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

The Albert E. St. Germain collection contains correspondence, military documents, and other items relating to the St. Germain family. The bulk of the collection pertains to Albert St. Germain's service in the United States Army's press service in Europe during and just after World War I.

The Albert E. St. Germain collection (over 190 items) contains correspondence, military documents, and other items relating to the St. Germain family. The bulk of the collection pertains to Albert St. Germain's service in the United States Army's press division in Europe during and just after World War I.

The Correspondence series (28 items) is made up of personal letters related to members of the St. Germain family. Sisters Clarinda (1 item) and M. Clementina (8 item) wrote French-language letters to their parents from the Convent of Mercy in Meriden, Connecticut, between 1894 and 1900. Other convent correspondents included Sister Teresa, who invited the St. Germain family to a ceremony (August 10, 1896), and Sister M. Augustine, who sent a telegram about Sister Clementina's death in November 1900. A woman named "Leontina" wrote 4 letters to Leon St. Germain from Québec in 1905.

Albert E. St. Germain wrote 6 letters to his mother and 2 letters to his brother Oscar while serving in the United States Army in France during and immediately after World War I. He described his travels in France and discussed some of his duties in the press section. In 1919, an acquaintance named J. Morgan wrote Albert St. Germain a personal letter and a letter of recommendation. Later correspondence includes a letter that one of Albert's children wrote to him in 1959, a letter about the 50 reunion of the Bulkeley High School class of 1914, and a World War II-era greeting card from the South Pacific.

The Documents series is divided into two subseries. Military Documents (97 items) are mostly comprised of news bulletins and intelligence summaries providing details about the Allied war effort in France from September 1918-November 1918, as well as 2 copies of Gerald Morgan's recollections about service as Chief Field Censor for the American Expeditionary Forces, written in February 1919. Department of Labor and Personal Documents (15 items) include intelligence tests, Albert St. Germain's employment history, a blank naturalization form, documents related to Leon St. German's estate, and documents regarding field stations during World War II.

The Photographs series (3 items) contains 2 formal card photograph portraits of an unidentified couple and of Albert E. St. Germain, as well as a photograph of Albert E. Saint Germain, in uniform, shaking hands with a French soldier. The latter photograph is enclosed with a copy of the New York newspaper that ran the photograph on August 4, 1918.

The Writings and Pencil Sketch series is comprised of 7 copies of stories that Albert E. St. Germain wrote around the World War I era. The writings include an account of his interactions with a French citizen during the war, a camping trip, and various other subjects; some of the drafts have manuscript notes. The collection has duplicate copies of 2 stories. The series includes a pencil drawing of "Le Vieux Moulin."

• The Cards and Currency subseries (4 items) consists of 3 business cards of Albert E. St. Germain and a French banknote.
• The Maps subseries (5 items) contains printed maps of the Moselle River, the Rhine River, and Bar-le-Duc, France; one of the Rhine River maps was produced for members of the army of occupation. Also included is a blueprint map of properties that Leon St. Germain owned in Waterford, Connecticut.
• The Pamphlets subseries (6 items) has the following items: a retrospective and commencement program related to the Bulkeley School class of 1914, a cover from a copy of The Louis Allis Messenger, a page from a printed recipe book, a pamphlet about the United States flag, and a copy of the United States Constitution with additional information for use in passing the country's citizenship examination.
• The Newspapers subseries (13 items) contains around 10 articles about World War I, the Bulkeley School, Albert E. St. Germain, and army censorship. The newspaper articles originate from papers in Connecticut and France. Three copies of The Stars and Stripes, dated 1918, are also present.

The Address Book and Fragments series (14 items) includes manuscript, typed, and printed fragments, and an address book that Albert St. Germain owned while working for the United States Department of Labor.

The Artifacts series consists of a brown leather satchel.

This collection consists of over 300 letters that Private Albert Starke Drischell wrote to his family in Baldwin, New York, while serving in the United States Army during World War II. The collection also contains letters and postcards that Drischell received during his military service. Drischell wrote about his experiences while training in various camps, participating in an educational program, working with army theatrical groups in the United States and England, and serving in Germany during the last months of the war and the first months of the occupation.

The bulk of this collection (1 linear foot) consists of over 300 letters that Private Albert Starke Drischell wrote to his family in Baldwin, New York, about his experiences in the United States Army from January 21, 1943-December 6, 1945. The collection also contains letters and postcards that Drischell received during his military service and a few ephemera items.

Drischell addressed the majority of his letters to his parents, and occasionally wrote to his younger siblings, Ralph and Ruth. He composed his first letters while at Camp Upton in Long Island, New York, soon after entering the service, and provided his impressions of the camp, his companions, military life, and training exercises. At Camp Swift, Texas, he wrote about his experiences at Texas A&M University, where he was among a group tested for entrance into a selective educational program. After being accepted, he moved to New Mexico and began taking college-level engineering courses at New Mexico College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts. He and many others found the coursework difficult, and by November he had failed a course and was removed from the program. While in New Mexico, he shared his determination to succeed and gave his opinions of other men in the army, particularly his negative opinions of those who drank to excess (July 8, 1943). He also mentioned his moral objection to the war.

Drischell left New Mexico for Fort Custer, Michigan, where he attended courses in military government and occasionally guarded German prisoners. In one letter, he expressed his fear that soldiers would have difficulty readjusting to civilian life after being schooled in "mass murder" (January 23, 1944). In early 1945, Drischell moved to Camp Reynolds, Pennsylvania, where his unit awaited overseas deployment. He continued to describe his experiences, offered his opinions on the army, and mentioned trips taken to the surrounding towns while on temporary leave. In mid-May 1944, Drischell arrived in Scotland, though he was transferred to England soon after. As part of a replacement battalion, he occupied much of his free time by accompanying women to dances and befriending local families. He also acted in a play put on by the army, and briefly toured with an army theatrical group in the fall of 1944, an experience he enjoyed and hoped to continue in his post-army life. Many of his letters from this time focused on the economic and physical hardships of the war, and other letters mention a visit to London (February 15, 1945), his support for Thomas E. Dewey in the 1944 presidential election (August 6, 1944), George Bernard Shaw's views on capitalism, communism, and democracy (August 8, 1944), and his efforts to obtain conscientious objector status.

After being deployed on the Continent in March 1945, Drischell shared his impressions of the devastated French and German countryside, through which he advanced as part of the 318th Infantry Regiment. After the war, he described the small Austrian town where he was stationed, in which German children born out of wedlock were being "raised for use in foreign lands" (May 16, 1945). Drischell also accounted for the gap in his letters between April and May, when he advanced deep into Germany and Austria and participated in active combat (May 31, 1945, et al.). Freed from the constraints of censorship after V-E day, he reported on some of his combat experiences, and he believed that he never directly killed an enemy soldier. Throughout his European service, Drischell continually voiced his appreciation for the United States and compared it to Europe, occasionally calling his native country a relative "utopia."

Drischell sometimes enclosed souvenirs from his European travels in his letters, including a French 50-franc note (March 25, 1945), German stamps (June 20, 1945), and clippings from the Stars and Stripes and other papers. By late August 1945, he was in Paris as a member of a traveling dramatic troupe, and he wrote less frequently. His final letter, dated December 6, 1945, reveals that he went on tour in Germany.

Additional items include 2 printed church programs from 1944, a newspaper clipping featuring an English unit's canine mascot, and a list of men from St. Peter's Church who served in the war, including Albert S. Drischell. One undated letter fragment from "Iggie" discusses his experiences as a soldier in India, and another by an anonymous writer concerns Drischell's acting and a mutual acquaintance named "Fip."

The Alexander family papers document the family, life, and early career of pianist Margaret June Alexander (also known as Vonya Alexandre) throughout the early 1900s. The collection is made up of two journals kept by her mother, Myrilla M. Anderson, plus letters, writings, artwork, family photographs, printed programs, sheet music, and other materials related to this Decatur County and Indianapolis, Indiana, family.

The Alexander family papers document the family, life, and early career of pianist Margaret June Alexander (also known as Vonya Alexandre) throughout the early 1900s. The collection consists of two journals kept by her mother, Myrilla M. Anderson, plus approximately 1 linear foot of letters, writings, artwork, family photographs, printed programs, sheet music, books, newspaper clippings, and other materials related to this Decatur County and Indianapolis, Indiana, family.

Margaret's mother, Myrilla Anderson Alexander, wrote two journals during Margaret's early life and stages of her musical career. The first, kept between 1894 and 1896, documents Myrilla's experiences during Margaret's infancy and a list of musical lessons, associated fees, and required books. The second journal covers 1907 to 1917, and focuses primarily on Margaret's musical performances, complemented by enclosed newspaper clippings, correspondence, and programs.

The Alexander family papers include Myrilla M. Anderson Alexander's sketchbook of ink, watercolor, and charcoal illustrations. A hand bound book appears in the collection, written for Myrilla Alexander by R. E. Sylvester, which contains poetry and sketches.

The collection includes 4 letters by Myrilla Alexander, picture postcards, calling cards, 2 blank living wills from the state of Florida, and a 1945 marriage certificate for Carl F. Grouleff and Vonya Kurzhene. A typed document titled "Remembrances of Anna Stover and Edith Surbey" recounts the friends' lives from their early education through their ongoing religious charity work. Other items include a handwritten description of Margaret June Alexander's 1913 performance at Carnegie Hall, a list of quotations, and a certificate regarding the eligibility of Mary Alexander Tarkington and Caroline Anderson Haugh to join the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Approximately 110 photographs depict Margaret June Alexander, her performance partner Mischel Kurzene, and members of the Alexander, Anderson, and Tarkington families. An address book kept by Myrilla Alexander includes addresses and birthdays of family and friends.

The collection's printed items include programs for musical events, sheet music, newspaper clippings, and two books. Approximately 50 programs reflect Margaret June Alexander's musical career between 1907 and 1927. Obituaries for members of the Alexander and Tarkington families appear within the collection's newspaper clippings. Multiple copies of an undated, printed advertisement for "Dr. Alexander's Effervescing Headache Powders" are also present. The collection's 2 books are G. W. H. Kemper's A Medical History of the State of Indiana (Chicago: American Medical Association Press, 1911) and Joseph Tarkington's Autobiography of Rev. Joseph Tarkington (Cincinnati: Curts & Jennings, 1899).

The Alexander Thompson papers consist of the papers of three generations of Thompsons: Captain Alexander Thompson (1759-1809), Colonel Alexander Ramsey Thompson (1793-1837), and Reverend Alexander Ramsey Thompson (1822-1895). These papers document the military service of Captain Thompson in United States army (1793-1809); Colonel Thompson's military service (1819-1837); attempts by Colonel Thompson's widow Mary Thompson to secure a military pension (1838-1849); and the career of Reverend Thompson, a Union Army chaplain and Presbyterian minister, along with his family letters (1850-1932).

The Alexander Thompson papers (653 items) consist of the papers of three generations of Thompsons: Captain Alexander Thompson (1759-1809), Colonel Alexander Ramsey Thompson (1793-1837), and Reverend Alexander Ramsey Thompson (1822-1895). The collection is comprised of 494 letters and documents, 1 diary, 25 photographs, 103 religious writings and hymns, and 30 items of printed material. These papers document the military service of Captain Thompson in the United States Army (1793-1809); Colonel Thompson's military service (1819-1837); attempts by Colonel Thompson's widow, Mary Thompson, to secure a military pension (1838-1849); and the career of Reverend Thompson, Union Army chaplain and Presbyterian minister, along with his family letters (1850-1932).

The Correspondence and Documents series (494 items) is made up of three subseries, one for each Alexander Thompson represented in the collection.

The Captain Alexander Thompson subseries (255 items) consists of letters and documents related to Thompson's army career, including 37 military records (pay rolls, musters, and accounts) and 14 provisional returns. The bulk of the letters are to and from the war office in Philadelphia and from fellow army officers. These provide administrative documentation for the fledgling American military, as well as specific details on Thompson's assignments at Governor's Island, West Point, Fort Niagara, and Detroit. Topics covered include his efforts to provision and pay his troops, fortify his outposts, and recruit soldiers.

• April 19, May 7 and 24, and June 20, 1795: Letters from Thompson to New York Governor George Clinton, concerning the French navy and the fort at Governor's Island
• July 9, 15, and 18, 1795: Letters between Colonel Louis de Tousard and Thompson concerning prisoners, troops, and musicians at Governor's Island
• December 5, 1795: Letter fromThompson to Alexander Hamilton concerning a lawsuit involving Thompson's professional conduct at Governor's Island
• March 29, 1796: Letter to Thompson warning of a mutiny on Governor's Island
• September 14, 1800: Letter from Thompson to John Jacob Ulrich Rivardi concerning small pox at Detroit
• February 17, 1801: Letter from Thompson to Major Moses Porter, concerning filling the United States officer corps with Americans instead of foreign commanders
• January 20, 1803: May 1 and August 24, 1807: Letters and bills to and from Thompson and Secretary of War Henry Dearborn concerning payments for travel
• October 15, 1804: Instructions from Thompson to Doctor Frances La Barons concerning trading for pelts at Michilimackinac
• September 1807: News from a friend in St. Louis describing army activities there

The Colonel Alexander R. Thompson subseries (137 items) documents his post-War of 1812 military career, and his wife's efforts to secure a pension after his death. These include letters from fellow officers and friends, a few retained copies of Thompson's letters, and 55 letters to and from Mary Thompson and various prominent government officials concerning military pensions. In many of Mary's letters she described episodes in her husband's military career, including wounds and sicknesses suffered while on duty.

• November 27, 1816: Captain Kearny at Sackets Harbor to Thompson concerning securing pay to Mrs. Niblock for washing clothes for the army
• January 12, 1817: Major W.J. Worth at Sackets Harbor to Thompson describing a celebration at the newly build Madison Barracks
• May 13, 1833: George Brooke at Fort Howard (Green Bay) to Thompson describing his journey across Lake Huron
• August 28, 1833: Benjamin F. Larneal to Thompson concerning shipping a piano to Michigan
• April 28, 1836: Thompson to his nephew Alexander Thompson, describing the encampment and fortifications at Camp Sabine, Louisiana, and the lawless state of Texas - "the country is consequently infested with robbers and pirates
• February 21, 1837: Mary Thompson to General Winfield Scott seeking a promotion for her sick husband
• March 6, 1840: Mary to her brother-in-law William Thompson, relating her difficulties securing a pension
• 1842-1845: Letters to and from Mary Thompson to New York Governor Hamilton Fish and members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, including John Jordan Crittenden and Thomas Hart Benton
• October 8, 1847: E. Backay at San Juan to Mary Thompson containing a description of the Mexican-American War
• March 13, 1853: Department of the Interior to Mary Thompson concerning her request for a land bounty

The Reverend Alexander R. Thompson subseries (102 items) contains Thompson's letters and 25 of his children's letters. Of note are the items documenting his Civil War service as chaplain of the 17th Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers and at the Roosevelt Hospital. These include many letters from solders and former parishioners serving throughout the country. Also present are letters discussing Thompson and his family's travels around New York and New England, and to the Canary Islands, Quebec, and San Francisco. The post-1872 letters largely concern Thompson's children.

• November 28, 1861: Albion Brooks to Thompson describing the soldier's Thanksgiving dinner at Burnside Camp, Annapolis, Maryland
• January 16, 1862: Leonard Woolsey Bacon to Thompson concerning chaplains' aids
• July 2, 1863: A small diagram of the Union fleet on the Mississippi River in front of Vicksburg
• June 4, 1864: Moses Smith of the 8th Connecticut Regiment to Thompson describing the battle at Cold Harbor
• September 25, 1865: E.A. Russell to Thompson describing hearing Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" on board a steam ship: "I feel like after hearing it sung like one inspired for the work. I do think it is very near Gods work."
• September 27, 1865: Five verses of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" copied on board the Steamship United States
• September 23, 1871: Gin Bon, secretary of the Chinese Young Men's Christian Society of San Francisco, to Thompson concerning his support of the group and enclosing four photographs of members

The Diary series (1 item, 372 pages) is the personal journal of Reverend Alexander Ramsey Thompson for 1861. The diary is deeply personal and includes Thompson's thoughts on personal, spiritual, and political matters, as well as his thoughts on the outbreak of the Civil War and his decision to join the army as a chaplain. In the back of the diary are 5 newspaper clippings concerning New York University commencements.

• April 13 and 16, 1861: Thoughts on the siege and bombardment at Fort Sumter
• July 22 and 24, 1861: Thoughts on First Bull Run
• August 31, 1861: Discussion of seeing a hippopotamus at Barnum's Museum

The Photographs series (25 items) contains undated family pictures, images of houses and landscapes, and commercial photographs of buildings in Europe.

Four additional photographs are located with the letter of September 23, 1871. These are portraits of Chinese Americans, one taken by Chinese photographer Lai Yong of San Francisco, and one of letter writer Gin Bon, secretary of the Chinese Young Men's Christian Society. Gin Bon's portrait contains watercolored highlights. The hymn book for the Roosevelt Hospital in the Printed Materials series contains family photographs, including a group picture in which many of the sitters are holding tennis rackets.

The Religious Writings series is composed of two subseries: Sermons and Ecclesiastical History Notes, and Hymns. Though largely undated and unattributed, these writings were all likely created by Reverend Thompson. The Sermons and Ecclesiastical History notes subseries (61 items) contains 58 sermon notes that Thompson wrote in the 1890s, much of which was written on Roosevelt Hospital stationery. Some of these are outlines while others are fully formed sermons. He also wrote notes on ecclesiastical history in two notebooks dated 1881 (232 pages), and on the Hebrew language in an undated notebook (58 pages). The Hymns subseries (42 items) contains 9 manuscript hymns, 16 printed hymns, and 17 volumes of manuscript hymns. They consist of transcribed and translated hymns, Bible quotations, and ballad lyrics. Two of the printed hymns, both Christmas carols, include music for four voices.

The Printed Material series (30 items) is comprised of 18 newspaper clippings and 12 miscellaneous printed items. The newspaper clippings are an essay by Reverend Thompson entitled "The Burial of Moses," and an address from Thompson delivered at the unveiling of a Gettysburg monument for the 17th Connecticut Volunteers. The Miscellaneous Printed Items subseries contains 12 items, including ephemera related to New York University commencements; an engraving of author, nurse, and charity organizer Isabella Graham; an annual report for the Brooklyn Nursery (1888); and a Roosevelt Hospital hymnal in which someone has inserted photograph clippings of Reverend Thompson, his wife, and others.

This collection contains correspondence between Antonio C. Maden of Cárdenas, Cuba, and Saratoga Springs, New York, and his wife, Kathleen Duryea of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York. The couple exchanged letters about their lives in Cuba and New York in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This collection (1.5 linear feet) contains correspondence between Antonio C. Maden of Cárdenas, Cuba, and Saratoga Springs, New York, and his wife, Kathleen Duryea of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York. The couple exchanged letters about their lives in Cuba and New York in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Correspondence series (around 350 items) mainly contains personal letters that Maden and Duryea exchanged from 1895-1912, before and during their marriage. In 1895 and 1896, Maden reported on life in Cárdenas and Varadero, Cuba, during the Cuban War of Independence, commenting on military developments, political issues, and his plans to travel to New York. In his letter of October 13, 1895, he enclosed a chart from the New York & Cuba Mail Steamship Co., including his notes about the journey to Cuba. Duryea wrote about her social life, friends, and family in Bensonhurst, and both frequently enclosed newspaper clippings containing quips, verses, and cartoons about relationships between men and women. In 1897, Maden moved to Tampa, Florida, and periodically visited Saratoga Springs, New York, while Duryea remained in Bensonhurst. In 1899, Maden wrote about his return to Cárdenas and his hemp plantation. After the couple's marriage, Duryea's siblings Robert, Edna, and Florence occasionally sent letters to the Madens in Saratoga Springs and Cárdenas. In one letter, Robert Dureya told his sister of their father's death (January 17, 1904). During Duryea's visits to Brooklyn, Maden provided her with updates about the plantation's production and about finances; one later series of letters concerns her poor health. Items dated after 1912, several of which are written in Spanish, include personal letters, newspaper clippings, prayer cards for Rosa Maden Samson, and a late letter to Kathleen Maden regarding a tax payment.

Documents and Financial Papers series (10 items) includes lists of the Maden family's expenses in Cuba, as well as receipts, accounts regarding the Madens' hemp plantation, and a Catholic Church document (in Latin).

The Photograph and Newspaper Clipping series (2 items) contains a black-and-white photograph of the Havana Cathedral and a clipping titled "Whining and Complaining Wives Often Drive Husbands from Home."

The Aronson-Grant papers contain correspondence, financial records, photographs, and ephemera related to Calvin Aronson and his wife, Pearl Goldblatt (later Grant) Aronson.

The Aronson-Grant papers contain correspondence, financial records, photographs, and ephemera related to Calvin Aronson and his wife, Pearl Goldblatt (later Grant) Aronson.

The Correspondence series, which comprises the bulk of the collection, mostly consists of letters addressed to Pearl Goldblatt between 1921 and 1934, as well as some letters that she wrote to her husband. The letters reveal much about the couple's personal life and relationship, including Aronson's joyful reaction after hearing that Goldblatt had accepted his marriage proposal (February 14, 1924). Pearl Goldblatt Aronson tended to use her adopted surname, "Grant," in her later letters. In contrast to the couple's courtship correspondence, many letters by Grant's friends hint at marital difficulties between Aronson and Grant, including a brief threat of divorce. Some items have enclosures such as drawings and the couple's wedding certificate (February 26, 1927), and one letter is on stationery with the caption "Shh- Mr. Aronson is in deep thought" (April 6, 1926). Three letters enclose photographs (July 16, 1924; August 3, 1924; and May 14, 1929). Many of the postcards within the series have pictures of scenes in Europe.

The Business and Financial Papers series (57 items) contains receipts, bills, cancelled checks, and other items pertaining to the Aronsons' fiscal affairs, including their accounts with the Mechanics' Bank in Brooklyn, New York.

Most of the Photographs (61 items) show scenes around Como, Italy, and several are pictures of young women posing near water and in rowboats.

The Printed Items and Ephemera series contains greeting cards, newspaper clippings, invitations, calling cards, programs, and other items. The newspaper clippings concern politics, playwrights, and human interest stories. Other items include a printed map of the "Harbour of Nassau" and Act IV of Will Shakespeare, a play by Clemence Dane.

This collection contains 212 letters, postcards, greeting cards, and telegrams that Second Lieutenant Arthur Richard Roussin ("Dick") of Durand, Michigan, sent to and received from his parents during his service in the United States Army, February 1944-August 1946. Roussin wrote about life at Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Stewart, Georgia; and Camp Robinson, Arkansas, from February 1944-April 1945, and about his experiences traveling to and serving in Yokohama, Japan, from October 1945-August 1946. His parents shared personal and local news and discussed their store in Durand.

This collection contains 212 letters, postcards, greeting cards, and telegrams that Second Lieutenant Arthur Richard Roussin ("Dick") of Durand, Michigan, and his parents exchanged during his service in the United States Army from February 1944-August 1946. Roussin wrote about life at Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Stewart, Georgia; and Camp Robinson, Arkansas, from February 1944-April 1945, and about his experiences traveling to and serving in Yokohama, Japan, from October 1945-August 1946. His parents shared personal and local news and discussed their store in Durand. Roussin also received a few letters from other acquaintances.

The first letter, from Durand's high school, pertains to his academic affairs (May 21, 1943), and the remaining correspondence relates to his time in the military. The bulk of the collection falls within two time periods: February 19, 1944-April 25, 1945 (120 items), and October 12, 1945-January 31, 1946 (98 items); 6 additional items are dated February 4, 1946-August 24, 1946. Roussin wrote 122 letters to his parents, received 90 letters from his parents, and received 13 letters from other correspondents. Some envelopes contain multiple items or letters written over the course of several days, and some letters enclose newspaper clippings.

Roussin's earliest letters home concern training exercises at Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Stewart, Georgia; and Camp Robinson, Arkansas, where he was stationed from February 1944-April 1945. He described specific tasks, such as his work with machine guns, and the everyday occurrences of camp life during infantry training. He sent his parents 3 picture postcards of sights in and near Camp Stewart, Georgia, in the summer of 1944, and commented regularly on his training experiences until mid-March 1945. Between March and April 1945, Roussin's parents wrote almost daily about their lives in Durand, Michigan. Their letters include updates on their son "Gene," war news, descriptions of social activities, and discussions about their store. On March 20, 1945, a friend sent Arthur R. Roussin a postcard depicting the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

The Roussins resumed their correspondence in October 1945, when Arthur, then a second lieutenant with "Infantry Company B, 4th Platoon" (his mail traveled through the 194th Quartermaster Detachment APO), anticipated his deployment to Japan. He mentioned his duties as his unit prepared to sail from California, and described his journey from the United States to Japan onboard the USS General George M. Randall. After his arrival in Tokyo on November 1, 1945, he traveled to the Naval Air Facility Atsugi and to Yokohama, where he was stationed until the following August. While in Yokohama, Roussin wrote to his parents about his daily activities, such as bookkeeping duties for a post exchange (PX) store, visits to Tokyo, and his social life. He sometimes reported on his drinking habits and explained the army's rationing system for alcohol, which divided drinks into several classes before distribution. During this period, he occasionally received letters from his mother and father, who continued to discuss their daily lives and local news, including the possibility of labor strikes. On December 29, 1945, Roussin mentioned a fire in the PX warehouse, and on February 4, 1946, reassured his parents that he had not been seriously injured in a recent car crash, though a friend had been killed. He also sent postcards of Mount Shasta (California) and of a Japanese building. His final communications are three telegrams from late August 1946, in which he shared his expectation of an imminent journey home.

Arthur Richard Roussin often wrote on decorated U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, American Red Cross, or personal stationery. One letter has a humorous printed illustration of a family of birds (June 15, 1944), and Roussin drew a picture of a cyclone in his letter of October 22, 1945.

The Baker-Marshall papers contain personal correspondence, financial documents, and other items related to Timothy Baker and Ichabod Marshall, two early settlers of Norwalk, Ohio, who became prominent local merchants.

The Baker-Marshall papers contain 19 personal letters, 100 financial papers and documents, 3 maps and diagrams, 8 printed items, 1 photograph, 3 additional manuscripts related to Timothy Baker and Ichabod Marshall, two early settlers of, and prominent merchants in, Norwalk, Ohio.

The Correspondence series contains personal letters written between members of the Baker family, including letters written by William Baker and Timothy Baker, Jr., to their parents during their time at college. The series also includes letters written between the siblings, providing news of their families, and a memorial poem written upon the death of Timothy Baker, Jr., in 1845. The collection also includes a 1926 letter inviting Willard H. Bennett, of Norwalk, Ohio, to purchase tickets for the University of Wisconsin's football games, along with two order forms.

The Financial papers and documents series regards Ichabod Marshall's land and business interests in Norwalk, Ohio, in the early 19th century. The series is comprised of 100 receipts, indentures, and accounts, including deeds and tax receipts for land in Trumbull and Huron counties. Several of the items are signed by Moses Kimball, an auditor in Huron County.

Three undated manuscript Writings include a draft of a petition "To the Mayor and Village Council of Fredericktown Ohio," requesting the removal of a local saloon; a 1-page religious essay; and instructions for making bricks.

The collection's single Photograph is a carte-de-visite of an unidentified man.

The three undated manuscript Maps and diagrams include a surveyor's map of Norwalk, Ohio; a floor plan for a house; and a seating arrangement for a Masonic lodge.

The Printed items series consists of 2 items related to Baldwin University; Mrs. Lewis C. Laylin's calling card; and newspaper clippings. The Baldwin University items are a program for the annual exhibition of the junior class, March 25, 1874, and a printed version of the "Alumni Song," June 7, 1876. The newspaper clippings include one regarding a lawsuit between Ichabod Marshall and several owners of the Norwalk Manufacturing Company.

The Bartlett family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, and a scrapbook related to Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett of the United States Navy and to his descendants, including his granddaughter, author Lina Bartlett Ditson.

The Bartlett family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, and a scrapbook related to Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett of the United States Navy and to his descendants, including author Lina Bartlett Ditson, his granddaughter.

The Correspondence series contains letters written to various members of the Bartlett family. The earliest items concern Washington A. Bartlett's naval career, including several letters between Bartlett and his wife Ruth. In a letter from May-June 1845, Washington Bartlett discussed political and military conflicts between the United States and Mexico. Much of his other correspondence is contained in a letter book, which covers the years 1835-1862.

Other items in the series are incoming personal and business letters to George L. Ditson, Bartlett's son-in-law. Some of these pertain to his appointment as United States Consul in Nuevitas, Cuba, a few of which are in Spanish. Later material includes a letter from Ronald Lodge to his mother, Oralie Ditson Lodge (Washington A. Bartlett's granddaughter) about his successful fitness examination for the United States Navy, enclosing a photograph of Lodge in uniform (April 17, 1917), and a letter on stationery from the White Star Line ocean liner Olympic (November 14, 1928).

The Documents and Financial Papers relate to several generations of the Bartlett family. Of note are a certificate about Washington A. Bartlett's qualification as a United States Navy midshipmen, signed by Martin Van Buren (November 20, 1839), and an authorized copy of Washington A. Bartlett and Ruth Budd Bloom's marriage certificate (June 17, 1861). The series also contains receipts and accounts.

The Writings series primarily contains typed copies of poems and stories composed by Lina Bartlett Ditson. Included are 8 poems, 1 group of poetry "Fragments," and 7 short stories. Two items, which may not be by Ditson, are in French, including an acrostic poem based on Ruth Budd Bartlett's name.

The collection's 8 Calling Cards and Invitations include manuscript and printed visiting cards for "Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett" and an invitation to the home of William H. and Frances Seward.

A single Illustration, dated August 1833, depicts the brig Mermaid at sea. A map of a portion of Albany, New York, shows the location of B. Lodge & Company.

The Photographs series has mounted and loose portraits, several cartes-de-visite and cabinet cards, a glass-plate positive of a young girl, and numerous snapshots. Early portraits depict Oralie Ditson Lodge and Lina Bartlett Ditson (occasionally in costume), and 130 20th-century snapshots were taken during a family vacation Eagle Lake in New York.

The Lena Bartlett Ditson Scrapbook contains newspaper articles, programs, and correspondence about Lina Bartlett Ditson, assembled by her sister Oralie after Lina's death. Most items pertain to Lina's artistic pursuits, such as vocal performances and published novels. Incoming correspondence to Lina and condolence letters to her family following her death are also present.

The Printed Items series is made up of postcards, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and other items. Newspaper Clippings pertain to numerous topics, such as William S. Lodge's political career, interstate commerce legislation, labor news, and members of the Bartlett family.

• Defence of Washington A. Bartlett, Ex-Lieutenant, United States Navy: Read and admitted to Record, by Naval Court of Inquiry... New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857.
• International Association for the Total Suppression of Vivisection. "The Woman" and the Age: A Letter Addressed to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., First Lord of the Treasury. London: E. W. Allen, 1881.
• Olcott, Henry S. The Spirit of the Zoroastrian Religion. Bombay: 1882.

Other printed material includes poems by Barrington Lodge; engravings of Washington A. Bartlett; a colored print showing a woman in a dress that Ruth Budd Bartlett wore during a royal reception; and a campaign poster for William S. Lodge's mayoral campaign in Albany, New York.

The Genealogy series contains information about Washington A. Bartlett's descendants and allied families, particularly the Lodge family.

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.