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

This collection is made up of correspondence, legal documents, financial records, school essays, ephemera, and other materials related to the family and descendants of Maskell Ewing of Radnor, Pennsylvania. The bulk relates to Maskell Ewing and his son, Maskell Cochran Ewing.

This collection is made up of correspondence, legal documents, financial records, school essays, ephemera, and other materials related to the family and descendants of Maskell Ewing of Radnor, Pennsylvania. The bulk relates to Maskell Ewing and his son, Maskell Cochran Ewing.

The Ewing family correspondence dates between 1784 and 1937, though the bulk falls between 1789 and 1845, with later groups dating from the Civil War and the mid-20th century. The earliest items include letters from Elinor Gardiner Hunter to her son James, written in the late 18th century, and incoming correspondence addressed to Maskell Ewing (1758-1825), often related to his financial affairs. Throughout the 1820s, Maskell Cochran Ewing (1806-1849) received letters from his mother and sisters while he studied at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. These letters reflect his military education and document women's lives in rural Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. Maskell Cochran Ewing occasionally wrote letters from the academy, and received letters from former classmates in the years immediately following his graduation. Several letters addressed to Maskell Cochran Ewing date from the Civil War.

The Ewing family's diaries, journals, school books, and a sketchbook primarily belonged to Maskell Cochran Ewing and James Hunter Ewing. One of Maskell Cochran's journals contains notes from a surveying expedition for the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal (1828). James Hunter Ewing composed 3 journals during the Civil War era.

Legal and financial documents comprise the bulk of the collection, with much of the material relating to the financial, legal, and real estate affairs of Maskell Ewing, with some items concerning Maskell Cochran Ewing's military career. Maskell Cochran Ewing kept a series of account books in 1859, intended for student use. Also of note is a set of United States debt certificates for goods seized for use by the Continental Army between 1780 and 1783. Bonds, receipts, financial records, and legal documents related to specific disputes also appear in the collection.

The Ewing family papers also include essays on many different topics, a manuscript map of West Point, and ephemera postcards, photographs, printed materials, and calling cards.

The Benjamin and William Oliver Vaughan papers consist of miscellaneous documents relating to the business affairs of Benjamin Vaughan and a business account book from his son, William O. Vaughan. Benjamin and William were both merchants in Hallowell, Maine.

The collection is comprised of 143 letters and financial documents kept by Benjamin Vaughan and one account book kept by William Oliver Vaughan. The correspondence (19 items) dates from 1774 to 1830 and are related to business matters; many of the letters are fragments. The documents date from 1786 to 1803 and are largely miscellaneous receipts, accounts, and other financial records. The collection contains correspondence and documents respecting business deals, the purchase of goods, and debts; accounts; land agreements; a list of publications; a geometrical drawing; and recipes for industrial goods.

William Oliver Vaughan's account book for 1816 is a record of personal and business expenses. William wrote daily entries, many of which include his expenses. Most notes record only amounts paid or received, with the name of the other party. Some entries some provide information about products such as "Buffaloe skins," clothing, hay, beef, oil, flour, lumber, and various services. Vaughan also kept trip notes, such as for his frequent week-long visits to Boston; he included rates for the stage, food, lodging, and personal items. A few pages in November and October contain written receipts or IOU's signed by various persons to Vaughan.

The account book itself is partially a farmer's almanac for New England with 6 printed pages at the front with information about eclipses, military fines, college vacations, a simple interest table, medical lectures, and lists of local yearly and quarterly meetings of The Society of Friends. An illustrated printed page introduces each month, and displays a list of holidays, a quote about the month, and detailed astronomical calculations.

This account book documents the financial transactions of the Ractcliff family of Vere, Jamaica, from 1775-1786, as they managed sugar plantations, enslaved laborers, and estate disputes. The Exeter Plantation is the principal nexus of activity, but the volume also relates to Greenwich Plantation and Harmony Hall, all in Vere. The Ractcliffs also had accounts with Rockland Farm, Tom King's Plantation, and Carver Plantation. Information relating to inheritance and estates from the Read and Ractcliff families is also present.

This account book documents the financial transactions of the Ractcliff family of Vere, Jamaica, from 1775-1786, as they managed sugar plantations, enslaved laborers, and estate disputes. The Exeter Plantation is the principal nexus of activity, but the volume also relates to Greenwich Plantation and Harmony Hall, all in Vere. The Ractcliffes had accounts with Rockland Farm, Tom King's Plantation, and Carver Plantation. Information relating to inheritance and estates from the Read and Ractcliff families is also present.

The volume begins with a two-page copy of an inventory of Tristram Ractcliff's estate in Clarendon Parish, prepared according to an order from Edward Trelawny on February 27, 1745. The inventory lists his household furniture and wearing apparel; his bonds, notes and outstanding debts; 28 enslaved men, women, and children; and horses, mares, asses, mules and cattle. Later entries relate to estate accounts of the Mackenzie family, seemingly through Tristram Ractcliff's mother Elizabeth (Mackenzie) Ractcliff, as well as his father's estate (for examples see pp. 17-18, 108, 115).

The volume's daybook accounts (192 numerated pages) begin on August 31, 1775, in Vere, Jamaica, with lists of names, expenses, and the nature of the financial matter, extending through May 17, 1786. The entries can be sporadic, sometimes with several pages recorded in one day before jumping ahead several months and occasionally more than a year between entries. References to a waste book and numerical notations in the margins indicate this daybook was part of a robust financial accounting system.

The volume contains records of routine transactions relating to plantation management, including tax payments; insurance; the purchase and sale of enslaved people; maintenance of equipment; purchase of supplies; freight and wharfage; and payment for specialized laborers like carpenters, penkeepers, overseers, wheelwrights, sawyers, blacksmiths, coopers, masons, bookkeepers, and more. Accounts relating to materiel and labor for sugar production, rum distilling, and mills provide information about the kinds of industry supported by the plantations. Sugar, rum, cotton, corn, and livestock accounting can be found throughout.

Financial documentation relating to enslaved people reveals some details about their lives. Entries relating to medical treatment speak to health care and costs, and accounts relating to food, clothing, and fabric purchases glean light on material conditions. For example, an entry for June 10, 1781 (p. 148), concerns a payment for George Henderson to "negotiate for provisions" for the enslaved laborers, and an entry on October 16, 1784 (p. 153), relates to a dispute over a case of ling fish and two kegs of split pease that were deemed "too dear for Plantation use." The account book also documents slave labor, with many accounts relating to the rent and hire of enslaved laborers and others detailing specific tasks, such as the account with Carver's Plantation for the hire of enslaved people for "Billing, Hoeing & Holeing 12 Acres" and "Clearing & Burning off Acres of Land" (p. 30). Some of the hired enslaved laborers performed skilled jobs like sawyers, masons, tailors, boilers, and bricklayers. Several entries relate to Billy Read, a mixed-race carpenter and wheelwright, who performed work or acquired rum and sundries from the Ractcliffs (see pp. 22, 33, 39, 109, 139, and 148).

Several entries hint at resistance efforts of enslaved men and women as well as the brutal punishments such attempts wrought. An entry for October 18, 1775, lists a payment in regards to "Candis a Runaway Negroe" (p. 11). A number of accounts appear to relate to the trial of Kent, a blacksmith who may have been enslaved (pp. 156 and 171). On October 29, 1784, Exeter Plantation hired a constable "for warning a Jury to try Kent & Quaco" (p. 174), and a payment on January 28, 1784, related to "Kent who was hanged" (p.167). On April 7, 1786, the Ractcliffs sold Quaco, "to be ship'd off for attempting to fire Exeter" (p. 185). An entry for January 11, 1779, reflects payments pertinent to a trial of Fortune and Congo Hector who Ractcliff prosecuted for stealing sheep (p. 118).

Occasional construction accounts and personal purchases shed light on the lifestyles of the Ractcliff family. For example, acquisitions of satin and lace (p. 6), jewelry and clothing (pp. 21-22, 27, 28, 48, 55), and a phaeton (p. 107) provide details about the family's fashion. Meanwhile, accounts like the one dated February 2, 1776, for the framing of a 47 foot long house at the Exeter Plantation with a "Piazza all round" and four windows with shutters, give a glimpse into the built architecture at the plantation (p. 36). The financial affairs of the family are also reflected in their handling of bonds, interest, bonds of exchange, and notes throughout the volume.

Several entries reflect the political and military unrest of the period. One from January 18, 1777 (p. 92), relates to the recovery of insurance for a shipment of sugar that was taken prize by Americans in July 1775. A note in an entry for February 25, 1780 (p. 146), reveals ships sailing in convoys. On January 28, 1784 (p. 167), Ractcliff recorded supplying cattle to the government "in Martial Law."

Additional information in the volume relates to Dorothy (Read) Ractcliff's inheritance of her father, Ennis Read's, estate, including property and enslaved laborers. Accounts refer to legal disputes, seemingly on a contested inheritance. Entries indicate the hiring of lawyers, noting the estate was "being illegally detained" (pp. 82-85, 124), and transactions that relate to serving an ejectment include the replacement of clothing and tack ruined by paint as well as doctors' fees for one of the men who served the ejectment being beaten (p. 103).

The inside front cover bears the inscription "Mary Eleanor Elisabeth Bellairs" who may have lived ca. 1841 to 1910, and appears to have been the great-granddaughter of Mary (Read) Mackenzie and Peter Mackenzie, Tristram Ractcliff's sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

The Ralph Forrester account book (62 pages) contains the accounts of a Pennsylvania farmer who supplied food to the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. The accounts document agricultural and economic activity in rural Pennsylvania at the end of the 18th century.

The Ralph Forrester account book (62 pages) contains the accounts of a Pennsylvania farmer who supplied food to the Continental army during the Revolutionary war.

• Sales of livestock (horses, pigs, and cows), meat (beef, bacon, mutton, and veal), and produce (cabbages, Indian corn, rye, flower, buckwheat, flax, potatoes, turnips, and hay).
• Payments, both in cash and commodities, for labor (chopping wood, making shingles, splitting rails, fencing, harvesting, hulling grains, "ditching", and cider making).
• Receipts for food, household equipment, textiles, and other supplies (shoes, whiskey, clothes, guns, linen, bonnets, tobacco, lime, bricks, and nails).

The book contains accounts for Forrester, many of his family members, and several local laborers, doctors, and farmers. The detailed and numerous accounts provide historical evidence for a late-18th century rural economy, where work was exchanged for cash and goods. Many entries document the role of women in the labor force. Forrester lists payments to women for doing house work; making clothes, handkerchiefs, and yarn; farming chores, such as planting seeds; and nursing the sick.

• Documents for supplying livestock for General Nathanael Greene and Captain Josiah Hait of Colonel Spencer's Division, February 19, [1782?], (page 2).
• Documents for grain sales to feed Lieutenant Colonel William Hull's horses, 1791, (page 17).
• Documents for Forrester's partnership with Joseph Clark (page 16).
• Accounts for Tamer Gregory, Forrester's mother (page 34).
• A table for annual grain production for the Forrester farm from 1785-1788 (page 37).

This 10-page account book contains a register of forfeited Pennsylvanian estates formerly belonging to persons attainted of treason by the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Benedict Arnold and Hugh Ferguson are among the estate owners in the volume. William McMullin received payments for the purchased estates largely between 1780 and 1782, with several transactions paid for using Continental currency. The register contains information about the size and scope of the estates, the date and amount of the sales, and to whom the forfeited estates were sold. A fragment from the February 13, 1779, issue of the Pennsylvania Packet newspaper was pasted to the inside covers of the volume.

The advertisements that are visible on the Pennsylvania Packet include lots and estates to be sold by public vendue or sale; miscellaneous items or merchandise advertised for purchase; rewards posted for stolen moneys or goods; and inquiries regarding employment.

• Army, British
• Arnold, Benedict
• Eve, Oswald
• Fagan, Lawrence
• Ferguson, Hugh
• Fox, John
• Griswold, Joseph
• Gordon, Thomas
• Jeans, Daniel
• Knight, John
• Kearfly, John
• Pistorius, Abraham
• Roberts, Nathan
• Robeson, John
• Shoemaker, Samuel
• Taylor, Isaac
• Williams, Daniel

This collection contains 2 volumes of financial figures, notes, and accounts kept by Philadelphia Quaker merchant Thomas Wistar and his partners; the account books record commercial and personal income and expenditures.

This collection contains 2 volumes of financial figures, notes, and accounts kept by Philadelphia Quaker merchant Thomas Wistar and his partners; the account books record commercial and personal income and expenditures. One account book is for Adams & Wistar (127 pages, 1783-1800); the other is for Thomas Wistar (139 pages, 1791-1801).

The Adams & Wistar Account Book contains financial accounts, receipts, and detailed invoices for 1783-1800, as well as a loose document dated January 17, 1793. Most entries pertain to cotton and fabrics, though the firm handled goods of many kinds. The loose item is a copy of a legal document in which Adams ceded his interests in the venture and transferred the firm's assets and debts to Wistar. This document also includes a record of outstanding balances as of November 30, 1792.

The Thomas Wistar Account Book dates from October 14, 1791, to March 25, 1801. Early entries contain Wistar's accounts with buyers for a variety of goods, especially fabric. Notes from late 1791 concern trade with ships sailing into Philadelphia, often from Liverpool, and include calculations based on exchange rates between American dollars and pounds sterling. Thomas Wistar frequently dealt with members of his family, including his brother Caspar.

The bulk of these accounts are brief notes of expenses paid or received, though Wistar occasionally provided more detailed remarks. One early note states that goods are to be paid for in hams and that they are "to be deliverd at Philaa. packs in Casks in one week after the navigation opens in the Spring" (December 2, 1791). Another mentions the city's 1793 yellow fever epidemic ([September-November 1793]).

Later transactions concern Wistar's personal finances, including some labeled "House Expence" and "Building Expence." One of these records Wistar's tax payment of January 23, 1793.

The accounts also concern Wistar's estate and land holdings in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, and in New Jersey. The first page of the volume contains a memorandum: "Robert McKeighan is to have my Tract of land containing about 303 acres situate in Mifflin County" (January 30, 1793). Another note pertains to a payment for a "Lot in High Street… Legacy left me by my Father for my half part at the same rate purchased my brother Caspar's half part" (March 25, 1801). The account book mentions ships including the Adriana, the Atlantic, the Birmingham Packet, the Clothier, the Dolly, and the Harmony.

This account book contains financial records pertaining to the sale of food, alcohol, leather and skins, and general merchandise from around 1783 to 1859.

This account book contains financial records pertaining to the sale of food, alcohol, leather and skins, and general merchandise from around 1783 to 1859. The first page has a list of items purchased of George Walter Farrington "for Use of the Store" on May 1, 1783, including an iron stove, furniture, and measuring devices.

The general store sold a variety of goods, such as foodstuffs and alcohol, shot, powder, thread, and shoes. The earliest accounts reflect individual purchases, organized chronologically (March 12, 1783-May 12, 1785).

These accounts are followed by a separate series of entries pertaining to Richard Powell and Charles Willess, who sold animal hides and skins in 1799, and miscellaneous accounts between the bookkeeper and various individuals (1804-1805). One of the latter records concerns transactions with an African American man named Elius, who paid for clothes and meat by performing manual labor. The remainder of the volume contains financial transactions related to food, wood, and other materials (1825-late 1850s).

This volume contains invoices and accounts related to London-based merchant James Douglas, who shipped fabrics, woven goods, and other items between Great Britain and the United States during the 1780s. The bulk of the records document the amount and cost of goods shipped on behalf of various firms and consignment agents. Later accounts reflect the shipment of tobacco, indigo, rice, and other goods from the United States to Great Britain.

This volume (329 pages) contains invoices and accounts related to London-based merchant James Douglas, who shipped fabrics, woven goods, and other items between Great Britain and the United States during the 1780s. The bulk of the records (317 pages) pertain to shipments of cloth goods from Great Britain to the United States between April 1784 and August 1786. His goods included domestic and imported cloths, handkerchiefs, blankets, and other finished products. Daily records include the name of the ship carrying the goods from London or Liverpool to North American ports, including Charleston, South Carolina. Some records include the price of related items such as buttons and tassels. One entry concerns a shipment of books (pp. 202-204).

The remaining accounts (12 pages) pertain to shipments of tobacco from Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, to British ports between January 1, 1789, and July 7, 1792. These accounts, recorded sporadically, primarily pertain to the value of the tobacco and, less frequently, other items such as rice and indigo.

This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, legal documents, financial records, and other items related to multiple generations of the Hasbrouck family of Ogdensburg, New York. The materials concern land ownership, politics and historical events, family news, genealogy, and other subjects.

This collection is made up of approximately 3.5 linear feet of correspondence and documents, 21 diaries and commonplace books, 4 school-related items, around 40 printed and ephemeral items, and genealogical materials related to multiple generations of the Hasbrouck family of Ogdensburg, New York, between 1784 and 1940.

The correspondence and documents reflect the activities of many Hasbrouck family members, with an emphasis on Louis Hasbrouck, Sr., Louis Hasbrouck, Jr., and Levi Hasbrouck. The earliest items, written from 1802 to the mid-1830s, center around Louis Hasbrouck, Sr., and his wife Catharine, who wrote to one another and who received letters from their siblings and other family members. Louis's correspondents often provided news of Guilford, New York, and sometimes commented on political issues, particularly during the War of 1812. The Hasbroucks' correspondents included members of the Graham and Lasher families. Many of Catharine's letters to her husband concern her visits to and life in "New Hurley."

Approximately 1.5 linear feet of the elder Louis Hasbrouck's incoming and outgoing personal and business letters, financial and legal documents, surveying records, maps, and other items, pertain largely to land ownership in New York. Many of Hasbrouck's correspondents wrote from Albany, Schenectady, and New York City. A significant number of items concern the finances and land holdings of Stephen Van Rensselaer. Some correspondents discussed the younger Louis Hasbrouck's involvement in the New York Militia in the early 1840s.

Much of the correspondence dated from the mid-1830s to the 1850s is made up of personal letters between Louis and Catharine's children, largely consisting of letters to Louis Hasbrouck, Jr. The Hasbrouck siblings shared news of Ogdensburg while their brother studied at Union College in Schenectady, New York, in the mid-1830s.

The later correspondence, written from the 1850s to 1870s, is comprised primarily of letters addressed to Levi Hasbrouck of New Paltz, New York; Levi Hasbrouck, his grandson; and Louis Hasbrouck, Jr. The elder Levi wrote to his Ogdensburg relations about life in New Paltz, often providing news of family members and offering advice to his grandson. The younger Levi Hasbrouck corresponded with his siblings, particularly his half-brother Philip, who lived in Chicago, Illinois. Approximately 150 letters, invoices, and receipts of Levi Hasbrouck relate primarily to his purchases and other financial transactions between 1870 and 1882.

Three items from the 20th century include 2 letters that Thomas C. [Nakatsu] wrote to "Mr. Miller," a former traveling companion, about life in Japan. His letter of August 14, 1902, regards his life in a Buddhist temple and the relative absence of Christians in the country. His letter of January 1, 1926, contains reminiscences about the men's friendship. The final item is a letter that "Helen" received from a friend visiting England and France; the letter encloses several newspaper clippings about Bournemouth, England (March 15, 1928).

Six account books include an unsigned day book (October 9, 1812-May 25, 1813) and a day book belonging to L. Hasbrouck and L. Hasbrouck, Jr. (1867-1877); personal account books belonging to Louis Hasbrouck, Jr. (1833-1834, 1834, and 1868-1871); and a rent book belonging to E. B. Hasbrouck (1843-1853). Louis Hasbrouck, Jr., kept a memorandum book around 1840; the original pages have been torn out of the volume and the remaining notes are dated 1929-1939. Two items concern land: a field book concerning surveys of Canton Township, New York (undated), and a "Land Book" that belonged to Louis Hasbrouck, Jr. Other materials are record books for the La Madre Company, which was involved in the ownership and operation of mines in the late 19th century, and the St. Agnes Society, which was affiliated with an Ogdensburg church (1885-1912).

Additional groups of items include military records for Louis Hasbrouck's service in the New York Militia from the 1830s to 1850s; later copies of 18th and 19th century land surveys done in De Peyster, New York, and elsewhere; legal documents of an action between members of the Hasbrouck family and Asa Day in the mid-19th century; wills dated in the mid-1920s; postcards addressed to Louis Hasbrouck from the mid-1870s to the late 1890s; and indentures and other documents regarding the inheritance and later ownership of property belonging to Louis Hasbrouck, Sr.

• Three diaries by E. B. Hasbrouck, January 1875-January 1889 (with some gaps), and a record of sermons preached by "Mr. Carter" from April 5, 1822-April 7, 1826.
• Two unsigned diaries, concentrating on the authors' religious views and activities (August 2, 1835-February 4, 1855, and January 10, 1836-July 17, 1836).
• An unsigned diary ending with a note about the death of Louis Hasbrouck, Jr., made by one of his sons (May 13, 1855-April 1880)
• Jane Hasbrouck diary, October 1852-June 1897, with occasional remarks on the Civil War and genealogical notes.
• Eleven diaries of Levi Hasbrouck, containing daily entries between July 1, 1873, and May 27, 1882. Hasbrouck wrote primarily about his social activities, everyday occurrences, his father and his siblings, his travels, and his involvement in business activities. He very briefly discussed the presidential elections of 1876 and 1880, and recounted the final illness and death of his father in April 1880.
• Two commonplace books of Ellen Mary Hasbrouck (1827-1863) and Laura M. Hasbrouck (1875).

• One volume concerning basic arithmetic belonged to Elizabeth Bevier Hasbrouck around the early 19th century.
• One volume containing penmanship exercises and similar writings from young students (1805).
• One schoolbook containing notes and essays about classical history and literature composed or copied by Louis Hasbrouck, Jr., while he studied at Union College in 1834.
• One list of school assignments recorded by Louis Hasbrouck, Jr., 1831-1834.

Printed and ephemeral items (approximately 40 items, not counting duplicates) include published materials such as newspaper articles, speeches, newsletters, an almanac, a visitors' guide to Boston, Massachusetts, and many advertisements and notices. Additional items include a blank subscription form for The Little Corporal and a related mock commission for Bevier Hasbrouck, printed illustrations of several types of canoes, a printed map of St. Lawrence County, New York, and several sheets of unused stationery featuring an illustration of a storefront. Thirty-five newspapers include copies of and fragments from American Traveller, Boy's Journal, Morning Glory, the Philadelphia Saturday News, and other papers printed in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1850s.

The Hasbrouck family genealogical materials (approximately 15 items, not counting duplicates) include obituary notices, newspaper clippings, and manuscript notes. A bound volume contains extensive notes copied from a family record originally written by Abraham Hasbrouck, father of Joseph Hasbrouck and grandfather of Louis Hasbrouck, Sr.

This collection is comprised of correspondence, diaries, documents, financial papers, and other materials of the family of stonecutter and marble worker John M. Ramsey, his wife Cyanea, and their children. The family lived in Greenfield, New Hampshire; Milwaukee and Port Washington, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Around 60 Civil War letters and one diary of the Ramseys' son Henry, who served in the 16th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, and around 10 letters of a cousin Ridgeway P. Cragin, of the 32nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, are included. Particularly notable are 96 daily diaries of the Ramsey daughters Emily S. and Cyanea H., kept largely while they lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1870s-1920s.

This collection is comprised of 1,182 letters; 98 diaries; 210 documents; 468 receipts, checks, and account books; seven school papers and writings; three photographs; 34 printed and ephemeral items; and other materials of the family of stonecutter and marbleworker John M. Ramsey, his wife Cyanea, and their children. The family lived in Greenfield, New Hampshire; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Around 60 Civil War letters and one diary of the Ramseys' son Henry, who served in the 16th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, and around 10 letters of a cousin Ridgeway P. Cragin, of the 32nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, are included. Particularly notable are 96 daily diaries of the Ramsey daughters Emily S. and Cyanea H., kept largely while they lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1870s-1920s.

The Correspondence series includes 1,182 items and opens with the 1827-1830s letters of Caroline and Hannah Ramsey of Greenfield, New Hampshire, and a sister, Sarah Marshall, of Augusta, Maine. A group of letters pertain to the courtship and marriage of John M. Ramsey and Cyanea Stevens--including a letter from Cyanea's parents Lemuel and Reliance about Cyanea's request for their approval of the wedding (August 5, 1836). Letters of the 1850s include correspondence of Collins Hinckley Stevens, regarding the death of Cyanea's mother Reliance in 1858, and incoming letters to Emily Ramsey from her schoolmates. A selection of letters to Emily from E. H. Langdon, a schoolteacher in Milwaukee, are present.

In the 1860s, sisters Emily, Frances "Fannie", and Cyanea carried on correspondence with each other and with friends and family, including:

• "Hannah" from the Baraboo Female Seminary (Sauk County, Wisconsin) in 1863
• Fannie to Emily while visiting Stoughton in 1863; Fannie's correspondence while attending the Ripley Female College, 1865-1866; her letters while staying with family in Greenfield, New Hampshire; and correspondence while in Chicago for medical reasons
• Ora Stevens in Nashville and Louis H. Stevens of Manchester, Vermont
• Friend "Louise" in Hartford, Connecticut (who moved to Bay City, Michigan, and married Edwin Wood)
• John M. Ramsey's nephew David Butler Ramsey (1829-1899), from Chicago and Milwaukee, many written while working in the law offices of Palmer, Hooker & Pitkin, later Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
• Female friends and family to Emily and Fannie, written from Evanston, Illinois; Milwaukee and Ozaukee, Wisconsin; and Poultney, Vermont

The Ramsey family correspondence includes around 60 Civil War letters of Corporal Henry C. Ramsey of the 16th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry. He wrote from Camp Randall, the steamship Planet, Camp Sabin, Camp near Grand Junction, Camp near Memphis, Camp near Lake Providence, Louisiana, Camp Randall, and Vicksburg. In the mid-1870s, Henry was admitted to the Michigan Asylum for the Insane at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the family received letters from Dr. E. H. VanDensen about his progress, especially around 1876. Around 10 letters of a cousin Paul Ridgeway Cragin, of the 32nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, are included.

Cyanea's and Emily's other correspondents from the 1870s to the 1930s include but are not limited to:

• Friends, cousins, and other relatives, including the Stevenses in Vermont; Persis Moore of Niles, Michigan; "Augusta" of Allegan and Otsego, Michigan; Almira Marshall in Owasso, Michigan; Frederick Marshall of Saginaw, Michigan; "Lizzie" in Woburn, Boston, and Framingham; Elvira Elizabeth Ramsey in Greenfield, New Hampshire; "David" in Greenfield; Murray J. Hoppock of Fremont, Michigan; and many others
• William H. Ramsey, Jr., a cousin, employed at the Ozaukee County Malting Company at Port Washington, Wisconsin, in the late 1880s; and as Secretary and Treasurer of the Wisconsin Chair Company in the 1890s
• Grand Rapids attorneys More & Wilson and bankers Edward M. Deane and Company, following the death of their father in 1897
• Gertrude P. Newton (Mrs. E. B. Newton) from Newton's Ranch, Colusa, Kansas, early 1900s
• Cousins James and Sarah (Saidee) Baker, from Ancón, Canal Zone, Panama, 1921-1935

The Diaries series includes 98 daily diaries, 96 of which were kept by sisters Cyanea H. and Emily S. Ramsey between 1873 and 1935, while the two lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The remaining two diaries include Henry C. Ramsey's Civil War diary for the year 1864 and a partial 1921 diary kept by [Howard Stevens?] in a pre-printed 1894 pocket journal. Henry Ramsey's 1864 pocket diary includes entries covering the 16th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry's movements from Vicksburg to Tennessee, to Georgia, with accounts of Kennesaw Mountain and the battle of Atlanta. The diary also covers his experiences as part of Sherman's march to the sea.

The Documents series is made up of 210 legal and financial documents pertinent largely to land and property in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Michigan, between 1786 and 1919 (bulk 1825-1911). Additional items include tax documents, stock-related items, and other materials.

The Financial and Business Papers includes 300 receipts, around 160 bank checks, and eight account books. The receipts date between 1831 and 1928, pertaining largely to John M. Ramsey's marble and stonecutting business. Additional receipts relate to personal property and tax payments. The 160 checks are drawn largely from Grand Rapids, Michigan, banks between December 1869 and October 1880. The account books include:

• [John M. Ramsey?] Account Book, 1830-1836. Comprised largely of accounts related to farm labor (haying, plowing, tending stock, etc.) in Greenfield, New Hampshire.
• John M. Ramsey Ledgers and Account Books, 1854-1886 (7 vols.). Consisting of the accounts of John M. Ramsey's marble and stonecutting businesses. One undated, illustrated manuscript book of monuments designed by N. Merritt for J. M. Ramsey, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is included with the account books.

The collection's School Papers and Writings (7 items) include John M. Ramsey's teacher's book, November 1830-February 1831; a fragment of mathematical rules by J. M. Ramsey; a chronological table by Emily Ramsey, 1851; a reward of merit for Mary Ramsey; two penmanship exercises; and a manuscript issue of The Literary Chip Basket (vol. 111, no. 11), Port Washington, 1861, with list of contributors including Fanny Oatman and Emily Ramsey.

The Photographs series includes one carte-de-visite of Henry C. Ramsey of the 16th Wisconsin Infantry; and one carte-de-visite and one cabinet card of unidentified individuals.

The Ephemera and Printed Items series is made up of invitations, Nashua Manufacturing Company employee regulations (August 31, 1837), advertisements for marble and other products, and torn pages from the History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, ed. Hurd, 1885.

The collection also contains items pertinent to Genealogy (6 items) and an Address Book, Fragments, and Envelopes.