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

This collection documents the social life of rural Pennsylvania immediately after the Civil War through the correspondence of Tom Appleby and Mattie McNeal Appleby before their marriage.

This collection of Appleby family papers, which consists of approximately 350 items, documents the social life of rural Pennsylvania immediately after the Civil War as described by young people of marriageable age. In addition to documenting the re-entry into civil society of soldiers after the war, these papers show the writers' fascination and absorption with personal relationships, particularly with members of the opposite sex.

The courtship letters between Tom and Mattie comprise the bulk of the collection (roughly 110 pieces); Tom wrote a majority of these letters. All of their letters date between 1866 and 1870. The other letters in the collection are nearly all directed to either Tom or Mattie. Other letters to Tom include courtship letters from Annie Kelly during the war; courtship letters from Mattie McKibbin slightly after the war; letters from his brother, Daniel C. Montague Appleby; letters from Mattie's sister Kate; official and business letters; wartime letters from his grandfather, Daniel Montague; and wartime support letters from various girlfriends and acquaintances. Other letters to Mattie include letters from her sisters Kate and Dutton; letters from her mother, Mary; and letters from her girlfriends.

Tom Appleby was a morally upstanding, attractive young man, so courtship and marriage played a large part in his life after the civil war. His first girlfriend, Annie Kelly, was younger than Mattie. She supported the war effort in theory, and hated "copperheads," but was terribly unhappy about Tom's decision to volunteer for the Union Army. She encouraged Tom not to serve again when his term was up: "I never want to see you going Drafted while there is any honorable way of getting away with it" (1865 April 8). Even before the war Tom's romantic interests were shifting to Mattie McKibbin, as evidenced by a letter from his brother Dan, which mentioned that Tom was escorting Miss McKibbin (August 27, 1862). On May 9, 1866, a disgruntled Annie wrote Tom, "it might perhaps be interesting for you to know that your humble friend is still in existence." Although unhappy, Annie accepted Tom's informal breaking of their courtship, and she did not write him again until 1868, when she gave the news that she had married David Willes on April 28.

Tom's second girlfriend, Mattie McKibbin, was wiser and probably older than Annie Kelly. Mattie turned down a suitor, "Frank," and her letters reveal the pressure on women to marry. Frank wanted to know, "how that old maid of McKibbin's is getting along," she wrote to Tom on February 14, 1866. "He (Frank) is the same man who less than one year ago went to tell McKibbin's favorite daughter that she was the very star of his existence and also wondered how I could refuse, or rather slight, the undivided love of a man of his years for the friendship of a boy." Mattie, who was older than Tom, felt awkward about her age, and was uncomfortable turning down the suitor, but obviously hoped that Tom would consider her for marriage. "Let him go about McKibbin's old maid I can bear it as bravely as he can his disappointment" (February 18, 1866).

Like Mattie McNeal, Mattie McKibbin taught school and wrote intelligent, thoughtful letters. When no marriage proposal came from Tom, Mattie McKibbin became jealous of Mattie McNeal. Mattie McNeal, on the other hand, could not believe that Tom was not seriously involved with Mattie McKibbin. Tom declared in one letter to Mattie McNeal that he was fed up with women in general and sarcastically concluded, "Oh but after all women are a good institution, and have good hearts (i.e. when they have any at all)" (November 26, 1867). In his letter of December 12, 1867, Tom tried more seriously to explain his relationship with Mattie McKibbin, stating that he felt they corresponded "as brother and sister." Mattie McKibbin set her sights elsewhere, and in January 1868 married a Mr. Lefferty, ending her somewhat tempestuous relationship with Tom. "I suppose Lefferty will not allow me to send letters about his house," Tom predicted (January 30, 1868).

During the late 1860s, Tom corresponded often with Mattie McNeal, who wrote while teaching school at "Amberson's Valley." Although Tom had several girlfriends, he was fairly conservative in his thoughts and actions. Both he and Mattie McNeal felt a certain intellectual and moral superiority over some of their companions. Mattie turned down a date in Maryland because he was "as dumb as -- well a mule...I want somebody along who is intelligent" (October 28, 1866). Tom agreed with her, stating, "I know it is a pleasure indeed to talk to an intelligent, sensible lady, on subjects scientific or intellectual" (December 4, 1867). Tom felt that he should not allow his emotions to overwhelm his intellect, especially with love: "So I get in love, step by step and don't plunge head over heels in a day or week" (November 5, 1867). Additionally, Tom did not believe he should have more than one girlfriend while in a serious courtship: "That where there is an engagement; or an intention to bring on an engagement; that it is unwise and impolitic to receive the attentions of another" (January 12, 1868). Mattie agreed with Tom's caution against yielding to the emotions of love: "Hope neither of us may love an imaginary being of our own fancy, but each other as we are, with many faults and failings" (July 25, 1869). Mattie even considered being nicknamed "Miss Modesty" a compliment (January 4, 1868).

The two young adults focused more on morality as they became involved in evangelical Christianity. Both Tom and Mattie were Presbyterians, though Tom often went to Methodist services. Mattie once went to an immersion baptism ceremony, although she was not sure what she should make of the ritual: "I though it was quite gay to see the gentlemen dive under, but when it came to the ladies it made me shudder" (December 8, 1866). Both Mattie and Tom decided they wanted to make a public declaration of their faith in Christ. "The greatest desire of my heart is that I may love and serve God acceptably," Tom wrote Mattie (January 5, 1868). Mattie agreed, but showed a considerable amount of self-deprecation, stating, "I do so much want to be a Christian, a child of God but I am so sinful, so unworthy, and deserving only God's wrath and curse" (June 4, 1868). Tom, too, felt that he was lacking in goodness, but both persisted in their religious search, with guidance from the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Shade Gap, Mr. W.C. Kuhn. Mattie's letters to Tom often discuss her religious views and activities at length, including her opinions of sermons and preachers. She also discussed aspects of her work as a schoolteacher, such as her decision to hold evening spelling lessons in addition to regular classes.

If Tom was unhappy about his own impure thoughts and actions, he was doubly unhappy about his brother, Daniel. Dan was in many ways Tom's opposite. He was frivolous and carefree. While in the army, he wrote, "I have one or two sporting women, but I want one of respectability to go to church with" (March 24, 1865). He signed some of his letters "Blossom." Dan retained his wild ways while working with Tom in the dry goods store in Mount Union.

Both Mattie and Tom disapproved of Dan's behavior. As Tom experienced his religious revival and Dan became more seriously involved with his cousin Allie, Tom's disapproval grew: "I fear his precepts have not always been the most wholesome. He seems restrained by nothing save the restraints of society, and these he violates behind the curtains" (February 16, 1868). Allie's mother disapproved of their relationship, so Dan and Allie arranged "clandestine meetings." In her letter to Tom on April 10, 1869, Mattie was impressed and almost jealous of the disobedient behavior of Dan and Allie: "Dan and Jim brought them [Kate and Allie] home the old lady never dreaming that Dan was within 300 miles of her daughter. ha! ha!" Yet in her next letter, possibly because she was rebuked by Tom, Mattie wrote, "I don't approve any more of Allie's style than I do of Dan's" (April 14, 1869). In May 1869, Dan eloped with Allie, heading west to Quincy, Illinois. The last letter from Dan (January 21, 1870) described how he developed close business contacts and personal friendships with the Jewish community.

Early in their letters Tom and Mattie discussed politics frequently, although they were rarely in agreement. Tom was a moderate Republican while Mattie was more conservative, although she supported the Civil War. When she was invited to represent republican interests in Rohrersville, Maryland, she declined. "I think they are radicalized," she wrote Tom on October 13, 1866, "I see negro equality exemplified very often, last Sabbath I saw a white man walking beside the blackest negro I ever saw. Suppose he was an abolitionist." The Civil War was discussed infrequently, with emphasis being on the effects of war and not on battles. Tom's heart went out to the mothers who lost their sons in the war: "It is indeed a sacrifice to give an only son to one's county" (December 22, 1867).

Mattie and Tom particularly enjoyed discussing their relationship and the relationships of other people; Mattie often reported on social and leisure activities at Amberson's Valley. In their letters before 1868, Tom and Mattie wrote to each other in a teasing, somewhat guarded fashion. "I should like to say 'good evening Mattie' have a hand shake and just one sweet kiss. Of course I wouldn't get the latter," Tom wrote to Mattie on March 13, 1867. As they grew more at ease with each other, their letters became less guarded and more affectionate. Throughout their correspondence, Mattie never feared to speak her mind, and tended to be more forthright than Tom. When Tom offended her in his description of human nature, Mattie fired back at him, "Men do well term all their weaknesses 'woman like,' when women would scorn to employ their minds for a moment with the narrow thoughts that men confine themselves to, not speaking of their degrading habits and vulgar speeches" (January 4, 1870).

Mattie even felt free to ponder the differences between married and single life: "I often wonder which is happier, an independent maiden, or a loving and loved wife. But guess Paul is about right, in his conclusion that those who marry do well , but those who remain single do better" (September 12, 1868). Despite her conclusion, she did long to marry Tom, and began to get impatient. When giving Tom her birth date, she complained it was "enough to shock the nerves of a delicate, sensitive spinster" (April 10, 1869). Mattie brought up the words "spinster" and "old maid" frequently after she turned 26. Mattie's illness in 1869-1870 delayed their wedding, and at one point Tom was concerned that she would never recover. When she did recover, both looked forward to the happy date, although they tried to treat it with the seriousness they felt it deserved.

Mattie's sisters, Kate and Dutton, who wrote to Mattie while she was away teaching, offered their own views on marriage. Dutton, Mattie's senior by six years, was increasingly concerned with her single status. "I think on the whole an old maid is to be pittied, but instead of pity they may expect the sneers and jeers of the more favored ones" (January 7, 1869). Kate, on the other hand, felt perfectly happy with her single status, and found suitors to be a nuisance. In one letter to Mattie [late 1867], she wrote that she had a "Drake" to keep her company, but also wrote, "I do not care for him at all ... but some of the folks think we are deep in love and I make them believe so all I can. I don't care I am going to leave this neck of the woods soon not to return." When Dutton, in a shared letter with Kate, wrote that she wished that "some sensible man" would court her or Kate, like Tom courted Mattie, Kate disagreed: "Now I for my part do not want any of the low-lifed creatures that call themselves: Lord's of Creation. Pretty Lords indeed! Staying out nights until 12 o clock and then coming home to abuse there poor neglected wives" [October 1868].

Some time after Mattie's marriage, Dutton married James Elliot Harper. Kate, of course, remained single and did not leave Shade Gap as she had hoped. Before Mattie's death, she and Tom were friendly, exchanging letters and even visits, so it was natural for Tom to turn to Kate when seeking a second wife and mother for his children. The letters unfortunately provide scant information about Mattie's death or Kate's marriage to Tom.

The Appleton-Aiken papers contain letters and documents relating to the family of John Aiken and his wife Mary Appleton of Lowell and Andover, Massachusetts. The collection contains correspondence about textile mills at Lowell, collegiate education, and the development of the towns of Lowell and Andover, Massachusetts, and Brunswick, Maine. The family letters also include numberous personal references to Mary Aiken's sister, Jane Appleton, both before and after her marriage to the future 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce.

The Appleton-Aiken papers contain over 575 letters and documents relating to the family of John Aiken and Mary Appleton, his wife, of Lowell and Andover, Massachusetts. The collection contains correspondence documenting family life among the upper classes in Massachusetts in the early industrial age, and contains useful information on the textile mills at Lowell, collegiate education, and the development of the towns of Lowell and Andover, Massachusetts, and Brunswick, Maine.

The correspondence centers on the interests of a large and powerful family. Mary and John Aiken's children were all well-educated and wrote erudite letters. Many of the Appletons and Aikens were professionally involved in education, and several series of letters include valuable information on college life and curricula at mid-nineteenth century. Charles and William Aiken attended Dartmouth College in the 1840s and 1850s, and their letters are filled with an undergraduate's opinions on coursework, professors, and education. There are also several examples of secondary school writing assignments from John and Mary Aiken's children and grandchildren.

In a different vein, the letters of Alpheus Spring Packard written while he was professor of natural history at Bowdoin College, offer a unique perspective on the development of that institution, and particularly of its science curriculum. There are many other letters relating to Bowdoin College, since the entire Appleton family seems to have retained a strong interest in the college for years after the death of Jesse Appleton, its former president. For example, Mary Aiken's mother, Elizabeth, writes particularly interesting letters about the progress of the college after the death of her husband, in 1819. Also worthy of note are several letters written by Jennie Snow, whose husband was on faculty at the University of Kansas during the 1870s.

The Aikens were heavily involved in capitalizing textile mills throughout northern New England. A few items provide particularly interesting information on the mills at Lowell, including an October, 1836, letter in which Mary describes a walk-out and strike at the mill, and a letter from her brother, Robert Appleton (1810-1851), describing a shipment of cotton arriving at the mill in 1835 from London. Robert also inspected Governor William Badger's (1799-1852) new cotton factory at Gilmanton, New Hampshire. In 1871, Mary and John's daughter Mary describes a book, Lillie Phelps' The Silent Partner, designed to improve the condition of the mill "operatives." Two other items are of some interest for the study of mill life, one a letter from J. Whitney regarding the acts of sabotage against the mill performed by Edward Webb, an employee (1834 May 1) and the other a letter in which a woman suggests women learn sewing, a skill badly deteriorating under industrialization.

The collection includes a letterbook with 25 letters written by John Aiken to his family from Europe. He wrote these letters during one of his business trips to examine textile operations; along with general travel descriptions, he reported information about cloth production and marketing. Additionally, the collection contains a diary kept by John Aiken during this trip. In the volume, which covers the dates September 1, 1847, to December 20, 1847, Aiken briefly recorded his current location or recent travel, the weather, and any sightseeing or social activities that occupied his day. Aiken noted visits to tourist attractions, including the Tower of London and the Tuileries Garden, and also used the volume to track several financial accounts accrued throughout the period. Detailed notes at the back of the volume also reflect his keen interest in the textile industry and the mills he visited while abroad.

On a more general level, the Appleton-Aiken papers are an useful resource for studying family dynamics among the upper class. The letters are filled with discussions of family members, relations between husband and wife or parent and child, and include some interesting commentary on local religious life, revivals, church meetings, and family piety.

Two photographs have been transferred to the Clements Library's Graphics Division for storage. Photocopies of these are included in Box 6 in the folder containing Miscellaneous items.

The Arizona photograph album contains 70 images taken by an unknown photographer showing scenes from Flagstaff, Arizona Territory, and the surrounding area.

The Arizona photograph album contains 70 images taken by an unidentified photographer showing scenes from Flagstaff, Arizona Territory, and the surrounding area. The album (21 x 31 cm) has black pebbled cloth covers and a leather spine. Images of interest include views of men visiting cliff dwellings near Flagstaff; a group visiting the Grand Canyon by carriage and horseback; past the John Hance house and trail; scenic shots of the Grand Canyon taken from the Grand View Hotel; trailside cooking; and a wagon breakdown on the return trip. Additional photographs show Timothy Riordan, president of the Arizona Lumber & Timber Company, and his family at the rustic Thomas' Hotel in Oak Creek Canyon; an excursion to the lava beds including amateur photographer Father Daniel McGillicuddy of Worcester, Massachusetts, who is shown setting up his camera among the rocks; 11 views of the 1902 Fourth of July celebrations in Flagstaff, with masked participants, horse-drawn floats, soldiers in formation, and the former homes of Michael and Timothy Riordan decked out in bunting. Also present are photographs of the home of Frederick Sisson, a manager with the Arizona Lumber & Timber Company, including views of a porch or interior decorated with Native American rugs, pottery, textiles, baskets, and animal skins.

The Ashbaugh family papers consist of the incoming correspondence of Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Ashbaugh of Brown County, South Dakota, written primarily by their children and other family members in Iowa and throughout the Midwest. The letters provide detailed depictions of daily farming life near Sac City and Terril, Iowa, in the first decade of the 20th century.

The Ashbaugh family papers consist of the incoming correspondence of Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Ashbaugh of Brown County, South Dakota, written primarily by their children and other family members in Iowa and throughout the Midwest. The letters, written from a number of Iowa locales, chronicle farm life in the early 20th century, and include detailed descriptions of a number of farming activities as well as news of the family, which remained close despite being somewhat scattered. Many of the Ashbaugh family members planted corn, and the letters reveal a good deal about the intricacies of growing and harvesting in the region. Several later letters in the collection originated from the South Dakota Ashbaughs' grandchildren, who provided delightful updates on their lives, including the games and other leisure pursuits that occupied their time away from school. The collection also includes several documents licensing E. E. Ashbaugh as "an Exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church" in Sac City and Fort Dodge, Iowa, from 1885-1889.

The Baker-Marshall papers contain personal correspondence, financial documents, and other items related to Timothy Baker and Ichabod Marshall, two early settlers of Norwalk, Ohio, who became prominent local merchants.

The Baker-Marshall papers contain 19 personal letters, 100 financial papers and documents, 3 maps and diagrams, 8 printed items, 1 photograph, 3 additional manuscripts related to Timothy Baker and Ichabod Marshall, two early settlers of, and prominent merchants in, Norwalk, Ohio.

The Correspondence series contains personal letters written between members of the Baker family, including letters written by William Baker and Timothy Baker, Jr., to their parents during their time at college. The series also includes letters written between the siblings, providing news of their families, and a memorial poem written upon the death of Timothy Baker, Jr., in 1845. The collection also includes a 1926 letter inviting Willard H. Bennett, of Norwalk, Ohio, to purchase tickets for the University of Wisconsin's football games, along with two order forms.

The Financial papers and documents series regards Ichabod Marshall's land and business interests in Norwalk, Ohio, in the early 19th century. The series is comprised of 100 receipts, indentures, and accounts, including deeds and tax receipts for land in Trumbull and Huron counties. Several of the items are signed by Moses Kimball, an auditor in Huron County.

Three undated manuscript Writings include a draft of a petition "To the Mayor and Village Council of Fredericktown Ohio," requesting the removal of a local saloon; a 1-page religious essay; and instructions for making bricks.

The collection's single Photograph is a carte-de-visite of an unidentified man.

The three undated manuscript Maps and diagrams include a surveyor's map of Norwalk, Ohio; a floor plan for a house; and a seating arrangement for a Masonic lodge.

The Printed items series consists of 2 items related to Baldwin University; Mrs. Lewis C. Laylin's calling card; and newspaper clippings. The Baldwin University items are a program for the annual exhibition of the junior class, March 25, 1874, and a printed version of the "Alumni Song," June 7, 1876. The newspaper clippings include one regarding a lawsuit between Ichabod Marshall and several owners of the Norwalk Manufacturing Company.

The Bartlett family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, and a scrapbook related to Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett of the United States Navy and to his descendants, including his granddaughter, author Lina Bartlett Ditson.

The Bartlett family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, and a scrapbook related to Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett of the United States Navy and to his descendants, including author Lina Bartlett Ditson, his granddaughter.

The Correspondence series contains letters written to various members of the Bartlett family. The earliest items concern Washington A. Bartlett's naval career, including several letters between Bartlett and his wife Ruth. In a letter from May-June 1845, Washington Bartlett discussed political and military conflicts between the United States and Mexico. Much of his other correspondence is contained in a letter book, which covers the years 1835-1862.

Other items in the series are incoming personal and business letters to George L. Ditson, Bartlett's son-in-law. Some of these pertain to his appointment as United States Consul in Nuevitas, Cuba, a few of which are in Spanish. Later material includes a letter from Ronald Lodge to his mother, Oralie Ditson Lodge (Washington A. Bartlett's granddaughter) about his successful fitness examination for the United States Navy, enclosing a photograph of Lodge in uniform (April 17, 1917), and a letter on stationery from the White Star Line ocean liner Olympic (November 14, 1928).

The Documents and Financial Papers relate to several generations of the Bartlett family. Of note are a certificate about Washington A. Bartlett's qualification as a United States Navy midshipmen, signed by Martin Van Buren (November 20, 1839), and an authorized copy of Washington A. Bartlett and Ruth Budd Bloom's marriage certificate (June 17, 1861). The series also contains receipts and accounts.

The Writings series primarily contains typed copies of poems and stories composed by Lina Bartlett Ditson. Included are 8 poems, 1 group of poetry "Fragments," and 7 short stories. Two items, which may not be by Ditson, are in French, including an acrostic poem based on Ruth Budd Bartlett's name.

The collection's 8 Calling Cards and Invitations include manuscript and printed visiting cards for "Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett" and an invitation to the home of William H. and Frances Seward.

A single Illustration, dated August 1833, depicts the brig Mermaid at sea. A map of a portion of Albany, New York, shows the location of B. Lodge & Company.

The Photographs series has mounted and loose portraits, several cartes-de-visite and cabinet cards, a glass-plate positive of a young girl, and numerous snapshots. Early portraits depict Oralie Ditson Lodge and Lina Bartlett Ditson (occasionally in costume), and 130 20th-century snapshots were taken during a family vacation Eagle Lake in New York.

The Lena Bartlett Ditson Scrapbook contains newspaper articles, programs, and correspondence about Lina Bartlett Ditson, assembled by her sister Oralie after Lina's death. Most items pertain to Lina's artistic pursuits, such as vocal performances and published novels. Incoming correspondence to Lina and condolence letters to her family following her death are also present.

The Printed Items series is made up of postcards, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and other items. Newspaper Clippings pertain to numerous topics, such as William S. Lodge's political career, interstate commerce legislation, labor news, and members of the Bartlett family.

• Defence of Washington A. Bartlett, Ex-Lieutenant, United States Navy: Read and admitted to Record, by Naval Court of Inquiry... New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857.
• International Association for the Total Suppression of Vivisection. "The Woman" and the Age: A Letter Addressed to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., First Lord of the Treasury. London: E. W. Allen, 1881.
• Olcott, Henry S. The Spirit of the Zoroastrian Religion. Bombay: 1882.

Other printed material includes poems by Barrington Lodge; engravings of Washington A. Bartlett; a colored print showing a woman in a dress that Ruth Budd Bartlett wore during a royal reception; and a campaign poster for William S. Lodge's mayoral campaign in Albany, New York.

The Genealogy series contains information about Washington A. Bartlett's descendants and allied families, particularly the Lodge family.

The Beeson family papers consist of genealogical notes, travel journals, business documents, and correspondence relating to several generations of the Beeson family, who settled in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in the 18th century, and later migrated to Michigan and Wisconsin.

This collection consists of 137 items, including: 55 items relating to financial matters -- receipts, bank and stock records, subscription lists, etc.; 39 items relating to Beeson family history and genealogy, including handwritten notes, and a 33-page typed transcription; 11 letters written by members of the Beeson and Lukens family (related to the Beeson family by marriage); 2 travel journals; 1 daily diary; 1 oversized journal, containing entries on family history, genealogy, and travel; 6 maps, including one pasted onto the flyleaf of the oversized journal; 9 newspaper clippings; 6 legal documents; 7 miscellaneous items; and one unidentified photograph.

The majority of the financial documents consist of lists of stockholders and subscriptions for the Union Bank of Pennsylvania. One document, a receipt for glassware dated 9 August 1827, is written on the illustrated letterhead of the glass manufacturer Bakewell, Page & Bakewell, of Pittsburgh.

The history and genealogy notes concern the branch of the Beeson family that was instrumental in the founding and settling of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Two descendants of this branch, Edward Beeson and Jacob Beeson (b. 1807), contribute diaries and journals to the collection.

Jacob Beeson's 1829-1830 travel journal (with occasional notes in shorthand) relates, in brief but lively entries, a journey from Uniontown to New Orleans, to help an uncle in the mercantile business. While traveling by steamer down the Mississippi, Jacob Beeson gives colorful descriptions of his fellow passengers and shipboard events. "We had scarce went 500 yds. when we were rous'd by the cry of ‘a man overboard'--drop the Stern Boat, etc. I rais'd my eyes from the book & they were immediately fix'd on the face & arm of a Slave who had pitch'd himself from the Bow of the Boat. He was between the Steamer & her boat when I saw him. By the time he got to where I saw him, he appear'd tired of his sport. He gave a piercing scream & sunk amid the Billows. The Boat was dropped awhile for him but twas to no purpose." (27 March 1829) Jacob describes going to the theater in New Orleans (13 May 1829); the landscape and climate of the area east of New Orleans (8 September 1829); a visit to "Crabtown", at Bayou St. John, where Spaniards subsisted solely by fishing for crabs (23 May 1829); battling a forest fire (14 February 1829); and the inadequacy of his boarding house fare: "For dinner, we have the standby dish of bacon, venison, cornbreads and sour milk served in tea cups, handed round on a waiter that for aught I know to the contrary performed the same service prior to the Revolution. For Supper we have the remains of dinner with the addition of coffee that would be better off than on the table." (16 June 1829) He takes several business trips by boat along the gulf coast. The journal ends with a trip North up the Mississippi in early 1830. A later diary kept by Jacob Beeson in 1873 records the business and personal affairs of a now-settled business and family man living in Detroit Michigan.

Edward Beeson provides much of the family history and genealogy in the collection. His handwritten notes, both loose and in a large bound journal, chronicle Beeson family history and lore, and contain names, dates, and narratives of his direct ancestors, and sketchier details of the wider Beeson clan.

Edward Beeson is also the author of two interesting travelogues. The first is included in the journal he kept in an oversized volume, originally intended for shipping manifests for the shipping agent Monson Lockwood, each page headed with an illustration of ships and a lighthouse. In this journal, Edward recounts a trip he takes from Wisconsin west to Kansas in 1866. He describes the towns he visits on the way, and reflects on the scars left by the Civil War. In Aubry, on the Kansas/Missouri border, his Quaker sense of outrage at the violence perpetrated by both sides is aroused by the abandoned and burnt-out homesteads:

"At this place a cavalry camp was maintained during the greater part of the war. From here the lawless Jayhawkers often started on their thieving raids into Missouri and this was also made a place to be retaliated on by the equally desperate and thievish bushwackers and guerillas of Mo. …Here a voice raised for humanity, honor, mercy, justice or freedom of speech was made the occasion for suspicion, persecution, and defamation, often ending in the murder or robbery of the luckless men who dared to think or speak. These scenes of violence, and the always present danger of life and property, had the effect of almost depopulating the country. The graves of the victims of violence are scattered over the country. The bare chimneys of burned houses loom up on the prairie, monuments of vandalism and violence such as the world has seldom seen. They stand there in the desolate silence pointing upward to heaven -- upward ever -- as if to remind the victims of war who sleep in graves nearby, that mercy and justice alone is to be found above." (9 September 1866, p. 78).

Edward Beeson's second travel journal is an account of a trip to Italy, taken by Edward Beeson and his family in 1877-1878. While his daughter, Abbie Beeson Carrington, takes voice lessons, Edward observes Italian life and customs, largely in and around Milan, and is particularly struck by the overall poverty of the region. Edward reports on the Italian diet, domestic arrangements, attitudes toward religion, and local funeral customs. He is present in Rome for the funeral of King Victor Emmanuel II, and attends celebrations commemorating the 1848 Italian Revolution against Austrian rule.

Five of the maps in the collection are hand-drawn survey maps, likely of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, dated from 1830-1850, with one undated. The sixth map, an undated, hand-drawn map of Uniontown, labeling buildings of significance to the Beeson family, is pasted onto the flyleaf of Edward Beeson's oversized journal.

The Bellamy family papers consist primarily of the correspondence and financial documents of a Vergennes, Vermont, family whose members moved west during the early 19th century.

The Bellamy family papers consist primarily of the correspondence and financial documents of a Vergennes, Vermont, family whose members moved westward during the early 19th century. The collection includes 54 correspondence items, 12 legal documents, 132 receipts, 7 account books, 1 pocketbook and its contents, five scrap pages, and ephemera.

The Correspondence series contains items written by various correspondents to members of the Bellamy family of Vergennes, Vermont. Early in the 19th century, Rilla Bellamy received several letters from friends and extended family, who provided updates on their daily lives. On December 28, 1813, for example, a member of the Stowell family described a recent bout of illness in some detail. Later correspondence, often addressed to Edward Bellamy and Joseph Bellamy, occasionally concerned diseases, as well as other routine affairs, like farming, particularly in western Michigan. One late item is composed of scribbles, likely made by a child (January 1860).

The Documents series is comprised primarily of legal documents, many of which relate to Aaron Bellamy. In 1816, Andrew Dyer of Vergennes, Vermont, sold "all the land which I…have a right to claim from the Government of the United States by reason of my enlisting as a Soldier in the Army of the United States to serve during the War the 2nd day of March A.D. 1814" to Aaron Bellamy (January 27, 1816), but the documents more often related to Aaron's legal troubles. The series includes two court summonses, as well as a document ordering Bellamy's release from jail following a lawsuit filed by William Mattack (March 1837). This series also includes a deed made between William Pardee and Justus Bellamy, dated June 22, 1804.

Items in the Financial Records series are mostly receipts belonging to Aaron Bellamy, Samuel Bellamy, Edward Bellamy, and Nathan Holmes.

The Account Books series contains seven small receipt books of unknown ownership. The books consist primarily of numerical figures, but occasionally mention the names of merchants or other people with whom the owners made transactions.

The Pocketbook originally contained 28 items, mostly receipts and other financial items. Among its contents was a short note in which Lloyd Norris instructed Bellamy, "Sir I wish you to leave the following Premises now in your occupation…on my farm…Your compliance with this notice within ten days after its service will prevent any legal measures being taken of me to [obtain] possession" (September 7, 1847).

Miscellaneous items in the collection include a small card of a bird's nest and flowers, with a short poem about "Home," and a business card for sugar merchant W. M. Austin on Wall Street in New York City.

This collection is made up of correspondence between Benedict Law of Erie County, New York, his wife Docia, and members of his extended family. Law wrote to his wife and children about his work along the Wyoming-Colorado border from 1897-1902 and in the later years of the decade. Other family members and acquaintances corresponded about their lives in Texas, New York, and New Jersey.

This collection is made up of correspondence between Benedict Law of Erie County, New York, his wife Docia, and members of his extended family.

In letters to his wife and sons, Benedict W. Law discussed his life and work on mining projects in Wyoming and Colorado, particularly in the area around Dixon, Wyoming, and Fourmile, Colorado. He described the scenery around the border area and discussed aspects of camp life and his work, which involved dredging and digging ditches. In 1898, he shared local news and occasionally commented on the progress of the Spanish-American War, though he also mentioned the general scarcity of news in the area where he lived. His letters to Docia often concern the couple's finances and sometimes contain news about her sister, Grace Graley, who lived in Fourmile, Colorado. Law wrote at least one letter to his son Lito in Spanish (May 24, 1899). Law wrote from Routt County, Colorado, in 1902.

From 1897-1901, Benedict W. Law received letters related to his personal life, his travels, and the western mining work that continued after his temporary return to New York in 1901. A few items from this period pertain to Docia Law. After 1906, Grace Graley wrote to her mother about life in Queen City, Texas, and about her children. After 1909, Benedict Law resumed his correspondence with his wife, who also received late letters from her sister and mother

The Benjamin Brown collection is made up of correspondence, documents, and artifacts related to the showman's career as a circus owner in the early 1800s. Many of the letters relate to his journey to Egypt between 1838 and 1840, as he attempted to procure giraffes for an American menagerie company; to his other travels; and to the contemporary American circus industry.

The Benjamin Brown collection is made up of correspondence, documents, and artifacts related to the showman's career as a circus owner in the early 1800s.

Letters, documents, and printed materials concern Brown's early ventures as a show owner, including correspondence and financial records pertaining to his travels in the Caribbean and to the northeast coast of South America in the early 1830s. These materials document the difficulties of transporting exotic animals by sea, the type of equipment necessary to run a circus, and other logistical issues.

A later group of letters and documents reflects Brown's experiences in Egypt, where he traveled as an agent of the June, Titus, Angevine & Company, attempting to purchase giraffes. Many of these letters are from Stebbins B. June, who was also in Egypt at the time, and several items relate to George R. Gliddon, United States consul in Cairo. Brown's friend Gerard Crane wrote about Brown's business affairs in New York, and frequently reported the increasingly frail health of Brown's father. Benjamin Brown received a letter from P. T. Barnum, who asked him to find a pair of fortune tellers for Barnum's museum. He also inquired about locating a pony small enough to accommodate his performer Tom Thumb (June 29, 1843). While in London, Brown frequently received letters from his sister, Eudocia Brown Noyes, who wrote of the Brown family farm and provided other news from Somers, New York.

The collection includes playbills and broadsides advertising Brown's circus; Brown's marriage license (March 20, 1841); a pencil sketch of Brown; two passports; and three fragments of an Arabic-language scroll, offering protection to the bearer. Later material includes newspaper clippings from 1879, 1880, and 1931, on Brown's life and career, as well as an audio tape of an interview with his grandson, Benjamin Brown.

• Kapitein Dick Op Zijne Shetland Poney: Op Verzoek Van Verscheidene Heeren En Dames, Zal Den Heer Broun Op Zaturdag Den 23 October 1830, Van 's Middags 1 Tot 's Avonds 10 Uren, Aan Het Geëerd Pupliek Ten Toon Stellen... Paramaribo: Ter drukkerij van de erven C.J. Fuchs, [1830].
• Royal Gazette of the United Colony of Demerary & Essequebo: Saturday, January 8, 1831. [Georgetown, Guyana: W. Baker, 1831].
• Royal Pavilion Circus in the Temple Yard: by Permission of His Excellency the Governor : On Thursday Evening Next the 22d Instant Mr. Brown and His Corps of Equestrians Will Have the Honor to Present to the Public a Splendid Performance, When He and His Company Will Endeavour to Gratify the Ladies And Gentlemen of the Island by Representing Various Extraordinary Feats of Horsemanship. [c. 1830?].

Box 2 of the collection includes correspondence, documents, printed items, photographs, and audio recordings related to the history of Benjamin Brown, the circus, and Somers, New York. Principally organized around the career and research of Carrie Brown Rorer (1903-1969), President of the Somers Historical Society and Benjamin F. Brown's great-grandaughter, the material provides insight into public history, memory, and research on the circus. Included is a typed document, "Circus History: Recollections by Benjamin Brown (1877-1962) as told to Carrie Brown Roher, (1903-1969), who was one of his three daughters," which details memories of Benjamin F. Brown and family stories about him.

• Two shoes, [1800s]
• Burnoose, [1800s]
• Black circus jacket, [1800s]
• Pipe stem and bowl
• Two rocks
• Fragments from an ostrich eggshell
• Canopic jar lid
• Two small boxes
• Ushabti figure
• Harpocrates figure

The Egyptian figures may date to around 600 BCE.