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

The Thomas C. Dudley papers are comprised of 83 letters written by Dudley to his young sister, Fanny, during the Caribbean cruises of the USS Powhatan in 1852 and Matthew Calbraith Perry's expedition to Japan, 1853-1854, and a 219 page memoir of his experiences during the United States Navel Expedition to Japan, written in 1855.

The Dudley papers contain 83 letters written by Dudley to his young sister, Fanny, during the Caribbean cruises of the Powhatan in 1852 and Perry's expedition to Japan, 1853-1854, plus a 219 page memoir of his experiences during the Japan expedition written in 1855. Dudley's letters are long, well-written and highly informative, and provide a fascinating insight into the personality of young American sailor who finds himself in a foreign land for the first time.

Dudley's letters contain valuable information on the U.S. Naval Expedition to Japan, written from the perspective of a common sailor. His accounts cover every facet of the expedition from embarkation and port calls, to the meeting with the Japanese delegation at Yokohama and the return from Asia. Dudley provides clear and concise, frequently lengthy accounts of even the most mundane aspects of naval life. Whether discussing shipboard accommodations, phosphorescent plankton, or the shellbacks ceremony, his letters are always entertaining and packed with detail. His letters from the Caribbean, and from Madeira, Saint Helena, South Africa, southeast Asia and China provide abundant "local color" and create a fleshed out vision of the racial (pre)conceptions of a middle class northerner shortly before the Civil War and some interesting insight into one of the early attempts at the projection of American imperial power abroad.

The true heart of the collection relates to the Naval Expedition itself, particularly from the time of its arrival at the Ryukyu Islands in August, 1853, through its departure from Japan one year later. Dudley assiduously records his impressions of Japanese culture, language, and products, and the fascination with the performative aspects of the political negotiations from both sides. His letters are also a valuable resource for studying shipboard dynamics during the expedition, and they include discussions of everything from entertainment to the disdain with which Perry was held by the crew.

The memoir is a thoughtful piece, written in a consciously literary style, apparently with an eye toward publication. It appears, in fact, to be two separate narratives pieced together, the two being distinguished by the type of paper on which they are written, blue versus white. Though it is clear that there are breaks between the two narratives, they are paginated in a single, continuous sequence. It is possible that the narrative written on blue paper represents the journal as actually maintained by Dudley during the Japan expedition, however the narrative written on white paper was clearly written after the fact. The "blue narrative," like Dudley's letters, is written in a more personal style in epistolary form, addressed to "you" (Fanny?), with letters bearing dates November, 1853; 31 December 1853; 30 January 1854; 3 February 1854; 12 February 1854; 19 February 1854; 26 February 1854; 24 March 1854; 7 April 1854; and 23 [May] 1854. In contrast, the "white narrative" is more polished and more clearly literary in tone. In any circumstance, it is also clear that the narrative as a whole is incomplete. The last page, numbered 219, ends in the middle of a sentence, and the context would suggest either that several pages of the narrative have been lost, or that Dudley never managed to complete his work.

Dudley was also an accomplished artist who decorated his letters with small, delicate pen and ink sketches. There are seven illustrations in all, four by Dudley, two by a shipmate, Mac, and the last a collage.

This collection consists of letters, poetry, and memoirs that Thomas Davenport of Antwerp, New York, wrote in the mid- to late 1860s, primarily concerning his religious beliefs. Davenport discussed topics such as salvation, the afterlife, and sin.

This collection (5 items) consists of letters, poetry, and memoirs that Thomas Davenport of Antwerp, New York, wrote in the mid- to late 1860s, primarily concerning his religious beliefs. Davenport discussed topics such as salvation, the afterlife, and sin.

In 3 Letters to a niece, a nephew, and his sister Nancy (January 4, 1864-September 20, 1867), Davenport discussed his social activities and provided news about his acquaintances, who included a woman named Emeline (or Emoline) and a man named Erastus Kellogg. He mentioned local news, the cultivation of sugar and potatoes and, on one occasion, some of the effects of the Civil War (May 7, 1866). His letters include a narrative poem about courtship (January 4, 1864) and riddles (September 20, 1867).

The standalone Poem is a 47-page meditation on salvation, judgment, and similar topics, particularly related to the Christian view of death. The poem frequently references Biblical stories of Adam and Eve and Jesus Christ.

Thomas Davenport composed a volume of Memoirs (90 pages) focusing on his religious life, including his "vision of the New Jerusalem" and "treatise[s] on various Subjects." Written in or after 1863, the manuscript intertwines Davenport's religious affirmations, biography, and poetry. The first portion of the book is an essay on the Christian view of sin and salvation, as well as a brief note about Davenport's conversion to Christianity. Davenport also described Heaven, which he called "New Jerusalem," as he witnessed it when he was a young man (pp. 12-14). Along with explaining his own religious convictions, he commented on other religions, including Mormonism (p. 24) and Catholicism (pp. 24-25). After page 34, most of the loosely bound volume is comprised of poems on religious topics and dedicated to friends and family members. The poems are frequently interspersed with brief narrative accounts of Davenport's life, including his work as a clothier's apprentice (pp. 49-51).

This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, and other items related to Nathan Tufts, a native of Massachusetts who served in the United States Army during World War I, and his future wife, Dorothy Day of Connecticut.

This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, and other items related to Nathan Tufts, a native of Massachusetts who served in the United States Army during World War I, and his future wife, Dorothy Day of Connecticut.

The Correspondence series (1.5 linear feet) comprises the bulk of the collection. One 1912 letter provides an account of visiting Atlantic City. Incoming letters to Nathan Tufts at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, are dated as early as November 11, 1915. His correspondents included his mother, who wrote of life in New York City and Lawrence Park, New York, and Elbridge Stratton, a friend, who anticipated their matriculation at Yale. Dorothy Day received early letters from friends and family while she attended Miss Wheeler's School in Providence, Rhode Island. Friends and family continued to write letters until the late 1910s, and the Tufts received many letters of congratulation following their engagement around May 1918.

Tufts began corresponding with Day in the fall of 1916. He wrote about his experiences and activities at Yale and expressed his romantic feelings for her. After the declaration of war against Germany in April 1917, Tufts reported on his participation in drills and related activities for the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He later described his training experiences at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, and Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky. In Kentucky, he commented on the Central Officers' Training School, travels in the South, fellow soldiers, camp life, and kitchen duty. After the Armistice, Tufts anticipated his return to civilian life and his future with Day; he returned to Yale in 1919 and wrote about vacationing in Maine. His final telegram is dated February 21, 1920. Enclosures include a postcard showing the Rocky Broad River (November 3, 1918) and photographs of a military camp (October 18, 1918).

The couple's other wartime correspondents included Corporal Francis Harrison, who discussed his preparation for front-line duty in France in August 1918, and "Clark," a friend of Dorothy, who served at the Plattsburgh Barracks after September 1917. Clark discussed his training at the Reserve Officers Training Camp and his later service in the 302nd Machine Gun Battalion at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In his letter of October 6, 1917, he described his unit's preparations for military exercises in trench warfare, and his expectation that the infantry would "sit in trenches and fire once in a while" in France.

The Diaries and Memoirs series contains three items. Dorothy Day kept two daily diaries (unbound) between January 17, 1916, and August 16, 1919, writing mostly about her social life and her relationship with Nathan Tufts. She sometimes remarked on news, such as the results of the 1916 presidential election and the country's declaration of war against Germany. In 1918, she wrote about Tufts's military career; some of her entries from this period are constructed as letters to him. Day usually wrote daily entries on one side of each page, copying quotations, poetry, and other miscellany on the reverse side. A calling card, a printed advertisement, a flower, and a photograph are laid into her diary.

A spiral-bound, typed copy publication of hunting memoirs completes the series: Robie W. Tufts, Craig D. Munson, and Nathan Tufts, Gentlemen Gunners Three : A Trilogy of Upland Gunning Reminiscences. Greenfield, Mass.: Privately Printed, 1978.

The Nathan Tufts diary covers much of his active-duty service at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, and Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky. From August 18, 1918-November 14, 1918, he wrote intermittent journal entries, often addressed to Day, about his daily routine at Camp Jackson, military training exercises, other soldiers, the good reputations of Yale students and alumni, and the end of the war. Journal entries by Day, apparently mailed to Tufts, are interspersed among his later entries; her final journal-letter is dated January 23, 1919. A military pass, United States Reserve Officers Training Corps patch, and newspaper clippings (often of poems) are pasted into the volume.

The School Papers series (10 items) includes the cypher book of Nathan Tufts' grandfather Nathan Tufts (1818-1887), while he attended school in Charlestown between 1831 and 1832. Many of the mathematics exercises were associated with trade, investment, and banking--including the use of pillars of the Boston branch of the Second Bank of the United States as cylinders in a solve-for-volume geometrical problem. The remaining nine items pertain to Nathan Tufts's education at the Taft School and at Yale College's Sheffield Scientific School. A group of printed entrance exams for Yale College and its Sheffield Scientific School, dated June 1914 (1 item) and June 1915 (5 items) contain questions related to Latin, American history, ancient history, and trigonometry. A printed exam given by the college entrance examination board from June 19, 1916-June 24, 1916, contains questions about American history, the German language, and English literature. An exam requiring a translation of lines by Virgil is dated 1916. A bundle of examinations and school documents belonging to Nathan Tufts includes Yale College's semi-annual examination for June 1917, with questions in subjects such as physics, history, English, German, and Latin; a printed course timetable and list of professors and classrooms for Yale College freshman during the 1916-1917 term, with manuscript annotations by Nathan Tufts; and a typed military examination for Yale students, given on June 4, 1917 or 1918. The subjects of the military examination are hygiene, military law, topography, and field artillery regulations and drill.

The Photographs, Newspaper Clippings, and Ephemera series contains around 50 items, including visiting cards, invitations, Red Cross donation certificates, and a printed program. Many of the newspaper clippings contain jokes or brief articles about World War I. A group of photographs includes a framed portrait of a United States soldier, a negative, and several positive prints.

The Turner-Whiton papers contain correspondence, financial records, legal documents, essays, and newspaper clippings pertaining to T. Larkin Turner, a druggist from Boston, Massachusetts, and his wife, Elizabeth D. Whiton. The material primarily concerns the couple's courtship and two of Turner's pharmaceutical products.

This collection contains correspondence, financial records, legal documents, essays, and newspaper clippings pertaining to T. Larkin Turner, a druggist from Boston, Massachusetts, and his wife, Elizabeth D. Whiton. The material primarily concerns the couple's courtship and two of Turner's pharmaceutical products.

The first three subseries in the Correspondence series are grouped by correspondents: Elizabeth Whiton letters to T. Larkin Turner (122 items), Letters to Elizabeth Whiton (121 items), and T. Larkin Turner letters to Elizabeth Whiton (12 items). These subseries are comprised of personal letters written in the mid-19th century, primarily concerning the writers' social lives in Hingham, Charlestown, and Boston, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Whiton's correspondents included her siblings and female friends.

The Letters from H. subseries contains 43 letters that a man named Henry and his wife Marie wrote to his parents while traveling in Italy, France, England, and Germany in 1884 and 1885. Henry wrote the majority of the letters, commented on his life in Venice, Paris, and London, and mentioned a recent cholera epidemic. The subseries also includes a ticket and printed advertisement in French.

The Chronological Correspondence subseries comprises the bulk of the collection. The first 2 items are letters from Reverend Sherman Johnson of Southborough, Massachusetts, to a female acquaintance. Most items from 1833-1880 are personal letters to T. Larkin Turner and Elizabeth D. Whiton (later Elizabeth Turner), including their letters to one another during their courtship (ca. 1837-1843) and later letters from a branch of the Turner family in Lexington, Massachusetts. The courtship-era letters primarily concern Turner and Whiton's daily lives in Boston and Hingham, Massachusetts, respectively. Elizabeth Whiton also received letters from male and female friends in New England and New York, particularly in Charlestown and Boston, Massachusetts.

T. Larkin Turner received letters from several correspondents, including George R. Turner, who wrote a series of letters to Turner about his work for a Massachusetts railroad in 1847 and 1848. He commented on his in-state travels, his co-workers, and the railroad's progress. George W. Prescott of the United States Navy Yard in Pensacola, Florida, wrote personal letters to Turner from 1877-1883. Undated items include additional correspondence between Turner and Whiton and genealogical notes about the Turner family.

Advertisements include printed booklets, fliers, and other advertisements for T. Larkin Turner's medical cures, particularly the "Tic-Douloureux, or Universal Neuralgia Pill" and "Lorraine's Vegetable Cathartic Pills." Manuscript drafts of advertisements are also present. Other clippings are articles on medical conditions such as neuralgia, on Turner's pills, and on other medical topics.

A group of papers related to Turner's Nostrums contains manuscript drafted advertisements and notes about T. Larkin Turner's "Tic-Douloureux, or Universal Neuralgia Pill" and other products. Two lengthy manuscript drafts concern the neuralgia pill and a cure for menstrual discomfort. Notes concern various medical conditions and the importance of sleep, among other topics.

The Receipts and Documents series primarily contains receipts to Captain Larkin Turner and T. Larkin Turner, largely for everyday personal expenses. T. Larkin Turner also purchased a newspaper subscription and hired a horse and buggy on at least one occasion. Indentures and similar legal documents primarily pertain to land in Massachusetts.

The Muster Roll/Town Roster series contains two items: a booklet with names of Boston residents and other annotations, and a booklet containing copied information from a 1757 muster roll.

The Genealogy series has notes and fragments about the Whiton, Turner, and Whitney families, as well as poetry, essays, correspondence, and receipts of payment for copied documents.

T. Larkin Turner composed a 94-page Memorative of Larkin Turner, his father, on the backs of assorted documents, scraps, and ephemera items. The bound volume, the first in a series, covers Larkin's life until about 1812.

Additional Newspaper Clippings pertain to deaths, marriages, and the Fusilier Veteran Association.

The Miscellaneous series contains ephemera, sketches, a lock of Turner's hair, a Tufts library card for "Russell H. Whiting," and other items.

This volume contains the author's reminiscences about his service with the 319th Field Artillery Regiment, Battery C (part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade), in Vietnam from June 1968-June 1969. He listed the fire support bases where he was stationed and recalled anecdotes about combat, his relationships with other soldiers and officers, and other aspects of military life.

This volume (31 pages) contains the author's reminiscences about his service with the 319th Field Artillery Regiment (part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade) in Vietnam from June 1968-June 1969. The first 7 pages consist of a numbered list of the locations where his unit was stationed during his time in Vietnam, including several identified as fire support bases, the city of Bảo Lộc, and Cambodia, along with brief notes.

The bulk of the volume (24 pages) consists of notes written on December 13, 1983. The author reminisced about many aspects of his military service, including his participation in artillery support for infantry troops ("grunts") and the clearing and construction of landing zones and bunkers. He named some of his friends and discussed their activities, including frequent drinking and, on one occasion, the use of "coke." He sometimes interacted with local residents, who often sold goods to the soldiers, and frequently mentioned eating rations and local foods such as cucumbers and green lemons. On a few occasions, he recounted interactions with superior officers, and he once bragged about his ability to calculate data faster than a field computer. The memoir contains some descriptions of the scenery near the army's fire support bases and bombed-out villages. The memoir is written in a spiral-bound notebook with an image of an Asian woman on the front.

The Seymour papers contain materials relating primarily to the Civil War service of Col. Isaac G. Seymour (6th Louisiana Infantry) and his son, William J., both residents of New Orleans.

The Seymour papers contain materials relating primarily to the Civil War service of Col. Isaac G. Seymour (6th Louisiana Infantry) and his son, William J., both residents of New Orleans. The most important items in the collection are the two journals kept by William Seymour describing his experiences in the defense of New Orleans, 1862, and as Assistant Adjutant General in the 1st Louisiana Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. The first of these "journals" was begun by Col. Isaac Seymour as a manuscript drill manual for his regiment (55 pp.), but it appears to have been taken up by William following Isaac's death. This volume is arranged in four sections and includes a record of William Seymour's experiences from March, 1862 through May, 1864. The second volume is organized in a similar manner, but covers the period from April, 1863 through October, 1864, terminating in the middle of a description of the Battle of Cedar Creek. Both of William's "journals" are post-war memoirs drawn extensively from original diaries and notes, with some polishing and embellishment.

William Seymour's "journals" contain outstanding descriptions of life in the Confederate Army and are one of the premier sources for the Confederate side of the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. His journals also contain very important accounts for Chancellorsville, 2nd Winchester, Gettysburg (Cemetery Hill), Mine Run, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania (the Bloody Angle), but almost as important are the descriptions of camp life, and the morale and emotions of the troops. Seymour is an observant, critical, and knowledgeable writer who was placed in a position where he had access to information on fairly high level command decisions. Yet while his journal is focused on the military aspects of the war, he includes a number of brief personal sketches of officers and soldiers, and vignettes of life in the army, ranging from accounts of Union soldiers bolstered in their courage by whiskey, to the courage of an officer's wife stopping a deserter and the Knights of the Golden Circle surfacing in Pennsylvania during the Confederate invasion.

The remainder of the collection includes three Civil War-date letters relating to Isaac Seymour, one written from Camp Bienville near Manassas, Va. (1861 September 2), one from the Shenandoah River (1862 May 2), and the third a letter relaying news of Seymour's death at Gaines Mills. The letter of May 1862 is a powerful, despairing one, and includes Isaac Seymour's thoughts on the Confederate loss of New Orleans and severe criticism for Jefferson Davis, a "man of small caliber, with mind perhaps enough, but without those qualities which go to make up the great and good man." At this moment, Seymour reported that he was disappointed in the quality of his officers, and regretted that he had not resigned his commission upon his son's enlistment, and further, he felt that the Confederacy was being held together only tenuously, due solely to the "the righteousness of our cause, and the innate, deep rooted mendicable hatred to the Yankee race." The remainder of the correspondence consists primarily of documents, but includes an interesting Seminole War letter of Isaac to Eulalia Whitlock and a letter from "Sister Régis" to Isaac, as editor of the New Orleans Bulletin, begging the aid of the press on behalf of the Female Orphan Asylum.

The William Bosson family scrapbook and genealogical papers pertain to Revolutionary War veteran and Roxbury, Massachusetts, and Cincinnati, Ohio, merchant William Bosson (1753-1823 or 1824); his son William Bosson (1806-1887) and daughter-in-law Julia Burnett; his son Charles T. Bosson (1791-1864); and other family members. The collection includes original manuscripts, ephemeral items, publications, transcriptions, and copies of letters, documents, notes, and other items, largely dated between 1789 and 1899. In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index: Bosson Family Scrapbook Contributor Index.

The William Bosson family scrapbook and genealogical papers pertain to Revolutionary War veteran and merchant William Bosson (1753-1823 or 1824); his son William Bosson (1806-1887) and daughter-in-law Julia Burnett; his son Charles T. Bosson (1791-1864); and other family members. The collection includes original manuscripts, ephemeral items, publications, transcriptions, and copies of letters, documents, notes, and other items, largely dated between 1789 and 1899.

The William Bosson Scrapbook includes approximately 140 manuscript and printed items largely dating from 1789 to 1899, including biographical sketches, reminiscences, reflections, correspondences, courtship and family letters, documents, an autobiography, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, engravings, railroad passes, and convention tickets. Of particular note are 10 documents signed by W. G. Brownlow and D. W. Senter; five letters sent by William Bosson to W. G. Brownlow; five biographical sketches and reminiscences related to the reception of the Declaration of Independence in New York, Thomas Hickey's betrayal of General Howe, General Joseph Warren, General Knox, and General George Henry Thomas; nine letters George H. Thomas sent to William Bosson between 1864 and 1868; four letters between Edward Everett and William and Charles Bosson; three letters of introduction for Charles Bosson exchanged between W. Heath and Elbridge Gerry, Elbridge Gerry and Henry Clay, and Josiah Quincy and John Rowan in 1813; one letter from Amos Kendall to Charles Bosson; one letter from Samuel Gilman to Charles Bosson; and one manuscript addressed to the Tennessee Teacher's State Association by W. G. Brownlow.

The scrapbook contains content pertinent to many subjects, including the Revolutionary War; the War of 1812; the Civil War; the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee; Tennessee reconstruction; and Tennessee mining, cotton manufacture, railroads, government, and education (particularly the development of Common Schools) following the Civil War.

The Genealogical Papers series includes Colonial Dames applications, a Middlesex County genealogy, two transcriptions of William Bosson's autobiography for his sons, two transcribed copies of Thomas Mayo Bosson's "Genealogy of the Bosson Family," transcribed copies and photocopies of genealogical records, and genealogical notes and materials related to the Ushers, Hills, Denisons, Terrells, Powers, Newnans, and Bossons. The genealogical papers also contain two books of compiled information on the Bosson, Usher, and Hill families from items contained in the William Bosson Scrapbook and Genealogical Papers: a book Henry Loring Newnan refers to as the "Bosson-Usher-Hill book" in his letters, and two copies of "William Bosson 1630-1887 Seven Generations."

The genealogical papers include notable content on the Civil War, the First World War (in Richard Bosson's account of service in the Rainbow Division), and World War II (William Loring Newnan and Henry Loring Newnan Jr.).

The William Bosson family scrapbook and genealogical papers is a heterogeneous collection, spanning many years and pertaining to many individuals and events. Please see the box and folder listing below for details about individual items in the collection.

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index: Bosson Family Scrapbook Contributor Index.

The William Elgin journal is an account by Elgin about his Civil War service, including serving as chaplain for a regiment of African American soldiers.

Though reflecting the paternalistic views of many of his progressive contemporaries, Elgin was genuinely concerned for the mental, moral, and physical well-being of the men in his regiment and was genuinely aware of the toll that racism and slavery had inflicted upon African-Americans. Most importantly, he considered it his duty to educate the soldiers, to teach them to read and write, before bringing them to religion. He considered the soldiers, at least in some respects, to be equal to whites, though suffering the effects of long oppression. "Some reflections upon the capacity and past disadvantages of the negroe race have today made new impressions upon my mind," he wrote, "respecting the possibility of bringing this people up to a high and satisfactory state of culture. And so strong is my faith in the practicability of these ideas that I feel assured some future day will witness the fullfillment of this opinion" (p. 69). Elgin's emphasis on education, respect and self-respect are felt throughout the journal.

Elgin's "journal", which, at least in part, may be an immediate post-war transcript, consists of five sections. In the first 10 leaves of the journal, he includes newspaper clippings relating to the performance of African American soldiers during the war. The first 9 clippings, dated July 28th, 1868 and following, comprise a serial publication, titled "Colored troops in the war," and are effectively an autobiographical account by Thomas J. Morgan, Col. of the 14th U.S. (Colored), of his experiences in becoming one of the first officers to raise and lead a Colored regiment in battle. Morgan's articles provide great insight into life in the 14th U.S.C.T., and are particularly valuable in understanding the recruitment of the 14th, 42nd, and 44th regiments, and the role of the 14th at the battles of Dalton, Pulaski, and Nashville. Five additional articles clipped between 1874-76, and laid in loosely to the front of the journal, concern books about Africa, freedmen, and James Walker's huge panoramic painting of the Battle Above the Clouds.

The second section of the journal is a transcription of a speech, titled "Discourse on Fast Day," apparently delivered by Elgin to the troops on August 4th, 1864. The address is an unusually direct and clear expression of the attitudes of a white officer in an African-American regiment. In the speech, Elgin discussed the themes of race and religious duty, arguing that African-American soldiers should be humble before God for His mercy, and grateful for the concern He showed to their race during their long years of oppression. He went on, however, to acknowledge the impact the decision to arm African-Americans had on the men, and, optimistically, to claim that "the manhood of your race has been fairly recognized and hereafter you are to take your place among the nations as a people worthy of respect" (p. 16). Typically for him, Elgin stressed the importance of education to freedmen, of freeing the intellect as well as the body.

The third section of the journal consists of a three pages dated 20 October, 1863, titled "Evidences of the truth of the Christian religion," in which Elgin set down arguments along rationalistic lines for the reality of the basis of Christian faith.

Fourth is the journal proper kept by Elgin while Chaplain of the 14th U.S. Colored Infantry, consisting of 43 pages of sporadic entries from November 10th, 1863, when he transferred to the 14th U.S.C.T. to December 7th, 1864, during the Franklin and Nashville Campaign. The entries, most of which are fairly brief, document Elgin's numerous duties as chaplain and teacher to the regiment -- as he put it, his attempts "to do my utmost toward the mental, moral and spiritual culture of the men" (p. 35) -- as well as the activities of the regiment in the field. The journal is particularly interesting for reflecting Elgin's own doubts about his abilities and the direction of his life. Simultaneously elated and frustrated by his attempts to bring education and religion to his men, and troubled by insecurities, Elgin somehow managed never to waver in his belief in the men themselves or the moral correctness of his duties. The journal takes on added significance in that the 14th U.S.C.T. was an unusually active "fighting" regiment, displaying unusual courage and discipline during the period of their service.

The last section of the journal is a 7 page memoir written by Elgin, describing his enlistment and service in the 70th Indiana. The interest in the memoir lies primarily in its detailed description of his attempts to garner a chaplaincy in the regiment, and of his thorough description of the duties and activities while acting as regimental postmaster.

The Knox collection is a significant resource for study of the pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary turmoil engulfing Britain's North American colonies between 1766 and 1782, as seen from deep within the heart of the colonial administration. An arch-administrator, empowered as Undersecretary of State, Knox maintained a consistent line articulating a theory of imperial power based upon an evangelically-tinged system of paternal power and filial obligation.

The Knox papers comprise a significant resource for study of the pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary turmoil engulfing Britain's North American colonies between 1766 and 1782, as seen from deep within the heart of the colonial administration. An arch-administrator, empowered as Undersecretary of State, Knox maintained a consistent line articulating a theory of imperial power based upon an evangelically-tinged system of paternal power and filial obligation. His correspondence, including letters from political titans such as Grenville and Shelburne, and prominent figures such as Henry Ellis and William Henry Lyttelton, maps out an intricate perspective on imperial theory and colonial administration, and provides insight into the British conduct of the war as viewed from the Colonial Office.

Between 1757 and 1765, Knox operated as provost marshal, council member, and later colonial agent for the colony of Georgia, living in Savannah between 1757 and 1761. The correspondence surviving from this period is incomplete, however a number of interesting and important letters regarding American affairs remain, particularly in Knox's correspondence with Ellis and Lyttelton. Knox was responsible for the management of supplies for Britain's Indian allies, and the papers therefore contain a limited record of arms and presents given distributed among Indians in the colony, and he maintained a close eye in particular on relations with the Cherokee and Creek Indians.

The collection provides better coverage of Knox's activities during the later 1760s, the years when Knox's political star began to rise and the colonies plunged into revolution. Especially after his appointment as Undersecretary in 1770, Knox's correspondence provides an informed, but essentially myopic perspective on the war in America, facilitating Germain in his overly optimistic assessment of the progress of the war. During the Revolution, he received regular, second-hand accounts of the course of military campaigns and news of the frustrations and failures of British efforts to quell the troubles, but managed in nearly every case to see such signs as temporary and of limited significance.

Knox's attention during the post-Revolutionary years was divided largely between Irish and Canadian affairs. Knox gathered information on Loyalist interests in eastern Canada, opinions on the fisheries issue in Newfoundland, and several documents outlining the state of the provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Maintaining his suspicion of American intentions, Knox was repeatedly incensed by American behavior, particularly during the embargo of 1807-1809, and by their thinly-disguised designs on Canadian lands. Approximately 100 items relate to Irish affairs, mostly concerning Knox's desire to promote prosperity in Ireland through trade reform, using his experiences in Georgia as a model, believing that prosperity would be the best guarantor of imperial allegiance. For similar reasons, Knox maintained an interest in Catholic emancipation, supporting Catholic desires to be placed on the same footing as Protestant dissenters.

At the end of the collection are a series of interesting personal anecdotes and memoirs of Knox's political experiences, including fascinating commentary on Knox's first experiences in America, the first (1776) attempt at peace negotiations between Britain and America, and his reminiscences of George Grenville, William Henry Lyttelton, Lord Rockingham, William Howe, Lord Hillsborough, William Eden (Baron Auckland), George Germain, and others. Among the most interesting miscellaneous items is a lengthy letter from an elderly Knox to the great astronomer, William Herschel, regarding the motion of the planets and soliciting his ideas on the physical location of heaven in the new Copernican universe. Herschel's reply, also included, is as judicious as it is evasive.

Although the Historical Manuscripts Commission calendared the Knox Papers in Various Collections 6 (1909), pp. 81-296, 120 items in this collection were not listed.

This 2-volume account (301 pages) consists of William West Medwin's memoirs about his experiences in the Royal Navy and his later travels, as well as poetry that he composed in the early 19th century.

This 2-volume manuscript (301 pages) consists of William West Medwin's memoirs about his experiences in the Royal Navy and his later travels, as well as poetry that he composed in the early 19th century.

Medwin began composing his account in 1830, and dedicated the manuscript to his surviving son. Later pages contain references to dates as late as 1833. The memoir, written on pages 1-214 and 250a-299, chronicles Medwin's experiences from 1799, when he joined the crew of the Mercury, until around 1833, when he was living in his family in London, England. He began with a brief history of his ancestors and an account of his childhood up to his enlistment in the navy. Medwin was a crewman on multiple ships and traveled to North America, the Caribbean, South America, and Europe. During the American Revolution, he was stationed in Canada and elsewhere, and after the war helped evacuate Loyalists and African-American soldiers from the newly independent United States.

Medwin's memoirs also reflect his later life, including his residence in North America, where he described the tobacco industry and plantation farming, and his years in France, where he frequently attended theatrical performances. He sometimes commented on local customs, such as the practice of "bundling" in North America (p. 63). Pages 214-248 contain poetry by Medwin; some poems are laid and pinned into the volume. Medwin then resumed his memoir with an account of his life after his return to London and the death of his eldest son. The final pages (pp. 266-299) are comprised of Medwin's philosophical and religious musings.