Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Papers of James Burrill Angell, the third President of the University of Michigan (1871-1909) and U.S. Minister to China (1871-1909) and Turkey (1897-1898). Includes correspondence, lectures and lecture notes, addresses and articles, subject files and personal materials, and photographs.

The Angell papers documents Angell's academic and diplomatic career. There is extensive material on all phases of University of Michigan business, particularly Angell's contacts with the state legislature, the board of regents, faculty relations, and the various schools, colleges, departments and divisions. Much of the correspondence and the Angell diaries relate to his diplomatic missions, higher education in the United States, and family matters.

Physician; member of the first graduating class of the University of Michigan in 1845; papers include journals, correspondence, physician's records.

The Pray collection includes journals, 1844-1849, covering his years as a student at the University of Michigan and in the Medical Department of Western Reserve College, Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, there is correspondence exchanged with his wife, Adele, primarily during the year 1879 when they were separated due to his service in the Michigan House. Other materials of interest include various personal and business account books and record books from his medical practice.

Residents of Highland Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Civil War reminiscences and other papers of James D. Rowe, soldier in the 1st Michigan Cavalry; Civil War letters of Spencer D. Lee, related family member, also in the 1st Michigan Cavalry; business records of Grant and Carrie Jackson Rowe, publishers of the Milford Times; sermons of Samuel Simpson Marquis as transcribed by Mrs. G. S. Rowe; collected materials largely concerning Milford and Highland Township history; and miscellaneous photographs and Civil War print.

The collection is divided into three series: Rowe Family Papers, Milford Historical Materials, and Milford Times Records. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, genealogical material and reminiscences relating to the Rowe family. The Civil War years are particularly well documented in letters written by in-laws: William Putnam, brother of Helen; the wife of James Rowe; and Spencer Lee, who married Helen's sister, Sarah. The Milford Times Records series contains business correspondence and records of the Milford Times, a newspaper published and edited by members of the Rowe family from 1890 to 1950. Carrie Jackson Rowe, who ran the Times for 46 years with her husband, Grant, was interested in Highland County local history; her writings on historical topics, as well as the historical documents she collected, form the Milford Historical Materials series.

Maps of Oakland and Livingston Counties and Detroit, Mich., and the state of Michigan, and other items relating to Bloomfield Township, Mich., photographed from the holdings of the Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.

This collection of maps and other items was photographed from the holdings of the Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, May 5, 2010. Five items or groups of items were photographed.

Residents of Plymouth, Michigan. Three Eddy brothers, Willard, William Hannahs, and Clark, served in the Michigan 2nd and 24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiments in the Civil War. This collection contains family portraits (mostly tintypes, with a few daguerreotypes and ambrotypes as well), wartime correspondence among the Eddy siblings and parents (including several digital scans and transcriptions), family genealogical materials, and a family Bible.

This collection contains family portraits, genealogical material, correspondence among the Eddy siblings and parents, and a family Bible. The correspondence consists of approximately 120 letters, most of which were written during the American Civil War (1860-1865) between the three enlisted brothers, Willard, William and Clark, and their parents, Otis and Lucy. Three of the letters contain accounts of the Battle of Williamsburg (letter dated May 12, 1862), the First Battle of Fredricksburg (letter dated May 26, 1863), and the Second Battle of Fredricksburg (letter dated May 26, 1863). There are also digital scans of six of the letters and digital transcriptions of ten of them.

The family Bible is also included, and the loose leaf genealogical and family record materials that were once interleaved within it have been foldered separately for preservation reasons. There are also two official Union Army documents conferring promotions on Clark Eddy, one for the rank of corporal and the other for the rank of sergeant.

The collection also includes a box of family portraits taken using various early photographic methods. There are four 1/6th plate size portraits framed in “Union Cases,” two of which are tintypes and two of which are daguerreotypes. There are also two 1/9th plate size ambrotypes. The box also contains a leather-bound photograph album of fifteen later portraits of family members, as well as a small Maple Grove Candies box which holds five unframed and uncased tintypes.

The Milan Area Historical Society collection consists of Visual Materials and Collected Historical Materials. The Visual Materials includes postcards and photographs of the Milan area dating from the 1860s to 2006. Also included are photographic negatives of Paul Holcomb who was both a private photographer and photographer for the Milan newspaper. The Collected Historical Materials includes documentation of area businesses, community events, prominent individuals and families, organizational records, high school materials, and newspaper clippings dating to 2008. A series titled 2018 Accessions includes additional overlapping materials from the Visual Materials and Collected Historical Materials series.

The records of the Ann Arbor Public Schools, cover the numerous districts and schools that developed and then gradually merged into an area school system.

The collection consists of nine series: Ann Arbor Board of Education; Ann Arbor Public Schools Historic Records; Historic School District Records; Pittsfield Township; Administration; Desegregation, Jones School; Scrapbooks; Miscellaneous other records; Directories.

The records of the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan include council proceedings (1834-1919); assessment rolls (1830, 1839, and 1958-1959); scrapbooks relating to city government (1904-1951); and records and photographs detailing the city's waste management and recycling program beginning in the 1980s. Miscellaneous materials include plats of the wards, 1912; election returns, 1847-1852; records of the former city of East Ann Arbor and the Village of Ann Arbor (Lower Town); and minutes of the Ann Arbor Park Commission (1905-1956). Also of interest are files concerning the Ann Arbor Railroad and the city's street railway and interurban system.

The series in this record group include: Election returns; Bonds; Assessment Rolls; Miscellaneous; City of East Ann Arbor; Council proceedings; Scrapbooks; Ann Arbor Park Commission; Village of Ann Arbor (Lower Town); Photographs; Recycling and Environmental Issues; and Other City Records.

Republican State Senator from Monroe County, Michigan, 1850-1851, Michigan Supreme Court Justice, 1858-1875, U.S. Senator, 1875-1879, and U.S. Minister to Peru. Letters to his children, business letters from his law partner Robert M. McClelland, Catholic Bishop Peter P. LeFevre and Nathaniel L. Christiancy; legal documents, Civil War address, Michigan Supreme Court docket book, and miscellaneous papers.

The Isaac Peckham Christiancy collection relates primarily to the period in his career prior to becoming a United States Senator and Minister to Peru. The papers have been arranged into the following series: Background Information; Correspondence; Business, financial, and miscellaneous; Legal files: law practice and Michigan Supreme Court. Of note are letters to his children and business letters from his law partner Robert M. McClelland, Catholic Bishop Peter P. LeFevre and Nathaniel L. Christiancy. In addition, there is an address he gave during the Civil War.

State geologist of Michigan. Field notes, 1837-1841, of his geological survey of the state, including some original drawings [original and typescript copies, and microfilm of pages 197-291]; letter book, 1841-1845; miscellaneous correspondence and field notes, including letter, May 31, 1841, to Abram Sager; notes and other papers collected by Mrs. John Ehlers for her book on Houghton, including copies of papers of Bela Hubbard; and photographs.

The Douglass Houghton manuscript collection at the Michigan Historical Collections includes one volume of field notes, 1837-1841; typed transcripts of the field notes; a one volume letterpress book, 1841-1845; miscellaneous correspondence, newspaper clippings and other papers (photostats and typescripts of materials in other repositories); and notes collected by Mrs. John Ehlers for a book on Houghton.

An appendix to this finding aid contains an inventory to the manuscript maps found in the collection, and other Houghton maps.

The reports of Houghton's work for the Michigan Geological Survey have been published in Geological Reports of Douglass Houghton: First State Geologist of Michigan, 1837-1845, Lansing, Mich.: Michigan Historical Commission 1928. [MHC call number EA/153/MG345/G345, available online through HathiTrust]