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

The Hinkley collection is comprised of an account book and exercise book owned by members of the Hinkley family of Georgetown, Maine, in the mid-18th and early 19th centuries. The materials pertain to John Hinkley's finances, Samuel P. Hinkley's finances and education, and religious poetry.

The Hinkley collection is comprised of an account book and exercise book owned by members of the Hinkley family of Georgetown, Maine, in the mid-18th and early 19th centuries. John Hinkley kept 125 pages of accounts from 1755-1779, Samuel P. Hinkley kept 3 pages of accounts from 1789-1805, and Samuel P. Hinkley recorded 56 pages of information about mathematics and navigational principles. The account book also has 8 pages of religious poetry.

The first 125 pages of John Hinkley's Account Book concern the period between June 1755 and May 1779, though most accounts are dated between 1755 and 1765. His double-entry records pertain to his purchases of chocolate, sugar, corn, meal, rum, molasses, and other foodstuffs, and some reflect his interest in a sawmill. Several aspects of the mill's business are covered, such as providing boards and hauling timber. John Hinkley frequently traded with other members of the Hinkley family, including Josiah Hinkley and Samuel Hinkley. The accounts are followed by 8 pages of religious poetry, with one poem attributed to Betsey Hinkley, and 3 pages of financial accounts that Samuel P. Hinkley sporadically recorded between December 1789 and June 1805.

Samuel P. Hinkley's Exercise Book, dated December 18, 1837, contains 56 pages of nautical navigational problems and exercises. Topics include plane sailing, traverse sailing, parallel sailing, middle latitude sailing, and Mercator sailing, as well as the method of ascertaining latitude by making observations. Hinkley recorded several case studies and accompanying exercises for each sailing method, and the book contains the mathematical calculations used to solve each problem. Some problems, particularly those in the traverse sailing section, are accompanied by tables. The last several pages are copied entries from an unnamed ship's log, originally recorded during a journey between Boston and Madeira in March and April 1824 and during an unspecified voyage in January 1824.

The Isam Leonard Arithmetic Book includes mathematical rules, questions, practical examples, and solved exercises covering subtraction, multiplication, division, addition, reduction, fractions, decimals, the single rule of three direct, inverse and compound proportions, and simple interest. The volume includes calligraphic lettering and designs. One undated, unsigned pencil drawing of the "Old Mill at Iffley" is tipped into the volume.

The Isam Leonard Arithmetic Book includes mathematical rules, questions, practical examples, and solved exercises covering subtraction, multiplication, division, addition, reduction, fractions, decimals, the single rule of three direct, inverse and compound proportions, and simple interest. The volume includes calligraphic lettering and designs. One undated, unsigned pencil drawing of the "Old Mill at Iffley" is tipped into the volume. Colored, floral-patterned paper (wallpaper) is pasted onto the front and back covers.

This collection is made up of two blank books, apparently by students of penmanship instructor J. M. Schermerhorn; a sheet bearing the name J. M. Schermerhorn in handwritten block letters; and a printed advertisement for J. M. Schermerhorn's penmanship lessons (and hand-written visiting and wedding cards). The blank books, apparently kept by Devillo W. Northrup and Owen J. Lewis of Utica, New York, are filled with penmanship exercises. Their work is largely repetition of city names, but also includes some personal names and other text. The cover inscriptions include significant flourishes and illustrations of quill pens.

This collection is made up of two blank books, apparently by students of penmanship instructor J. M. Schermerhorn; a sheet bearing the name J. M. Schermerhorn in handwritten block letters; and a printed advertisement for J. M. Schermerhorn's penmanship lessons (and hand-written visiting and wedding cards). The blank books, apparently kept by Devillo W. Northrup and Owen J. Lewis of Utica, New York, are filled with penmanship exercises. Their work is largely repetition of city names, but also includes some personal names and other text. The cover inscriptions include significant flourishes and illustrations of quill pens.

The printed advertising flier is headed PENMANSHIP. J. M. SCHERMERHORN, PRESENTS his Compliments, and respectfully announces to the inhabitants of this place and vicinity, that he will give a Course of Lessons in the Art of Writing, (upon MAY's improved and popular system... (Utica, N.Y.: Roberts, printer, [1870s?]). The flier has a separate section advertising to women, the cost of $1.00 for 10 lessons, and an additional note that Schermerhorn provides affordable handwritten visiting and wedding cards.

John Morison of Windham, New Hampshire, compiled this mathematical cypher book, containing extensive notes and practice problems on sailing, surveying, trigonometry, accounting, weights and measures, arithmetic, algebra, fractions, decimals, geometry, geodesia, and navigation. Many of the signatures are of different-size paper and stitched together using different thread. The final signature is upside down from the rest of the volume and contains penmanship practice, poetry, a song, scattered family names, miscellaneous figures, and drawings (including a windmill).

John Morison of Windham, New Hampshire, compiled this mathematical cypher book, containing extensive notes and practice problems on sailing, surveying, trigonometry, accounting, weights and measures, arithmetic, algebra, fractions, decimals, geometry, geodesia, and navigation. Many of the signatures are of different-size paper and stitched together using different thread. The final signature is upside down from the rest of the volume and contains penmanship practice, poetry, a song, scattered family names, miscellaneous figures, and drawings (including a windmill).

• Cases [these pages are severely damaged along the foredge with loss to significant text]
• Division of Coin, Weights &c [these pages are severely damaged along the foredge with significant loss of text]
• Reduction descending & ascending [application of multiplication and division]
• Tare & Trett &c [weights and measures between vendor and customer]
• The Single Rule of Three Direct
• Rule of Three Reverse
• The Double Rule of Three Direct
• The Double Rule of Three Reverse
• Compound Proportion
• Simple Interest
• Compound Company
• Factor's Allowance
• Interest for Months ; For Weeks ; Interest for Days
• Rebate or Discount
• Equation of Payment
• Barter
• Profit & Loss
• Simple Company
• Exchange [currency exchange]
• Comparison Weights & Measures
• Alligation Alternate
• Double Position, or Negative Arithmetic
• Progression Arithmetical
• Geometrical Progression
• Permutation, or Changing the order of Things
• Vulgar Fractions & first of Reduction
• Addition of Vulgar
• Subtraction of Vulgar
• Multiplication of Vulgar Fractions
• Division of Vulgar Fractions
• Addition of Decimals ; Subtraction of Decimals
• Multiplication of Decimals ; Division of Decimals
• Reduction of Decimals
• Simple Rule of Three Direct in Decimals
• Practical Geometry
• Plain Trigonometry Rectangular
• Extraction of the Square Root &c &c
• Extraction of the Cube Root
• Surveying &c. &c. &c.
• Mensuration Surveying &c.
• [Draft of a legal document related land/labor]
• Algebra
• Numerical Algebra
• Evolution of Whole Quantities
• Fractions
• Evolution of Fractional Quantities
• Addition & Subtraction of Surd Quantities ; Multiplication of Surds ; Involution of Surds
• Reduction by Involution
• Of Analyses, or the Method of Resolving Problems
• Practical Geometry
• Plain Trigonometry Rectangular
• Plain Trigonometry Obliquangular
• Plain Sailing the First Part
• Plain Sailing the Second Part
• Traverse Sailing
• Oblique Sailing
• Mercator's Sailing
• Middle Latitude Sailing
• Geodesia or Surveying [with a landscape cross section, a sketch of a field, and a sketch of a tower]
• Alimetry & Longimetry [with one sketch of a tower in a field, a sketch of a windmill, large building, and tree]
• Variation of the Compass
• Dialing [with one sketch of a horizontal dial]

• Penmanship practice, repeated copies of: "Know all men by these Presents that I John morison of the Perish of Windam", "ten things A Penman should have Near at Hand" [sadly, the ten things are not listed], and "from thy Desk to keep thy breast from harm upright thy head", and others.
• Multiplication table and many miscellaneous scribbled mathematical notations and problems.
• Some poetry and many partial words, family names, and letter practice.
• "[New?] Song with its own tune Prented 1764" on a relationship separation in which the man was scorned by the woman, but then on her remorse they reunited.

Leo Engleman worked trigonometric and surveying exercises in this cypher book from 1847 to 1848, possibly while a thirteen-year-old boy living in Pennsylvania. Many of the exercises include mathematical drawings and illustrations, and surveying examples often include additional features done in pencil and watercolor.

Leo Engleman worked trigonometric and surveying exercises in this cypher book from 1847 to 1848, possibly while a thirteen-year-old boy living in Pennsylvania. Many of the exercises include mathematical drawings and illustrations, and surveying examples often include additional features done in pencil and watercolor, such as trees, rivers, buildings, and lighthouses. A number of headings also feature watercolor embellishments and abstract or geometric designs, and the final pages of the volume include full-page watercolor designs of geometric shapes and a rose bush.

This collection contains materials relating to the Loomis family of Columbia, Connecticut, between the 1820s and 1890s, primarily concerning the education of the children Ormond P., Mary, Emily, Aurelia, and Dwight. Educational content includes penmanship exercises, cypher books, drawings, maps, and various mathematical and astronomical calculations.The collection also includes documentation of Ormond P. Loomis's teaching, classroom, and students for Fall-Winter 1829-1830. An estate inventory produced upon the death of their father, Elam Loomis, in 1855 is also present, as well as a partially completed family record. Several pieces of poetry, speech notes, and other writings by members of the Loomis family are also included.

This collection contains materials relating to the Loomis family of Columbia, Connecticut, between the 1820s and 1890s, primarily concerning the education of the children Ormond P., Mary, Emily, Aurelia, and Dwight. Educational content includes penmanship exercises, cypher books, drawings, maps, and various mathematical and astronomical calculations. Some of the illustrations and pen work are based on Eleazer Huntington's The American Penman and on "Aaron Yeomans Instructor." Two are datelined "Pine Swamp." The collection also includes documentation of Ormond P. Loomis's teaching, classroom, and students for Fall-Winter 1829-1830. An estate inventory produced upon the death of their father, Elam Loomis, in 1855 is also present, as well as a partially completed family record. Several pieces of poetry, speech notes, and other writings by members of the Loomis family are also included.

• Penmanship and Forms, beginning January 23, 1828 (11 pages) kept by Ormond P. Loomis, featuring elegant, different scripts and illustrations.
• Penmanship exercise by Ormond P. Loomis: "Duties of Men," February 21, 1828; with an illustration of an American eagle and shield, with an ornate oval border.
• "Miscellaneous Matters &c." cypher book with astronomical content by Ormond P. Loomis, March 20, 1828.
• Two loose sheets with illustrated projections and calculations for solar eclipses in 1831 and 1836, dated April 1 and 3, 1829, produced by Ormond P. Loomis.
• Penmanship exercise, with different versions of Ormond P. Loomis' name, phonetically spelled with Hebrew and Greek characters, May 31, 1828.
• Illustration of an American eagle with a shield and banner, made by Ormond P. Loomis 1828.
• Illustrations of modern winged cherubim, with a quotation beginning "O! Righteous! thou lovely thing!", made by Ormond P. Loomis on January 18, 1829.
• Sheet of penmanship practice by Ormond P. Loomis with quotations on verso respecting eloquence, and a statement "Andrew Jackson of Tennessee President!", June 1829.
• Illustrated projection drawn by Ormond P. Loomis of the moon's eclipse of September 2, 1830, dated March 20, 1829.
• Illustration of an eagle with a banner by Ormond P. Loomis in 1828.
• "Journal kept at the 3rd school District in the school society in Hebron", maintained by Ormond P. Loomis in 1829. Including a foldout of tabular information about daily school attendance by 10 students, and daily weather. Concludes with a statement about why Loomis decided to leave the profession of teacher. A separate list identifies male and female students in the School Society in Hebron by class status.
• Two sheets with miscellaneous astronomical calculations, canal lengths, and numerical Christian Bible information produced by Ormond P. Loomis in 1830 and 1831.
• Handmade, stab-sewn volume with poetry, literature, and biblical extracts kept by Aurelia Loomis between 1838-1841.
• "Appendix to Report on Free Schools," compiled in 1847, possibly by Dwight Loomis before his graduation from Yale Law School.
• Circa 1855 volume inventorying the estate of Elam Loomis.
• Letter from Dwight Loomis to Mary Loomis dated March 26, 1863, and a copy of correspondence between Dwight Loomis and Cyrus White including a riddle about white lies dated February 21, 1889.
• Circa 1890s bound volume of notes for a speech to the Burpee Post of the Grand Army of the Republic about the Civil War, possibly by Dwight Loomis, concerning memorialization of the Civil War dead, naturalization, suffrage, citizenship, patriotism and education.
• Undated manuscript map of England, Ireland, and Scotland drawn by Ormond P. Loomis.
• Newspaper clipping showing demographic information for the states and territories in the United States, [1822?].
• Two undated pencil sketches drawn by Emily Loomis of the exterior of buildings, including the "Mill at Hartford."
• Undated poem about Abraham Lincoln, "Hitch Your Wagon to a Star," possibly written by Dwight Loomis.
• Undated "Family Record" for the Loomis family with entries for family members and their birth dates. Includes record of Loomis P. Ormond's death.
• Undated cypher book kept by Mary Loomis with several patriotic and religious calligraphic exercises.

This blank book contains penmanship exercises in German by Magdalene Minsing. Some of the letters have elements reminiscent of Pennsylvania Dutch fraktur style, some include colored ink, and striped design.

This blank book contains penmanship exercises in German by Magdalene Minsing. Some of the letters have elements reminiscent of Pennsylvania Dutch fraktur style, some include colored ink, and striped design. In addition to practice with individual letters, several phrases appear including "Pater und Mutter" [Father and Mother], "Bruder Friedrich" [Brother Friedrich], and "Was Gott thut das ist wohlgethan" [From what God ordains is always good].

Margaret ("Peggy") Montgomery kept this copybook in 1809 to practice her penmanship. She copied religious and moral proverbs, poems, and passages, as well as short phrases, alphabets, and examples of financial receipts. The place name "Windham" appears throughout the volume, but no state is provided. At the back of the volume, from May to June 1838, Margaret Montgomery documented accusations that she had stolen teaspoons and detailed her interactions related to the matter. An undated medicinal recipe and directions for its use appear near the end of the volume for the treatment of an unspecified complaint.

Margaret ("Peggy") Montgomery kept this copybook in 1809 to practice her penmanship. She copied religious and moral proverbs, poems, and passages, as well as short phrases, alphabets, and examples of financial receipts. The place name "Windham" appears throughout the volume, but no state is provided. At the back of the volume, from May to June 1838, Margaret Montgomery documented accusations that she had stolen teaspoons and detailed her interactions related to the matter. An undated medicinal recipe and directions for its use appear near the end of the volume for the treatment of an unspecified complaint.

This collection is made up of 2 volumes that Marianna Chandler Lanman composed while studying at Mrs. Rowson's Academy for Young Ladies in Boston, Massachusetts, around 1814. One concerns arithmetic, focusing on practical applications in bookkeeping, conversion, and monetary transactions; the other contains copied poems, calligraphic alphabets, and graphic illustrations.

This collection is made up of 2 volumes that Marianna Chandler Lanman composed while studying at Mrs. Rowson's Academy for Young Ladies in Boston, Massachusetts, around 1814. One concerns arithmetic, focusing on practical applications in bookkeeping, conversion, and monetary transactions; the other contains copied poems, calligraphic alphabets, and graphic illustrations. Lanman dedicated both volumes to her parents.

Lanman composed the first volume, entitled "Practical Arithmetic[:] Comprising All the Rules for Transacting Business" (10"x16", 60 pages), at Mrs. Rawson's Academy in 1814. Its sections, each labeled in calligraphy, concern mathematical operations, rules and theorems; weights and measures; and practical applications of mathematical principles. Many of the later pages concern subjects such as the calculation of simple and compound interest, the value of "federal money" against "lawful money" (state currencies), commission charges, and bookkeeping. The explanatory text is accompanied by finished exercises and problems. The volume also includes tables of weights and measures and an index.

The second volume, "Specimens of Penmanship" (16"x10", 23 pages), is undated. Lanman copied poetry and proverbs on the book's odd-numbered pages; most concern subjects such as happiness, rural living, and gratitude. The title of a poem on the "Pleasures of retired Life" is written on a drawing of a ribbon (p. 19). One poem, entitled "Virtue's Tears Embalm the Brave," is dedicated to the memory of American casualties of the War of 1812 (p. 21). The volume contains several drawings: a hermit in his home (p. 3), a bald eagle among patriotic decorations (p. 21), a sailing ship (p. 21), and a line drawing of a bird with the word "industry" in its feathers (p. 23). The volume also includes examples of cursive, German, and Old English alphabets.

Written between 1831 and 1835, the Pennsylvania geography exercise book contains a series of school exercises about Pennsylvania, organized by county. Essays cover a diverse array of topics including the geography, architecture, and history of specific areas.

Written between 1831 and 1835, this volume contains a series of school exercises about the state of Pennsylvania, organized by county. Essays cover a diverse array of topics including the geography, architecture, and history of specific areas. Though the volume focuses on Pennsylvania at the county level, the cities of Germantown and Philadelphia are discussed at length. While writing about Germantown, the writer considers not only its history, but also the composition of its population, the religion of these settlers, relations with local Native Americans, natural geography, and its role in the American Revolution. The author treats Philadelphia in even more depth, devoting entire exercises to specific bridges and buildings (including the city's prisons, hospital, local British army barracks, poor houses, and the homes of notable residents such as William Penn and Robert Morris), "The Treaty Tree," foreign settlers, "The 'caves' of the first inhabitants," "Superstition and popular Credulity of the Early Inhabitants" (with a focus on the city's first Dutch and Swedish settlers), and its "Aborigines." Of particular interest is a lengthy discussion of William Penn and his history within the state. Together, the sections on Germantown and Philadelphia comprise roughly one-fourth of the volume.

The remainder of the book is devoted to exercises exploring Pennsylvania's various counties, as divided in the early 1830s (see below for a list of counties covered in the volume). The section on each county contains an initial introduction accompanied by a manuscript map (except in the case of Centre County) and at least one essay. These exercises are generally much shorter than those devoted to Philadelphia, and they focus primarily on geographic features such as rivers, hills or mountains, and soil. Other recurrent topics include roads or other improvements and (occasionally) larger towns or cities. Lancaster and Pittsburgh are among the settlements described in greater detail, though neither description matches the attention given to Germantown or Philadelphia. The exercise book provides a thorough, contemporary view of Pennsylvania in the early 19th century, from the established settlements on its Atlantic coast to the forests of its interior and its western boundaries.