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Collection

Michael J. Macalla papers, 1918-1956

0.4 linear feet

Online
Member of Co. G, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition" and officer in the Polar Bear Association. Collection includes papers on the committee sent to Russia in 1929, to recover the bodies of men slain during the expedition, including material on their reinterment in White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery, Troy, Michigan, and the dedication of the Polar Bear monument.

The collection includes a copy of a petition, Feb. 1919, from people in Detroit asking for the withdrawal of American troops from Archangel; a diary, July-Sept. 1929, describing his trip to Russia and the search for bodies; correspondence, 1929-1930, regarding the commission and its work; a list of the bodies recovered and a map showing the location of some bodies found around Kodish; papers relating to the reinterment of the dead in White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery; a 1965 memoir of the 1929 commission, and two letters, 1966 and undated, from Arthur Wickham relating his memories of service in Archangel. Also included are bulletins, meeting notes, speeches, eulogies, and programs of the Polar Bear Association and the constitution and bylaws of the Polar Bear Post, No. 436, Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Collection

Minnie C. M. Fay collection, circa 1850-1950

1 linear foot

Papers collected by Minnie C. M. Fay of Battle Creek, Michigan. Genealogical, and family records, and photographs.

The Minnie Fay collection consists of genealogical and family records, family photographs, and a diary, 1857-1858 probably of a Henry Chandler.

Collection

Otto Webster Haisley Papers, 1917-1959 (majority within 1940-1953)

2.3 linear feet

Ann Arbor, Michigan educator and superintendent of schools; personal and professional papers relating to his work as school superintendent; also publications, speeches, correspondence, family materials, and photographs.

The Otto W. Haisley collection consists of five series: Personal (1934-1960); Correspondence (1906-1958); Publications, Speeches, and Clippings (1924-1954); Superintendent's Office (1929-1954); Family Papers; and Photographs. Within each series, files are arranged alphabetically by topic.

Collection

Owen Lovejoy papers, 1828-1943 (majority within 1830-1930)

261 items (0.75 linear feet)

Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864), brother of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, was a prominent abolitionist and congressman who staunchly supported President Lincoln during the Civil War. His papers primarily contain correspondence, speeches, and writings related to his family life, ministerial duties, and congressional activities, with additional materials from his descendants.

The Owen Lovejoy papers primarily consist of the correspondence, speeches, and writings of Owen Lovejoy, with additional material from his descendents. The collection contains 170 letters, 13 land records and indentures, a diary, 3 documents and 10 checks, 27 speeches and writings, 3 images, 11 commemorative items, and 26 newspaper clippings. The correspondence of Owen Lovejoy includes 71 letters written by him, mostly to his wife and children, and 40 letters received from family and friends. The other correspondence in the collection is primarily that of his son, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, II.

The earliest letters, from Owen Lovejoy’s student days at Bowdoin College, include affectionate advice from his parents and news from his siblings. He received 8 letters from his parents between 1830 and 1837. His mother’s letters are filled with religious references, and her strong faith is clear from her writing. She wrote passionately against the “crying sin of slavery,” and also supported the temperance cause (14 July 1836). Sister-in-law Sarah Moody Lovejoy wrote two letters to him in 1836, filled with news of the family and church. His sister Elizabeth, who ran a school, kept him informed about her endeavors and news of the family in three letters from 1836. Brothers Joseph and John also wrote occasional letters to Owen. The collection also contains three love letters written by Owen Lovejoy as a young man, including a poem he wrote entitled “Autumn pale fading autumn.”

The family was worried about Elijah Parish Lovejoy, the eldest brother, whose antislavery activities were becoming increasingly dangerous. His mother wrote to Owen in 1836, “you doubtless know what outrages they have committed in regard to destroying the types in that affair” (14 July 1836). His sister Elizabeth wrote, “E.P. does not write us at all why not I cannot divine & I wish I was there now” (30 July 1836).

A number of friends came to the aid of the Lovejoy family after Elijah Parish Lovejoy’s death in November 1837. Rev. Edward Beecher, the son of Lyman Beecher and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote a letter to Owen Lovejoy, in which he urged him to “collect and file all documents which have a relation to you brother’s life & efforts since he acted upon his course as editor…They will be read with interest in future ages” (14 November 1837). In 1838, Beecher wrote his best-known work, Narrative of Riots at Alton, on the subject. Owen and Joseph Lovejoy, meanwhile, were working on their own book commemorating their brother. Joseph wrote to Owen in December 1837, “The death of P. has made a very deep & strong sensation through this & indeed through all the country. A great many sermons have been preached & meetings are held in almost every village through the land” (7 December 1837). Owen also corresponded with his other siblings during this time.

Correspondence from a later period in Owen Lovejoy’s life reflects his growing involvement in politics. A letter from Abraham Smith in 1846 describes the activities of the Liberty party, of which Owen Lovejoy was a leader. Owen also corresponded with Gerrit Smith, an abolitionist and founding member of the Liberty party.

Owen Lovejoy’s letters from 1854 onward were addressed to his wife and children, while he was away from home on political business, usually in Washington, D.C. From October to November 1861, he wrote a number of letters to his family from the Missouri battlefield, having received a commission as colonel under General Frémont in the Western Department of the army. After returning to Washington, D.C., he wrote to his younger children of the death of Abraham Lincoln's son: "I have just been up to the White House to see the President. He feels very much the loss of his little boy Willie who is about the age of Parish…His father says he was a very gentle and amiable boy" (23 February 1862).

The correspondence of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, II, Owen Lovejoy's son, includes 36 letters written and received by him regarding his genealogical research on the Lovejoy family. He received a number of inquiries from others about his family history, and also conducted his own research. A number of his letters are correspondence with C.E. Lovejoy, the author of The Lovejoy Genealogy with Biographies and History, 1460-1930, published in 1930. He assisted C.E. Lovejoy with research and loaned him some materials from his own collection for the publication. The miscellaneous correspondence series includes the letters of other Lovejoy family members, as well as a few apparently unrelated letters. (For a listing of Owen and Elijah Lovejoy's correspondents, see the Additional Descriptive Data.)

The Butler Denham business papers contain 12 records of land purchases and an indenture contract with a young boy. Denham was the first husband of Eunice Storrs Denham, who married Owen Lovejoy after Denham's death in 1841.

A small pocket diary, dated 1857, contains appointments, expenses, personal notes, and what appear to be notes for a speech. The documents series includes Owen Lovejoy's call from the Hampshire Colony Church in 1839, his certificate of admission to the Illinois Bar in 1857, a note to his son E.P. Lovejoy for five dollars, and several checks written in 1862 and 1863.

Speeches and writings by Owen Lovejoy comprise three sermons, pamphlets of six political speeches, several printed copies of "An Agricultural Poem," written in 1859, and a copy of his last public prayer in Princeton from 1863. Excerpts from all of these have been republished in a comprehensive collection of his speeches entitled His Brother's Blood: Speeches and Writings, 1838-64. A draft of a poem entitled "The Wild Horses," is also included. The collection also contains writings about Owen Lovejoy, including articles and speeches written after his death, such as "Addresses on the Death of Hon. Owen Lovejoy" and "The Great Anti-Slavery Agitator Hon. Owen Lovejoy as a Gospel Minister." Also included are the recollections of Parker Earle on the nomination of Owen Lovejoy to Congress.

The scrapbook (29 disbound pages) includes newspaper clippings, articles, pamphlets, memorials, and manuscripts pertaining to various members of the Lovejoy family, particularly Elijah Parish Lovejoy (1802-1837) and Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864). The items about Elijah P. Lovejoy concern his death, his religious beliefs, and his memorial at Alton, Illinois. The scrapbook also has contemporaneous articles about Owen Lovejoy's abolitionist work and about Illinois politics around the time of the Civil War. Other articles, biographies, speeches, memorial programs, and memorial poems concern the lives and deaths of Owen G. Lovejoy, Lucy Lovejoy, Charles P. Lovejoy, Eunice Storrs Lovejoy, and members of allied families. One article describes Helsinki, Finland.

The collection is rounded out by three printed images of Owen Lovejoy, materials regarding memorials and commemorations for Owen Lovejoy and his brother Elijah Parish Lovejoy, and newspaper clippings about Owen Lovejoy and his descendents. Several of the commemorative materials pertain to the Lovejoy Monument Association, including a booklet of music for the dedication ceremonies of the Lovejoy Monument. The Lovejoy papers also contain correspondence and an inventory regarding the Lovejoy collection located at the Bureau County Historical Society of Illinois.

Collection

Palmer Family (Pontiac, Mich.) papers, circa 1814-1940

2 linear feet — 1.9 GB

Online
Upper-class Michigan family in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with various business interests including lumbering, mining, and land transactions in Montana, Michigan, California, West Virginia, and British Columbia. The family was also active in the development of the Orchard lake area, especially during in the 1920s through the 1940s. The collection contains both business and personal materials including correspondence, subject files, legal records, maps, blueprints, and photographs.

The Palmer Family papers document the activities of an upper-class family in nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Michigan. The strength of the collection is its documentation of the growth of early business in Michigan. The Charles Henry Palmer (Senior) series contains the bulk of this information, with papers documenting his activities as an investor in mining and railroads in Michigan's Upper Peninsula from the 1850s through the 1880s. The balance of the collection contains both business and personal materials documenting the lives of various Palmer family members. Materials include correspondence, legal materials, business records, photographs, diaries and journals, and newspaper clippings.

Collection

Pearl L. Kendrick Papers, 1888-1979 (majority within 1930-1970)

7 linear feet — 1 digital video file

Online
Bacteriologist with the laboratories of the Michigan Department of Health, 1920-1951, and resident lecturer in epidemiology at the School of Public Health of the University of Michigan. Files relate to her discovery and testing of a vaccine for whooping-cough; files concerning activities with the American Public Health Association and the Michigan Public Health Association; consultant's files relating to her work with vaccination programs in foreign countries under the auspices of the World Health Organization; correspondence, course and research materials; and photographs related to her career; also papers of her father, Milton Kendrick, a Free Methodist clergyman.

The Pearl L. Kendrick papers date from 1888 to 1979 and measure seven linear feet. The papers are arranged in nine series: Personal, Correspondence, Correspondence--Foreign, Michigan Department of Health, University of Michigan, Consultant Files, Professional Associations, Speeches and Articles, and Visual Materials. The collection is strongest in its documentation of the national and international network of public health practitioners, physicians, and scientists who corresponded with each other about their studies of various diseases and their prevention, in particular whooping cough. This voluminous correspondence reflects Kendrick's reputation as one of the world's foremost experts on pertussis. The collection is relatively weak in its documentation of Kendrick's work as an instructor at the University of Michigan.

Collection

Phelps Brothers (Manton, Mich.) records, 1890-1964

1 linear foot

Records of the retail business activities of the Phelps family of Manton, Michigan in Wexford County.

This record group covers the years 1890 to 1964 and consists of the diaries and a biographical sketch of Charles D. Phelps, a history of the business written by D. Maynard Phelps, and various business records. The business records series consists of income tax returns, papers pertaining to the sale of the business, and miscellaneous inventories, journals and a ledger.

Collection

Pollock family papers, 1850s-1972 (majority within 1900-1969)

8.5 linear feet

The Pollock Family Papers contain topical files and correspondence of several generations of the Pollock-Selleck family.

Individual family members' files include essays and articles, diaries, notebooks, journals, and collected ephemera related to the Ann Arbor High School and the University of Michigan cultural and social life and campus events. Also contained within the family files are family photographs, land deeds, obituaries, and other family-related documents. Family correspondence constitutes the majority of files in this collection. Correspondence is arranged in two sub-series: James and Roda Pollock correspondence, and Individual correspondence. James and Roda Pollock correspondence was received arranged chronologically through 1940 (James B. Pollok died in 1934), with several correspondence files that have been arranged by the sender (the Georg family, H. H. Bartlett, and J. Sunderland).

Collection

Pond Family Papers, 1841-1939

9.6 linear feet (in 13 boxes) — 2 oversize drawers — 1 microfilm

Ann Arbor, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois family. Correspondence of Elihu B. Pond, editor of Michigan Argus, his sons, Chicago architects, Irving Kane and Allen Bartlit Pond, founders of firm of Pond & Pond, and other family members; include materials concerning family affairs, architectural projects, Jane Addams and the work of Hull House, European travels, politics especially as relates to period of the Civil War and the election of 1896; also photographs, architectural drawings and other visual materials.

The Pond Family papers consist primarily of correspondence and other materials of architects, Irving Kane (1857-1939) and Allen Bartlit Pond (1858-1929) documenting family matters, European travels, their involvement in the civic and social life of Chicago, and professional activities. The collection has been divided into four subgroups: Allen B. Pond papers; Irving Kane Pond papers; papers of other family members and miscellaneous; and visual materials.

Correspondence comprises the bulk of both the Allen and Irving Pond subgroups. This correspondence consists almost exclusively of exchanges between the brothers when they were separated because of travel, and with their parents and sister. There is little correspondence with clients, professional associates, or others outside of the family. The letters, however, are often detailed and revealing of the thoughts and activities of the Pond brothers. In addition to the usual descriptions of landscapes and social events when traveling abroad, their letters contain many comparisons of European and American trends in architecture, housing, the development of cities. To their family and with each other, the brothers also wrote of their non-professional interests: Chicago politics, social settlements in the city, humanitarian causes, and their involvement with various literary groups. Of note in the Allen Pond papers are letters containing references to Jane Addams and her work at Hull House. There are also accounts they received from family about Jane Addams and her talks when visiting Ann Arbor. Letters concerning Jane Addams are dated Sept. 1896; Jan. 1898; Sept. 18, 1898; Jan. 22,1900; Mar. 1901; May 28,1901; June 15,1901; undated 1901; Apr. 21,1902; July 7,1902; Aug. 18,1902; Feb. 16, 1903; Jan. 12,1904; Jan. 23,1905; Feb. 1905; May 29,1907; Mar. 1908; and Apr. 1908.

Their sister, Mary Louise and their mother, Mary Barlow (Allen) Pond wrote weekly of family affairs and the social and cultural events of Ann Arbor. Both comment extensively on the ideas and activities of many of the leading intellectual and literary figures of the day - William James, John Dewey, Kipling, Wharton and Shaw - as well as on their daily interactions with Angells, Cooleys and other prominent Ann Arbor families. Unfortunately, there are few surviving letters from Allen and Irving to the family in Ann Arbor. Much of the information in the collection about their work is therefore by indirect reference only.

Collection

Pratt family papers, 1854-1935 (majority within 1865-1895)

3.75 linear feet

The Pratt family papers present a chronicle of middle-class women's lives between the 1850's and 1890's.

The Pratt family papers present a chronicle of middle-class women's lives between the 1850's and 1890's. The writers are uniformly literate and attentive, and the majority of the letters are of a strongly personal nature. While some letters stand on their own, the collection should be seen as one large, continuous document presenting a nineteenth century "woman's" life in many of its aspects, from cleaning and cooking to marriage, childbirth, child rearing, sewing, gardening, travel, music, reading, teaching, religion, death, and friendships. The composite portrait that emerges is stronger than the portraits of any single woman, though the personalities of several of the correspondents are very strongly expressed. As a result, the Pratt Papers is a valuable resource for the study of women's work, as teachers, employees, and home makers, as well as their emotional and personal lives.

The primary focus of the Pratt papers is Emma Louise Pratt (b. 1864 April 8) of Revere, Mass. The collection includes several hundred letters addressed to her, as well as some of her diaries, the diaries of her only brother, Willie (d. 1888), 1881, 1883, and 1886, and notes between Emma and her mother, Emeline. Most of the letters were written by Emma's intimate friends and family members, including several of her aunts and cousins, and these provide the main dialogue of the collection and construct a fascinating image of the development of one young woman's personal relationships during the post-Civil War period. There are four women with whom Emma most consistently corresponded: Claribel M. Tilton Crane, Emma Lois Proctor, Mabel H. Drew Croudis, and Lola V. Jefferds.

Claribel (or Clara) M. Tilton Crane was a school chum of Emma's who moved from Revere to Malden, Mass., in 1873, and a few years later to Quincy. Their correspondence began when the girls were still teenagers, with Claribel describing her new home, her school, friends, pets, clothes, and fancy work, and she and Emma occasionally exchanged riddles and conundrums. The two developed a private code, words that had special meaning to each other, and Claribel often included words at the top of her letters that have no obvious relationship to the text. Over the Christmas holidays, which coincided with her birthday, Claribel always described her presents for that year, a practice that continued even after she and Emma became adults. The subject matter of Claribel's letters changed as she grew and began working in a dry goods store in Quincy owned by her brother, Charlie. Her letters include descriptions of her work, sewing, clothes, and her married life with a man named Crane. Claribel's health was never very good and a great many of the later letters describe her various convalescences. In some of these, Claribel includes floor plans of her home as well as written descriptions.

Emma's cousin, Emma Lois Proctor, moved to LaCrosse, Wisc., when very young to live with her father, Alfred, and new stepmother. The collection includes a few letters from Mary Ann Proctor dating from the 1860's, which refer to Emma Proctor and other family members, and it appears that when Mary Ann Proctor's mother died, Emma returned east to live with the Pratt's until she grew up. Emma Proctor's early letters describe her trip to Wisconsin, her father's farm and family, her work there, her sewing and fancy work, and her efforts to become a teacher. Other members of the Proctor family had also gone west to live, some in Wisconsin, others in Chicago, or as far west as Montana and Washington Territory, and Emma Proctor kept in close contact with all. She eventually became a teacher, and considered moving to Kallispell, Mont., to join a brother and his wife and teach school. The letters she wrote during an 1890 trip to Kallispell include some fine descriptions of the state and of the Flathead Indians. She decided that she would return to Wisconsin, though five years later she returned to Montana.

Mabel H. (Drew) Croudis from Medford, Mass., was another of Emma Pratt's cousins, though from which side of the family she is related is not clear. Mabel and Emma began corresponding in 1881 and their letters continue throughout the entire collection. The two women were exceptionally close and wrote to each other with great regularity, almost every week, and visited each other often. Mabel usually addressed Emma as "Susan" and signed her letters "Betsy". Her letters are filled with family news, discussions of her work as a bookkeeper in her brother's store, and with inside jokes and stories that she and Emma shared. Because of their closeness and the regularity with which they wrote and visited, Mabel's letters tend not to provide a very complete picture of their relationship, though their intimacy comes through very clearly. It appears that neither Emma nor Mabel planned on getting married, even when they reached their early twenties, and Mabel often commented on their plans to grow old together and live in their own "snuggery." Mabel eventually married George Croudis, and this event appears to have put a strain on the friendship. Soon after Mabel's marriage, Mabel complained to Emma about never hearing from her anymore, and implored her to understand that their friendship need not change simply because she has gotten married.

Lola V. Jefferds was another friend of Emma Pratt's who, like Claribel, moved from Revere to Livermore Falls, Me. She and Emma corresponded regularly, though not quite as frequently as Claribel or Mabel. Lola was a spirited person who wrote interesting, usually very descriptive letters. Like Emma, she did not plan on marrying, occasionally expressing a disdain for the men she met, stating that she would prefer to remain single if these men were her only options. Lola's father owned a furniture store in Livermore Falls where Lola worked along with her parents. The family took charge of the local post office at some point, probably through political patronage, and Lola soon began to work there.

Emma Pratt spent a month's holiday with Lola in August, 1891. During this time, she wrote an average of two letters per day to her parents, representing some of the few extant letters written by Emma. These include descriptions of her vacation, the landscape, Lola and her family, and, above all, her homesickness and feelings of guilt at being away from her home and mother. Emma worried constantly that she should not be on vacation, but nevertheless appeared to have a good time. It is unfortunate that Emma's letters to her friends and cousins are not present, for these would be particularly helpful in rounding out the picture. From the letters written to Emma it is known that she was a very descriptive and lively letter writer. Her friends often comment on the pleasure, comfort and amusement they derive from Emma's letters. The collection includes one letter, or rather story, that Emma sent to her cousin Mabel (Betsy) describing a lawn-party at Lola's, that offers a good glimpse into the wit and powers of observation that made Emma such a popular correspondent.

Emma Pratt corresponded regularly with several other women, including her cousins Nettie Maria Fellows (47), Edith Dann (43), Georgie Renton (23), Anna Linn Renton (15), and her aunt, C. Augusta Renton (27). The collection also includes other correspondence of Augusta's, mostly with her sisters, Emeline Pratt and Olive M. Homans (29). The letters from Nettie and Edith are not very illuminating, consisting primarily of brief discussions of family and the weather. The letters from Augusta and her daughters, Georgie and Anna Linn, however, are interesting when placed together. The Rentons owned a boarding house in East Gloucester, Mass., in which all three women worked, and Augusta's letters include interesting discussions of her life as a mother, boarding house keeper, and friend. Augusta also described the health problems of her son, Freddie, who suffered from a diseased leg. Georgie and Anna Linn began to write to Emma when they were very, through the period in which Georgie entered Wellesley College as a student in the late 1880s. Augusta Renton died in 1890, leaving Georgie, Anna Linn, and a cousin(?) Edith Dann, grief stricken and doing their best to cope with Augusta's death.

The 29 letters from Emeline Pratt's sister, Olive M. Homans, are especially interesting. Olive was a lively writer with a good sense of humor and a strong sense of what she felt was right and wrong. Her correspondence with Emeline began in 1867 after she has moved to Hannibal, Mo., with her husband, Willie Homans. She describes her new home in Missouri, her friends, and vacations to Minnesota, Ohio and Michigan. Olive taught Sunday school to freedmen in Missouri.

Emma's diaries, written in 1883-1887 and 1889-1892, consist only of one page entries, and are not particularly introspective. However, there are a few instances in which Emma manages to express her feelings within this space. It is in here that Emma's relationship with her father and mother becomes clearer, as well as Emma's frustration at feeling that she is a financial burden to her father because, at the age of 19 and unmarried, she still lives at home and is not contributing to the family's income. This frustration influenced her feelings toward both her parents, though in very different ways. Emma grew very protective of her mother, and assumed the role of the dutiful daughter trying to ease her mother's burden. At the same time, she seemed to grow angrier and angrier with her father, though her basic love for him always remained. Emma expressed an interest in becoming a dressmaker, but complained that she never had the time to learn, as she was so busy with housework, church activities, and (apparently) letter writing. At the end of each entry in her diary, she kept track of the Bible verse she had read for the day.

In August, 1888, Emma's brother, Willie, died in a drowning accident. Her diary from this year is absent, however in 1889, almost every entry mentions Willie, Willie's death, and Emma's grief and disbelief that her brother was taken from her. The collection includes a substantial number of letters of condolence as well. At about this time, both Emma and Emeline began a correspondence with a woman, Emma Aldrich, whose daughter had recently died. The daughter and Willie were buried in the same cemetery, and the letters from Emma Aldrich deal mainly with the cemetery plots and the death of her daughter and Willie.

Parallel to the letters of the Pratt and Proctor family is a very significant series of correspondence relating to the Stebbins family. This series forms a self-contained body of approximately 75 letters dating between 1854 and 1869, which may have been collected by Emma or written by relatives, but connections to either the Pratt or Proctor families is unclear. The focus of these letters is a woman, Laura Stebbins, from Springfield, Mass., whose teaching career took her into positions in the Deep South in the 1850s, and to Washington, D.C., to teach freedmen in the 1860s, and also includes a number of letters from a man, Eugene, probably her brother. Laura appears to have suffered from poor health, experiencing a great deal of trouble with her eyes. It is also apparent that her family and friends admired her greatly. She was considered to be an unselfish friend and teacher, selfless, and always thinking of others. From their perspective, Stebbins was the "perfect" woman who represented the "angel in the house," so to speak.

The Stebbins correspondence includes some excellent descriptions of the life of a woman teacher during the late ante-bellum period, her attitudes toward teaching, her students, and the south, and there are several letters that concern the education of freedmen and the end of the war and early Reconstruction period in Virginia. Like Laura, Eugene worked with freedmen in Norfolk, Va., both for an unidentified employer and the Freedmen's Bureau, and his letters are packed with interesting description and thoughts about his work, his home, Laura's teaching and health, and the aftermath of the Civil War. The collection also includes several letters written to Laura from family members and friends, including two women teachers with whom Laura seems to have been particularly close, Martha E. Swan and "Jennie."

Among other items, the Stebbins letters include two particularly interesting letters from a woman, Marcia A. Gleaner, that describe her experiences as an employee in a wholesale cloak store on Broadway in New York City in 1862. In the first letter, Marcia expressed her disgust with New York City and with her working and living conditions. In the second, she described an accident at work in which a women fell down the stairs while she and the other 150 others were leaving for the day.

Finally, there is a sequence of letters that is difficult to trace to the Pratt, Proctor or Stebbins families. These are a group of letters from the French, West, and Richardson families in Oberlin and Pittsfield, Ohio, Potsdam, N.Y., Jaffrey and Rindge, N.H., Cornish, Me., and Fitchburg, Mass.. There are several interesting letters from Abijah French from California where he has gone to see his brother Levi. Levi has "gone mad" and was unable to recognize Abijah as his brother, though he was able to remember all of his brothers and sisters' names -- Abijah, Alvira, Augusta, and Maria -- as well as his parents', Richard and Percilia. Abijah also describes California and his trip westward. It is possible that these families are related to the Pratts and Proctors; there is a letter from Carrie L. Richardson from Cornish, Me. (1893 January 26) to Emma which makes a reference to Grandma Pratt and to Emma's mother's health. An expense account book and miscellaneous receipts and notes belonging to Oscar W. Grover may represent items relating to Emma Pratt's would-be, or actual, husband.