
• Undated: a picture of a Young Ladies' Collegiate Institute and Seminary in Monroe City, Michigan

The Diary and Account Book series contains a tiny diary from March 1-19, 1877, documenting the child Kitty Vent's sickness and death. The 35-page account book documents daily cash expenses for supplies and serives but is undated and unattributed.

The Poetry series (4 items) consists of a poem from Thomas Goodman to his wife on her birthday (1890); a 20-page poetry book written by Elizabeth "Eliza" Fisher Vent of Dedham, Massachusetts, who was the grandmother of Charles Vent; a poem entitled "Going Forward"; and a poem by Annie Goodman entitled "Secrets."

The Genealogy series (5 items) contains a bound journal (51 pages, 20 blank pages) copied by Thomas Goodman Vent in 1920 from a manuscript created by Josiah Boutelle Chickering, Sarah Maria Brown Chickering, and her son Clifford Cummings Chickering. This documents the Chickering, Boutelle, Brown, Lovering, Wheeler, Vent, and Goodman families as early as 1576, with more thorough family records starting in the 19th century.

• A printed Memoranda of Anniversaries, labeled "PRIVATE," containing birth and death information of the Goodman and Vent families (1884)
• A one-page memorandum of birth and death dates for the Goodman family
• A copy of a grave marker for Mary Wright
• A 21-page genealogy of the Fisher family created by Elizabeth Fisher Vent and her daughter-in-law Melinda Chickering Vent

• Speeches Delivered at the Eighteenth Ward Republican Festival In Commemoration of the Birth of Washington (February 22, 1860)
• Items celebrating the 50th anniversary of Thomas and Hannah Goodman including a 23page printed booklet (1888)
• A 16-page printed booklet celebrating Thomas Goodman's 75th birthday
• A two-page printed "Tribute to the Memory of Rev. William Goodman" (1918)
• Education material including teaching certificates and report cards
• Fifteen newspaper clippings, including items related to Ida Saxton McKinley, wife of President McKinley
• Maps of Spring Grove and Graceland cemeteries

The Realia series contains a lock of hair (unidentified).