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

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Collection

Boardman papers, 1785-1942

2 linear feet

The Boardman papers are made up of correspondence and business documents of the Connecticut merchant and senator, Elijah Boardman. The collection also holds the research notes and draft of a biography of Boardman written by Walter G. Drogue, and an 1849 memoir of Boardman's wife, Mary Anna Boardman.

The Correspondence series consists of 167 personal and business letters of Elijah Boardman and his family. Many of the letters are copies sent to Eli Baldwin, who managed Boardman's property in Ohio. Oliver Wolcott, from the Connecticut Council Chamber, sent multiple letters (1818, 1820) informing Boardman of his elections to state office. The collection also contains letters between friends and family members, including a number of items between Elijah and his son William, who was studying at Harvard College in Massachusetts, and letters to and from William's brother George and his mother Mary ("Mama"). In addition to the Boardman material is a small set of fifteen 20th century letters pertaining to Walter G. Drogue, comprising.

The Documents series contains 10 items, mostly inventories of Boardman's estate and property, along with his last will and testament.

The Business and Financial Papers series of 163 items consists of promissory notes, tuition receipts from Harvard and Yale, correspondence on orders and shipments from Villee and Burrail, and miscellaneous receipts and financial accounts.

The Miscellaneous: Political and Other series holds 30 items, both related to Boardman's public work as well as some truly miscellaneous items, such as a poem titled Oh Unfortunate, and a printed list of prices for produce in New York. Two items of note are a booklet with a list of names of "Freemen Republicans" and "Freemen Federal," and Boardman's Political Notebook from 1803.

The Drafts, Research, and Notes and series contains an undated manuscript draft of Walter Gerald Drogue biography of Elijah Boardman and the the materials he used to write the history. This series is comprised of 1,848 dated and undated items such as letters from libraries and special collections detailing their related holdings, and note cards with citations from primary and secondary sources.

The Books series contains two volumes: William Boardman's "Commonplace Book," which mentions topics such as philosophy, astronomy, and poetry; and the published Memoir of the Life and Character of Mrs. Mary Anna Boardman, with a Historical Account of Her Forefathers, and Biographical and Genealogical Notices of Many of Her Kindred and Relatives, by John Frederick Schroeder, published in New Haven, in 1849.

Collection

Book Collectors collection, 1769-1950

1 linear foot

This collection is made up of individual letters and documents related to the trade and collection of rare books in the United States. The majority of the material is correspondence between individuals and dealers, and reflects the history of rare book collecting, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection also contains miscellaneous letters pertinent to autograph and manuscript collecting during the same period.

This collection is made up of individual letters and documents related to the trade and collection of rare books in the United States. The majority of the material is correspondence between individuals and dealers, and reflects the history of rare book collecting, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Book Collectors collection includes letters by many prominent collectors, historians, and political figures. A selection of items relates to the collections of the William L. Clements Library and to its namesake, including 2 letters from William L. Clements to Worthington C. Ford, one of which regards Ford's contribution to the newly opened library (June 27, 1923). Clements Library directors Randolph G. Adams and Howard H. Peckham also contributed to the collection. See the box and folder listing below for an inventory of contributors' and subjects' names.

Collection

Bradford K. Barber daybook and marriage record, 1845-1885

1 volume

This 137-page volume consists of records and accounts of Baptist minister Bradford K. Barber of Galway and Charleston, New York, and various locations in central and western Wisconsin, between 1845 and 1885. The volume consists of three primary parts: a section dated between 1845 and 1849, containing accounts related to public school finances in Galway; a section documenting personal, ministerial, and civil activities and accounts, between the 1840s and 1868; and a section documenting marriages over which Barber presided between 1859 and 1885.

This 137-page volume consists of records and accounts of Baptist minister Bradford K. Barber of Galway and Charleston, New York, and various locations in central and western Wisconsin, between 1845 and 1885. The volume consists of three primary parts: a section dated between 1845 and 1849, containing accounts related to public school finances in Galway; a section documenting personal, ministerial, and civil activities and accounts, between the 1840s and 1868; and a section documenting marriages over which Barber presided between 1859 and 1885.

Between 1845 and 1849, Bradford Barber received Galway, New York, public school money from the town collector for visiting schools, providing and examining reports, and examining teachers. He paid out teachers' wages and public library monies. In the 1840s and 1850s, Rev. Barber recorded financial transactions associated with the First Galway Baptist Church and the Baptist Church of Charleston, New York. From the late 1850s through the 1860s, the accounting pertained to expenses associated with churches at Oxford and Moundville, Wisconsin, as well as accounts related to farming. He also documented prayer meetings and covenant meetings at Moundville, Oxford, and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, and money collected from foreign missions and subscriptions. Some entries contain lines of scripture or subjects of Barber's sermons.

The volume also contains 50 pages documenting marriages presided over by Rev. Barber between 1859 and 1885. The marriages largely took place in western Wisconsin, with weddings located at Oxford, Jackson, New Haven, Springfield, Manchester, Buffalo, Milton, Tomah, Farmington, Osceola, Warren Mills, Albion, and La Grange. For most of the marriages documented, Barber included the names of the husband and wife, names of their parents, where the newlyweds were born, where they currently lived, the husband's occupation, their "color" (all of them are listed as "white"), the ceremony performed, and names of witnesses.

Collection

Bradstreet family papers, 1776-1881 (majority within 1809-1866)

0.75 linear feet

This collection is made up of correspondence and legal documents pertaining to Martha Bradstreet of northern New York State. Much of the material pertains to Bradstreet's efforts to recover titles to her inherited land along the Mohawk River. The collection also contains materials related to Samuel Bradstreet and a group of Civil War letters from Silas E. Crandall to Phoebe Bradstreet.

This collection is made up of correspondence and legal documents pertaining to Martha Bradstreet of northern New York State. Much of the material pertains to Bradstreet's efforts to recover titles to her inherited land along the Mohawk River. The collection also contains materials related to Samuel Bradstreet and a group of Civil War letters from Silas E. Crandall to Phoebe Bradstreet.

The Martha Bradstreet Papers are divided into subseries of Martha Bradstreet Correspondence (126 items) and Martha Bradstreet Documents (25 items). The correspondence, including letters by and to Martha Bradstreet, largely pertains to her legal and financial affairs. Many items concern disputes over the land she inherited in upstate New York. Bradstreet's personal correspondence includes letters that she received from her children while traveling and letters to her children and others about their personal activities, such as her daughter Sarah's return to an abusive husband (November 26, 1840). Bradstreet's children wrote to one another about their personal lives, their mother's legal difficulties, and finances. The series' legal documents concern Bradstreet's New York property disputes, the will of Elizabeth Livius, and a civil suit between Elizabeth C. Bennett and Washington Garlock. A map of Mary Bradstreet's land along the Mohawk River is housed in the Map Division.

The Samuel Bradstreet Correspondence (138 items), dated 1800-1866, reflects the contentious relationship between Martha Bradstreet, her brother Samuel, and her husband, Matthew Codd, particularly with regard to real property and inheritance. The series includes several items written by Samuel's sons and grandsons.

The S. E. Crandall and Phoebe Bradstreet Correspondence (12 items) largely consists of letters that S. E. Crandall sent to Phoebe Bradstreet, whom he addressed as "Mother," while serving in the 17th Army Corps during the Civil War. He discussed his experiences in and around Atlanta, Georgia. He also sent letters before and after his military service about his life in Minnesota and about possible conflicts with the Sioux Indians (June 6, 1863).

The Photograph is a large portrait of a woman, mounted in a card frame.

Collection

Brasee-Scofield family papers, 1819-1950 (majority within 1819-1874)

2.5 linear feet

The Brasee-Scofield family papers are made up of correspondence, documents, and ephemera related to Elnathan Scofield, John Trafford Brasee, and John Scofield Brasee, who lived in Lancaster, Ohio, in the early 1800s. The collection concerns their business affairs, Lancaster's early history, the Lancaster Lateral Canal, and the Lancaster Canal Mill Company.

The Brasee-Scofield family papers are made up of correspondence, legal and financial documents, and ephemera related to Elnathan Scofield, John Trafford Brasee, and John Scofield Brasee, who lived in Lancaster, Ohio, in the early 1800s. The collection concerns their business affairs, Lancaster's early history, the Lancaster Lateral Canal, and the Lancaster Canal Mill Company.

Personal and business letters, indentures, military documents, and other items concern many aspects of the men's business careers and personal lives, including Scofield's surveying work in central Ohio, John T. Brasee's studies at Ohio University, John T. Brasee's courtship with Mary Jane Scofield, and John Scofield Brasee's Civil War service. Local legal cases are also represented. Of particular interest are letters by William Tecumseh Sherman (December 3, 1883) and Edwin L. Stanton (August 7, 1863, and December 4, 1864) to Morton Brasee. Among other topics, Stanton discussed West Point admissions and the 1864 presidential election.

The collection holds legal documents and ephemera pertaining to the early history of central Ohio, particularly the area around Lancaster. Materials relating to the Lancaster Lateral Canal (1825-1838), the Lancaster Canal Mill Company (1840-1846), and railroad companies are also included.

The collection also contains ephemera and other items, such as family photographs, funeral notices, printed programs, newspaper clippings, a political cartoon, and lists of toasts used on different occasions.

Collection

Brearley-Pingree Collection, ca. 1860s-1949

approximately 166 photographs, 36 manuscript items, and 2 bound volumes

The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. In addition to the photographic materials, 36 manuscript items and two bound volumes are also included in the collection.

The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. An additional 36 manuscript items and 2 bound volumes are also included in the collection.

The collection appears to have been first started by Brearley during the mid-1860s, possibly during or immediately after his Civil War service. He seems to have solicited the autographs of a variety of famous individuals (including authors, performers, musicians, scientists, spiritual leaders, politicians, foreign rulers, and military officers) primarily by mailing them photographs of themselves and requesting their signatures. Possession of the collection appears to have been transferred to Pingree at some point, and he continued to make further contributions. Pingree’s daughter Hazel retained possession of the collection after her father’s death before eventually donating it to the Clements Library. All components of the collection are stored together in one box.

While most portraits in the collection are original studio photographs taken by a variety of photographers including Mathew Brady and Napoleon Sarony, a relatively small number of photographic reproductions of non-photographic portraits are also present (including depictions of James Monroe, Stonewall Jackson, and Henry and Clara Ford).

Volume 1: Brearley collection reproduction souvenir album

This album (16.5 x 15 cm) has green leather covers with lines of poetry from Henry W. Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life stamped in gold on the front. An index included at the beginning lists the names of 96 individuals represented across the album’s 24 pages. After the index, a passage written by William H. Brearley and dated August 1st 1874 explains that he created a limited number of facsimile copies of his original autographed portrait collection at the “urgent solicitation” of many interested friends. Brearley also explains that he acquired the original photographs and autographs in his collection “by long and patient effort, & tending over a period of ten years, and involving an expense of several Hundred dollars.” Subsequent album pages each contain four individually pasted 5.5 x 4 cm albumen print photographic reproductions of original portraits found in Brearley’s collection. This item was acquired from a separate source and was not part of the original collection of materials donated to the Clements Library by Hazel Hope Pingree Mills.

Volume 2: Brearley-Pingree collection original album

This album (30 x 26 cm) has brown leather covers and the words “Portraits. Autographs” and “Brearley” stamped in gold on the spine. The original autographed portraits of the Brearley-Pingree collection were once housed in this album before Clements Library staff removed the original photographs and substituted them with photocopies in 2010 for conservation and preservation purposes. Manuscript captions were also added by Clements Library staff. The original photographs are housed separately in smaller boxes and have been arranged according to size/format and ordered alphabetically by subject surname. See below for a complete list of photographic subjects contained in each box.

Of additional interest are three manuscript items, including the clipped signature of Hyacinthe Loyson and an October 15th 1873 letter from Henry W. Longfellow containing the same lines of poetry from A Psalm of Life that appear on the cover of the Brearley collection souvenir album. Also present is a letter from Buckingham Palace sent to Brearley in 1873 by Sir Thomas Biddulph explaining that the “enclosed Photograph” of Queen Victoria is being returned but that “The Queen’s Autograph is never given away.” Three wax seals are also included in the volume including an “Imperial Chancellor’s seal” (associated with a portrait of Otto von Bismarck); “the Napoleon Seal” (associated with a portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte); and a Great Seal of the Realm attached to the 1873 letter from Buckingham Palace.

Box 1.1: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, A-E

This box contains 47 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Adams, Charles Francis, 1807-1886.
  • Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873.
  • Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888.
  • Anderson, Richard Heron, 1821-1879.
  • Anderson, Robert, 1805-1871.
  • Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906.
  • Bancroft, George, 1800-1891.
  • Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891.
  • Barrett, Lawrence, 1838-1891.
  • Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant), 1818-1893.
  • Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887.
  • Billings, Josh, 1818-1885. [Henry Wheeler Shaw]
  • Birney, David Bell, 1825-1864.
  • Bishop, Anna, 1810-1884. [Anna Riviere Schultz]
  • Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898.
  • Bonaparte, Jérôme, King of Westphalia, 1784-1860.
  • Bonner, Robert, 1824-1899.
  • Booth, Edwin, 1833-1893.
  • Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875.
  • Bright, John, 1811-1889.
  • Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878.
  • Buchanan, James, 1791-1868.
  • Bülow, Hans von, 1830-1894.
  • Bunker, Chang, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Eng Bunker]
  • Bunker, Eng, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Chang Bunker]
  • Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824-1881. [two portraits included]
  • Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893.
  • Carleton, Will, 1845-1912.
  • Chapin, E. H. (Edwin Hubbell), 1814-1880.
  • Clem, John Lincoln, 1851-1937.
  • Clough, J. E. (John Everett), 1836-1910.
  • Coan, Titus, 1801-1882.
  • Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885.
  • Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889.
  • Cook, Eliza, 1818-1889.
  • Coombs, Jane, 1842- .
  • Curtis, George William, 1824-1892.
  • Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876.
  • Dana, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1819-1897.
  • Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
  • Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.
  • Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932.
  • Dix, John A. (John Adams), 1798-1879.
  • Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883.
  • Doubleday, Abner, 1819-1893.
  • Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895.
  • Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.
  • Emory, William H. (William Hemsley), 1811-1887.

Box 1.2: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, F-N

This box contains 46 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Farragut, David Glasgow, 1801-1870.
  • Ferrero, Edward, 1831-1899.
  • Field, Cyrus W. (Cyrus West), 1819-1892.
  • Field, Kate, 1838-1896. [Mary Katherine Keemle Field]
  • Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874.
  • Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821-1877.
  • Fowler, O. S. (Orson Squire), 1809-1887.
  • Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879.
  • Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898.
  • Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885.
  • Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872.
  • Greenwood, Grace, 1823-1904. [Sarah Jane Clarke Lippincott]
  • Hall, John, 1829-1898.
  • Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872.
  • Hancock, Winfield Scott, 1824-1886.
  • Hay, John, 1838-1905.
  • Heintzelman, Samuel Peter, 1805-1880.
  • Hoar, E. R. (Ebenezer Rockwood), 1816-1895.
  • Holland, J. G. (Josiah Gilbert), 1819-1881.
  • Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
  • Hooker, Joseph, 1814-1879.
  • Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909.
  • Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885.
  • Jackson, Stonewall, 1824-1863.
  • Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875.
  • Kirby-Smith, Edmund, 1824-1893.
  • Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905.
  • Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870.
  • Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
  • Locke, David Ross, 1833-1888. [Petroleum V. Nasby]
  • Logan, John Alexander, 1826-1886.
  • Longstreet, James, 1821-1904.
  • Loring, Charles G. (Charles Greely), 1794-1867.
  • Loyson, Hyacinthe, 1827-1912.
  • Lucca, Pauline, 1841-1908.
  • Mario, Giovanni, 1810-1883. [Mario, T.]
  • McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885.
  • Mitchell, Maggie, 1837-1918.
  • Moltke, Helmuth, Graf von, 1800-1891.
  • Monroe, James, 1758-1831.
  • Morse, Edward Sylvester, 1838-1925.
  • Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877.
  • Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh, Shah of Iran, 1831-1896.
  • Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902.
  • Nilsson, Christine, 1843-1921.
  • Nutt, Commodore, 1848-1881. [group portrait with Minnie Warren]

Box 1.3: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, O-Z

This box contains 36 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Ord, Edward Otho Cresap, 1818-1883.
  • Parepa-Rosa, Euphrosyne, 1836-1874.
  • Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919.
  • Phillipps, Adelaide, 1833-1882.
  • Porter, David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891.
  • Rogers, Randolph, 1825-1892.
  • Salvini, Tommaso, 1829-1915.
  • Saxe, John Godfrey, 1816-1887.
  • Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906.
  • Scott-Siddons, Mary Frances, 1844-1896.
  • Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888.
  • Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.
  • Sothern, Edward Askew, 1826-1881.
  • Spinner, Francis Elias, 1802-1890.
  • Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon), 1834-1892.
  • Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904.
  • Stephens, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), 1812-1883.
  • Strakosch, Max, 1835-1892.
  • Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874.
  • Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892.
  • Terry, Alfred Howe, 1827-1890.
  • Thiers, Adolphe, 1797-1877.
  • Thomas, George H. (George Henry), 1816-1870.
  • Thomas, Theodore, 1835-1905.
  • Thumb, Tom, 1838-1883. [Charles Sherwood Stratton; group portrait with Lavinia Warren]
  • Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. [Samuel L. Clemens; both names signed on photograph]
  • Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 1794-1877.
  • Waite, Morrison R. (Morrison Remick), 1816-1888.
  • Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882.
  • Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878.
  • Willcox, Orlando B.
  • Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875.
  • Woodhull, Victoria C. (Victoria Claflin), 1838-1927.
  • Wright, Horatio Gouverneur, 1820-1899.
  • Yates, Edmund, 1831-1894.
  • Young, Brigham, 1801-1877.

Box 2: Brearley-Pingree collection cabinet cards

This box contains 27 cabinet cards. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Andrade, Ignacio, 1836-1925.
  • Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886.
  • Bernhardt, Sarah, 1844-1923.
  • Booth-Tucker, Emma, 1860-1903.
  • Booth-Tucker, Frederick St. George de Lautour, 1853-1929.
  • Bull, Ole, 1810-1880.
  • Cable, George Washington, 1844-1925.
  • Chamberlain, Joseph, 1836-1914.
  • Dickinson, Donald McDonald, 1846-1917.
  • Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881.
  • Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph, 1832-1918.
  • Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893.
  • Janauschek, Francesca Romana Magdalena, 1830-1904.
  • Kellogg, Clara Louisa, 1842-1916.
  • Kennan, George, 1845-1924.
  • Kruger, Paul, 1825-1904.
  • Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882.
  • Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884.
  • Ranavalona III, Queen of Madagascar, 1861-1917.
  • Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902.
  • Stead, W. T. (William Thomas), 1849-1912. [three portraits included]
  • Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896.
  • Urso, Camilla, 1842-1902.
  • Victoria, Queen of Britain, 1819-1901.
  • Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892.

Box 3: Brearley-Pingree collection large photographs and manuscript materials

This box contains 9 large format mounted photographs and 33 manuscript items. Represented individuals among the photographs include the following:

  • Cleveland, Frances Folsom, 1864-1947.
  • Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
  • Ford, Clara Bryant, 1866-1950.
  • Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.
  • Gibbons, James, 1834-1921.
  • Guzmán Blanco, Antonio, 1828-1899.
  • Mace, Aurelia Gay, 1835-1910.
  • Milles, Carl, 1875-1955.
  • Wilder, Marshall P.

Manuscript materials of interest include a number of letters dating to the mid-1870s from various individuals (including John A. Dix, C. H. Spurgeon, H. W. Longfellow, and Lucretia R. Garfield) possibly sent to William H. Brearley in response to autograph solicitations and other requests; and numerous letters addressed to Hazen S. Pingree from various individuals (inlcuding William Thomas Stead, Ignacio Andrade, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley) dating to the 1890s. Other items of interest include a copy of "Special Order No. 166 'Extract' Head Quarters 2d Brigade 3d Div 2d A.I." dated June 15th 1865 stating that the 1st Mass Heavy Artillery had been ordered by Brig. Gen. Franklin Pierce to repost to General Hancock; calling cards for "Sixto Sanchez Director General de Coreeos - Postmaster" as well as "The Admiral of the Navy" George Dewey from "when he called on Gov. Pingree in Detroit"; a clipped signature of "Louis Botha Commandant General"; an undated note to poet Louise Chandler Moulton; a document dated August 1st 1892 detailing financial investment information related to the Michigan-Peninsular Car Company with pasted clippings of wealthy politicians and their net worths as well as annotations by Pingree; a letter dated Feb 19th 1892 from Don M. Dickinson to Pingree regarding the prospective visit of Grover Clevland to Detroit, Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan; a letter dated March 9th 1949 from Hazel Hope Pingree Mills to Director of the William L. Clements Library Randolph G. Adams regarding progress being made on research regarding the life of William H. Brearley; and an undated typed copy of a short essay titled "Brearley - Man of Action, Started Many Important Detroit Activities" by historian George B. Catlin.

Collection

Brevoort family papers, 1856-1898

0.5 linear feet

The Brevoort family papers contain personal and professional correspondence of brothers William H. and Edwin L. Brevoort, of Walesboro and Vincennes, Indiana. The collection includes correspondence written to the boys during their studies at North Western Christian University, personal letters from family and friends, and professional correspondence related to William's land holdings in and around Vincennes.

The Brevoort family papers contain personal and professional correspondence of brothers William H. and Edwin L. Brevoort, of Walesboro and Vincennes, Indiana. The first letters in the collection are primarily addressed to William H. Brevoort during his time at North Western Christian University (now Butler University), particularly during the first years of the Civil War. Though Henry Brevoort, a relative, occasionally addressed state politics, much of the correspondence relates to family news and to education, including a series from his brother Edwin about his own studies at the university. Both brothers frequently received updates from their mother, who wrote about the family farm, and from each other, discussing their lives and post-educational prospects. William ultimately wished to become a farmer, but briefly considered enlisting: he told his brother, "Whether I farm or not my enlistment will destroy all my prospects of a happy life, hence my hesitation. But if Father does not intend to give me an opportunity to farm, I cannot follow anything else (because unfit) and I shall volunteer and die" (October 6, 1861). Both continued to receive correspondence from their parents, cousins, and from each other throughout their adult lives, and many later letters relate to William's business affairs and landholdings in and around Vincennes, Indiana, in the 1870s and 1880s; he frequently wrote of selling cattle and of other agricultural pursuits. Other late items are addressed to William's second wife, Amelia Shattuck, about the couple's farm; several of these are written by E. W. Pegg in Clintonville, Ohio. The collection contains one undated photographic postcard with a portrait of an unidentified older woman.