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

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Collection

George and Samuel B. Fales collection, 1815-1866 (majority within 1834-1850)

41 items

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.

Collection

George Canning papers, 1791-1829

0.75 linear feet

This collection is made up of the correspondence of British politician George Canning, particularly his outgoing letters regarding foreign affairs and domestic politics in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

This collection (0.75 linear feet) is made up of the correspondence of British politician George Canning, particularly his outgoing letters regarding politics in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The collection covers the entirety of Canning's political career, including letters written during the War of 1812 and his term as prime minister. Canning wrote to many prominent politicians about Great Britain's relationship with France and other countries, domestic affairs, appointments to office, and other political matters. On September 21, 1824, he wrote to the Prince de Polignac about the recent death of King Louis XVIII.

Canning received a small number of letters from Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, William Pitt, and others. A letter dated July 26, 1800, includes a report by William [Dunkin] regarding possible methods of repelling a French invasion of Great Britain. António de Araújo de Azeredo addressed 2 Spanish and French language documents to Rodrigo Navarro de Andrade, from St. Petersburg (September 24 and October 1, 1807). Undated items include a document regarding the establishment of "Porto Franco" in 1806, 2 intelligence documents reporting the movements of British vessels, and a poem in Latin entitled "Iter ad Meccam, Religionis causa susceptum."

Collection

Georgianna M. Brackett photograph album, 1896-1901 (majority within 1896)

1 volume

The Georgianna M. Brackett photograph album contains cyanotypes and other photographs taken at Smith College from 1896 to around 1901. The volume includes candid and posed pictures of Brackett and her classmates, teachers, room interiors, college buildings, and social gatherings.

The Georgianna M. Brackett photograph album (21cm x 27cm) contains 259 cyanotypes and other photographic prints documenting her experiences at Smith College from 1896 to around 1901. Most of the items are cyanotypes, and the album also includes collodion prints and platinum prints. Items are often pasted several to a page and some fill the entire page. Many have captions, often recording the name and class year of pictured students. The album has a pebbled brown leather cover. A printed program from a performance of the Smith College Glee, Banjo, and Mandolin Clubs on March 27, 1897, is laid into the front cover.

Brackett compiled pictures of her friends, instructors, and social activities, as well as pictures of the college and nearby buildings and scenery. Her album contains many pictures of women from several classes, taken individually and in groups; Brackett appears in some of the photographs. A number of photographs show dormitory rooms, some in Hubbard House. Also included are group photographs of Hubbard House residents; one shows women in Halloween costumes. Of note are three photographs of class mascots, including a young African American boy who was mascot for the class of 1899. Scenes from Ivy Day processions, a Smith College commencement ceremony, appear for a few different graduation classes. The volume includes scenes of large groups of students waiting to watch a basketball game outside and inside of the college gymnasium, pictures from a class rally, and group portraits of basketball teams representing the classes of 1898 and 1900. Also present are candid shots of Smith College teachers and the school's first president, Laurenus Clark Seelye, and studio portraits of unidentified young men and women. Brackett also collected exterior and interior shots of college buildings and students' residences, including some inside the campus art gallery, music hall, and chapel. One group of pictures is labeled "Cassell's Colorado" (July 1896-August 1896). One photographic print is laid into the volume and an envelope with a brief, humorous manuscript poem is pasted in amongst the photographs.

The album's compiler may have been a member of Smith College's camera club and exchanged prints with other members.

Collection

Gilbert-Rupley school notebooks, 1808-1840

0.25 linear feet

This collection contains 7 school notebooks used by members of the Gilbert and Rupley families of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, to practice penmanship and mathematics. Other items include poetry, a cover sheet, and loose pages from an account book.

This collection contains 7 school notebooks used by members of the Gilbert and Rupley families of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, to practice penmanship and mathematics. The collection also includes 7 pages of poetry, 1 cover sheet, and 14 loose pages from an account book.

Sally Gilbert began her 2 penmanship books on January 10 and February 24, 1813, and practiced her writing by copying brief proverbs, short poems, and examples of financial records, such as receipts. The second volume contains 2 longer poems, along with the penmanship exercises. The cover of each book bears a printed illustration, including a man falling off of a sitting horse ("How to Travel Upon Two Legs in a Frost") and a game of "Dutch Nine [Pi]ns."

George Rupley maintained 2 schoolbooks on arithmetic in 1828 and 1829, and copied problems involving compound addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as problems involving fractions. His notebooks also include some penmanship exercises and poetry, as well as a child's drawing of a man outside a house.

Frederick A. Rupley's book (1831) concerns economic mathematics under the heading "Tare and Tret," and covers topics such as calculating interest and discounts. The book also contains some drawings of plants and includes 2 poems on its back page. Sarah Catharine Rupley's notebook (1840) addresses similar mathematical concepts, and contains sections on reduction, interest, compound interest, and vulgar fractions.

The final exercise book is undated and belonged to Rebecca Margaretta (or Margaret) Rupley in the early 19th century. Exercises consist of copied penmanship examples, often proverbs; Mary Ann Rupley's name also appears on its back page.

Of the collection's 7 loose pages of poetry, 1 is dedicated to Sally Gilbert (September 15, 1812), and 1 to Sarah Gilb[ert] from Henry Hoffman (September 2, 1814). One cover sheet is addressed to Henry Himmelrich of Germantown, Ohio. The collection includes a broadsheet: A New Song, Or, The Lamentable Death of Polly: Young Peopel [sic] Who Delight In Sin, I'll Tell You What Has Lately Been,--A Woman Who Was Young And Fair, Who Died In Sin And Sad Despair!

Approximately 14 pages from an account book (1813-1814) document sales of merchandise, including some accounts recording customers' payments. Though most customers paid in cash, at least one compensated for purchases by chopping wood. A woman named Betsy Gilbert was among the merchant's customers.

Collection

Gladys Galvin school notebook, 1888

1 volume

Gladys Galvin kept this school notebook between winter and summer terms of 1888. She filled 107 pages with vocabulary lists (pages 1-46), copies of poetry (pages 47-48, 62-66), and arithmetic and algebra (pages 49-61, 67-107). She apparently copied the mathematical exercises from a textbook; the poetry is by John G. Whittier and Charles Kingsley. The volume has printed two-color (blue and red plus black and white) covers depicting "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" show, with one vignette of the show and portraits of a buffalo, Chief Good Face, William F. Cody, and Chief Red Shirt. The back cover bears a history of Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Show.

Gladys Galvin kept this school notebook between winter and summer terms of 1888. She filled 107 pages with vocabulary lists (pages 1-46), copies of poetry (pages 47-48, 62-66), and arithmetic and algebra (pages 49-61, 67-107). She apparently copied the mathematical exercises from a textbook; the poetry is by John G. Whittier and Charles Kingsley.

The volume has printed two-color (blue and red plus black and white) covers depicting "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" show, with one vignette of the show and portraits of a buffalo, Chief Good Face, William F. Cody, and Chief Red Shirt. The vignette shows Native American men on horseback in the background with Buffalo Bill on horseback in the foreground. The cover text states, "The CONGRESS of the "ROUGH RIDERS" gathered from various parts of the world. BUFFALO BILL on his famous horse 'DUKE'. The back cover bears a history of Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Show.

Collection

Gough family papers, 1804-1926 (majority within 1860-1901)

1.5 linear feet

This collection is primarily made up of correspondence between and addressed to members of the Gough family of Gort, Ireland, including George Stephens Gough; his wife, Jane Arbuthnot; and their children, Hugh, George, Rodolph, and Eleanor ("Nora"). The Gough family directly descended from Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough. Most of the letters pertain to the education and military career of the younger George Gough. The collection also includes a travel diary, documents, financial records, and notes.

This collection is primarily made up of correspondence between and addressed to members of the Gough family of Gort, Ireland, including George Stephens Gough; his wife, Jane Arbuthnot; and their children, Hugh, George, Rodolph, and Eleanor ("Nora").

The Correspondence series (740 items) largely consists of incoming personal letters addressed to Jane Gough, Viscountess Gough, and her son George. George Gough frequently wrote to his parents (most often his mother) throughout the 1860s, describing aspects of his education at Woodcote House in Henley-on-Thames, England; Eton College; and the University of Cambridge. He also commented on family news and his desire to join the military. George's later letters, written from the 1870s-1890s, concern his career with the British Army, which included service in England, India, and Africa; some of his letters from 1881 refer to political relations around the time of the First Boer War. He also wrote letters from Dresden, Germany, and from Switzerland.

Jane Gough received additional letters from acquaintances, including a group of letters expressing sympathy after George was wounded at the Battle of Abu Klea in January 1885. George Gough received letters from his siblings Hugh, Rodolph, and Nora, and from school friends and other acquaintances. One frequent correspondent, "Hubie," wrote throughout the 1860s, telling Gough about his experiences at Eton College and University College, Oxford.

The Diary (147 pages) recounts George Hugh Gough's travels in Canada and the United States during the fall of 1888. The volume covers the entirety of the trip up to Gough's return departure for Ireland, including ocean travel between Ireland and North America and railroad travel throughout Canada and the United States. Gough's entries regard daily activities, the scenery, historical context about places visited, and current events (such as the United States presidential election of 1888). The first page contains a list of visited locations and the distances between them. The final four pages contain a list of expenses incurred between September 28, 1888-November 15, 1888. A menu for passengers on the "'Allen' Line" of "Royal Mail Steamers" is pinned into the volume.

Partial Geographical List (George Gough diary):
  • Québec, Québec
  • Montréal, Québec
  • Ottawa, Ontario
  • Toronto, Ontario
  • North Bay, Ontario
  • Vancouver, British Columbia
  • Victoria, British Columbia
  • Portland, Oregon
  • San Francisco, California
  • Yosemite Region, California
  • Ogden, Utah
  • Denver, Colorado
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • New York City, New York

The Documents series (11 items) contains military appointments for Hugh Gough (March 15, 1843, and May 1, 1861) and George Stephens Gough (January 5, 1849), a document authorizing the recipient to raise a number of men for a military regiment (November 5, 1804), and 7 accounts for purchases made by G. V. H. Gough in March 1914. Gough paid for automobile repairs, shoe repairs, medical supplies, and food.

The Photographs series (11 items) includes nine black-and-white prints showing soldiers at leisure, soldiers with horses, and a military encampment. The remaining items are a carte-de-visite portrait of an unidentified boy and an informal outdoor picture of a boy with a dog.

The Writings, Lists, and Genealogy series is made up of 12 items. Writings include a small notebook containing French poetry, a sheet containing limericks and drawings, and an item titled "Liber secundus." Extracts and notes pertain to a House of Lords commission respecting forfeited Irish estates around the turn of the 18th century, to an "Index to the "Prerogative Wills of Ireland," and to a poem entitled "The Migration of the Sons of Umor." Lists include a "Catalogue of a Collection of Minerals and Geological Specimens arranged and sold by J. Tennant" in London, a list of clothing belonging to a member of the Gough family, a list of men involved in a cricket match, and a list of words made for an unidentified purpose. A family tree traces the descendants of Hugh Gough, great-grandfather of Hugh Gough, first Viscount Gough. One group of papers was intended to be used to record purchases in February 1862, though it contains only a heading.

Two items in the Printed Items series (11 items) pertain directly to Viscount Hugh Gough: a poem addressed to Gough and his wife during their visit to Bath on April 1, 1850, and a document regarding the construction of a memorial to Gough following his death (May 21, 1869). Other items include a "Map of the Northern Uaso Nyiro" (1914), three scorecards from cricket matches held at Lord's Cricket Ground in 1868 and 1780, and newspaper clippings pertaining to wineglasses, a funeral, and the Franco-Prussian War. The collection includes two books: a pocket-sized Book of Common Prayer that belonged to George Gough (1872) and a Catalogue of Pictures at Basildon Park, Berkshire (1910).

The Personal Stationery and Family Crests series (62 items) includes a drawing of a jester and numerous drawings and crests, most cut out of personal stationery belonging to a variety of individuals and families.

Collection

Griffin family and Lydia Sigourney papers, 1807-1885

0.75 linear feet

The collection consists of correspondence related to the Griffin family of New York City and includes 58 letters that George Griffin and his family exchanged between 1833 and 1854 with author Lydia H. Sigourney of Hartford, Connecticut. Additional material includes letters written by Sigourney about her work and correspondence among members of the Griffin family that provides commentary on family life, two extended trips to Europe, Protestant theology, and higher education. The final series in the collection includes manuscript copies of several of Sigourney's poems, including one on the death of American poet John Trumbull and another on the "Death of a Missionary to Liberia."

The collection consists of correspondence related to the Griffin family of New York City and includes 58 letters that George Griffin and his family exchanged between 1833 and 1854 with author Lydia H. Sigourney of Hartford, Connecticut, as well as several other pieces of correspondence written by Sigourney and others. The second series of the collection includes several folders of correspondence among members of the Griffin family, especially letters of fatherly advice that George Griffin wrote to his sons Edmund Dorr Griffin (1804-1830) and George Griffin, Jr. (1811-1880). In addition to narratives of family life, the bulk of these letters involve accounts of two extended trips to Europe as well as discussions of Protestant theology and higher education. The final series in the collection is a 3-page manuscript copy of Sigourney's poem on the death, in 1831, of American poet John Trumbull.

Sigourney Correspondence, 1833-1854: This subseries consists primarily of Lydia H. Sigourney's correspondence with her close friend and intermediary, George Griffin, and his family in New York City. Thee letters from Lydia Sigourney, dated in 1857 and 1858, may or may not have been to Douglas Smith. In them, she offered a brief remark on her own aging and disclaimed the notion of striving to appear young; content on shipping books to the U.S. Consul; and an interest in agricultural sciences.

Much of Sigourney's correspondence with George Griffin directly involves her work as an author and her position as a woman in that profession. She frequently sent him copies of her written pieces, some of which had already been published in periodicals, asking for advice about the content of the work and about how she might pursue publication. In the course of doing so, she remarked upon her writing and revision process. These letters also specifically address her negotiations, often through Griffin's work as intermediary, with the Key & Biddle, Harpers, Leavitt, Lord & Co., D. Appleton, and Van Nostrand publishing firms, as well as the publication of her Letters to Young Ladies (1833 and 1841), Poems (1834), Sketches (1834), Girl's Reading-book (1838), and Letters to Mothers (1838). Additionally, a small number of letters from 1840 deal with Sigourney's trip to Europe.

Griffin, in turn, kept Sigourney apprised of developments with publishing firms as well as on the sale and review of her work. He candidly offered his response to works she had sent him, as well as general advice on the direction of her literary career. As a writer himself, he too sought feedback for his work, which took the form of theological essays. A manuscript copy of one of the reviews of his book, The Gospel its Own Advocate , appears in this series. Both correspondents also reflected on the challenges facing the publishing industry during the financial crisis of the late 1830s (especially the Panic of 1837) and shared their opinions on the state of American literary culture.

This series also includes letters that Sigourney exchanged with George Griffin's wife, Lydia Butler Griffin, and daughter Caroline. These pieces tended to relate family news and household matters but also included reflections on reading and Sigourney's involvement in various charitable societies. She briefly remarked on her relationship with her African American servant, Ann Prince. In addition, Sigourney conveyed in her letters to George Griffin that she valued the responses of his wife and daughters to her work. Finally, the series contains 2 letters composed by Charles Sigourney, Lydia Sigourney's husband, and ten letters written by Lydia Sigourney relating to her work, public appreciation of it, school celebrations, and social matters.

Griffin Family Correspondence, 1807-1885: The Griffin Family correspondence contains over 150 letters, dated between 1807 and 1885, that relate to George Griffin (1778-1860) of New York City and his family.

Most of the letters from the 1820s deal with Edmund Dorr Griffin (1804-1830), the second son of George and Lydia Butler Griffin. A handful of these items chart his religious convictions and pathway to becoming an Episcopal minister. The bulk of these letters, however, are ones that Edmund exchanged with his parents, siblings, and friends during the extended trip he took to Europe between October 1828 and April 1830. George Griffin's letters to Edmund during this trip are full of advice and directives about where to travel, what to observe, and practicalities about money. He also kept his son informed about matters that were unfolding among the Episcopal churches in New York and at Columbia College. Although George Griffin was the primary writer of these letters, many of them include notes from other family members as well, with accounts of family life, including the courtship and marriage of Edmund's older brother Francis to Mary Sands.

Edmund's letters home narrate his journey and impressions of Europe in extensive detail. George Griffin actively compiled his son's epistles to have them published in periodicals, and upon Edmund's death in September 1830, these travel accounts (not all of which are included in the collection) made up the bulk of the "Remains" compiled by Francis Griffin and published in his brother's memory in 1831. Letters pertaining to the preparation and reception of this document, as well as a 12-page account of Edmund's final days, can be found in Series I and II of the collection.

Another group of letters from 1830 chart George Griffin, Jr.'s (1811-1880) sudden religious awakening and decision to pursue ministerial training under the care of his uncle, Edward Dorr Griffin (1770-1837), a Congregational minister and the president of Williams College. Later letters in the collection reveal that George Griffin, Jr., eventually became a farmer in Catskill, New York, and deal with his efforts to sell his hay. He would also travel to Europe, in 1850, with his ailing sister Caroline (1820-1861). While they were away, their father conveyed advice regularly and procured letters of introduction, some of which remain in the collection.

Additional materials include subjects related to male and female friendship; family financial matter; the births, deaths, or marriages of family members; education; Protestant theology; health and medicine; early telegraph communication; and family genealogy. The handful of items that date to the 1870s and 1880s include a printed piece called "Dear Erskie!" which contains a series of riddles, and a fifteen-page booklet that includes two poems titled "Picnic" and "Archery."

Lydia Sigourney Poems, Notes, and Photograph

This series consists of six items: a 3-page manuscript copy of Sigourney's poem on the death of American poet John Trumbull in 1831; a manuscript copy of "Death of a Missionary to Liberia" written for theColonization Herald; her poem "Tomb of Josephine"; Sigourney's manuscript copy of an 1849 printed notice regarding Whisper to a Bride that she sent to an autograph collector; a "List of L. H. Sigourney's published poetical works" (ca. 1857? in her hand); and a carte-de-visite seated portrait of Lydia H. Sigourney. The photograph was published by E. & H. T. Anthony & Co., New York, from a photographic negative in Brady's National Portrait Gallery. It is signed by Lydia H. Sigourney to her friend Mrs. E. Douglas Smith.

Collection

Hamilton-Schuyler family papers, 1820-1924 (majority within 1820-1877)

0.5 linear feet

The Hamilton-Schuyler family papers contain correspondence, a diary, and documents related to the family of James Alexander Hamilton, including his daughter, Eliza Hamilton Schuyler; son-in-law, George Lee Schuyler; and granddaughter, Louisa Lee Schuyler. The material pertains to upper-class life in New York during much of the 19th century.

The Hamilton-Schuyler family papers (approximately 110 items) contain material related to the family of James Alexander Hamilton, including his daughter, Eliza Hamilton Schuyler; son-in-law, George Lee Schuyler; and granddaughter, Louisa Lee Schuyler. The papers provide insight into upper-class life in New York throughout much of the 19th century.

The Correspondence series (78 items) makes up the bulk of the collection. George Lee Schuyler composed much of the earliest correspondence in the collection, informing his brother William of his experiences while away at school in Bloomingdale, New York; one of these is written in Spanish. Other early material in the collection describes Hamilton family vacations, including several letters by James A. Hamilton written while he toured Europe in 1836 and 1837. These letters are notable not only for their descriptions of 19th-century Europe, but also for Hamilton's opinions on the financial crisis that developed in the United States during the Panic of 1837. Later correspondence includes letters written to Louisa Lee Schuyler concerning her charitable work, particularly focusing on her advocacy of humane care for the mentally ill. In addition to loose correspondence, the collection includes a letterbook outlining the contents of "Correspondence between Mrs. G. L. Schuyler (Eliza Hamilton) & Rev. Orville Dewey" (1848-1863). Many of these letters are represented by excerpts, and include Schuyler's reactions to the Civil War.

Louisa Lee Schuyler composed the collection's Diary from January 1-June 3, 1861, about the opening stages of the Civil War. She witnessed sermons by Henry Bellows and Henry Ward Beecher, and attended several theater performances by Edwin Booth.

The Documents and Photograph series (4 items) includes a military commission signed by Lewis Cass (June 30, 1832), a detailed household inventory for the Schuyler family farm (1848), a marriage certificate (March 1, 1856), and a photograph of Julia Boggs Livingston (Undated).

The School Papers series (15 items) is made up of two subseries, both related to the education of George Schuyler. The first subseries, Marks and Rewards of Merit (4 items), contains accolades for high performance. School Exercises (11 items) in language and mathematics comprise the second subseries, reflecting work in French and trigonometry.

The Writings series consists of 4 political essays by various authors, with occasional comments by George Schuyler; 5 typed memoirs and reminiscences, including an outline for an autobiographical sketch by Eliza Hamilton Schuyler; a typed copy of a poem by Washington Irving (to Rebecca McLane, beginning "There's a certain young lady"); an acrostic poem entitled "The Heron to the Ibis, with the Compliments of the Season: A Key to Egyptian Hieroglyphics" (1868); and a notebook containing genealogical and correspondence information, 1830-1863.

Collection

Harold K. and Betty Phillips collection, 1938-1942 (majority within 1938-1941)

1 linear foot

This collection contains letters to and between Harold K. Phillips and his wife, Betty Austin. Phillips, a native of Kansas, served on the USS Antares in the years before World War II. The majority of items dated 1938-1939 are letters to Harold and Betty from friends and family members in Kansas, Missouri, and Montana; the majority of letters dated 1940-1941 are letters from Harold K. Phillips to Betty Austin Phillips.

This collection is comprised of letters to and between Harold K. Phillips and his wife, Betty Austin. Phillips, a native of Kansas, served on the USS Antares in the years before World War II. The majority of letters dated 1938-1939 are letters to Harold and Betty from friends and family members in Kansas, Missouri, and Montana; the majority of letters dated 1940-1941 are letters from Harold K. Phillips to Betty Austin Phillips.

The first letter is dated April 18, 1938, around the time of Harold Phillips's enlistment in the United States Navy. At that time, Betty Austin lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where she received letters from friends and from her mother in La Harpe, Kansas. Friends and family members continued to write to Betty after she moved to Long Beach, California, in the summer of 1938. During his naval training, Harold received letters from his father in Spivey, Kansas, and his mother in Topeka, Kansas, as well as from his brother Bill in Great Falls, Montana, and from a girlfriend, Ethel Wardien, also in Great Falls. Harold (sometimes addressed as "Phil" or "Phill") and Betty began to write each other in August 1938, having been introduced by Harold's cousin Vivian. Harold continued to receive letters from Ethel Wardien; one of her letters contains a colored ink drawing of a sailor in uniform (June 1, 1939).

Following their marriage in October 1938, Harold and Betty received letters from family and acquaintances expressing congratulations and surprise. Harold occasionally wrote to Betty about life on the USS Antares while stationed at San Pedro, California; Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; and Mare Island, California. In 1940-1941, Harold wrote to Betty from the Antares, which was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The final letter, written to Betty from her mother, concerns the possibility of Betty moving to Kansas following "hard luck" (August 15, 1942). The collection also includes a birthday card; a printed document about the United States Naval Training Station in San Diego, California; and a pornographic poem by an Antares sailor entitled "A song of ABC's."

Collection

Harriet Gladwin commonplace book, 1808-1810

1 volume

This commonplace book (56 pages) was compiled by Harriet Gladwin, daughter of British Army Major General Henry Gladwin, who commanded the British forces during Pontiac's siege against Detroit in 1763. The volume contains Harriet's copies of a published account of the siege (33 pages), a memorial poem dedicated to her father by William Hayley (13 pages), and 3 additional memorial poems and epitaphs (7 pages). She began the volume on September 25, 1808.

This commonplace book (56 pages) was compiled by Harriet Gladwin, daughter of British Army Major General Henry Gladwin, who commanded the British forces during Pontiac's siege against Detroit in 1763. The volume contains Harriet's copies of a published account of the siege (33 pages), a memorial poem dedicated to her father by William Hayley (13 pages), and 3 additional memorial poems and epitaphs (7 pages). She began the volume on September 25, 1808.

The first portion of the book (pages 1-34) contains a passage copied from Jonathan Carver's Travels through the Interior Parts of North America in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768. The text regards the attack on Detroit by Native American forces throughout the summer of 1763. Carver's account concentrates heavily on Gladwin's role in successfully defending Detroit against the Native Americans.

Harriet copied "An Ode to General Gladwin, requesting him to publish his Journal of the Siege of Detroit" in the next section of the volume (pages 36-48). The poem, written by William Hayley (1745-1820), is comprised of 13 7-line stanzas, and celebrates Gladwin's victory over Pontiac and the allied Native American forces.

The remaining pages contain memorials for 3 members of Harriet Gladwin's family. The first is "An Epitaph on General Gladwin who departed this life on the 21 of June 179[1] in the 61st year of his age" (pp.49-51). A brief prose celebration of his military accomplishments is followed by a 10-line poem. The next memorial is dedicated "To the Memory of Jhon [John] Beridge M. D. who died Octbr. 17th 1788 aged 45" (p. 53). This 6-line poem, written by William Hayley, commemorates Harriet Gladwin's grandfather, Henry Gladwin's father-in-law. The final memorial, attributed to "G. H.," is titled "To the Memory of a beloved Wife who died May the 3d. 1810[.] By her Husband" (pp. 54-56). The poem contains reflections on mortality and on the life and qualities of the deceased.