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

The Ferdinand C. Porée Collection is made up of eight documents or sets of documents and one business card pertaining to Porée's efforts to secure and maintain his Civil War pension. Porée served as 2nd Lieutenant in the 30th Massachusetts Infantry. By 1890, suffering from poor health, he retired from his position as Post Office clerk in Boston. The bundles of documents were compiled by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Pensions, and include a denial of his 1892 application. Porée had heart, skin, nervous, and bowel issues and the Bureau determined his symptoms too closely resembled rheumatism to accept the application. In the late 1890s, he worked with pension attorneys to create a new application with physician diagnoses of malarial fever/poisoning, dysentery, sun stroke, rheumatism, "Army Itch", and acute mania. He received his pension approval in the spring of 1897, but the Bureau revoked the pension in 1901 for lack of evidence of the connection between ailments and his military service.

The collection includes a printed business card of Elmer C. Richardson, "Successor to FREEMAN EMMONS", pension claims attorney.

The Fish Family papers contain the personal letters of Harry S. Fish of Williamson, New York, and his children who, over the course of the 19th century, scattered throughout the United States, fought in the Civil War, and suffered sickness and poverty during the postwar period. Also present are letters to J. Clifford Robinson from his mother and sister, and letters written annually from Franc Edith Aldrich Arnold to her friend Maud Bradley Robinson, from 1887 to 1933.

The Fish family papers (417 items) contain the personal letters and writings of a family from Williamson, New York, whose members, over the course of the 19th century, scattered throughout the United States, fought in the Civil War, and suffered though sickness and poverty during the postwar period. The bulk of the letters (336 in all) concern Harry S. Fish and his children: Dan, Carlton, Selby, and Julia Fish. Also present are letters to J. Clifford Robinson from his mother and sister, and 47 letters written annually from Franc Edith Aldrich Arnold to her friend Maud Bradley Robinson, spanning 1887 to 1933. The collection also contains 25 calling cards, 9 social invitations, 2 documents, 1 essay, 13 miscellaneous items, and one lock of hair.

Correspondence series :

The Fish family letters subseries (336 items) largely document the lives of Dan, Carlton, Selby, and Julia Fish. Throughout, the siblings discuss their deep animosity toward their father. The first four letters (1847-1850) are between Wright R. Fish, in Poughkeepsie, New York, and his father Isaac Fish, in Williamson, New York. Letters written during the Civil War-era include 18 letters from Carlton, 27 from Selby, 14 from Daniel, 9 from Judson Rice (all addressed to Julia), and 49 letters from Julia to Carlton (with 3 additional, post-war letters). These include descriptions of the Peninsular Campaign (Yorktown and the Seven Days Battles, particularly Gaines's Mills) by Selby, and Judson Rice's account of 1st Winchester. Both Selby and Carlton commented on their regiment’s occasional ill discipline and low morale. Selby described his experience in army hospitals and sometimes reflected on death, war, and the hard life of a soldier.

Dan’s letters, written mostly from California and Oregon, provide commentary on the life of an itinerant (and sometimes vagrant) traveler in the gold fields of the Far West. Julia described local events and family news, frequently discussing family strife. She occasionally discussed the politics and society in Williamson. In a particularly notable incident onJuly 17, 1864, Julia consulted a psychic to diagnose Carlton’s mysterious illness, which appeared during the siege of Yorktown in May 1862. Many Civil War era letters contain illustrated letterheads.

The collection contains material concerning southern perspectives of the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction eras, including 59 letters written to Julia Fish by Selby Fish and/or his wife, Josephine, from New Orleans (1864-1871); 7 letters from Selby to Carlton (1867-1869); and letters from Carlton to Julia: 7 written from Grant City, Missouri, (1868-1869); 27 from New Orleans, Louisiana (1869-1883); and 3 from San Antonio, Texas (1883). Of note are two letters written by Carlton from Grant City, Missouri, in which he described the surge of population in a "back woods" town in northwestern Missouri, as post-war westward expansion peaked (October 18, 1868 and October 24, 1869). Also of interest are Carlton’s accounts of his struggles with poverty and unemployment (November 8, 1889), and Dan’s report on joining the Good Templars in 1867; he described a wild ceremony that featured riding a goat backwards and climbing a greased pole with bare feet.

The J. Clifford Robinson letters consist of 63 letters and postcards, written to J. Clifford Robinson by his mother and sister Gertrude in 1895 and 1896. These offer a perspective on an intensely close mother-son relationship in the 1890's, and contain many remarks of motherly advice.

The Fish family letters subseries ends with 13 condolence letters addressed to Maud Bradley, comforting her on the death of her mother, Julia Fish Bradley, in 1905.

The Arnold-Robinson letters subseries contains 47 letters written annually, on New Year's Day, by Franc Edith Aldrich Arnold to Maud Bradley Robinson, reflecting on the events of the year, and reminiscing about their childhood together in Pultneyville, New York (1887-1933). These letters were written every year from 1887-1933, from their teenage years through retirement. In these, Arnold discussed her concerns about remaining unmarried, her inability to have children, and her desire to adopt a child.

The Ephemera, Photographs, and Miscellaneous series (55 items) is comprised of 5 items of ephemera concerning Julia Fish Bradley and her relatives; 25 calling cards from friends of Julia Fish Bradley; 9 invitations to parties and balls addressed to J. Clifford Robinson, (1890's); 13 miscellaneous writing fragments; and 3 cartes-de-visite of Selby Fish (c. 1869), Joseph E. Johnston (c.1863), and Nathaniel Lyon (c.1861).

The Fisk-Chalker family collection is made up of letters, land indentures, tax receipts, tintype photographs, and a tavern keeper's license, related to the Fisk and Chalker families of Junius, New York; Livingston County, Michigan; and (briefly) Chamberlain, South Dakota. The collection includes five Civil War letters, with content on the Michigan First Regiment of Engineers and Mechanics; and three letters by Sarah J. Fisk Chalker following her arrival on Bailey's Ranch near Chamberlain, South Dakota, January 1890.

The Fisk-Chalker family collection is made up of 36 letters, 10 land indentures, 42 tax receipts, 2 tintype photographs, and 1 tavern keeper's license, related to the Fisk and Chalker families of Junius, New York; Livingston County, Michigan; and (briefly) Chamberlain, South Dakota.

The Correspondence is largely incoming and outgoing letters of John Fisk, his brother Sumner Fisk, his wife Judith "Judah" Fisk, and his daughter Sarah J. Fisk Chalker. Five Civil War date letters include two letters by Sumner Fisk (August 4, 1862, and June 20, 1864), in which he offers news on Seneca County, New York, soldiers Charley Bush and Capt. Ira Munson (probably of the 126th New York Infantry). John Fisk received two letters from Private George Turk of the First Regiment Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, Company A (June 18, 1864, and July 23, 1864), with content on soldiers' pay, camp life, and augmenting his military wages by chopping cord wood for the railroad in Calhoun, Georgia, and Bridgeport, Alabama.

In the early days of January 1890, Sarah J. and John Chalker moved to the newly organized state of South Dakota and settled on the Bailey Ranch on the Missouri River, near Chamberlain. In three letters to her mother, Sarah described their arrival, their house, the terrible "gumbo" mud, and other aspects of the "disagreeable country." She wrote of a visit with "an old squaw and Indian" for meat and coffee in their teepee near the Bailey Ranch stable--"the old squaw smoked while we was in there. She carried her pipe on her back." After a month, they received fewer visits from Native Americans. In summation, she wrote "Mother, I would not live here and make it my home for all the land in Dakota." John and Sarah returned to live in Putnam, Michigan.

The Documents series includes 10 land indentures dating between 1849 and 1884 (bulk 1849-1851) largely for property in Seneca and Ontario County, New York. Forty-two receipts for John and Judith Fisk's property taxes in Putnam, Michigan, 1865-1892, and John Fisk's Junius, New York, tavern keeper's license (May 1, 1854) complete the series.

The collection's photographs depict the parents of Sarah J. Fisk and of John G. Chalker. One tintype portrait shows John S. and Judith "Judah" Fisk and another tintype shows Abner and Deliah Patterson Chalker.

This collection is made up of correspondence and documents related to the McFarlan and Folts families of upstate New York. Materials pertain to the legal affairs of Scottish immigrant Thomas McFarlan and to the Folts family's business interests.

This collection (73 items) is made up of correspondence (66 items) and documents (7 items) related to the McFarlan and Folts families of upstate New York. Materials pertain to the legal affairs of Scottish immigrant Thomas McFarlan and to the Folts family's business interests. The 6 items concerning Thomas McFarlan include letters about family members in Scotland and documents about McFarlan's legal affairs. The remaining materials largely consist of incoming letters to Jacob J. Folts of Albany, New York, often regarding business affairs and finances. His brother George sometimes mentioned political issues, and his brother Daniel discussed his education, medical advice, and family news. Additional correspondence includes letters between other members of the Folts and McFarlan families, and bills of sale, receipts, and other financial records related to Jacob C. and Warner Folts.

This collection contains 15 letters that Fred Hewitt wrote to his family and friends while serving in the 5th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment during the Civil War, as well as 1 letter written by his brother Frank, who was in the same regiment. Fred Hewitt discussed several aspects of his service in army camps in Maryland and Virginia.

This collection contains 15 letters that Frederick K. Hewitt ("Fred") wrote to his family and friends while serving in the 5th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment during the Civil War, as well as 1 undated letter written by his brother Frank, who was in the same regiment. The envelopes are addressed to Marion Hewitt and "Mayne" Hewitt of Horseheads, New York, and to Mrs. Albert Fields of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Fred Hewitt wrote letters home from March 29, 1863-July 4, 1865. Though he was primarily stationed at Camp Hill in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, he also wrote from several Maryland locations, including Fort McHenry. His letter of August 7, 1864, is dated from a hospital in Frederick, Maryland. Hewitt wrote about other soldiers and officers in his regiment, desertions and soldiers declining to reenlist, a local smallpox epidemic, loneliness in camp, and other aspects of military life. He sometimes provided news of and expressed concern for his younger brother, Frank. Some of his letters mention picket duty and the possibility of being called into battle. One letter recounts the story of his lieutenant, Disosway, who was taken prisoner (November 17, 1864). Hewitt's final letter, dated July 4, 1865, concerns life in New York City. Frank Hewitt's undated letter to his sister also concerns aspects of military life.

The Gardner B. Clark papers consist of ten letters from a Union soldier to his wife between 1861 and 1864. Also included is a Special Order from Major General Burnside.

The Gardner B. Clark papers consist of ten letters with his wife Mary, and one Special Order from Major General Burnside. In his letters, Clark writes of his feelings for his wife, the dead and wounded among his company, the upcoming draft in Michigan, and seeing fellow soldiers from Michigan. He also discusses a few experiences on the battlefield. In a letter from December 20, 1863, Clark voices his opinions on how the government is running the war:

"By what right have a few who hold the reins of the U.S. Government precipitated a long and cruel war upon thirty-million of their fellow beings. They say to preserve human liberty as our forefathers left it. Is it not just possible they are thrusting a worse bondage upon us than relieving us from tyranny. For certain it is the Military power that now rules[.] This Nation has no parallel, only in the history of the despots of the old world."

The order comes from Major General Burnside to the headquarters of the army of the Potomac's Camp near Falmouth, Virginia. The order is largely a morale-boosting call to the army, commending the "gallant solders" for their "many brilliant battlefield accomplishments and achievements."

This collection contains correspondence and other items related to the family of George H. and Mary Spooner of Petersham, Massachusetts, and Clifton, Illinois. George and Mary Spooner corresponded with one another and with many family members between the 1840s and early 1880s. The collection includes a small number of printed materials, poems, writings, and ephemeral items.

This collection (83 items) contains correspondence and other items related to the family of George H. and Mary Spooner of Petersham, Massachusetts, and Clifton, Illinois.

The Correspondence series (67 items) largely consists of letters that George and Mary Spooner received from friends and family members in the mid-19th century, particularly in the 1850s. Their correspondents primarily wrote from locations in Massachusetts, such as Petersham, Worcester, and Deerfield. The writers often provided news of family members and acquaintances, and some discussed social events such as Fourth of July celebrations.

One group of letters, dated in the 1840s, pertains to J. Benjamin Howe, a relative of the Spooner family. Mary and George Spooner exchanged love letters during periods of separation, and George wrote a letter to his grandfather about his life and work in Boston in September 1851. Letters dated after 1858 occasionally pertain to politics and to the Civil War, including a letter from Mary's brother Thomas, who discussed the Lincoln-Douglas debates and expressed his opinions about racial purity (September 22, 1858).

Mary Angela Spooner wrote to George and Mary Spooner about life in Petersham, Massachusetts, during the Civil War, mentioning local casualties and sharing news of J. Benjamin [Howe], a member of the 53rd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. George Spooner corresponded with his wife about business affairs and life in "Pekin" during the war years. Postwar items include letters to an unidentified recipient in Clifton, Illinois, and a small number of additional personal letters to George and Mary Spooner. In December 1874, a man named "Fletch" wrote two letters about his experiences at Harvard.

The Writings, Sketch, and Genealogy series (11 items) includes an undated essay entitled "Chronicles of Clifton," poems, a pencil sketch, and genealogical notes. From 1842-1843, J. Benjamin Howe copied or wrote 4 poems, including lines addressed to a pet dog, songs about love, and one titled "The Army Overcoat." Additional poetry includes a similar work about military clothing, unsigned lines in a different hand, and a copy of a poem entitled "Brig Transcript." The series also contains a pencil sketch of the unidentified artist's former residence (November 5, 1848) and four pages of genealogical notes.

The Printed Items and Ephemera series (5 items) consists of a newspaper clipping, two calling cards, an invitation addressed to George and Mary Spooner, and the word "Bible" sewn on plastic canvas (with half or tent stitches).

This collection contains personal and business correspondence related to Philadelphia merchant George Fales, as well as documents, newspaper clippings, and correspondence pertaining to the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and Hospital, which Fales's nephew, Samuel Bradford Fales, helped to operate during the Civil War.

This collection contains personal and business correspondence related to Philadelphia merchant George Fales (35 items), as well as documents, newspaper clippings, and correspondence pertaining to the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and Hospital, which Fales's nephew, Samuel Bradford Fales, helped to operate during the Civil War (6 items).

George Fales received 4 letters from his brother Samuel between 1815 and 1835, which mainly concern financial and business matters. The first letter, written on December 4, 1815, provided a list of expenses, including money intended for the construction of a school for African Americans in Boston. Other letters from business associates discuss finances; business with Fales or with his firm, Fales, Lothrop & Company; and potential business ventures such as a wood-chopping enterprise. Fales also received 3 personal letters from his nieces Eliza F. Bridgman and Mary T. Monroe and 1 from his nephew Samuel Bradford Fales, who described his travels near Pittsburgh (April 22, 1836). Samuel B. Fales granted his uncle power of attorney in a document dated February 4, 1834.

The collection also contains 6 items related to Philadelphia's Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and Hospital, including 2 letters addressed to historian Benson J. Lossing. Robert R. Carson encouraged Lossing to utilize the Union Volunteer Refreshment Committee's business card in his pictorial history of the war, and attached a newspaper clipping reporting a grand jury's approval of the project (April 7, 1862). Arad Bellows provided a list of corrections and additional information in response to Lossing's recent work (August 6, 1866). Samuel Fales wrote 2 letters to "Reverend Sibley" about the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and Hospital, written on stationery bearing a letterhead engraving of the establishment and including the projected number of soldiers assisted (November 20, 1865). One of these letters is attached to a printed newsletter about the enterprise, entitled "The Fair Record of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon."

Three newspaper clippings, including 2 from The Philadelphia Inquirer and 1 from the Evening Bulletin, concern the history of the saloon and hospital, and contain testimonials. The collection also contains a carte-de-visite photograph of Samuel B. Fales and a broadside poem entitled "Lines in Memory of the Philadelphia Volunteer Refreshment Saloon," signed and inscribed by Samuel B. Fales for Benson Lossing.

This collection is made up of 12 letters and one manuscript map pertaining to George W. Gragg of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry and the U.S. Navy during the Civil War, and his father William Gragg, a career surgeon's steward in the U.S. Navy. The bulk of the papers date between 1862 and 1864, respecting in part George Gragg's service in and around Suffolk, Virginia, in early 1863. The manuscript map depicts fortifications around Suffolk at the time of the April-May 1863 siege.

This collection is made up of 12 letters and one manuscript map pertaining to George W. Gragg of Company K, 6th Massachusetts Infantry, and the U.S. Navy during the Civil War, and his father William Gragg, a career surgeon's steward in the U.S. Navy. The bulk of the papers date between 1862 and 1864, respecting in part George Gragg's service in and around Suffolk, Virginia, in early 1863. The manuscript map depicts fortifications around Suffolk at the time of the April-May 1863 siege.

The letters are comprised of five from William F. Gragg to his son George and daughter-in-law Lizzie, 1853-1863; four letters and one note from George W. Gragg to Lizzie Cole before and after their marriage; George Gragg's discharge certificate (June 8, 1863); and a manuscript map of Suffolk, Virginia, and its environs (ca. May 1863). Gragg purchased the map from a fellow soldier in the 6th Massachusetts Infantry, John H. Keith (Company C), for 37 cents. One additional, incomplete letter, dated February 1, 1863, from Suffolk, Virginia, appears to be from George W. Gragg to his mother Maria, in which he relates a detailed description of the Battle of Deserted House, near Suffolk, Virginia.

Please see the box and folder listing below for details about each item in the collection.

The Gray family papers document the family relationships of William and Eckley Gray, while serving in the Union Army, and Lucy Doan Gray, William's wife and Eckley's mother, as she managed the family farm in New Salem, Illinois.

The papers of William and Eckley Gray present an unusual view of side-by-side service of a father and son during the Civil War. As a junior officer and enlisted man, respectively, the Grays present strikingly different personalities, the stable and directed father paired with his unstable and seemingly rudderless son. Information on military aspects of the war is relatively scarce in the Gray papers. However, the collection provides excellent insight into the effect of the war on family relationships, hinting obliquely at some of the long term effects that the war had on some of its participants.

In a sense, the heart of the collection is the letters written by Lucy Gray. More than anything, the anguished tone of her letters stands out, as she pleads with the men to return home and assist the family and farm, or as she complains about the Eckley's profligacy, drinking and gambling. The tension between mother and son, and his occasional, half-hearted efforts to patch things between them take on a particularly tragic tone given the apparent aimlessness of his later life and his death by drug abuse.

Among the more interesting individual letters in the collection are three letters from Eckley to his mother, one describing a night-time bombardment at Vicksburg (1863 July 9), another discussing the anti-Lincoln attitudes of the soldiers of the Veterans Reserve Corps (1864 October 10), and an extraordinary letter (July 19, 1864), bemoaning Lincoln's latest call for troops and his apparent inhumanity.

The Gray Family Papers include a manuscript receipt book dating circa 1840s-1860s, which belonged to William Gray. The recipes are largely medicinal, including entries for treatment of influenza, Dr. Thomas Hopes remedy for cholera morbus, a powder of mandrake, plaster for a lame back, Beeches Black salve, saline laxative, Beeches emetic, anti-billious powder, lotion for "Falling of the hair & Impetigo," a treatment that "cured Mr Gess's boy of Epilepsy of five years Standing The boy is 9 years old," mild counter-irritating linaments, ipicac, lotion for "falling of The hair and all scaly Eruptions," paste for piles, Dr. White's Toothache Drops, diaphoretic powder, a treatment "for Secondary Syphilis," and a treatment for cholera. Opium is an ingredient in multiple recipes. Non-medical recipes include an entry for making gunpowder from sawdust and several short recipes for corn bread and tea bread.