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This collection is made up of 16 letters, 17 documents and printed items, 58 photographs, and 4 photographic postcards related to the family of William J. Greening of Middletown, New York. A portion of the collection relates to a self-oiling axle he patented in 1907, including his copy of the official patent award. Most of the photographs depict his children; four show a meat market owned by the Greening family.

This collection is made up of 16 letters, 17 documents and printed items, 58 photographs, and 4 photographic postcards related to the family of William J. Greening of Middletown, New York. A portion of the collection relates to a self-oiling axle he patented in 1907. Most of the photographs depict his children; four show a meat market owned by the Greening family

The Correspondence series contains 13 letters, 2 wedding invitations, and one Christmas card. E. Treadwell of New York City wrote the first three letters to Hermann Brockaway of Poughkeepsie, New York, in June and September 1858, inquiring whether or not Brockaway would be able to make some repairs to Treadwell's ovens. Other early letters include one from Mary E. Gross of Nanuet, New York, to her cousin, Smith Nance of Newburgh, New York (April 4, 1872), and a letter from William J. Greening to his future wife, Huldah A. Stanton of Thompsonville, New York (May 11, 1885). Both letters provide family news.

The remaining 11 items relate to William J. Greening or the Greening Axle Company, which produced carriage axles in Middletown, New York. Three, including one from the United States Quartermaster General's Office (March 17, 1908), offer praise for Greening's self-oiling axle. Albert H. F. Seeger, a lawyer from Newburgh, New York, wrote Greening two letters in December 1916 and one in August 1917, regarding a broken Greening axle. Greening also received information from Henry C. McLear of the Carriage Builders' National Association about the group's upcoming exhibition (April 23, 1914). The correspondence series also contains a letter, written by an unidentified man named Aaron to his brother, that mentions the cost of installing parts on a three-seated wagon (March 30, 1915); wedding invitations for Greening's daughters Mabel (September 11, 1913) and Flora (October 14, 1919); and an undated Christmas card addressed to "Mrs. Greening."

The Documents, Financial Records, and Printed items series contains 17 items, of which 4 relate to William J. Greening and his children, including his daughter Flora's baptism certificate (June 11, 1905) and high school diploma (June 1913), and 2 of his daughter Hazel's report cards (undated). Nine items pertain to Greening's interest and involvement in the manufacture of wagon axles, such as 2 printed advertisements, 1 original advertisement illustration, 1 printed page of user testimonies, 2 printed items related to an exhibition held by the Carriage Builders' National Association in October 1913, 1 typed list of wagon factories in several states (3 pages, undated), and Greening's copy of United States patent number 851,201, issued for his "Lubrication Means for Axles or the Like," later manufactured and sold as the "Greening Axle" (April 23, 1907). The 4 remaining items include a notarized financial document reflecting the cost of quills, paper, and ink in Baltimore, Maryland (May 19, 1835); a typed copy of the last will and testament of William J. Greening's sister, Grace Ella Greening (August 30, 1927); a certificate for Ethel Mae Bird's (née Greening) lifetime membership in the Women's Christian Temperance Union (May 10, 1963); and an undated printed advertisement for Maple Park Farm in Ferndale, New York, owned by Mrs. James Gibbons Greening.

The Photographs series consists of 64 items, including 44 loose snapshots, 14 card photographs and portraits mounted in cardboard frames, 4 photographic postcards, and 2 negatives, taken in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The bulk of the photographs and postcards depict Hazel Greening and other members of the Greening family, including her parents, siblings, and a pet dog. One snapshot is of a "Greening Axle," invented by Hazel’s father. Many snapshots were taken in front of the family's home in Middletown, New York, and others by an unidentified lake. One postcard from "Frank H." to Hazel Greening shows a United States soldier; 2 of the remaining postcards are addressed to William J. Greening from his sons.

The framed photographs and card photographs are formal portraits of Greening family members, including 2 images of Flora in a wedding dress. One photograph shows a butcher standing in front of W.J. Greening's Market, New York. The negatives, including 1 glass plate negative, are of people standing inside and outside of Greening's meat market. The final item in the series is a box for "The Stanley" 6 ½" x 8 ½" dry plates, made by the Eastman Kodak Company.

The John Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur collection contains one copybook of official certificates, endorsements, and testimonies, and three original documents, used to prove his children's inheritance rights to his French estate.

The John Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur collection contains one copybook of official certificates, endorsements, and testimonies, and three original documents, used to prove his children's inheritance rights to his French estate. Crèvecoeur needed to provide documentation to the French government, because his children were born in America to a protestant American mother, and because he and his wife were married outside the Catholic Church.

The volume (147 pages) was assembled in 1786 with documents translated from the original English by Monsieur de Lisle. The volume opens with a table of contents that lists 47 documents, though the volume only contains the first 24 items. Pages 1-78 are primarily English language documents, and pages 79-140 are the French translations of these documents. Several documents, such as nos. 12 and 14, were originally in French and not translated into English. Crèvecoeur petitioned the French Consul General with copies of marriage and baptism records along with notarized accounts and public endorsements attesting to his children's legitimacy. Contributors included New York Governor George Clinton; clerk official of Orange County, New York, Thomas Moffat; the politician and jurist Robert R. Livingston; Mayor of New Haven Roger Sherman; Revolutionary War Colonel Jesse Woodhull; and numerous other notaries and officials from New York and Connecticut. Friends also offered testimony and accounts of the Crèvecoeur marriage, such as item 15, which contains letters from Dorothy and Verdine Elsworth, mentioning Crèvecoeur's wife in 1776.

The collection holds 3 original items with signatures and wax seals. The first two items are labeled No. 16 and No. 12, corresponding with document numbers in the copybook, and dated February 11, 1784, and February 5, 1785, respectively. Both are in French. The first document is an official copy of Crèvecoeur's commission as diplomat to New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The second item is a two-page document concerning the citizenship of Crèvecoeur's two sons. The third item, April 10, 1790, is a four-page document with an English translation, certifying that William Alexander St. John, Crèvecoeur's 17-year-old son, is an American citizen.