30 items (in 2 folders)
This collection contains correspondence, memorabilia, and photographs. The correspondence is concerned chiefly with the illness and death of Henry L. Tracy, and the disposal of his effects. The collection also contains a tintype portrait of Lyon in uniform.
0.5 linear feet — 1 microfilm
The Littlefield family collection documents several generations in the life of a family which migrated from Grafton, New York about 1830, and came to Michigan, settling first near Ash in Monroe County and later in Farwell in Clare County. The collection (311 items) spans the period of 1834 to 1935, and consists almost entirely of letters among family members, though there is a small group of printed items dealing with University of Michigan activities and life in Farwell, Michigan. Included with the papers are the correspondence, autobiography, and excerpted diary of Josiah Littlefield. There is also correspondence of Littlefield's wife, Ellen Hart Littlefield, his mother, Mary Hall Littlefield, his daughter, Ellen Littlefield Elder, and his uncle, Edmund Hall.
The correspondence comprising the collection includes several recurring subjects: schooling, medical treatment, social customs, religious matters (selecting ministers, sermons, and church activities), agriculture (types of crops grown and prices received), food prices in Michigan, fashions of domestic furnishings (see Josiah Littlefield folder: September 13, 1874, September 24, 1874, October 4, 1874 and January 1, 1874 from Ellen Hart Littlefield; Mary Hall Littlefield folder: October 14, 1874 from Josiah Littlefield; Ellen Hart Littlefield folder: March 3, 1875 from Lucy Hart and October 5, 1873, letter from Josiah Littlefield; see Ellen Hart Littlefield folder: April 25, 1875 from Jessie Hart Williams).
Interesting though brief descriptions of Oberlin College in the 1830's occur in letters from Edmund Hall (see Martha Smith Hall folder: February 15, 1840 from Edmund Hall; and Mary Hall Littlefield folder: May 21, 1836 and October 11, 1836 from Edmund Hall). Mr. Hall apparently became involved in abolition activities in Michigan in the mid 1840's. A listing of seven speeches scheduled for September or October, 1844 is in the first Edmund Hall folder.
In the area of women's history, parts of the collection cover several topics of interest in addition to those referred to as recurring subjects. Martha Smith Hall, Josiah Littlefield's maternal grandmother left her husband E.F. Hall in New York state about 1830 and migrated to Michigan with her children. She managed to establish a new home and raise and educate her family without any economic help from her husband. (see Martha Hitchcock folder: February 2, 1854 from E.F. Hall, October 12, 1855 from Carolina A. Kinsley; see Edmund Hall folder: August 13, 1855 and August 21, 1855 from Carolina A. Kinsley, October 20, 1855 from Martha Hitchcock, and October 2, 1855 to Mrs. Kinsley from Edmund Hall).
Reference to a case of post-natal depression so severe that it culminated in temporary insanity and the killing of a child occurs in the Josiah Littlefield folder (January 15, 1875 from Ellen Hart Littlefield). Descriptions of another serious post-natal depression are contained in the Josiah Littlefield folder (January 15, 1875 from Ellen hart Littlefield and May 21, 1877 from Margaret Hart).
1 linear foot — 1 oversize folder
The Demmon collection is comprised of the following series: Correspondence; Manuscripts; Essays and addresses; Other papers; and Photographs. The correspondence is both professional exchanges and personal letters among family members. Included are Demmon's student letters from Butler University and The University of Michigan, and two Civil War letters (1864) written while he was serving with 132nd Indiana Infantry. Among his professional correspondence are letters from James B. Angell, William L. Clements, Martin L. D'Ooge, Karl E. Guthe, Henry B. Joy, James McMillan, Moses C. Tyler. There are also lecture notes and other papers pertaining to his teaching duties; three volumes of personal accounts (1899-1920); a diary (1869) kept while he was a professor at Alliance College, Ohio, in which he mentions Mark Twain and John A. Bingham. The photographs include portraits, family photos and tintypes; photos of Demmon in the classroom, and of Demmon's residence in Ann Arbor.
0.8 linear feet (2 boxes) — 1 oversize folder
Personal correspondence, 1842-1941; Civil War letters, 1862-1865, of C. V. DeLand of Co. C, Ninth Michigan Infantry, later Colonel of the First Sharpshooters during the Civil War; correspondence concerning early Jackson history, indentures, school records, temperance and abolition material and other records pertaining to family affairs and the town of Jackson, Michigan. Also contains photographs, with family portraits and photo of an old mill in Jefferson, Mich.
6 linear feet — 2 folders
The collection includes correspondence; files relating to his career as chief librarian of the University of Michigan; personal and biographical materials; and speeches, essays, and writings.
1 linear foot — 1 oversize folder
The Conant Family papers cover the period between 1833 and 2001. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, warranty deeds, land documents, financial statements, newspaper clippings, genealogical research, photographs and negatives. The collection has the following series: Family, Land and Finances, Genealogy, and Visual Material.
60 items
Primarily consists of fifty letters (1862-1864) written to his wife, Elise, while Comte was serving in Company C, 5th Michigan Cavalry. Many of the letters are written in a humorous vein as he tells of camp life, food, army clothing, picket duty, scouting and bushwhackers. He is much in earnest as he expresses his attitude toward slavery, foraging from destitute Southern families, and re-enlisting. There is an account of the battle of Gettysburg and the casualties among Michigan regiments, and also of Williamsport and Falling Waters where four Michigan cavalry regiments engaged eight infantry regiments of Lee's retreating army. Also includes a marriage certificate, miscellaneous items, and photographic portraits (tintype original and copy print).
4.2 linear feet (in 5 boxes) — 1 oversize volume
The James V. Campbell papers include materials documenting Campbell's career as professor of law at the University of Michigan, lawyer, and Michigan State Supreme court justice as well as papers of other Campbell family members. The papers include family correspondence, a journal of a trip to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1844, and lecture materials; also papers of Valeria Campbell, corresponding secretary of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Detroit, U. S. Sanitary Commission, concerning the society, the Detroit Soldiers' Home, and other relief agencies; and University student letters, 1872-1876, of Henry M. Campbell.
3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
Historical documents, family papers, and photographs accumulated and maintained by Flora Burt relating to the Burt family and to other family lines. Included are materials and information pertaining to James P. McKinstry, officer in the U.S. Navy in the 19th century, and to John R. Williams, 1st mayor of Detroit. The collection also contains letters, 1839-1846, to William A. Burt from his son Alvin Burt, then doing survey work in Iowa; also letter, 1845, from William Burt to Alvin Burt, describing the solar compass that he patented.
0.7 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Buckbee Family Papers includes a variety of material but is most significant for its documentation of the Civil War service of Julian E. Buckbee and for the many letters exchanged with his sons Henry Cheever and Julian Edward, Jr., who served in the military during the Spanish-American War. These later letters provide a unique look into daily life during the war and at home in Illinois at the turn of the century. The letters contain both original and photocopied letters, along with transcriptions, to and from Julian Edward Jr. and Henry Cheever Buckbee during their service from April to September 1898. The photocopies all have matching original letters except for letter dated August 21, 1898, and those that were small notes probably sent with packages.
Other files in the collection include newspaper articles, genealogical information, and other various materials related to the Buckbee family from 1859 to 1999; photographs (duplicates and originals) of family members, scenes from the Spanish-American War, and of the family-owned Winnetka Inn located in Winnetka, Illinois; various letters to and from Julian Edward Buckbee Sr., military documents, and other materials relating to E.J. Buckbee's service in the Civil War; and later family papers which include reminiscences of Julian Buckbee Sr., and letters from Cheever D. Buckbee during his military service in 1942. There are also letters of William L. Church written during the Civil War and relating to his visits to various Illinois regiments. Of special note is a letter he received from Colonel William Gamble describing the operation of Illinois troops at the Battle of Gettysburg.
