Collections

U.S. District Court Judge, Eastern District of Michigan; Federal trial court case files, personal and professional correspondence, scrapbooks, University of Michigan student notebooks, and other materials concerning legal activities, Republican Party politics, prohibition, the election of 1924, Sigma Alpha Epsilon affairs; also family materials, including grandfather, John J. Tuttle, Leslie, Michigan, Ingham County official and businessman; and photographs.

The Arthur J. Tuttle Papers are arranged in 13 series: case files, opinions and jury instructions, topical office files, conciliation commissioners, criminal files, correspondence, letterbooks, scrapbooks, University of Michigan, financial matters, miscellaneous biographical materials, Tuttle family materials, and visual materials.

Papers of Benjamin Douglass and his sons, Samuel T. Douglass, Detroit attorney and jurist, and Silas H. Douglas, professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan, and member of Douglass Houghton's Northern Michigan survey. Correspondence, scrapbooks, letter books, and miscellanea concerning family affairs, business and university activities; also contains records of the Douglass and Walker and Campbell Law Firm; and papers of individual members of Silas Douglas’ family, including his wife Helen Welles Douglas, their children Samuel T. Douglas, Marie Louise Douglas, and Catherine Hulbert Douglas, and other Douglas and Welles family members; and photographs.

The Douglass Family collection spans the period 1812-1911 and comprises eight linear feet of manuscripts, one linear ft. of photographs, three outsize volumes, and 1 folder of oversize materials. The collection include the papers of Benjamin Douglass and his two sons, Samuel T. (1814-98) a lawyer and Detroit judge, and Silas H. (1816-90), a professor at The University of Michigan. Although Silas came to use the family name of Douglas rather than Douglass, the paper indicate that there was little consistency.

The collection consists of personal and professional correspondence, letterpress books, business and legal papers, scrapbooks, photographs, and family materials. The collection, except for series of photographs and maps, is arranged by family member name.

Governor of Michigan 1949 to 1960, under-secretary of state for African Affairs from 1961 to 1965, and Michigan Supreme Court justice from 1970 to 1986 and leader in state and national Democratic Party. Papers document his public career and aspects of his personal and family life and include correspondence, subject files, staff files, speeches, press releases and news clippings, photographs, sound recordings, films and videotapes.

The G. Mennen Williams Papers consist of official and personal files arranged into six subgroups: 1) Gubernatorial papers, 1949-1960 (681 linear ft.); 2) Non-gubernatorial papers, 1883-1948 and 1958-1988 (107 linear ft.); 3) Visual materials, ca. 1911-1988 (ca. 25 linear ft.); 4) sound recordings, 1950-ca. 1988 (5 linear ft.) Scrapbooks, 1948-1987 (43 vols.) and State Department Microfilm, 1961-1966 (23 reels).

As part of its own control system, the governor's office maintained a card index to the correspondents in many of the subgroups and series within the gubernatorial papers. This card file is located in the library's reading room. In addition, Nancy Williams and her staff compiled an extensive and detailed run of scrapbooks covering the Williams years. There is a separate inventory to these scrapbooks in a separately bound volume.

Strategy for Use of the Gubernatorial Papers: Although the Williams gubernatorial collection consists of hundreds of linear feet of material, the file arrangement created by the governor's staff is a fairly simple one to understand and to use.

The bulk of the collection falls within specific functional groupings, corresponding to the various activities and responsibilities that Williams performed as governor. Thus, if the researcher is uncertain of what portions of the collection might be relevant to his/her research, he/she is advised to think in terms of gubernatorial function. Does the proposed research concern the workings or area responsibility of a state board? If so, the Boards and Commissions series would be the most likely place in which to find material. The election of 1954? Then Democratic Party/Campaign Papers should be first choice. The passage of a specific piece of legislation? Here, Legislative Files is an obvious choice. The possible choices (called subgroups and series) that the researcher has are listed in the Organization of the Collection section. A description of the contents of each of these subgroups/series is provided below.

If, at first, unsuccessful in finding material on any given topic, the researcher might consider these additional strategies:

1. Refer to the Williams card index (located in the library's reading room). Sometimes, the name of an individual associated with a subject provides the easiest point of access into the collection. This file is arranged alphabetically and lists the dates of letters between an individual and the governor's office. This file only indexes the larger series and subgroups in the collection. It does not index the staff files, or parts of the Democratic Party/Campaign subgroup. Nevertheless it is an invaluable tool, and can uncover important material otherwise buried.

2. Refer to the various series of staff papers. Staff members were often closely involved in a specific subject areas (Jordan Popkin and aging, for example) and thus their files are frequently rich in source material.

3. If only partially successful in locating desired material, the researcher should think of an alternative subgroup or series. The governor's office, for a variety of reasons, often filed related material in different locations depending upon the source of a document. Thus, information relating to a strike might be filed both under the Labor Mediation Board in Boards and Commissions, and Strikes in General Subjects. Furthermore, if the strike influenced a specific piece of legislation, there could be material in the Legislative Files.

The King's Own Borderers photograph album is a 54 page, 23.4 x 15.5 cm embossed leather bound album containing portrait photographs of individuals and groups associated with the Stoney family and the British army's 25th Regiment of Foot known as The King's Own Borderers. The images are cartes de visite, with some larger albumen prints and tintypes interspersed. The album contains a wide variety of other visual materials including photographic prints of artwork, pen and ink drawings, calligraphy, newspaper clippings, printed cartoons, and greeting cards. The cover of the album is inscribed "G. Ormond Stoney/King's Own Borderers/5th July 1864." The album appears to have evolved over time in several different stages.

The King's Own Borderers photograph album is a 54 page, 23.4 x 15.5 cm embossed leather bound album containing portrait photographs of individuals and groups associated with the Stoney family and the British Army's 25th Regiment of Foot known as The King's Own Borderers. The images are largely cartes de visite, with albumen prints and tintypes interspersed. The cover of the album is inscribed "G. Ormond Stoney/King's Own Borderers/5th July 1864." The album contains a wide variety of other visual materials including photographic prints of artwork, pen and ink drawings, calligraphy, newspaper clippings, printed cartoons, and greeting cards. The album appears to have had at least three different stages of construction. The first as a traditional 1860s carte de visite photograph album kept by its namesake G. Ormond Stoney (hereafter referred to as Ormond) comprised of photographs of family members interspersed with related newspaper clippings.

The album appears to have been revised with significant additions in the 1870s-1880s, including more photographs of family members as well as commercial photographic prints. The majority of those represented were army officers, with Anglican priests and politicians; many being contemporaries and associates of Ormond's father, George Butler Stoney (1819-1899). Clipped autographs of many are included beneath the photos and appear to be from correspondence to George Butler Stoney.

Various clues to point to Ormond Stoney's sister Jane (Janie) Stoney Smith as a contributor to the album. Not only is she frequently represented in the album, but the album has several pictures of her husband Arthur Smith and his family--many more so than any other family that married into the Stoney family. Arthur and Janie married on September 19, 1867--the same date on the autograph posted under Arthur's picture. Arthur died in 1870 leaving Janie a pregnant widow with a young son, Herbert (see p.24 for his portrait), and an even younger daughter, Ethel Maud. Newspaper clippings around the portrait of Arthur on p.13 mention his death as well as the birth of Herbert and Ethel, though not of Florence, the youngest daughter. Although Jane's two daughters are not represented in the album, on page 44 it appears that at one point a photograph of both of her daughters was extant.

While Jane's younger sister Wilhelmina married Colin McKenzie Smith, another son of William Smith, she did not do so until 1889. The focus on Janie's husband Arthur and their children, suggests Jane rather than Wilhelmina as a significant contributor to the album.

George Ormond's wife Meylia has not been identified in the album and may not be present, however, her father, Sinclair Laing is represented. Laing appears to have been a correspondent with George Butler Stoney.

At some later date, likely in the late 19th century, decorative gold painted borders were added, along with chromolithograph stickers, known as "scraps." These include a series illustrating Robinson Crusoe. Unlike the earlier additions which point to Janie Smith, these later additions might have been the work of a child playing with what would have been a 30 year old album. The gold paint overlapping earlier items (see p. 28 for example) suggests a later date, as do the "scraps" made popular after 1880. The seemingly random nature of the placement of the "scraps" is quite the opposite of the carefully placed and planned addition probably done by Janie Smith.

Of the children represented in the album, three of them would be killed in World War One: Thomas Ramsay Stoney (1882-1918), George Butler Stoney (1877-1915), and Herbert Stoney Smith (1868-1915).

• Two group portraits of young men in military uniform, presumably with George Ormond present in both photographs (p.2, and back inside cover).
• A portrait of a dog that if viewed from another angle appears to be an individual with a disfigured face (p.7).
• A commercial carte de visite of a Zulu warrior identified as King Cetewayo (likely incorrect, the chief of the Matabele) (p.41).
• A portrait of Napoleon, Prince Imperial, in his military uniform ca. 1879 before he died in the service of the British Army during the Anglo-Zulu War (p.40).
• A print of Rosturk Castle in County Mayo, Ireland (p.47).
• A retouched portrait of a dog posed with a military hat, cane and pipe. (p.23).
• An 1873 program for an "evening reading" of two different farces, "Little Toddlekins," and "The Dead Shot," done to raise money for Mrs. Palmer, the retiring battalion nurse (p.53). On the outside of the program is a print of Portland House, a manor owned by members of the Stoney family.