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This collection comprises 28 American manuscript recipe books dated from 1793 to 1959 with the bulk dating from the nineteenth century. One of the books contains portions in German, while the rest are in English. Most regions of the United States are present, with the Northeast and Southern States best represented. Desserts represent the bulk of the recipes, cakes being the most popular. Some recipes include attributes to friends, family, or cookbooks, and some contain notes on quality of the dish. Directions for making medicinal remedies and practical household needs (such as cleaning product recipes or advice on fabric care) may also be included. Many volumes contain handwritten or printed inserts.

This collection comprises 28 American manuscript recipe books dated from 1793 to 1959 with the bulk dating from the nineteenth century. One of the books contains portions in German, while the rest are in English. Most regions of the United States are present, with the Northeast and Southern States best represented. Desserts represent the bulk of the recipes cakes being the most popular. Some recipes include attributes to friends, family, or cookbooks, and some contain notes on quality of the dish. Directions for making medicinal remedies and practical household needs (such as cleaning product recipes or advice on fabric care) may also be included. Many volumes contain handwritten or printed inserts.

All or most of the known authors of these recipe books appear to be by women. A man, James Campbell, authored the accounting portion of the Campbell receipt book and a male writer may have created the Manuscript Recipe Book, [1838]. Emma Hinricks Hilken is the only one known to have resided outside the United States when writing her recipe book (she resided in Frankfurt, Germany, for several years following her marriage). The women range in age from teenagers to the elderly and represent a variety of social backgrounds. Most of the recipe books were written or compiled in the second half of the nineteenth century, with some extending into the early twentieth. Approximately one-fifth of them were written in the first half of the nineteenth century or earlier.

See the box and folder listing below for a complete descriptive list of the recipe books present in this collection.

The collection focuses primarily on John Tailyour, a Scottish merchant who traveled to North America and Jamaica in the 1770s and 1780s to conduct business, before finally returning to his home in Scotland in 1792. His correspondence is heavily business related, centering especially on his trading of slaves, foodstuffs, and sundry goods. It also chronicles the current events in both Jamaica and the Empire. Many of Tailyour's correspondents debate the meaning and merit of the cessation of the slave trade in the late 18th century, as well as the military events of the American and Haitian revolutions, and of the Maroon rebellion of 1795. The papers also include letters between John and his family in Scotland regarding John's mixed-race Jamaican children. He sent three of his children to Britain to be educated, which caused much family concern. Tailyour's account books and financial papers relate both to his Jamaican estate and business, and to his Scottish estate, from which he received added income from rents. The accounts for this estate continue for several decades after Tailyour’s death in 1815. A number of disparate and miscellaneous letters, war records, photographs, and realia that belonged to various members of the extended Tailyour family date mainly from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

The collection has three substantial parts. The most comprehensive and cohesive section is the one concerning John Tailyour, until his death in 1815. The second part contains business papers and accounts related to the Tailyour estate. The third part is the least integrated, and consists of a variety of family papers, photographs, military memorabilia, and other miscellanea.

The Tailyour papers date from 1743 to 2003, with the majority of the collection concentrating in the period from 1780 to 1840. Within these bulk dates, are the two largest portions of the collection: the correspondence and accounts of John Tailyour until his death in 1815, and the account records of the Tailyour estate after 1815.

Seven boxes contain John Tailyour's personal and business correspondence of 3757 letters. The letters focus on Tailyour's mercantile activities in the Atlantic market, especially on the slave trade, its profitability, and the threat posed by abolitionists. Tailyour's correspondence also chronicles personal and family matters, including the education and provision for his mixed-race children from Jamaica. In addition, the collection contains four of Tailyour's letter books of 1116 copies of retained letters that cover the period from 1780 to 1810, with the exception of the years 1786-7 and 1793-1803. In these letters, Tailyour's focus is business, particularly as it relates to the slave trade, but he also includes personal messages to his friends and family.

Tailyour's business papers contain 32 loose account records, as well as five account books documenting the years between 1789-90 and 1798-1816. These primarily concern his Kingston and Scottish estates, including the expense accounts and balance sheets for each, as well as the finances of his merchant activities during the period. Finally, 38 documents of probate records for John Tailyour mainly relate to his landed estate.

The latter portion of collection within these bulk years (1815-1840) also contains correspondence and accounts, although the 228 letters are almost entirely concerned with business accounts. These focus on Tailyour's estate after his death, with John's brother Robert as the main correspondent. Additional materials include 1761 business papers that chronicle the finances of the estate, 11 account books, and 6 hunting books. The business letters and account books detail the estate's expense accounts and receipts, as well as the balances for their annual crops, salmon fishing business, and profits derived from the rents collected on their land. The hunting books contain descriptive accounts of the family's hunts and inventories of their hunting dogs.

The third, and final, part of the collection consists of Tailyour family records (bulk post-1815), including 49 letters from various family members in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries and five letterbooks, kept by Alexander Renny Tailyour and Thomas Renny Tailyour. 4 account books are also present kept by Alexander Renny Tailyour and others. Some of the records concern the First World War, including a group of prisoner-of-war records sent from Germany, and journals kept at home that detail news of the war, and daily domestic activities.

The family history documents include 64 genealogical records and 58 probate records. Many of the genealogical items are brief notes on family history, and sketches of the family tree, including a large family tree that spans several hundred years to the present day. The probate records contain one will from the late-nineteenth century, but are otherwise entirely concerned with John Tailyour's estate in the years immediately after his death.

Of the printed records, Memoirs of my Ancestors (1884), by Hardy McCall is a genealogy of the McCall family, and Tailyour's Marykirk and Kirktonhill's estates are described in two printed booklets, one of which is an advertisement for Kirktonhill's sale in the early-twentieth century. Other printed material includes 14 various newspaper clippings concerning the family over the years, and 12 miscellaneous items.

The illustrations, artwork, and poetry comprise 14 fashion engravings, 12 sailing illustrations, a picture of a hunting cabin, two silhouettes, and a royal sketch, all of which date from the early- to mid-nineteenth century. Kenneth R. H. Tailyour's sketches are represented in two sketch books created in his younger years (1917 and 1920). Loose records of poetry, as well as a book of poems from George Taylor, are in this section.

The 221 photographs are of the Tailyour family from the late-nineteenth to the twentieth century, with the majority falling in the early decades of the twentieth century. Most are portraits of the Tailyour family from the early twentieth century, particularly Kenneth R. H. Tailyour.

The 138 pieces of ephemera are, for the most part, postcards of foxhunts during the nineteenth century. These announce the almost-weekly family foxhunts during the middle years of the nineteenth century. The 19 items of realia, include Robert Taylor's quill pen from 1826.

The audio-visual portion of the collection contains three items: a compact disc with an audio interview of John Dann, Director of the Clements Library, on National Public Radio's "The Todd Mundt Show;" a compact disc with photos of the West Indies; and a collection of photographs of the Tailyour papers in their uncatalogued state, and of the festivities surrounding the acquisition of the collection.

Finally, miscellaneous material of 18 pieces includes Robert Taylor's commonplace book of short stories, letters, and poems; the catalogue of Robert Taylor's books; James Tailyour's 1771 style and form book; and a communion book.

This collection contains correspondence, diaries, ephemera, photographs, and other material related to Vashti Detwiler Garwood, a schoolteacher and physician in Ohio, Massachusetts, Kansas, and Michigan. The collection documents her experiences teaching school in Ohio and Massachusetts, as well as her coursework at the Boston University School of Medicine. Also included are additional photographs of her family and a published history of the Novy-Garwood families.

This collection (0.5 linear feet) contains correspondence, diaries, ephemera, photographs, and other material related to Vashti Detwiler Garwood. The material documents her experiences teaching school in Ohio and Massachusetts, as well as her coursework at the Boston University School of Medicine. Also included are additional photographs of her family and a published history of the Novy and Garwood families.

The Correspondence series is comprised of 16 personal letters between members of the Cannon family of Pennsylvania and members of the Detwiler and Garwood families. The Cannon siblings wrote and received three letters between 1862 and 1864, sharing recent news such as local deaths. Isaiah Cannon also informed his brother, D. H. Cannon, of his intention to enlist in the Union Army (February 1, 1864).

The remaining 13 letters relate to Vashti Detwiler Garwood, including several from her mother-in-law, Angeline Garwood (1805-1881), who reported family news from Lewisburg, Ohio. Vashti received a letter from Spencer Willard Garwood, her future husband, written while he served in the 132nd Ohio Infantry Regiment during the Civil War; he provided some of his impressions of the South and shared updates about his regiment (July 7, 1864). In one late letter, W. H. Berkey, editor of the Vigilant, responded to her letter concerning conditions within the Cassopolis Jail in Cassopolis, Michigan; the Women's Christian Temperance Union believed Garwood's previously printed letter a fraud, though a clipping attached to the letter respects the Vigilant's verification of her identity (September 19, 1896).

Vashti Detwiler Garwood kept 5 Diaries and Journals between 1858 and 1868, most of which concern her experiences as a schoolteacher in Ohio and Massachusetts, as well as the early years of her married life in Fort Scott, Kansas. She wrote sporadically until the fall of 1864, when she began composing entries more frequently. Some of the journals document overlapping periods of time. Along with her experiences, she often recorded her thoughts and emotions, frequently related to her religious beliefs and her relationships. Her small pocket journal, kept throughout 1860, also contains quotations, algebra problems, and financial accounts. One late, undated entry in the journal, written between January 1, 1859, and December 31, 1864, is a lament composed after her failed attempt to win admission to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Her final journal, kept between January 2, 1865, and September 8, 1868, occasionally refers to military developments during the Civil War, and contains a brief allusion to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (April 15, 1865). The series also holds a typescript of diary entries written between January 16, 1864, and September 27, 1864, made from a diary in the collection.

The Writings are 4 jokes and humorous anecdotes, including 1 referencing Native Americans; 6 poems, often sentimental in nature; a list of quotations and a set of notes; an 8-page lesson on "The Rainbow," composed in a question-and-answer format; and 2 essays on writing compositions, totaling around 3 and a half pages. One of the latter compositions is signed by Vashti Detwiler Garwood.

The first subseries of Documents and Ephemera holds items related to Vashti Detwiler Garwood's studies at the Boston University School of Medicine between 1880 and 1881, including tickets verifying her membership in the class and permission to attend lectures, an order of lectures for 1880-1881, 2 commencement tickets, and several items attesting to her successful completion of individual courses. Other material includes a printed circular addressed to students, which states the faculty's commitment to the fair treatment of women (February 5, 1882); tuition receipts; and an event program, printed in Latin. Other Documents and Ephemera are three manuscript slips attesting to Hiram Garwood's good conduct in school, funeral notices, invitations, and 3 printed, colorful cards presented to Martha and Vashti Detwiler as "reward[s] of merit."

The Recipes series (5 items) contains several recipes, including 2 individual items and a three-page sheet containing many recipes, a fragment from a food-related account, and a bill of fare.

Visual Material (22 items) includes photographic portraits and snapshots of members of the Detwiler and Garwood families, both identified and anonymous; a photograph of President James A. Garfield; a postcard depicting the University of Michigan's 1908 commencement exercises, with Vashti Detwiler Garwood marked; and a colored illustration of a woman. The collection also contains a cased ambrotype portrait of Christian Detwiler and Vashti, his daughter, taken in the fall of 1853, and a bound "Souvenir of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania" containing several views of the town.

Printed Material (22 items) consists of 16 newspaper clippings, most of which contain poetry or recipes; an educational pamphlet entitled The Family Bible Teacher, number 18 in a series; a newsletter from the Greenwich Academy, which mentions an upcoming visit by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; 1 of Vashti Detwiler Garwood’s calling cards; and 2 small cards printed with memory- and friendship-themed mottos.

Also included is a copy of the Novy-Garwood Family Record and Connections, a book published in 1990.

Artifacts include a leather wallet purchased by Christian Detwiler in 1827, a circular wooden box, a paper doll, and several outfits for the doll.

The collection also holds 6 pages of Genealogy notes.