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

This partially printed, 208-page volume contains notes kept by Charles Staples, Jr., while he served as a judge of exhibits at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1876. Staples assessed products in classes 280-284 within the manufactures section, which included items such as files, razors, cutlery, nails, and lumberjack tools. He commented most extensively on a variety of "burglar-proof" safes.

This partially printed, 208-page volume contains notes kept by Charles Staples, Jr., while serving as a judge of exhibits at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1876. Staples assessed products in classes 280-284 within the manufactures section, which included items such as files, razors, cutlery, nails, lumberjack tools, and safes.

Charles Staples, Jr., a native of Portland, Maine, attended the Centennial Exhibition sometime between May and November 1876. He served as an exhibit judge for Department II (Manufactures), Group XV, classes 280-284, and recorded his notes in a pre-printed "International Exhibition 1876 Judges' note book." For each exhibit, Staples provided the manufacturers' names, the items' class numbers, the items' places of origin, and his observations. He noted which exhibits won awards, and often mentioned manufacturers who offered low prices. Staples assessed goods from the United States and from a number of foreign countries, which included Germany, Russia, Poland, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Egypt, Jamaica, Norway, Brazil, the Netherlands, Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, and Italy. Many types of items were associated with a particular country; Canada, for example, displayed a large number of axes and other tools used in the lumber industry. Staples also viewed files, scissors and shears, cutlery, axles, nails, hunting and cooking knives, rivets, coffin fittings, locks, and hinges. The final pages hold more extensive notes on safes, many of which were asserted to be "burglar-proof." A brief partial index appears on the last page of the volume.

The Charles C. Pratt papers contain incoming letters to Pratt about two of his political campaigns: his unsuccessful bid for the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1902 and his election to the United States House of Representatives in 1908.

The Charles C. Pratt papers (859 items) contain incoming letters to Pratt about two of his political campaigns: his unsuccessful bid for the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1902 and his election to the United States House of Representatives in 1908.

Pratt's incoming Correspondence (837 letters) pertains to state-level politics in early 20th century Pennsylvania. Many letters written during the early stages of Pratt's 1902 campaign were optimistic, and some writers already considered the election effectively settled in Pratt's favor, particularly due to his affiliation with the Republican Party. Others exercised more caution. The collection also has telegrams from the night of the election (November 4, 1902) and letters from Pratt's friends expressing their disappointment in the outcome.

The second group of letters, apart from one 1905 item, documents Pratt's campaign for the United States House of Representatives in 1908. The Republican Congressional Committee sent letters prior to the election, but most items are congratulatory letters to Pratt written from November 4-6, 1908. Later items include requests for official appointments and recommendations of friends or family for particular positions. Some items have illustrated letterheads, including one with an illustration of whiskey bottles and a distillery (November 2, 1902) and one for the Beach Sanitarium, "Famous for the cure of cancer without the use of knife or plasters" (November 4, 1908).

• Completed but unsigned survey about the potential abolition of direct primaries
• Petition for "legislation providing for a system of parcels delivery on the rural mail delivery routes, and for the establishment of postal savings banks" (4 copies)
• Petition for creation of a National Highways Commission
• Typed list of "Republican Voters, New Milford Twp."
• Typed election results from two Pennsylvania elections (November 1902), with notes on the 1908 United States House of Representatives election

• Newspaper clipping about George W. Kipp's expenditures during a congressional campaign
• "A Toast" ending with the lines "Here's champagne to your real friends/And real pain to your sham friends"
• Wedding announcement for Frederick W. Poten and Mary Belle Cross (February 11, 1909)
• Printed text of "An Act. Punishing the Printing, Posting and Distributing of Any Libelous Circular or Poster or Other Written or Printed Paper" (June 26, 1895)
• Printed pamphlet entitled "Another Bank Cashier in Politics. Another Bank Gone to Smash! Startling Instance of Misplaced Public Confidence"
• Printed circular from Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association
• Printed speech of Charles Morningstar & Co., of New York, before the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means
• Charles C. Pratt speech notes (3 items)
• Notes and fragments (4 items)

These Eighteenth-Century sermons pertain to numerous topics such as sin, repentance, and salvation.

Seven eighteenth-century Christian sermons concern numerous religious topics. Five are dated February 6, 1757-August 28, 1757; and 2 are dated August 17, 1760, and April 26, 1761. Each sermon is based on a Bible verse, usually in the New Testament, and most pertain to sin, repentance, and salvation. The undated item of copied Bible verses also has notes about baptism and the life and miracles of Jesus Christ. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information.

The Haiti collection contains approximately 132 items related to the social, military, and economic history of Haiti from the mid-18th century through the 19th century. The collection includes correspondence, documents, and a scrapbook. The scrapbook, compiled by Victor Advielle, chronicles the history of the island from 1803, during the last stages of its revolution, through the 1890s.

The Haiti collection contains approximately 130 items related to the social, military, and economic history of Haiti from the mid-18th century through the 19th century. The collection includes correspondence, documents, visual material, and a scrapbook. The scrapbook, compiled by Victor Advielle, chronicles the history of the island from 1803, during the last stages of its revolution, through the 1890s.

• Bonneau et Avril DS, Journal des travaux..., September 1780. La Grande Plaine, [St. Domingue]. Beginning with a list of enslaved persons by profession/type of labor or other details (six women, for example, are indicated as free per the will of M. Baugé). The journal follows, indicating plantation events and the distribution of enslaved workers at different labor or at the hospital. With content related to mill work, sugar production, placing persons in irons, and more.
• Lory, Plombard & Co. ALS to Mr. Guillaumier; November 6, 1783. Cap. News of his brother, finances, and matters relating to enslaved persons (including their health).
• [Jean-Baptiste] Arnaudeau ALS to Madame Veuve Fleuriau, January 26, 1788; Bellevue, [Saint Domingue]. To his aunt, offering condolences on the death of her husband. Recommends buying the Fortin land as it is good for cultivating sugar cane. Purchase of enslaved persons for a good price (10 men and 2 women). Production of sugar and land on the Fleuriau plantation.
• Legal document from 1790 relating to the complicated distribution of Pierre Douault's estate, including the coffee plantation he owned in Saint Domingue.
• Delaire, Painparay & La Maiguere ALS to M. Peyrac, 1791 December 24; Nantes, [France]. 2 pages. Has received news from Port-au-Prince about the ratification of the treaty between "les Blancs & les Gens de couleur." Comments on how the gens de couleur have dictated the law, which is harsh against whites, but upholding it supports peace and protects property holders.
• [Pierre-César-Charles, marquis de] Sercey Partially Printed DS to "l'enseigne St. Prix," 1793 September 1; [New York, New York], 1 page. In French. Written near the New York harbor aboard theÉole . Orders from Commander of the Leeward Islands, "Le Commandant de la Station des Iles de L'Amérique Sous Le Vent," to embark on the frigate Surveillante to continue the ship's service. On illustrated letterhead with a decorative header; the portion featuring three fleurs-de-lis is inked out. N.B. Sercey commanded a fleet of ships carrying colonists fleeing from St. Domingue during the Haitian Revolution to New York and then on to France.
• British officer L. Dichter letter, describing Haiti as the "Devil's own Country"; July 4, 1796.
• An autographed letter by Toussaint L'Ouverture, written on his personal stationery; [1796].
• Citoyen Dodge Gorham and Dodge Gorham et Compagnie partially printed certificates (2) and manuscript document (1) pertinent to the shipment of goods, including beef, on the ship Zéphir (Zephyr) September 12, 1797. Le Cap.
• A deposition providing a firsthand account of revolutionary activity in 1793; October 25, 1799.
• Lovise Munroe manuscript protest, 14 Fructidor [September 1, 1800]; Môle Saint-Nicolas, Saint Domingue. 6 pages. Official notary copy of the protest of Lovise Munroe, captain of the Schooner Two Brothers of Boston, which sailed out of Philadelphia bound with goods consigned to merchant John Lewis at Cap Français. Was forced into the port at Môle Saint-Nicolas, "having been Contraried by the Winds & Weather." General Hyacinthe Moïse ordered that Munroe would "be so good to land All the Articles Useful to the State, such as, Tar, Pitch, Gun-Powder, Muskets, Swords, Pistols, Lead, Bunting, Tin and Flints, these articles will be deposited in the Arsenal in the Manner Order'd and Citn. [Mansey] Colin charged with the sale of the Surplus of the Cargo, will take the Arrangements he shall think most suitable with General Moyse, for the reimbursement of these Articles and the best of his Interest." After the goods were sold, Lewis claimed that he did not receive any compensation for the long sojourn in Môle Saint-Nicolas, but instead needed money to pay for flour, cloth, and cordage for the vessel's use.
• Robert McTaggart letter to Philadelphia merchants [John Reed, Standish Forde, and Samuel Israel]; January 18, 1804. Cap Français. Respecting trade issues, stagnant markets, spoiled produce, government restrictions on coffee purchases. Reference to ships at harbor and difficulties with French privateers.
• Letter to Martin[-Pierre] Foache, April 6, 1804. Au Cap. Describes persecution of white residents preceding the massacre ordered by Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
• A ca. 1815 legal summary of a case regarding the difficulties of collecting bills in post-revolutionary Saint Domingue. References the inability of the French merchant Reveliere to establish a trading house in Saint Domingue around 1802, which forced him to sell his cargo with a military contractor, but payment was later suspended by a governmental decree. Notes the impact on third-party bearers of the bills.
• B[elfast] Burton [draft letters?] to [Richard Allen?], [1825]; Semana, Haiti. 2 pages. Two letters on opposite sides of a single sheet. Discussion of issues with Pierre Joseph Marie Granville (Jonathas Granville), governance, authority, "there is nothing equal to truth & honesty and industry..." Politics, meddling of Alexander, support but apprehensions regarding President Jean-Pierre Boyer, and the campaign to promote African American immigration to the Republic of Haiti.
• Eugène-Léopold-François Pesnel DS petition to Faustin Soulouque, [1856?]; Cherbourg, [France]. 14 pages. Petition by Pesnel, requesting Empereur Soulouque to grant compensation to Marie Jeanne Pesnel, his mother, for property and proceeds lost as a result of the Haitian Revolution. Marie's father Thomas de Launay owned dwellings north of Cap Français and in Borgne. He had lived in Saint Domingue for 45 years before his death in 1781. The properties, including a cafeterie, had an annual profit of around 300,000 francs. The capital was 6,000,000 francs, which would have increased considerably in the hands of merchant de Launay and his descendants. Pesnel's request include a lengthy affirmation of his Republican sentiments, love of freedom, and dislike of slavery. The last page of the petition includes a transcription of a baptismal record of Marie Jeanne de Launay.

Other items are two photographs, a copy of L'Écho de la Timbrologie that traces the history of Haiti (January 31, 1954), a Carte de l'Isle de Saint Domingue ([1759], housed in the Map Division), a 1788 postmark from "Cap Haitien," and a newletter about French colonial postmarks.

Victor Advielle compiled the scrapbook, entitled Notes sur Haiti, in Paris in 1895. In addition to newspaper clippings, speeches, correspondence, and government documents, the volume has a piece of music entitled "Les paroles sont de Mr. de la Soriniere danjou, Et la Musique de Mr. Boran de St. Domingue." The scrapbook pertains to Haiti's 19th-century history. The section entitled "Ma Correspondence avec Légitime" contains personal correspondence between Victor Advielle and François Denys Légitime, who later became president of Haiti (1888-1889). The material within the scrapbook is in French.

This volume contains Hancock Taylor's notes about surveys he conducted in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, May-July of 1774. One page is detached from the bound notebook.

This journal (26 pages) contains surveying notes taken by Hancock Taylor between May 20 and July 7, 1774. The plots described are, to the extent that they are identifiable from his survey descriptions, in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville, Kentucky. The journal contains descriptions of 23 surveys.

This volume, compiled in the 1820s, contains an encyclopedia article, extracts and writings, diagrams, tables, and newspaper clippings pertaining to the design and construction of canals.

This volume (450 pages), compiled in the 1820s, contains extensive information on the design and construction of canals. The first few pages include a manuscript subject index. Pages 1-155 consist of a printed encyclopedia article about canals, bound directly into the volume. Other articles and fragments of articles are included, including the entire entry for "Canada."

The remaining pages consist of manuscript extracts, writings, and notes about canals, illustrated with colored diagrams and drawings. The volume includes sections about types of locks; tunnels; drawbridges; excavation; building materials, labor, and costs; water supply; the effects of rain and evaporation on canals; and hydraulics. Sections focus on canals in the United States, England, Wales, and France. The manuscript contains tables of data about the number and length of canals in each country. Specific structures, such as the Ohio & Chesapeake Canal, Union Canal, and Erie Canal are described and used as examples throughout the text. Illustrations include diagrams of locks, tunnels, and canals; a depiction of a method for burrowing out soil using a horse and several workers (p. 370); and a map of France highlighting its canals (p. 424). Notes, newspaper clippings, and additional drawings are laid into the volume.

This collection contains the text of two sermons given by Quaker minister Priscilla Hunt Cadwallader in 1824 and 1831, along with two copies of notes on a sermon given by Cadwallader at Philadelphia in the early 19th century.

This collection contains the text of two sermons given by Quaker minister Priscilla Hunt Cadwallader in 1824 and 1831, along with two copies of notes on a sermon given by her at Philadelphia in the early 19th century. The first item is the 4-page text of "A Sermon Delivered by Priscilla Hunt at New Bedford," dated April 15, 1824, about religious judgment, and turning to God and to the Christian faith. In a second sermon, entitled "A Sermon by Priscilla Cadwalader at Concord Quartly Meeting, held at Darby" (November 15, 1831), she discussed a range of religious topics; the 9-page document is particularly notable for its emphasis on the judgment of God and for Cadwallader's prophetic vision of the coming Civil War. She said, "I have seen Africa's sons … distinctly heard the … roar of cannons, those thunders of war approaching North America[,] raging and ransacking through the United States, with glittering clashing swords … Hath not my spiritual eye beheld brother's sword bathed in a brother's blood. Ah! My friends the clouds are rising, the tempest will come, and a more tremendous storm never beat on American Shores." The final two items in the collection are copies of identical notes, entitled "Priscilla Hunt's Exercise in Philadelphia." These notes allude to internal strife within the Society of Friends; as the author explained, " … the Trump of the everlasting Gospel would be laid down in this City because says she you have erred against the true gospel."

The Rich Patch Iron & Ore Company collection is made up of correspondence, reports, financial records, maps, and other items related to mining operations in Virginia, West Virginia, Ontario, and Minnesota. Many items pertain to the geologic composition of lands in Alleghany County, Virginia, and Raleigh County, West Virginia, particularly with regard to iron and coal.

The Rich Patch Iron & Ore Company collection is made up of correspondence, reports, financial records, maps, and notes related to mining operations in Virginia, West Virginia, Ontario, and Minnesota. The majority of the items are reports addressed to individuals and companies about coal seams and iron mining in Alleghany County, Virginia, and Raleigh County, West Virginia, including geologic and chemical analyses; many concern the Glade Creek coal field in West Virginia. The collection also includes surveyor's map of land in Alleghany County, Virginia (November 14, 1874). A small group of "Daily Reports from Patch Mines" provides information on daily expenses, including the total cost of workers' wages. Other business letters and reports pertain to companies such as the Union Steel Company, and some of the notes contain illustrations of rock strata in coal lands. A smaller group of reports and maps concerns lands near Lake Nipigon in Ontario, Canada, and iron ore mining and shipments around Lake Superior. Another group of documents includes maps, notes, and reports about "Little Mesabi" (or "Mesaba") in Minnesota.

This collection is made up of over 1000 pages of notes for around 250 Christian sermons.

This collection is made up of notes for around 250 Christian sermons, written in the late 18th or early 19th century. The sermon notes occupy over 1000 densely written pages. The majority of the sermons are based on Biblical verses from Genesis, Isaiah, Psalms, and the New Testament.