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

The Watkins and Livingston family scrapbook contains letters between members of the Watkins, Livingston, and Jay families; genealogical data recorded by Lucretia Elizabeth Hamersley Rylance; and miscellaneous drawings and newspaper clippings related to the families.

The Watkins and Livingston family scrapbook includes 94 items relating to the Watkins and Livingston families. Lucretia E. Hamersely Rylance created the scrapbook in 1882 and included family correspondence retrieved from her Aunt Beebee's attic as well as her own genealogical research.

The bulk of the collection consists of 69 letters, with many written between sisters Susan Symmes and Judith Watkins. The letters primarily regard family news and concerns, noting health, marriages, and social visits. Additional topics mentioned include the American Revolution, the death of Governor Dewitt Clinton, the Peggy Eaton scandal, Cherokee removal, the nullification crisis, bank and tariff struggles, the anniversary of Andrew Jackson's Battle of New Orleans, the Panic of 1837, African American servants, Fanny Kemble Butler, and Austrian exile Giovanni Albinola. Letters from John Jay and his descendants are also represented in the collection. With women from prominent families penning many of the letters, the correspondence also highlights women's relationships, reading habits, engagement with financial matters, and occasionally thoughts on political affairs.

The Watkins and Livingston family scrapbook also includes newspaper clippings, a family tree, a cabinet card, a pen and ink drawing of a scene from a fairy tale, and colored pen and ink drawings of family coats of arms. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information about each item.

The Eggleston family collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other items related to Ambrose Eggleston, Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston (or Egleston), Melville Eggleston (or Egleston), and Samuel Eggleston. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters to Ambrose Eggleston from family members, who responded to genealogical inquiries about their family histories.

The Eggleston family collection (0.5 linear feet) contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other items related to Ambrose Eggleston, Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston (or Egleston), Melville Eggleston (or Egleston), and Samuel Eggleston. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters to Ambrose Eggleston from family members, who responded to his genealogical inquiries about family history.

The bulk of the collection is made up of items collected by Ambrose Eggleston . The Ambrose Eggleston Correspondence subseries contains around 250 letters to Eggleston, dated September 14, 1850-December 13, 1864, and May 2, 1900. The bulk of the correspondence is dated 1859-1864. Eggleston received letters from over 131 family members, who provided information on Eggleston (and Egleston) family history. Eggleston regularly corresponded with Elijah Eggleston of Hartford, Connecticut, who shared news of his genealogical findings. One late letter pertains to Murray E. Poole's genealogical research, which he conducted after Ambrose Eggleston's death.

The Ambrose Eggleston Genealogies subseries (16 items) contains undated biographical sketches of, and notes about, various members of the Eggleston family and allied families. Two items pertain to Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston.

The Ambrose Eggleston Newspaper Clippings subseries (4 items) is made up of newspaper articles attributed to Elijah Eggleston, dated July 19, 1859-October 7, 1859. The articles concern historical publications, patent medicine, a murder case, and the Putnam Phalanx, a military unit.

The Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston series pertains to Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston (or Egleston) and his son Melville. The Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Correspondence subseries (17 items) contains 5 letters by Nathaniel H. Eggleston (December 20, 1841-September 5, 1859); 9 letters to Melville Eggleston (July 9, 1886-November 9, 1924), and a letter to "Mama" about a leg injury, including 2 diagrams (February 9, 1898); the series also contains 2 undated items. Nathaniel Eggleston and his wife Sarah wrote to family members and an acquaintance about life in Hartford, Connecticut, and in Madison, Wisconsin, after the family relocated in the 1850s. A letter to Eggleston's mother includes an announcement of Melville Eggleston's birth (July 27, 1845); one letter includes a newspaper clipping mentioning Nathaniel Eggleston's admission to the Union Congregational Church in Madison (July 22, 1859). Melville Eggleston received letters relating to subjects including his master's degree from Yale College (July 9, 1886), genealogical inquiries and family history, and club membership. Two undated items are a German-language postcard from "Lilian" to an uncle, and a typed extract of a letter by Nathaniel H. Eggleston.

Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Newspaper Clippings (12 unique items) include 10 unique obituaries for Reverend Nathaniel Hillyer Egleston, published during the week after his death in August 1912. Burrell's Press Clipping Bureau collected and mounted 8 of the clippings. The other articles relate to the death of William H. Sheldon (undated) and to a performance of Oedipus Rex at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City (April 28, 1914).

The Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Ephemera and Report Card (3 items) relate to Williams College. Items include an invitation to a "Class Day," a grade report for Nathaniel H. Egleston, and a commencement program for the class of 1906, which included Nathaniel Hillyer Egleston.

The Samuel Eggleston Documents series contains 13 land deeds and indentures (April 16, 1772-July 18, 1850) pertaining to land that Eggleston owned in Dutchess County, New York.

This volume contains 18th- and 19th-century manuscripts, newspaper clippings, notes, and ephemera related to Reverend Samuel Peters and his descendants. The material concerns religion, the history of Connecticut, genealogy, and other topics.

This volume contains 18th- and 19th-century manuscripts, newspaper clippings, notes, and ephemera related to Reverend Samuel Peters and his descendants. The material concerns religion, the history of Connecticut, genealogy, and other topics.

The first 7 pages mainly contain newspaper clippings; most are dated 1887-1889 and relate to the history of religious legislation ("blue laws") in colonial Connecticut. Authors frequently referred to the work of Samuel Peters, especially his General History of Connecticut, and to the possibility that Peters fabricated his account. One article concerns the maintenance of Jonathan Trumbull's war office in the late 19th century. Samuel Peters's autograph and a page of notes are also pasted into the volume.

The clippings are followed by a 6-page manuscript account of the history, settlement, and early families of Hebron, Connecticut; and a 6-page manuscript biography of Samuel Peters, focusing on his education and religious duties. A page containing copies of documents pertaining to Samuel Peters is pasted into the volume, which is followed by three pages of manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and invitations.

The final section (approximately 140 pages) contains pasted-in manuscript letters to Samuel P. Bell of New York City (ca. 1880s-1890s), pasted-in manuscripts by Samuel Peters (late 1700s-early 1800s), and handwritten copies of correspondence by, to, and related to Bell, and to Peters and his descendants. Many of the early manuscripts concern religious subjects, such as baptism and the Episcopal Church. This section also includes a letter of sympathy that Samuel Peters wrote to Clara Meigs, widow of Josiah Meigs, after her husband's death (September 16, 1822).

Copied letters from the late 18th century and early 19th century include correspondence to Samuel Peters and letters from several members of the Jarvis family. Some are "signed" with autographs cut from contemporary manuscripts (not present) and pasted into the volume. Letters from the 1880s are addressed to and written by Samuel P. Bell, who corresponded with members of the Peters family about family history and genealogy. Newspaper clippings pasted into this section concern colonial Connecticut and biographies of members of the Peters family. The volume also includes an undated clipping outlining a proposal to make Great Britain a federation, an engraved portrait of John A. Graham, and an illustrated advertisement of the clipper Syren.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Daniel Morgan collection is made up of financial records, legal documents, correspondence, and other items related to General Daniel Morgan and to Willoughby Morgan, his son.

The Daniel Morgan collection is made up of 63 financial records, legal documents, correspondence, and other items related to General Daniel Morgan and to Willoughby Morgan, his son. The majority of the collection consists of accounts, bonds, promissory notes, and other documents pertaining to Daniel Morgan's financial affairs. Accounts and invoices record Morgan's purchases of clothing, wagon-related equipment and services, and other items. Some of the later items do not concern Morgan directly but have his legal endorsement. Also included are two outgoing letters by Morgan, a 9-page legal document about a lawsuit against Morgan, and a deposition that Morgan gave in a different dispute. Other items are a bond regarding Morgan's marriage to Abigail Curry (March 30, 1773) and Morgan's political address to the citizens of Allegheny County about politics and the militia (January 17, 1795). Three of the documents pertain to enslaved and free African Americans (November 6, 1773; June 13, 1789; and March 28, 1799). Later items mostly pertain to the estate of Willoughby Morgan, Daniel Morgan's son. James Graham wrote two letters to unknown recipients in 1847 and 1856 about his efforts to write Daniel Morgan's biography, which he subsequently published.

Printed items include a map of the surrender of Yorktown (undated), a newspaper article from a Winchester, Virginia, paper about the possible disinterment of Daniel Morgan's remains (August 18, 1951), and printed portraits of Daniel Morgan with manuscript and facsimile autographs.

This scrapbook contains correspondence, documents, maps, and ephemera related to the family of Jabez Huntington of Norwich, Connecticut, including his sons and other descendants. The items pertain to the American Revolution, education, family history, and life in Connecticut from the 1770s to the 1830s.

This scrapbook (55 pages) contains correspondence, documents, and ephemera related to the family of Jabez Huntington of Norwich, Connecticut, including his sons and other descendants. The earliest item is a poem dedicated to Kitty Fell, written by William Apthorp in 1763, followed by a letter from William Hubbard to Andrew Huntington concerning Thomas Hutchinson's order to surrender Castle William to Colonel Dalrymple (September 13, 1770). During the Revolutionary War, Andrew Huntington received letters from his brothers Jedidiah and Joshua, who discussed escalating tensions in Boston in 1775, the gathering of Continental forces, and the progress of the war; he also received a note from Jonathan Trumbull excusing him from military duty (September 1, 1775). Other items from the late 18th century include love letters and poems to Maria Perit, cards admitting Perit to balls held at Yale College, and letters from "Lucy" at "Bethlehem" (possibly Bethlehem Female Seminary) to her brother.

A small number of items from the early 1800s pertain to the will and estate of Pelatiah Webster, Charles P. Huntington's father-in-law, and an 1802 return for the 20th Connecticut Militia Regiment. In 1814, Samuel Huntington wrote to his son Julian about his other sons' academic progress. In the 1820s and 1830s, Samuel received letters from acquaintances who discussed political issues, and in the late 1830s he wrote to his son William, discussing William's education at Wesleyan University and the possibility of his attending Harvard College. Some letters are addressed to Huntington family women, including letters from Lydia Sigourney to Mrs. Hannah Huntington (likely Andrew's wife); Maria Perit Huntington letters, often regarding literature and poetry; and letters to Ruth L. Huntington. One letter from P. H. Huntington to "Miss Perkins" contains genealogical information about the Webster, Perit, and Leffingwell families (August 13, 1891).

The scrapbook also contains documents, maps, and other materials related to the Huntington family. Visual items include property maps (cataloged separately); a photograph of Ebenezer Huntington's home in Norwich, Connecticut; a card photograph of Benedict Arnold's birthplace; and engravings of Norwich Bridge, women at leisure, and "Cromwell at Ripley Castle." Genealogical notes, poems, instructions for making a doll, and legal documents (many of which relate to property ownership) are also present. Newspaper clippings pertain to the history of the Huntington family, particularly to Jabez Huntington and his sons.

This volume was owned by successive generations of the Hoyt family in Stamford, Connecticut, and Hudson, Michigan, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its contents include military accounts from St. Johns, Newfoundland; arithmetic problems and solutions; and drawings of animals and natural scenes, including two hunters' encounter with a bear.

This book was owned by successive generations of the Hoyt family in Stamford, Connecticut, and Hudson, Michigan, in the 18th and 19th centuries. The front cover of the hide-bound volume bears the faint remnants of the English royal arms. Writing on the inside of the front cover indicates that the volume was owned by Jonah Hoyt (or Hait) before being presented to his grandson, Fred L. Hoyt, on his 21st birthday. The early pages include 7 pages of accounts for the receipt of military stores and provisions at St. Johns, Newfoundland, between September 1762 and August 1764. The section also contains a birth register regarding the children of Jonah and Anna Polmateer Hoyt.

The bulk of the volume is mathematical problems and solutions, including exercises related to multiplication, division, fractions and decimals, currency reduction, and the rule of three (cross-multiplication). Several measurement conversion tables, brief poems, penmanship exercises, and geometric line drawings are interspersed throughout this portion of the book, which also includes signatures by Jonah Hoyt and his son Lewis. Most of the poems are brief and humorous, with longer poems concerning a visit to London and the virtue of patience. Newspaper clippings regarding the death and funeral of George Washington, the wealth of Cornelius Vanderbilt, presidential election results from 1789 to 1872, and Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "Boston" are laid and pasted into the volume. A few plants are also laid in, as well as a letter from T. Andrews to Mary Andrews about life in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in February 1837. Decorated cutouts made from colored paper are pasted into the volume.

Emery Hoyt and other family members created many drawings, which appear after the arithmetic problems. Two are colored: a partially colored view of a church resembling a castle and a reproduction of an engraving showing a waterfront scene (the original engraving is laid into the volume). Most of the remaining pictures are pencil drawings and sketches of wild animals, including woodland creatures such as squirrels and deer; farm animals such as horses, cattle, and pigs; and African animals such as elephants, an oryx, and rhinoceroses. Other scenes of note show two hunters during an encounter with a bear, with one of the hunters preparing to hit the bear with the butt of his rifle; a safari hunter beside an elephant; and cavalry officers stabbing and shooting Native Americans. Also included are an outline of the state of Maine and a sketch of a sailing ship.

This account book kept largely by Jacob, Anne, and Anna True consists of records relating to their family business in Salisbury, Massachusetts. The True family ran a multi-purpose organization and operated it as a tavern, inn, bank, and store for foodstuffs and other goods. The volume also contains a narration and history of the extended True family, a study of the Webster family, and a 16-page recounting of the American Revolutionary War naval battle between the Bonhomme Richard and the HMS Serapis.

This account book kept largely by Jacob, Anne, and Anna True consists of records relating to their family business in Salisbury, Massachusetts. The True family ran a multi-purpose organization and operated it as a tavern, inn, bank, and store for foodstuffs and other goods. The volume also contains a narration and history of the extended True family, a study of with the Webster family, and a 16-page recounting of the American Revolutionary War naval battle between the Bonhomme Richard and the HMS Serapis.

The volume's double-entry bookkeeping includes the name of the client, with running lists of the costs and dates of purchases of goods and services, as well as records of account credits. Sales of alcoholic beverages include rum (occasionally identified as New England or West Indies), toddies, and brandy. Rum seems to be the most frequent item offered by the Trues; at times the drink is not listed by measurement, but instead as variants of "Rum and Drink at Time Taken from the Score." They sold foods, including veal, salt, sugar, molasses, turnips, pork, fish, and more. They sold cloth, linens, and clothing, such as handkerchiefs, swanskin, sheeting, silks, thread, oznabriggs, buttons, blankets, muslin, bearskin, ribbon, "ferrit," combs, sole leather, and more. The Trues also offered services, such as augur maintenance, chair repair, clothing and shoe mending, and more.

One atypical entry is an account for debtors William Temple and Capt. Edward Emerson in 1761, pertinent to expenses for the wreck of a brig, including costs associated with ballast, clearing lumber and pumping out the ship, moving the ship to Newbury, "a Treat to the people that went Down in ye Ship," temporarily storing Naval stores, taking care and sending on the ship three weeks later, and other itemizations.

Clients paid by cash, labor, or barter. Services rendered include ship work such as planking, boring holes, and caulking, raising, and framing; a "day's work," butchering. Goods offered in trade include timber, codfish, corn, silver shoe buckles, lamb, cider, charcoal, and more. Many transactions conclude with a "Settlement" statement and the signature of Jacob, Anne, or Anna True, with the purchaser's sign-off.

The volume includes a list of the crew on board the Bonhomme Richard, including Jacob and Anne's son Jacob, along with a recounting of the engagement of the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis. A few printed newspaper illustrations were pasted into the volume, including an engraving showing the battle and framed by snakes and a "Don't Tread on Me" banner. Another shows "The Emperor Napoleon in his Coffin."

The final pages of the volume contain genealogical information respecting the Webster family.

This collection is made up of correspondence, documents, financial records, newspaper clippings, and other items related to Salem, New York, and its residents, primarily from the 1780s-1890s.

This collection is made up of correspondence, documents, financial records, newspaper clippings, and other items related to Salem, New York, and its residents, primarily from the 1780s-1890s. Many of the items were once bound together.

The Correspondence series is comprised of around 60 incoming and outgoing letters related to Salem, New York, and to the history of the state of New York. Early letters between residents of Salem and other locales concern a wide range of topics including education, political offices and appointments, and legal cases. After 1856, most items are incoming letters to James Gibson, a native of Salem who was state senator, judge, and president of the Washington Academy. Three letters written during the Civil War concern military commissions and officers. Many of Gibson's incoming letters, particularly later items, relate to his genealogical work; some correspondents offered or requested information about their ancestors.

The Documents series contains over 140 indentures, financial records, petitions, and other items, primarily related to residents of Salem, New York, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Many of the indentures concern land ownership in Washington, County, New York, and personal financial agreements. Other material relates to the Washington Academy, including a list of pupils. Legal orders largely concern private debts, and one document pertains to a local election. Some documents have newspaper clippings pasted onto them, and others were once bound together. One item is a diploma that the Washington Academy issued to James McEl. A group of land indentures is housed in a large bound volume.

The collection's Printed Items include articles, programs, and newspaper clippings. The majority of newspaper clippings concern the Washington Academy in Salem, New York. Other articles concern the "Bench and Bar of Washington County," the Bancroft Public Library, and the family of William Williams. Some clippings are pasted onto large sheets of paper, with manuscript annotations; a small number of complete newspapers are present. The series also has several copies of a program from the dedication ceremony of the Bancroft Public Library in July 1890.

The Photograph, Essay, Notes, and Fragments series is made up of items pertaining to Salem, New York. The carte-de-visite photograph depicts J. B. Steele. The various notes, essay, and fragments pertain to genealogy.

The Charles James Fox papers contain political and personal correspondence regarding British politics during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The Charles James Fox papers (54 items) contain political and personal correspondence regarding British politics during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Fox wrote the majority of the letters, which concern numerous domestic political topics. His letters pertain to many aspects of his parliamentary career, including his solicitation for support in an upcoming election (April 14, 1784). A strongly-worded letter to Sir Arthur Leary Piggott contains Fox's negative opinion of the Prince of Wales after a disagreement ([1787]), and a series of items from 1794 relates to developments in the ongoing war against France. Fox's strong political opinions are evident in letters such as that of December 16, 1783, when he stated, "The unconstitutional interference which has beat us in the H. of Lds. has been so indecent & notorious, that the immediate attendance of all real friends to the liberty of the Country is become absolutely necessary." Other items include 2 early letters by Henry Fox, Charles Fox's father; newspaper clippings about a dispute between Charles Fox and William Pitt, and a French-language letter by the Duchess of Devonshire.