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

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 Daniel H. London papers contain correspondence, receipts, and financial records pertaining to London's work as a fabric merchant in Richmond, Virginia, in the 1840s and 1850s.

The Daniel H. London papers (0.75 linear feet) contain correspondence, receipts, and financial records pertaining to London's work as a fabric merchant in Richmond, Virginia, in the 1840s and 1850s.

London's correspondence and financial documents are dated 1839-1861, with the bulk dated 1844-1853. He corresponded with fabric dealers and other businessmen in New York and Virginia and received receipts from merchants in New York City, all concerning fabrics and related items such as buttons and patterns. During London's visits to Europe in the early 1850s, his brother John provided updates about business in Richmond; another correspondent, John H. Tyler, utilized a code in his letters from May-July 1852. Other correspondents requested business partnerships, discussed shipments of goods, and proposed payment methods. The collection also includes shipping receipts, accounts, and a copy of Daniel H. London's will.

The papers also contain an account book recording an anonymous author's financial relationships with businesses and individuals in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and other places in the South from 1865-1910. Around 134 pages of entries list individuals' and companies' debits and credits; several customers are listed on each page, and many have only debits recorded. Those who compensated the author did so with cash, labor, and merchandise. Later entries often include annotations referring to Sprague's Collection Agency of Chicago, Illinois, and at least one notes a settlement issued by a superior court. These accounts are followed by lists of accounts with Snow, Church & Co. of Baltimore, Maryland, 1890-1891 (2 pages); claims in the hands of Dun's Agency, 1887-1890 (1 page); and claims in an attorney's hands, 1889-1890 (2 pages).

This collection contains correspondence, poetry, financial records, and other items related to the medical career of George A. Taber, a homeopathic physician who attended and taught at the University of Michigan and practiced in New York and Virginia in the late 19th century.

This collection (0.25 linear feet) contains correspondence, financial records, patient visiting records, poetry, and other items related to the medical career of George A. Taber, a homeopathic physician, who attended and taught at the University of Michigan and practiced in New York and Virginia in the late 19th century.

The Correspondence series (36 items) contains 33 letters to George A. Taber, as well as 3 personal and professional letters written by Taber. Taber's grandfather, Gamaliel Taber, provided family news from New Bedford, Massachusetts, and occasionally discussed his work as a coffin maker. Many letters pertain to Taber's assistant professorship at the University of Michigan Homeopathic Medical School, to Taber's private practices, and to 19th-century homeopathic medicine. One correspondent commented on an article that Taber had contributed to a medical journal, and another wrote a case report on a patient treated with picric acid. Samuel A. Jones discussed clinical cases in Ann Arbor, Michigan, developments at the university's medical school, and the economics of medical practice. George A. Taber also wrote 2 brief personal letters to his future wife, Caroline L. Crowell, and 1 draft letter to a professional acquaintance.

The Letter Book (approximately 85 pages) includes personal and professional letters that George A. Taber wrote from March 1875-December 1895, in which he discussed his experiences in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and his private practices in New York and Virginia.

The collection's 3 Account and Cash Books belonged to George A. Taber and pertain to his medical practices and to his personal finances. Taber kept Patient Visiting Records in 2 volumes, each of which contains printed reference information for homeopathic physicians. Taber's manuscript notes record the names of his patients, dates and types of patients' visits, fees charged, and remedies prescribed.

The Poetry series (8 items) consists of brief verses, including a poem about South Carolina around the time of secession. Samuel A. Jones wrote a poem entitled "The Yankee," and George A. Taber dedicated one poem to Carrie L. Crowell.

Four Pamphlets concerning homeopathy and physicians are housed in the Book Division.

The Ephemera series contains 3 items: a photographic identity card for George A. Taber, a blank invoice from "Drs. Jones & Taber" with manuscript notes on the back, and a card with statistics comparing the use of allopathy and homeopathy at an almshouse in Denver, Colorado.

This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, writings, documents, and other material related to Thomas Hill Hubbard of Utica, New York, and his sons Frederick and Robert.

This collection contains correspondence, writings, documents, and other material related to Thomas Hill Hubbard of Utica, New York, and his sons Frederick and Robert.

The collection's Correspondence is divided into two subseries. Chronological Correspondence (63 items) consists of personal letters to and between various members of the Hubbard family, dated December 12, 1803-April 9, 1902; most of the material is dated 1811-1858. Many letters pertain to personal and family news and travel. The series includes correspondence between Thomas Hill Hubbard and his wife Phebe; from Frederick Hubbard to his parents, Thomas Hill and Phebe Hubbard; and between the children of Thomas Hill and Phebe Hubbard. The subseries also contains incoming letters to "Philinda" from siblings, cousins, and a niece, who wrote in the mid- to late 1850s.

The Letter Books subseries is comprised of 6 volumes.

1. The first letter book contains around 99 pages of extracts from letters by Reverend Robert Hubbard (dated June 1810-May 24, 1840), who discussed religious topics. A poem by Grace D. Litchfield for her grandmother (December 16, 1869) and an unknown writer's poem for their mother ([December] 1888) are laid into the volume.

2. The second letter book has a few outgoing business letters by Thomas Hill Hubbard (July 10, 1841-July 7, 1842, 9 pages), but mostly contains outgoing letters by Robert J. Hubbard about matters related Thomas Hill Hubbard's estate (May 27, 1859-September 11, 1869, 362 pages).

3-4. The first of 2 letter books belonging to Frederick Hubbard contains outgoing letters and financial accounts pertaining to his work for the Northern Indiana Railroad in South Bend and La Porte, Indiana (March 3, 1851-June 18, 1852, 457 pages). His second letter book (June 18, 1852-November 10, 1854, 464 pages) is comprised outgoing letters and financial accounts pertaining to his work for the Northern Indiana Railroad in La Porte, Indiana, and the Michigan Southern Railroad in Clinton, Michigan.

5. One volume contains outgoing business correspondence of Litchfield & Co., often signed by C. H. Manson and E. Darwin Litchfield (letter book "J," February 12, 1857-April 29, 1860, 366 pages), and additional letters by Robert J. Hubbard about his father's estate (June 21, 1861-May 8, 1871, 387 pages).

6. Robert J. Hubbard kept a letter book with outgoing correspondence to family members and acquaintances (November 20, 1855-January 1872, 344 pages). He most frequently discussed finances, property, and business affairs.

The Diaries and Journals series (30 items) pertains to Frances Elizabeth Hubbard and Frederick Hubbard. Frances Elizabeth Hubbard began her two diaries on November 27, 1835 (around 140 pages), and April 25, 1836 (around 100 pages). She commented on her daily experiences, social activities, and travels in and around Richmond, Virginia, and Middletown, New York. The first volume also includes 4 pages of financial records and a list of names.

The Frederick Hubbard travel journals consist of 23 slim bound volumes (approximately 50 pages each), which together comprise a detailed account of Hubbard's travels in the United States and the Caribbean between March 1842 and October 1855. He often traveled on the New York & Erie Railroad.

An additional 5 volumes of writings by Frederick Hubbard recount a Grand Tour of Europe and the East between 1855 and 1857. He created the manuscript later in his life, by copying his earlier travel notes into blank books. He provided detailed observations and descriptions of locations in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Madeira, Malta, Palestine, Rome, Sicily, Spain, Egypt, Nubia, England, Syria, and other areas. Hubbard contributed original illustrations and tipped relevant engravings, prints, and maps into the books. Linnaeus Shecut II transcribed and edited the 5-volume manuscript in Notes of Travel in Europe and the East in the Years 1855-1856 and 1857: a Yankee Engineer Abroad (Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007).

The Writings series contains approximately 50 compositions, including groups of school essays, descriptions about Florida locales, and book proposals. Robert J. Hubbard composed around 40 of the school compositions at Utica Academy in the mid-1840s. Also included are notes on the history of Christianity; poetry; a manuscript copy of extracts from the Biblical gospels; and a personalized, alphabetical subject index, written in a volume printed for that purpose, belonged to Edward B. Hubbard and Robert J. Hubbard in the 1840s.

Documents and Accounts include Land Documents, Financial Records, and a Passport. The Land Documents subseries contains 2 items: an indenture (1841) and a book recording the disposition and dispensation of lands that belonged to the estate of Thomas H. Hubbard in 1857, with notes dated as late as the early 1880s. Financial Records (49 items) consist of a ledger regarding property and real estate assets in multiple states in the 1830s and 1840s and receipts made out to various persons, including Robert J. Hubbard and his wife, in 1868. The receipts concern various types of household items and services. The Passport dates between 1854 and 1887 and includes documentation from Europe and northern Africa.

The Published Material series is divided into two subseries. The Pamphlets and Tables subseries includes two pamphlets, "A Short and Easy Method with the Deists" by Charles Leslie (1830) and "Conrad and Medora; or, Harlequin Corsair and the Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea" by William Brough (undated). A printed table, "Table of Ranges of Temperature on a Journey up the Nile, and through the 'Long Desert' and 'Syria.' January to June, 1857," is also included. The A Yankee Engineer Abroad subseries contains digital versions of Notes of Travel in Europe and the East in the Years 1855-1856 and 1857: a Yankee Engineer Abroad, ed. Linnaeus Shecut II (Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007).