Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Gideon O. Whittemore family of Pontiac and Tawas City, Michigan. Business and personal correspondence of Whittemore, his wife, their son James O. Whittemore, and other members of the Whittemore, Mack, and Abram Mathews families; also business and legal documents, sermons, photographs, and miscellaneous papers, covering family matters, Tawas City, Michigan (which the family founded), lumbering, journey of the Mormons across the United States and settlement in Salt Lake City, Utah, University of Michigan and its branches, and family genealogy.

The papers date from 1817 to 1978, and include correspondence, business papers, deeds, genealogical materials, photographs and other papers of Gideon O. Whittemore, his wife, their son James Olin Whittemore and other member of the Whittemore, Mack, Harlow, and Abram Mathews families. Letters of Temperance Mack and Almira Covey document in part the journey of the Mormons across the United States and settlement in Salt Lake City. Other papers relate to activities in Tawas City (which the family founded), lumbering interests, and other business matters. A portion of the papers of James Olin Whittemore pertain to his activities as a student at the University of Michigan, class of 1846.

The Whittemore family collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Other Family papers; Genealogical records; Temperance Mack letters and related; Individual Whittemore family members; Photographs; and Business and professional ledgers and daybooks.

Detroit, Michigan businessman and civic leader. Business correspondence relating to Weber's activities as a dealer in timber lands, his role as a member of the Art Commission in the development of Detroit, Michigan's Cultural Center, his involvement in the construction of the Detroit-Windsor bridge and tunnel and his activities during World War I; and correspondence and class notes of his sons, Harry B. and Erwin W. Weber, while attending University of Michigan; also photographs, including family portraits, aerial views of Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, photographs of the construction of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge, and glass negatives of family vacations in Upper Michigan, Ontario, and Quebec; and maps of land and timber holdings

The William C. Weber papers cover 28 linear feet (30 boxes), outsize folders, and 15 outsize volumes. Besides information on timber and mineral lands in Michigan, the important aspects of the Weber papers include information on the development of the Cultural Center of Detroit and Weber's very controversial role in it, items on the Detroit-Windsor bridge and tunnel and the development of the Border Cities, and the papers of his two sons, especially the letters they wrote as students at the University of Michigan and their class notes and examinations.

There is one foot of materials related to the Cultural Center (Box 19 and outsize folders) and another of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge (Box 20 and outsize folders).

Architectural site plans and property maps of the Detroit Cultural Center are also found in the outsize unbound material.

The collection includes maps relating to Weber's his land holdings in northern Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, including maps of land survey, of timber estimates, and tax and title status for Michigan lands, maps of Windsor subdivisions, maps of coal mining region around Caryville, Tennessee and property maps of the Detroit Cultural Center.