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

The Crime clippings scrapbook contains newspaper clippings compiled between 1891 and 1893 that are related to various criminals, court proceedings, and executions.

The Crime clippings scrapbook contains newspaper clippings compiled between 1891 and 1893 that are related to various criminals, court proceedings, and executions.

The volume (23 x 15 cm) has brown paper covers and appears to have originally been a copy of Joseph Emerson Worcester’s A Pronouncing, Explanatory, and Synonymous Dictionary of the English Language. Containing 210 pages total, the volume begins with a clipped engraving of New York City Police Department Superintendent Thomas F. Byrnes pasted on the inside of the front cover. Byrnes’ portrait is accompanied by an inscribed caption reading “of New York City April 22 1892.” An additional inscription states that the volume was “Presented to the officers and Men of the 13th street Police station - Chicago Ills. by Wm. H. [Benton?] - 126 Fleming St., Aug 22d 1903.”

Subsequent clippings highlight numerous criminals, trials, and executions, many of which were highly publicized incidents involving crimes such as murder, robbery, swindling, and kidnapping. Many of the clippings include engravings that depict portraits of criminals, courtroom scenes, and crime scenes. Stories of crime and punishment in the eastern United States are most frequent, but transnational and international stories are also included.

Clippings are arranged in a chronological sequence with the first dated December 7th 1891 and the last dated September 4th 1893; as a result, many clippings that pertain to certain long-running criminal trials appear in multiple places throughout the volume.

• Martin D. Loppy [murderer; executed by electric chair] (pgs. 1-3)
• Darwin J. Messerole [murderer] (pg. 3)
• Isaac B. Sawtelle [murderer] (pg. 4)
• Henry L. Norcross [blackmailer, attempted murderer] (pgs. 5-9)
• Carlyle W. Harris [murderer; condemned to execution by electric chair] (pgs. 12-15, 22, 25, 30-35, 40, 54-58)
• Charles E. Waterbury [kidnapper] (pgs. 17-21, 26-29, 37-40)
• August Lentz [murderer] (pgs. 11, 12, 21, 24, 35, 36)
• Alfred Parkes [murderer] (pg. 23)
• Nicola Trezza and Charles McElvaine [murderers; latter executed by electric chair] (pgs. 23, 24, 40)
• Edward W. Hallinger [African American man; murderer] (pgs. 35, 145)
• Alice Jessie Mitchell [lesbian woman; murderer] (pgs. 35, 41, 147, 158)
• Thomas “Buncoer” O’Brien [conman] (pgs. 37, 105-107, 125, 126, 129-131, 133-136, 139)
• Maurice Curtis aka Maurice B. Strelinger [accused murderer; acquitted] (pgs. 41, 42)
• Oliver Curtis Perry [train robber] (pgs. 42-53, 126-129)
• Burton C. Webster [accused murderer; hung jury] (pgs. 47, 58-83)
• John Francis [Native American man; murderer] (pgs. 53, 54)
• Louis Harriot [murderer; hanged] (pgs. 81, 82, 101-104)
• Jim Lyons and Mickey Sliney [murderers] (pgs. 84, 86, 87, 124, 125)
• Death of George C. Searing (pgs. 84, 85)
• F. B. Deeming [murderer and one-time Jack the Ripper suspect; hanged] (pgs. 87, 88-93, 114, 115, 131-133, 140, 141, 145, 146, 151-153)
• Jack the Ripper, “The Nine Bad Jacks” (pgs. 89-93)
• Jeremiah Cotto [murderer; executed by electric chair] (pgs. 93-95)
• Frank C. Almy aka George Abbott [murderer] (pgs. 95, 120, 121, 206-208)
• James Alexander Farmer [accused murderer] (pgs. 95, 96)
• William Myer [murderer] (pg. 97)
• “Origin of Lynch Law” (pgs. 97-99)
• John Lewis Osmond [murderer] (pgs. 99-101)
• Annie Walden [murderer] (pgs. 107-114, 136, 139, 153-155)
• Fred McGuire [murderer; executed by electric chair] (pgs. 116-119)
• Ferdinand Ward [Banker/Ponzi scheme runner] (pgs. 121-123, 141-145)
• Henry W. Jaehne [corrupt politician] (pgs. 121-123)
• Lieut. James Henry Hetherington [U.S. Navy officer; murderer] (pgs. 136-139)
• Charles Reilly [murderer] (pg. 139)
• Murder of Lizzie Farrell [African American man falsely implicated] (pgs. 139, 140, 143, 144)
• Capt. Chris Rath [recounting of execution of Lincoln’s assassins] (pgs. 146, 147)
• “The Murderer’s Hand” [story regarding supposedly distinct features of hands of killers] (pg. 148)
• Guillotine history and contemporary usage (pgs. 148-151, 155-158)
• Col. H. Clay King [murderer] (pgs. 158, 159, 161)
• Lizzie Borden [accused murderer; acquitted] (pgs. 158-170, 172-180, 187-189, 191-205)
• Dr. T. Thatcher Graves [accused murderer; hanged himself while incarcerated] (pgs. 159, 191, 208-210)
• Murder of Luigi Barri (pgs. 167, 168)
• Frank Glowinski [murderer] (pgs. 168-171)
• James Nolan [murderer] (pgs. 171, 172)
• J. M. Brown shootout (pgs. 180-187)
• George Craig [murderer] (pgs. 190, 191)

The Crittenden family papers contain the letters of a Kentucky family living in the California and Nevada frontiers. The material centers on the family of Alexander Parker Crittenden and his wife Clara Churchill Jones, and includes letters from their parents, siblings, and children. The collection also contains diaries, documents and financial records, and family photographs (daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, and other paper prints). The collection documents the murder of Alexander Parker Crittenden as well as family members who fought on the Confederate side of the Civil War and who participated in mining and prospecting in the West.

The Crittenden family papers contain the letters and documents of the family of Alexander Parker Crittenden and his wife Clara Churchill Jones Crittenden. The bulk of the collection consists of personal correspondence between members of the extended family, including Mr. and Mrs. Crittenden, seven of their eight (surviving) children, Clara’s parents and siblings (the Jones family), and Mary Crittenden Robinson (Alexander's sister). In addition to correspondence, the collection contains diaries, documents and financial records, and 96 family photographs (daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, and other paper prints), including one carte-de-visite of Laura Hunt Fair.

The Correspondence series (approximately 1,280 items) covers several topics of interest. The letters by Clara and Alexander Parker Crittenden (hereafter A.P.C.) illustrate the passionate courtship and strained marriage of a couple living in California in the 19th century; Laura Crittenden Sanchez’ correspondence presents a picture of a woman’s life on the 1860s western frontier in California and Nevada; and Ann Northey Churchill Jones’s letters to her daughter Clara provide frank commentary on womanhood. The following summary is a brief description of the collection’s major correspondents and the content of their letters.

The collection includes over 260 letters from A.P.C.to his wife Clara, which span the length of their relationship, from their first meeting until his death. The courtship letters are full of expressions of youthful passion. Especially valuable are A.P.C.'s letters describing San Francisco in the early 1850s, which contain information about the Gold Rush and early statehood, and include discussions about women in California, and troubles he experienced from not having a wife present to care for him. The 1860s letters written from Nevada to Clara in California provide a good account of early Nevada, as well as insight into their deteriorating marriage. However, the twenty letters written during Clara's 1870 transcontinental trip to the East Coast, exhibit an apparently genuine change of heart in Crittenden, who had purchased and redecorated a lavish new home as a surprise for Clara on her return. Almost every letter begs her to cut the trip short and return.

A.P.C.'s eldest son, Churchill, is represented by 62 letters to him from his father, and 62 letters written by Churchill to his parents and siblings, largely from 1858 and 1861, while he was studying at Hanover College. While at Hanover, Churchill developed Union sympathies, which upset his Kentucky-born father. Of note is a letter from A.P.C., who at the time was the leader of the southern wing of the California Democratic Party, to Churchill defending southern rights for secession (December 10, 1860). Churchill wrote six letters while in the Confederate Army. The collection also contains 60 letters from James Love Crittenden. His early letters discuss school life, ante-bellum politics, and family relations. He wrote 10 letters while fighting with the Confederacy.

Clara Jones Crittenden wrote 19 letters in the collection: two to her husband, one to her eldest son, Churchill, and sixteen to her daughter Annie (“Nannie”). The letters to Annie are almost all dated November-December 1864, and reflect the deep gloom Clara felt following the murder of her son Churchill in October 1864.

Laura Crittenden Sanchez wrote 71 letters to her mother, 87 to her sister Nannie, and a few to other family members. They present a view of domestic life on the 1860s western frontier. Of note are Laura’s routine comments that reflect the values of a woman raised to believe in the Southern ideals of gentility and womanhood. However, she also held advanced ideas on women’s rights and divisions of duties in the home. Her husband, Ramon B. Sanchez, shared these beliefs and described his role in housework and his ideas of manhood, in his letter to Nannie Crittenden (July 25, 1862).

This series holds 16 letters from A.P.C. to his daughter Nannie, 6 to her husband Sidney Van Wyck, and many letters of condolence received by the family at the time of Parker’s murder. Van Wyck, who held evangelical beliefs, was deeply concerned about the well-being of his pregnant wife. He sent 117 letters to Nannie between January and May 1870, while she was in San Francisco and was he in Hamilton, Nevada, attempting to strike it rich prospecting for silver. He gave a rich account of life in a snowy Nevada mining town. The collection also includes approximately 40 business letters concerning Sidney's mining interests between 1879 and 1882. After 1874, the collection constitutes letters addressed largely to members of the Van Wyck family, including 8 letters from Nannie's daughter Clara Van Wyck to her brother Sydney Van Wyck, Jr.

Mary Crittenden Robinson, A.P.C.'s older sister, wrote 23 letters to Clara Crittenden, almost entirely in 1863. They are domestic in content, with occasional references to politics and society. Mary also wrote to A.P.C., and to various nieces and nephews, and her children are represented as well: Mary, Kate, and Tod, Jr.

The collection also contains letters from Clara Jones Crittenden's parents and siblings.

Clara's father Alexander Jones, Jr., wrote 5 letters to Clara, including one offering consolation on her husband's murder (November 7, 1870), and 3 to his granddaughter Nannie. Ann Northey Churchill Jones, Clara's mother, sent her seven letters from 1839-1841. She provided a frank commentary on womanhood and discussed childbirth, the proper preparation of breasts for nursing, a mother’s role in fixing children’s values, marital relations and what a wife could do to improve them, and how a woman should deal with an unworthy husband.

Clara's brother Alexander Jones III wrote 21 letters to A.P.C. and Clara (1849, and 1857-1870). These describe frontier Texas, news of the Civil War, and Confederate patriotism. In one notable letter, he described life in Brownsville, Texas, and advised using birth control (January 30, 1860). Clara's sister Mary "Mollie" Farquhar Jones Joliffe wrote 15 letters, 1858-1870, primarily made up of family news. Her wartime letters are a window onto the hardships of Confederate civilian life. William Marlborough Jones is represented by 13 Civil War and Reconstruction era letters, which reflect on the costs of the war to both the family and the nation. Of note is a 12-page account of the war near Jackson, Mississippi (November 7, 1870), and his report on the fall of Vicksburg (July 7, 1863). Sister Rebecca Churchill Jones Craighill, wrote 13 letters (1858-1899) to multiple recipients. In 1866, she composed excellent reflections on the war and criticized a Virginia friend who had eloped with a Yankee officer.

The collection also contains letters from two of Clara’s uncles: 8 from Marlborough Churchill and 2 from George Jones.

The Journals series (2 items) contains an official transcript of a journal of Elizabeth Van Wyck, and a diary kept by Sydney Van Wyck. The Elizabeth Van Wyck journal is a transcript of a reminiscence of her life from age 7 until November 12, 1808, when she was 26. The copy was made in 1925, at the request of Elizabeth's great-grandson, Sidney M. Van Wyck, Jr. The second item is a detailed journal kept by Sydney Van Wyck during his time at school in the 1840s. In it, he described his life at school and many of his family members.

The Documents and Financial Records series is made up of four subseries: Estate Papers, Insurance Papers, Legal and Financial Documents, and Account Books.

The Estate Papers subseries contains 11 items concerning the property of A.P.C. and 24 items related to Howard J. Crittenden. These include A.P.C.'s last will and testament and court records surrounding his murder and the handling of his estate (1870-1875). The Howard J. Crittenden items document Howard's financial holdings at his death and how his estate was divided.

The Insurance Papers subseries (3 items) includes a record of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company (1871) and a fire insurance policy from Pacific Insurance Company for Clara Crittenden (1872).

The Legal and Financial Documents subseries (16 items) consists of bank notes, telegraphs concerning business dealings, receipts for goods and payments, contracts, and personal tax bills. Of note are contracts signing over gold and silver claims in Nevada to Howard Crittenden. These include locations in White Pine, Nevada, such as "Lucky Boy Tunnel" and "Adele mining ground" (1869).

The Account Books subseries (3 items) contains a 12-page account book for A. Hemme (1873), a 20-page account book for S. M. Van Wyck (1873-1874), and a mostly empty National Granit State Bank account book of Thomas Crittenden (1874).

The Photographs and Illustrations series contains 106 photographs of Crittenden family members. These include cartes-de-visite, tintypes, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, cabinet cards, and several modern reproductions. They depict many of the Crittenden family members, including several Crittenden men in Confederate uniform, Clara Crittenden, Clara Van Wyck, and Laura Fair, among others. See Additional Descriptive Data for the complete list.

In addition to the photograph, this collection also contains an ink sketch of the floor plan of a San Francisco cottage (in the letter dated July 4, 1852).

The Miscellaneous series (9 items) contains school report cards, Laura Van Wyck's application to become a Daughter of the Confederacy (which includes a heroic account of Churchill Crittenden's death in the Civil War), Nannie Crittenden Van Wyck's address book (with contacts in Saint Louis, Chicago, Kentucky, New York, and Brooklyn), a newspaper clipping about mining in Nevada, and 3 unattributed writing fragments.

The folder of supplemental material relates to Robert E. Stewart's publication Aurora Ghost City of the Dawn, Las Vegas: Nevada Publications, 1996, including a copy of the book and 10 photographs taken by Stewart of Aurora and the Ruins of the Sanchez home.

The Cross-Country photograph album contains photographs taken in various locations throughout the United States, including travel photographs of scenery and buildings in Washington, Colorado, Louisiana, and Massachusetts, among other states, and family photographs taken in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and elsewhere.

The Cross-Country photograph album (26cm x 32cm, 59 pages) contains around 340 photographs taken throughout the United States between 1896 and 1907, including 15 cyanotypes and 10 panoramas. The items represent numerous printing processes in a variety of sizes. Some have captions, often providing information about the place and the date. Several reference the Gill family. The album has the title "Photographs" printed in gold on its front cover and its pages are bound with a thick string.

Many of the photographs are casual group portraits of men, women, children, and family dogs taken outdoors, often in front of large houses and cottages; some of the same individuals are present in multiple pictures. Included are a portrait of an African American woman holding a Caucasian infant (p. 1), two young boys in dress military uniforms with a collection of toy soldiers (p. 3), and a wedding party (p. 46). Some men and women are pictured golfing at Bass Rocks in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Most of the remaining images are views of landscapes, city streets, buildings, and natural scenery in locations such as Spokane, Washington; Tacoma, Washington; Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Pikes Peak, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; Hampton, New Hampshire; Boston, Massachusetts; Gloucester, Massachusetts; Beacon Falls, Connecticut; and Washington, D.C. Included are a small number of commercial photographs of the area around Pikes Peak in Colorado including views by William H. Jackson. City views often feature prominent buildings and other landmarks. Other photographs show the rocky coast of New England, harbors, sailing vessels of various sizes, and large homes. Of note are a group portrait of Spokane Native Americans (p.14); views of the Tacoma waterfront (p.15); the New England coast, with aspects of the Gloucester fishing industry including a view of salted cod laid out to dry (p.24-29); pictures of Victorian home interiors (p. 20, 34, 47, 55, 56); and panoramic landscape views taken near Spokane (p. 47, 48). The album includes one print and a hand-colored collotype of the home of Senator George Turner in Spokane, Washington (inside front cover).

The Cummings-Durant family collection contains correspondence related to the Cummings family of Rutland County, Vermont, and the Durant family of Boyd, Kentucky, who were related by marriage. George Durant wrote most of the letters about family news, his life in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, his political opinions, and current events.

This collection contains 82 letters and 6 additional items related to the Cummings family of Vermont, and to George B. Durant of Boyd, Kentucky, Avery Cummings's brother-in-law. Durant composed most of the letters, mainly addressed to his sister, Eliza Ann Durant Cummings, and her family in Montpelier, Vermont. Between 1859 and 1914, he wrote about his life in West Manchester, Pennsylvania; Cambridge City, Indiana; and Boyd, Kentucky. He sometimes commented on political matters and current events, including the presidential elections of 1860 (May 10, 1860, August 12, 1860, and August 25, 1860), 1864 (September 23, 1864), 1908 (February 6, 1909), and 1912 (August 22, 1912); the Sayers/Heenan prize fight (May 10, 1860); and the murder of several women in Chicago and the execution of Mrs. Mary Rogers (January 14, 1906).

On September 4, 1862, he described a trip he and his wife took to Cincinnati, Ohio, then under martial law; upon returning to Kentucky, he noted the presence of Confederate forces. Many of his early letters mention religion, including some notes on the origin of the Koran (September 4, 1859). He also discussed his work, which included a job at the Western Pennsylvania House of Refuge between 1859 and 1860, as well as a position as president of a female college in Kentucky (July 12, 1874). Following the death of his sister, he wrote to her son, David Willis Cummings ("Willis"), who remained in Montpelier. Most of his late letters concern family health and other news.

The remainder of the correspondence consists of letters written between members of the Durant and Cummings families. In one letter, T. S. Cummings told his uncle, Avery Cummings, of the reputation of girls in Providence, Rhode Island, and of his resolve to relocate there from Hartford (October 21, 1855). Two later letters from Philena M. Clifford of Danville, Vermont, provide details of the Clifford family genealogy (September 28, 1872 and April 10, 1874).

Additional material includes an unlabeled photograph, a contract between Eliza Ann Cummings and the Vermont Methodist Seminary and Female College (February 11, 1884), a contract between Avery Cummins [sic] and Orin Pithin (August 28, 1841), genealogical notes, and a manuscript diagram of the water pipe system of a house (undated).

The Cushing family collection is made up of correspondence, financial records, and other items pertaining to the family and descendants of Boston merchant Hayward P. Cushing.

The Cushing Family collection is made up of correspondence, financial records, and other items pertaining to the family and descendants of Boston merchant Hayward P. Cushing, including his son, Hayward W. Cushing.

The Correspondence series (124 items) is primarily made up of incoming letters to Hayward P. Cushing, Maria Peirce Cushing, and Hayward W. Cushing. The first item is a letter to Betsy Barber in Epping, New Hampshire (May 9, 1790).

Hayward P. Cushing received personal and professional letters from family members and business acquaintances from 1828-1870. His brother Nathaniel wrote of his life in Brooklyn and Grand Island, New York, in the 1830s and 1840s; one letter concerns his journey to Grand Island on the Erie Canal (August 9, 1835). Jane Cushing, Hayward and Nathaniel's sister, discussed her life in Scituate, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. Sophia Cushing, Hayward's cousin and his most frequent correspondent, reported on her financial difficulties, thanked him for his assistance, and shared news from Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Hayward P. Cushing received letters from his wife Maria while she vacationed in Maine, and from his daughter Florence. His business correspondence includes a letter about the sale of the brig Ann Tyler (January 23, 1858).

Maria Peirce Cushing's earliest incoming letters are courtship letters from Hayward P. Cushing, her future husband. After the mid-1850s, he wrote to her from Boston, Massachusetts, while she vacationed in Scituate, Massachusetts, and Frankfort, Maine. He provided news about his life and their children. Maria's sister Caroline discussed her life in Bridgeport, Maine, and a cousin named Abby described her life in Boston. In the mid-1870s, the Cushings' daughters Florence and Jenny wrote to their mother about their courses, textbooks, and experiences at Vassar College.

The final group of dated correspondence consists of incoming letters to Hayward Warren Cushing, including news from Massachusetts medical organizations operating in the 1880s and a series of 10 letters by his wife Martha, who described her trip to Europe in 1928. She discussed her transatlantic voyage and Mediterranean cruise on the Canadian Pacific ship SS Empress of Scotland, as well as her experiences in countries including Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, Turkey, Italy, Israel, Egypt, Monaco, France, and England. She enclosed a postcard from Naples, Italy, in one of her letters.

Undated correspondence includes additional letters to members of the Cushing family, as well as picture postcards showing French surgeons, statues, and buildings.

The Journals and Notebooks series consists of 2 items. Florence M. Cushing kept a diary while visiting London from January 2, 1880-January 18, 1880. Her sightseeing excursions included trips to the British Museum, National Gallery, Windsor Castle, and Westminster Abbey. The notebook contains recipes, instructions, and scientific notes compiled by Hayward W. Cushing. Entries about building animal traps and tying knots are accompanied by explanatory illustrations. Other topics include medicinal formulas and chemistry, instructions for making types of ink (including invisible inks), and lists of items used on camping trips.

The Financial papers series is comprised of account books, receipts, and other records related to members of the Cushing and Peirce families.

• An appraisal of Hayward Peirce's estate in Scituate, Massachusetts, recorded in March 1827, with two sections listing the value of his personal property and transactions involving his land.
• H. M. Peirce's record of purchases, primarily of school supplies, from May 1834-April 1835. A printed notice about the estate of Silas Peirce is laid into the volume (May 21, 1920).
• Nathaniel Cushing's account book, pertaining to transactions with Nathan Cushing, from whom he primarily purchased groceries between October 1853 and August 1861.
• Hayward P. Cushing's account book concerns shares that he and Jane Cushing owned in railroad companies and banks (July 1849-July 1855). Additional financial notes relate to the settlement of related financial accounts.
• Account book recording Maria P. Cushing's investments and dividends (October 1870-January 1894); she received income from the estate of Silas Peirce, Sr., among other sources.

The Receipts, Checks, and Accounts (over 300 items) are arranged by person and company; each group of items is arranged chronologically. Nathaniel Cushing materials pertain to board, taxation, food, and other miscellaneous expenses. The Cushing, Hall, and Peirce documents concern financial affairs, including stock and bond investments. The group of items related to Hayward W. Cushing includes a large number of personal checks from many different banks, as well as additional accounts and documents. Among the financial papers related to Hayward P. Cushing is a receipt for Jane Cushing's board at the McLean Asylum for the Insane (December 31, 1869). The series contains additional accounts and financial records.

The Documents series (20 items) is made up of legal and financial contracts related to business partnerships, estates, and land ownership. The final item is an "Apple Pest Survey in Worcester County" for 1929-1931 (April 15, 1932).

The Drawings (3 items) are architectural drawings of methods for dropping masts (February 25, 1888), several floor plans (1919-1931), and an overhead view of an orchard (undated).

The Printed Items and Ephemera series includes 3 newspapers (1800-1864), 2 annual reports of the Boston Lyceum (1838 and 1840); a lecture by Benjamin Scott about the Pilgrims (1866); a reprinted love letter from John Kelly to an unidentified recipient (original 1817; printed in 1892); a group of check tickets from the Pullman Company; a printed calendar for 1870; a facsimile of The New-England Courant from February 1723; calling cards and invitations; and an embroidered piece of cloth.

The Genealogy series (14 items) consists of pamphlets, bulletins, newspaper clippings, and other items related to various members of the Cushing family from the 19th century into the early 20th century.

Cushman Kellogg Davis's letters provide insights into state-level Minnesota politics, as well as the national political scene, from the perspective of a U.S. senator in the late 1800s.

The bulk of this collection consists of 132 letters in a bound volume written by Davis to his friend, Samuel R. Thayer, while Thayer was Minister to the Netherlands from 1889 to 1893. All the letters coincide with Davis' Senatorial terms, although most were written between 1892 and 1898. Davis kept Thayer, a lawyer from Minnesota, abreast of both state-level Minnesota politics and the national political scene. The two were close friends, and Davis's letters are highly opinionated and revealing (and frequently scathingly humorous) in their discussion of fellow-politicians. He is particularly critical of Minnesota Senator William Washburn, Minnesota Governor William Merriam, and Secretary of the Treasury William Windom.

Davis's letters are full of pre-election political intrigue and his views on Republican prospects. The relationship between James Blaine and Benjamin Harrison is a major focus; Davis clearly felt Blaine to be the more accomplished statesman and considered Harrison, although competent as President, so unpopular as to be a liability to his party. As an old-school Republican and a long-established politician, Davis became increasingly disenchanted by machine politics. He comments disapprovingly on the power of Mark Hanna over William McKinley. He also looked sadly upon social changes in his country, seeing labor unrest, the rise of the various farmers' political movements, and increased European immigration as contributing to a social fragmentation which government could not hope to successfully address.

The Davis Papers are also of value for their insider's view of Congress. Davis discusses various legislative bills -- especially those related to pensions, monetary matters, and the tariff --and their prospective chances of passage. He laments the constant solicitations of office-seekers, although he himself obviously used political patronage as a means of dispensing favor and building support. Davis's letters from Paris following the Spanish-American War, while secretive about the actual peace negotiations, offer his opinions of the Spanish delegation, Paris and Parisians, and the maddeningly slow pace of the proceedings. He reveals himself as a hard-liner who insisted on Spanish cession of the Philippines, and even objected to any payment for them.

The collection contains 17 unbound letters to Samuel R. Thayer, from 16 different writers. None of the letters are from Davis. This is mostly minor official correspondence concerning diplomatic chores in the Netherlands. One letter of December 1895, from Oregonian Solomon Hirsch, contains interesting information about Davis's possible prospects as a presidential candidate and opinions on Oregon politics and the Armenian-Turkish conflict.

Also included are 13 photographs (mostly unidentified) of various members of Samuel Thayer's family and The Thayer Memorial, a genealogical history of the Thayer family starting in 1767 and continuing until 1852. The Memorial has eleven appendices with information about Thayer family events.

This collection is made up of correspondence written and received by members of the Dall family of Boston, Massachusetts. Included are letters written and received by Caroline Healey Dall, an early feminist; letters between her daughter, Sarah Keene Dall, and Josiah Munro during the couple's courtship; letters from Charles Henry Appleton Dall to his children, Sarah and William, written while he worked as a missionary in India; and letters from Sarah Keene Dall to her brother William, concerning her life in Buffalo, New York, throughout the late-19th century.

This collection is made up of correspondence written and received by members of the Dall family of Boston, Massachusetts. Eighty-eight letters concern the friendship and courtship of Sarah Keene Dall and her future husband, Josiah Munro, between 1867 and 1870. Dall wrote approximately 680 letters to her brother William about her life in Buffalo, New York, 1874-1907. Reverend Charles Dall wrote 10 letters and postcards to Sarah Keene and William Dall when he worked as a missionary in India in the early 1880s. Caroline Healey Dall received approximately 65 letters from friends in the early 20th century. The papers also include 3 receipts, 1 cyanotype photograph, an original illustration, a newspaper clipping, and Caroline Healey Dall's 1898-1907 commonplace book.

The first 88 letters in the Correspondence series relate to the friendship and courtship between Sarah Keene Dall ("Sadie") and Josiah Munro, including 68 letters he received from Sarah and 18 he received from her mother, Caroline Healey Dall. Sarah wrote many of her letters from Baltimore, Maryland, and Boston, Massachusetts, and she regularly corresponded with Josiah about her social life and daily experiences. She spent much of her time traveling, and her letters include observations about steamboat travel in Ohio (May 23, 1868) and about travel around the South. Occasionally, particularly in her earlier letters, she commented on women's affairs and feminist subjects, including women's suffrage and the general difficulties faced by women who wanted to work outside the home. Three of her letters contain enclosures: a newspaper clipping about commemoration of Confederate Civil War casualties (October 16, 1867), a four-leaf clover (October 23, 1867), and two pieces of fabric (October 28, 1869).

Sarah's mother, Caroline Healey Dall, strongly opposed Sarah and Josiah's courtship and engagement. She wrote Munro 7 times between April 2 and April 26, 1870, requesting that he make his intentions clear and discuss the matter with her and with Sarah. Dall claimed that her daughter wished to wait to become engaged, though Sarah told Munro she preferred to marry before the winter (April 11, 1870). The letters surrounding the tense situation provide insight into aspects of late-19th century romantic customs. Munro also received a sympathetic letter of support from William Dall, his future brother-in-law (April 24, 1870), and a friendly letter from his sister Mary (July 31, 1870).

The bulk of the collection consists of approximately 680 letters William Dall received from his sister, Sarah Dall Munro, and mother, Caroline Healey Dall, between 1874 and 1907. Sarah wrote the majority of the letters while living in Buffalo, New York, and regularly shared news of her social life, travel, and daily experiences. Many of her letters concern housekeeping duties, charity work, and her sons, Willis and Charles. The letters also indirectly reflect William's life and travels around the United States and Europe, and occasionally provide insight into current events, such as the procession of President William McKinley's funeral train through Buffalo (September 11, 1901). William's mother wrote similar letters, though with less frequency. She commented on her life and provided family news. Josiah Munro, William's brother-in-law, sent him at least two letters.

Reverend Charles Dall wrote to Sarah and William while living in Calcutta, India, where he worked as a Unitarian missionary. His ten letters include a letter to Sarah dated November 22, 1872, and 9 postcards to William and his wife Nettie between January 2, 1882, and August 31, 1883. Dall's correspondence focuses on his travel between North America and India, and occasionally regards the local weather. He also often requested news of life in Boston and of his family.

Between 1911 and 1912, Caroline Healey Dall received approximately 65 personal letters from her daughter Sarah and from friends and acquaintances, largely pertaining to their social and personal lives. She also received letters of appreciation from libraries, acknowledging her donations of manuscripts or books.

Two later letters are a personal letter addressed to "Mattie" by a woman named Annie in Santa Barbara, California (September 12, 1922), and a letter from Charles Whitney Dall to Willis Dall (June 15, 1942). Charles W. Dall's letter pertains to a group of Dall family papers, including many letters written by his father and his aunt Sarah, that were moved away from Washington, D. C., to protect them in the event of a bombing raid against the capital. An undated, typed newsletter titled "Our Weekly Boston letter," pertains to anniversaries being celebrated throughout the city and to President Theodore Roosevelt.

The Receipts, Visual Materials, and Newspaper Clipping series holds 1 newspaper clipping concerning the commemoration of Sigourney Butler of Boston, Massachusetts; 3 receipts from E. Rollins Morse & Brother to Merchant's National Bank (June and July 1889); 1 cyanotype titled "Our tent. The Dunbars"; and a small drawing of a building in San Michael (San Miguel), New Mexico.

Caroline Healey Dall's Commonplace Book, dated 1898-1907, contains copied poetry, essays, and articles. Though a few early poems were written in the early 1800s, most date to the 1890s, and they concern a variety of subjects, such as memorials, nature, religion, and Theodore Roosevelt. She also recorded 8 pages of thoughts on criticism of William Shakespeare, biographical notes on prominent figures, and an essay on child marriages. Two poems and an article are clipped from printed sources and pasted into the book.