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This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, writings, documents, and other items related to the Clarke family of Gilmanton and Manchester, New Hampshire. The materials concern the Civil War, life in 19th-century New Hampshire, education, and other subjects.

This collection contains correspondence, diaries, writings, documents, and other items related to the Clarke family of Gilmanton and Manchester, New Hampshire.

The Correspondence series (approximately 920 items) comprises the bulk of the collection. Most of the correspondence written between the 1850s and the early 1870s is made up of letters between and addressed to William Cogswell Clarke, Anna Maria Greely Clarke, and their three eldest children: Stephen Greely Clarke and his wife, Lydia Mason Wight Clarke; Anna Norton Clarke and her husband, Robert M. Appleton; and Julia Cogswell Clarke. A few letters by Mary Ann Wight are also present. Letter enclosures include a lock of hair, plants, cartes-de-visite, and newspaper clippings.

The Clarke family's personal correspondence focuses primarily on life in and news of Gilmanton and Manchester, New Hampshire throughout the 19th century. Writers discussed religious beliefs and activities; romantic relationships, courtship, and marriage; births and deaths; social activities; teaching and education; politics; and other subjects. During the Civil War, some writers shared news of battles, regiments, casualties, and the general progress of the war.

After 1871, many items are incoming and outgoing letters between and addressed to Julia C. Clarke, her sister Anna, and their mother. Some of Julia's letters pertain to her life in Framingham, Massachusetts, while Anna Clarke Appleton and Anna Greely Clarke provided news from Lake Village, New Hampshire, and Manchester, New Hampshire. During the 1880s, Julia wrote a series of letters to William H. Ladd, discussing newspaper advertising (particularly with regard to schools); her experiences in Lake Village, Kents Hill (Maine), and Boston, where she worked for the Chauncy Hall School; and advice for Ladd's upcoming visit to Europe. Groups of enclosed newspaper clippings contain advertisements for educational institutions. Other late personal letters to members of the Clarke family concern travel in Asia, estate administration, and finances.

Additional correspondence from the 1870s to the 1910s includes a large number of business letters, including many related to Stephen G. Clarke's legal career. Other groups of correspondence include letters to Edward Reilly of San Francisco, California, about mining concerns in Arizona and New Mexico; to Lafayette H. De Friese of New York City about the timber industry and shipments of logs; and to a man named "Bagley" of New York City. Other personal correspondence includes love letters from "Dolph" to "Sadie" and letters related to O. F. Bryant, who taught at or attended Chauncy Hall School. New York City lawyer Ernest G. Stevens received several business letters in the early 1910s.

The Diaries and Journals series consists of 5 items. Anna Maria Greely (later Clarke) kept 2 diaries from October 12, 1828-June 19, 1829, and June 26, [1872]-September 21, 1872. Her entries, which were written mostly on loose scraps of paper, concern daily life, social calls, and activities with family members and acquaintances. The later diary contains frequent mentions of Clarke's children. The remaining items concern an unidentified author's Bible readings and Christian beliefs (September 12, 1858-April 24, 1859); "Mrs. Robinson's" desire to write a journal for the benefit of her 7-year-old daughter Kitty, who required instruction in housekeeping (July 1, 1868); and Emma F. Moore's "Two Days on the Concord River," describing her travels with a companion (undated).

The Writings series is comprised of essays (15 items), published articles (2 items), letters to the editor (6 items), drafts (2 items), rejected submissions (9 items), "A Reading of the Will: A Farce" (1 item), "Seminal Weakness" (1 item), poems (30 items), and a speech. The essays, by Stephen G. Clarke, Lydia M. Wight, and Anna Greely Clarke, concern topics such as politics and history, morality and religion, English and Latin grammar, teaching and education, and horse breeding. The rejected submissions are primarily poetry, including one about African Americans. "The Reading of the Will" is a farce and "Seminal Weakness" is a lengthy essay on the male reproductive system. Many of the poems concern religion and nature. The 54-page speech is a presidential address delivered by Dr. Nahum Wight before the New Hampshire Medical Society. He discussed the society's history and goals, medical history and education, and his own medical career.

The School Papers series contains Latin Exercises (5 items), Academic Notes (19 items), Debates (2 items), and items related to the Chauncey Hall School (21 items). The academic notes and debates largely pertain to Stephen G. Clarke's studies, including items regarding animal classification and birds. One lengthy debate considered whether men were influenced more by women or money. The Chauncy Hall School subseries consists of newspaper advertisements, several copies of a printed advertisement, and correspondence from recipients of a circular and from managers at the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph and the Chicago Tribune. One item is an invitation to the school's "Promotion Day," held on June 12, 1894.

The Documents series is divided into two subseries. Financial Documents (10 items), most of which concern Stephen G. Clarke, include accounts, receipts, a promissory note, and bank checks. One document between Willard B. Farwell and the American Machine Gun Company concerns the ownership of Farwell's inventions and patents. Printed Documents (11 items) include certificates regarding Stephen G. Clarke's attendance at Harvard University (July 16, 1855) and Josephine Evarts's license to practice medicine in Connecticut (April 1, 1929), documents regarding the activities of the American Folklore Society and the Wednesday Club (1892 and undated), and descriptions of an invention, the Hussey Motor Battery, by Willard B. Farwell (undated). A price list for advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and a sign regarding the treatment of animals in a scientific laboratory are also present.

Newspaper Clippings (12 items) include obituaries for William C. Clarke, articles about the Clarke family, advice for young writers, advertisements, and poetry.

The Photographs series (2 items) contains a portrait of an unidentified man, likely taken around the 1860s or 1870s, and a picture of a home and its large front garden. Both prints are mounted on large cards.

The Genealogy series consists of family trees written into a bound volume of blank genealogical tables that belonged to Julia C. Clarke. The tables concern ancestors of Julia C. Clarke and their families; some lineages are traced back as far as the 1600s. Many of the pages have cut-out sections to coordinate records across different trees and pages.

The Constantin family papers are made up of correspondence, financial records, and other items related to the family's involvement in transatlantic shipping in the early 19th century. Personal and professional acquaintances corresponded with Barthelemy Constantin and his son Anthony of Bordeaux, France, and New York City, and the Constantins also compiled accounts, inventories, and receipts.

The Constantin family papers (1 linear foot) are made up of correspondence, financial records, and other items related to the family's involvement in trans-Atlantic shipping in the early 19th century.

The Correspondence series (around 330 items) contains personal and business letters, most of which were addressed to Barthelemy Constantin and Anthony Constantin from 1806-1809. Most items pertain to the Constantins' ship brokering business, finances, and shipments of goods between Europe and the United States. Personal letters to Anthony Constantin from his father, Barthelemy Constantin, and his brother, Simon Constantin, provide personal advice and news from Bordeaux. In a letter of August 9, 1806, Simon warned Anthony about potential military conflicts, and later letters from that year concern financial difficulties and disputes.

The Documents and Financial Records series (around 275 items) is divided into five subseries. The Accounts and Account Books subseries (8 items) pertains to cargo shipments, and 2 items also contain copies of business and personal letters. The Invoices and Receipts subseries concerns ships carrying building supplies, clothing, and other cargo between Bordeaux and New York. Fifteen printed Import Price Lists concern the wholesale prices of goods in Bordeaux and Nantes in 1806-1808. Twenty-five Inventories detail the goods aboard ships and other materials of the shipping business. The Financial Documents and Inventories of the Brig Batavian subseries includes cargo inventories and receipts of goods received in New York.

Anthony Constantin's Waste Book (8" x 12", 44 pages) has personal correspondence, poetry, accounts, and drawings. Visual subjects include architecture, a portrait, sketches of combs with pearls, and a drawing of a skeleton holding a sickle and a bottle. The Poem Book (4" x 6", 35 pages) belonged to Eloise Maria Le Comte. Miscellaneous items include an incomplete newspaper article about female heroism and a printed document, "Instruction contenant les principals dispositions des ordaonnances et reglemens applicables aux ecoles primaires de filles," as well as other items.

The Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson printed ephemera collection contains over 5,000 pieces of assorted ephemera, the majority of which were commercially printed in the United States during the mid to late 19th-century.

The Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson printed ephemera collection contains over 5,000 pieces of assorted ephemera, the majority of which were commercially printed in the United States during the mid to late 19th-century.

The Maxson collection provides a valuable resource for the study of 19th-century visual culture, commercial advertising, and humor in addition to the role of gender, ethnicity, and race in advertising. American businesses are the predominant focus of the collection, though many international businesses are also represented. While trade cards are by far the most prevalent type of ephemera found in this collection, an extensive array of genres are present including die cut scrapbook pieces, photographs, engravings, maps, serials, and manuscript materials.

The 23 binders that house the Maxson collection were arranged by the collectors themselves. Items are organized somewhat randomly in terms of topical arrangement. While pockets of related materials can be found here and there (for instance, the entirety of Volume 16 contains circus-related items while Volume 11 contains an extensive number of Shaker-related materials), for the most part any given subject may appear in any given volume. In some cases, items are clustered as a result of having been acquired together or due to a documented common provenance. Occasional typed annotations written by the Maxsons help provide additional context for certain items.

The Maxson Collection Subject Index serves as a volume-level subject index for materials found throughout the binders. The subjects indexed here are generally representative of both visual and commercial content. In addition to more general subjects, many names of specific people, places, buildings, events, and organizations that appear in the materials have also been listed. Researchers engaging with this collection should be aware that they will encounter numerous examples of racist caricatures, especially ones depicting African American, Native American, Irish, and Chinese people.

The Hair documents, ephemera, and prints collection is comprised of 103 items, mostly printed materials related to hair, shaving, and wigs. Included are ephemeral advertisements, trade cards and price lists, government acts relating to hair and wigs, manuscript letters and indentures, caricatures and cartoons, broadsides, sheet music, other miscellaneous prints, and one braided lock of hair.

The Hair Documents, Ephemera, and Prints collection is comprised of 103 items, mostly printed materials related to hair, shaving, and wigs. Included are ephemeral advertisements, trade cards and price lists, government acts from British monarchs George II and George III relating to hair and wigs, manuscript letters and indentures, caricatures and cartoons, broadsides, sheet music, other miscellaneous prints, and one braided lock of hair. The material spans from 1717 to the late 1980s, with the bulk of materials dating from the late eighteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century. A majority of the materials are from England, although some are from Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Scotland. Many of the items are satirical and are commentary on fashion and the idea that the local barber was the "jack of all trades." Two similar items, a comical manuscript resume of "Isaac Morgan" and a fictitious advertisement for the varied services of "Isaac Factotum" offer exaggerated illustrations of how a barber did more than cut hair. Of interest is a series of mid-nineteenth century Valentines which center around the love-lives of barbers. Also included is a letter from Alex Campbell to his relative John Campbell, the Cashier of the Royal Bank of Scotland during the Jacobite rising of 1745. There is also sheet music from the composer (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), A Pastoral Song, better known as My Mother bids me bind my hair. Of note are prints by British satirists William Hogarth, Isaac and George Cruikshank, and Thomas Rowlandson.

This collection consists of incoming letters and printed items to Henry Stahl, undertaker at Homeworth and nearby Washington Township, Ohio, in the late 19th century. Stahl kept letters, receipts, and trade cards, plus printed pamphlets, advertisements, and price lists for funeral home supplies and stock. They pertain to caskets and children's coffins, floral designs, wrappers, linings, trimmings, embalming fluid, headstones/tombstones/monuments, trade magazine subscriptions, and other items. Businesses that Stahl engaged with include Hamilton, Lemmon, Arnold & Company; Excelsior Coffin and Casket Works; Detroit Metallic Casket Company; Cincinnati Coffin Company; and others.

This collection consists of 25 incoming letters and printed items to Henry Stahl, undertaker at Homeworth and nearby Washington Township, Ohio, in the late 19th century. Stahl kept letters, receipts, and trade cards, plus printed pamphlets, advertisements, and price lists for funeral home supplies and stock. They pertain to caskets and children's coffins, floral designs, wrappers, linings, trimmings; embalming fluid, headstones/tombstones/monuments, trade magazine subscriptions, and other items. Businesses that Stahl engaged with include Hamilton, Lemmon, Arnold & Company; Excelsior Coffin and Casket Works; Detroit Metallic Casket Company; Cincinnati Coffin Company; and others.

Please see the Box and Folder Listing below for information about each item in the collection.

This collection is made up of correspondence, financial records, photographs, and ephemera related to members of the Marsh and Capron families of Rahway, New Jersey, and Walden, New York.

This collection contains correspondence, financial records, photographs, and ephemera related to members of the Marsh and Capron families of Rahway, New Jersey, and Walden, New York.

The Correspondence series (161 items) begins with letters to Caroline Capron ("Carrie") from her future husband, Edward Marsh, and other correspondence. Marsh wrote to H. B. Sears, a mutual friend, while living in Germany in the mid-1860s. Edward Marsh provided news of family members, described his travels, and discussed his studies in chemistry. Members of the Capron family later discussed Carrie's intention to marry Marsh and the couple's proposed move to Germany. Later items include business and personal letters to Rolph Marsh, and correspondence regarding his donation of land to a Rahway church.

The Bills and Receipts series (18 items) pertains to Rolph Marsh's finances. Three carte-de-visite Photographs include 2 studio portraits of unidentified men and a view of unidentified buildings. The collection also contains Calling and Business Cards (13 items) and Printed Items (11 items) pertaining to Catherine Marsh's funeral, religious associations and churches, property assessments, and other subjects.

This collection mostly consists of correspondence and documents related to Nicholas Low, a merchant who lived in New York City during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Much of the material concerns Low's financial interests. A small group of letters pertains to General Rufus King.

This collection (199 items) primarily consists of correspondence and documents related to Nicholas Low, a merchant who lived in New York City during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Most of the material concerns Low's financial interests. A small group of letters pertains to General Rufus King.

The Correspondence series (152 items) contains Low's business letters, which concern his relationships with merchants in the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe. Low's correspondents reported on subjects such as local prices, shipments of goods, and trade between Europe and North America. A few writers mentioned political issues, such as Low's participation in the Poughkeepsie Convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution (March 15, 1788), and the Embargo Act (December 28, 1807). Some of the letters are addressed to the firm Low & Wallace. Other letters pertain to Isaac Low's finances, the Society of Useful Manufactures, and Nicholas Low's real property. The series also includes a draft of a letter to the editor of the Commercial Advertiser, written by Nicholas Low in response to an editorial about lottery drawings in Paterson, New Jersey (July 21, 1798). Personal letters include Lewis Littlepage's account of his dispute with John Jay (December 5, 1785) and Henrietta Low's statement of her intention to marry Charles King, written in response to her father's objections [July 1826].

Four letters relate to Rufus King, Henrietta Low's stepson. Willie Fisher, an acquaintance, wrote 2 letters to King about his social life and leisure activities, including a trip to a brothel that resulted in a riot (January 9, 1859). Charles Rebello wrote a personal letter to King in January 1863. Rufus King wrote a letter to an unidentified general in the Union Army about his frustration with a Times article that had criticized officers' conduct during the war (July 22, 1862).

The Documents series (47 items) is comprised of receipts, accounts, contracts, price lists, and other legal and financial records, mainly related to Nicholas Low. Some indentures pertain to land in New York, and at least one legal document concerns the Bank of the United States.

London apothecary William P. Marshall compiled notes on medical ailments, descriptions of chemicals and medicines, and formulae for medical treatments in this volume, entitled "Medical Manipulation."

In 1830, London apothecary William P. Marshall compiled notes on medical ailments, descriptions of chemicals and medicines, and formulae for medical treatments in an 89-page volume entitled "Medical Manipulation." Marshall wrote directly in the volume and on pages pasted into the volume.

The book's formal title is "Medical Manipulation: An Œconomical Farrago of Galenical Anomalies with Pathological Remarks by Wm. P. Marshall, M.R.C.S., Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries &c. &c." The first title page contains a colored drawing of a shield with the inscription "Resurgere in Cœlo," below a skull sitting on a shelf. The second page includes a clipping with a printed illustration of a skull and crossbones. Roughly half of the pages have notes about general pathology, respiration, the voice, expectoration, "percussion," the heart, and diagnosis. The other pages primarily have pasted-in notes about, and formulae for, medicines and chemicals used for medical treatments. One of these notes is in poetic form ("Materia Medica," pp. 10, 12). The pasted-in pages cover older notes written directly into the volume.

Newspaper clippings about various medical subjects, including one on "lunatics" (p. 78) and many formulae, are affixed to many pages. One clipping has a reprinted poem "Found in the Skeleton Case at the Royal Academy" (p. 57), and at least two articles are in Spanish. The front endpaper has a price list from J. Warrick & Co. chemical importers in London, England.