Collections

The Humphry and Moses Marshall papers primarily document the careers of botanist Humphry Marshall and his nephew and business associate, Moses Marshall.

The Humphry and Moses Marshall papers consist of 233 items: 181 letters (including drafts), 15 legal documents, 11 manuscripts, 10 poems, 4 account books, and several each of books, letter books, arithmetic notebooks, and broadsides. The materials span from 1721-1863.

The first series contains correspondence and a few legal documents and writings, arranged chronologically. The correspondence dates from 1733 to 1863 and is predominantly incoming. Humphry Marshall is the recipient of the bulk of the material (approximately 40%), followed by Moses Marshall (approx. 30%). The majority of the outgoing correspondence comes from the two "letterbooks" kept by Moses Marshall in 1791 and 1793. These books contain correspondence from a couple of days each, but provide a record of Marshall's response to inquiries from clients.

The bulk of correspondence prior to 1800 relates to Marshall's horticultural and botanical operations. Substantial numbers of orders are for plants and seeds from clients in other parts of the United States, England, Ireland, France, and Germany, and communications with middle men in the operation detail methods of packaging and shipping. Also of botanical interest is the correspondence with Marshall's "agents" in the field, including Moses Mendenhall, John and James Watson, Matthias King, Samuel Kramsh, and James Kenny. These men were admirers and friends of Humphry Marshall, and provided him with specimens collected from various regions of the country. The unsuccessful search for wild Franklinia alatamaha is mentioned in several letters (April 8, 1788: "There is not a plant of the Franklinia to be found"), and other letters include discussions of scientific expeditions either actualized or planned, mostly involving the participation of Moses Marshall. On November 14, 1786, Humphry described the logistics of tracking down ginseng, providing insight into the duties of plant collectors: "both of you being obliged to…encamp in the mountains strike up a fire & lie by it all night in the morning…climb up the sides of the mountains and dig towards evening…about 20 days in Going and Coming home again & digging the roots packing up &c." The content of the letters does not indicate the Marshalls' scientific interests or abilities, but this correspondence provides documentation for the complex network used by the Marshalls to collect, sell and distribute plants.

Approximately 18 letters relate to the Revolutionary War (see "Subject Index" under "Additional Descriptive Data"). These include letters that indicate Marshall's support for the nonimportation agreements (January 6, 1775), second hand reports of the Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 25, 1775) and of Yorktown (August 24, 1781), and an important series of correspondence from Samuel Preston Moore relating to the resignation of the trustees of the General Loan Office when American revolutionaries seized control (June 17 and 21, 1777). Also significant are two letters from Quaker conscientious objectors on the morality of paying taxes to support military activities (undated c. 1780 letter; July 14, 1781), a letter relating to the North Carolina Regulator insurrection (March 3, 1771), and one concerning the arrest by American forces of Quakers suspected of Loyalist sympathies (September 6, 1777). Finally, in the pre-Revolutionary period, the letters of James Kenny provide excellent descriptions of plant collecting and the area around Fort Pitt in 1759-60.

The items from 1840-1863 mainly relate to Moses Marshall, Jr. Most notable in among them are several letters from William Darlington written as he was preparing his Memorial to Humphry and Moses Marshall in 1848 and 1849. Moses, Jr's pro-Confederacy political views are clearly expressed in the series of three speeches written during the Civil War, also included in the series.

The Poetry series includes 10 undated poems. The Bound Materials series comprises the arithmetic notebooks of Jacob Martin, whose relationship to the Marshalls is unclear; Darlington’s manuscript, Historical Introduction to Bartram & Marshall, Marshall's copy of Dover's Useful Miscellanies; and nine uncut and unfolded sets of signatures from Arbustrum Americanum.

The African American and African Diaspora Collection is comprised largely of individual letters, documents, and other manuscript items relating to slavery, abolition movements, and aspects of African American life, largely dating between 1781 and 1865.

The African American and African Diaspora Collection is comprised largely of individual letters, documents, and other manuscript items relating to slavery, abolition movements, and aspects of African American life, largely dating between 1781 and 1865. Topics addressed in the letters and documents include the experiences and work of enslaved persons in the North and South; the buying and selling of enslaved men, women, and children; participation in the French and Indian War, American Revolution, and Civil War of African descended persons; abolitionists and abolition societies; the American Colonization Society; the lives of formerly enslaved persons; African American education; and many other subjects. For details on each document, see the inventory located under "Detailed Box and Folder Listing"

The University of Michigan Herbarium, started in 1837, is home to over 1.7 million species and is one of the world's leading botanical collections. The U-M Herbarium records collection includes correspondence, photographs, and research materials documenting early Herbarium history, U-M's ethno botanical research practices, and the international professional discourse surrounding botanical research.

The collection represents the Herbarium's actions as a collector of the historical correspondence and photographs of botanical researchers. The records contained within this collection primarily document the research methods and professional conversations of American botanists. Through the correspondence and papers of Michigan and U-M botanists, this collection also documents the development of the Herbarium, its activities, and its status as a collector of botanical specimens and historical records. Researchers should note that there are photographs and plant specimens scattered throughout the correspondence series, and whereas the plant specimens are noted in the box listing, the photographs are not. The collection's four series include Harley Harris Bartlett Papers, Herbarium Historical Correspondence, Herbarium Historical Photographs, and Archived Website.

The Great Britain Indian Department collection is made up of documents, letters, and other manuscripts relating to interactions between government and military officials, Native Americans, and American residents from 1753 to 1795.

The Great Britain Indian Department collection is made up of documents, letters, and manuscripts relating to interactions between government and military officials, Native Americans, and American residents from 1753 to 1795. The bulk of the collection concerns British interactions with Native Americans in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, with some material relating to South Carolina, Michigan, and Virginia. Official documents include passes for Native American travelers, speeches to and from Native American groups, copies of treaties, and reports and correspondence relative to diplomacy, peace efforts, and military affairs. Materials relay information on boundary disputes, prisoner exchanges, crimes committed against both American settlers and Native Americans, and Native American distress over land infringements.

Of particular note are the Albany Commissioners of Indian Affairs' reports (112 pages) from June 1753 to May 1755. These include copies of correspondence, reports of meetings with Native American groups, and remarks on fort construction, prisoner exchange, rivalries with the French, religious evangelization, and diplomacy. The collection also includes a manuscript copy of the August 1768 journal of Benjamin Roberts, an Indian commissary, in which he describes the trial of Captain Robert Rogers for treason.

Please see Box and Folder Listing below for a comprehensive inventory of the collection.

This is a miscellaneous collection of letters to and from members of the Howe family, including British army officer William Howe, British naval officer Richard Howe, and their families.

The Richard and William Howe collection contains 48 miscellaneous single letters and documents, spanning 1758 to 1812. The correspondents were various members of the Howe family, including William Howe, Richard Howe, Mary Hartopp Howe, Mary Juliana Howe, and Louisa Catherine Howe. Brought together over several decades, the group of materials includes miscellaneous items related to military operations, as well as a number of family letters. A handful of items concern the Seven Years War and American Revolution, and over half of the collection postdates 1783. See "Detailed Box and Folder Listing" for a full inventory of the items, including abstracts of each letter.

The James Sterling letter book contains the outgoing letters of Sterling, a prominent trader at Fort Detroit, concerning transactions, prices, demand for goods, as well as accounts of events during Pontiac's War.

The James Sterling letter book contains 164 pages and 175 letters in all, spanning July 1761 to October 1765. Sterling wrote all the letters while at Fort Detroit, and they deal mainly with business and occasional local political matters. His letters provide a picture of the fur trade and the consumer needs of Indians, French civilians, and the British military, as well as the day-to-day concerns of a prominent trader at Fort Detroit.

The volume opens with a 6-page record of a council held "at the Wiandot Town near Detroit" by the deputies of the Six Nations (Iroquois) in order to convince members of the Ottawa, Wyandotte, Ojibwa (Chippewa), and Potawatomi tribes to ally themselves with the French. Sterling acted as interpreter during the meeting, and kept its minutes. The document records the Iroquois' grievances with the British, whom they accused of having "Disrespect" for them and their lands, adding "their Behaviour towards us gives us the greatest Reason to believe that they intend to Cutt us off intirely." The Iroquois urged the more western tribes to take quick action against the British and stated that "our Warriors are already prepared." The document contains long quotes from several speakers, including an Iroquois deputy and a "Captain Campbell," likely Donald Campbell, who expressed astonishment at the belligerent attitude of the Iroquois toward the British. The following day, the western tribes reported the meeting to the British, maintaining their loyalty.

Sterling's outgoing letters commence on July 20, 1761. He mainly wrote them to trading partners and clients, discussing details of shipments, prices (generally calculated in beaver pelts), and the availability of goods. On page 11 of the book, in a letter to Captain Walter Rutherford [August 27, 1761?], Sterling listed numerous items for sale along with their prices in pelts. These include strouds, blankets, shirts, buckskins, wampum, brass kettles, gun powder, knives, bed lace, and thread. Letters also shed light on the destinations and methods of the transportation of goods. In the first years of the correspondence, goods were shipped by fleets of bateaux, sometimes belonging to the military. Later, several schooners and sloops plied Lakes Erie and Huron, and went as far north as St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste-Marie. All goods had to be portaged at Niagara ("The Carrying Place"), while those to and from Albany were similarly reloaded at Oswego on Lake Ontario.

Sterling sometimes encountered problems with other traders and colleagues, including unscrupulousness, drunkenness, and offensive treatment of Native Americans, which alienated them as trading partners. He criticized John Collbeck, the commissary at Fort Niagara, for allowing his staff and servants to drink without restraint and for keeping a "seraglio of Indians Squahs in the same condition" of intoxication (January 10, 1762). On May 31, 1762, he complained to his partner, James Syme, that goods had arrived from New York "wet, dirty, and broken." Other hazards included storms and theft, which Sterling noted on several occasions.

A few letters detail the events of Pontiac's War as well as its effect on trade. On July 25, 1763, Sterling noted the capture of Fort Venango in Pennsylvania and the continuation of the siege at Fort Detroit, and hoped for relief from the army. On August 7, 1763, he described the Battle of Bloody Run as "the damn'd Drubbing the Savage Bougres gave us" and lamented the death of an aide-de-camp, "Capt. Delyelle." In other letters, he reported that trade with Native Americans had been prohibited by British officials (August 7, 1763), and gave an account of an attack on the schooner Huron by 340 Native Americans, resulting in the death of its commander, Captain Walter Horsey (September 8, 1763). The volume contains a gap in the correspondence between October 1763 and September 1764.

The volume also contains occasional references to Sterling's personal life. In a letter of February 26, 1765, Sterling informed his associate, John Duncan, that he had married Angélique Cuillerier, "the best interpreter of Indian languages in Detroit;" her dowry of 1,000 pounds included houses in Fort Detroit. Sterling also frequently referenced his brother, John Sterling, who was stationed at Niagara. James did not feel that John was capable of running the operation there, but called him dependable.

The Samson Adams papers are the estate and business documents of Adams, a free African American man living and working in Trenton, New Jersey in the late 18th century. Adams worked as a carpenter and laborer, and produced and traded in a variety of items, including soap, milk, corn, and construction materials.

The Samson Adams Papers is comprised of over one hundred items that offer a rare glimpse into the economic and personal life of a free African-American resident of the mid-Atlantic states during the last quarter of the 18th century. The collection is divided into two series, the first consisting mainly of materials dating between 1780 and 1792, with a few earlier items, and the second containing all materials specifically related to the settlement of Adams' estate. The first series is arranged chronologically, but the second is arranged with the intention of representing the progression of the estate settlement, in an attempt to reconstitute the order placed on the materials by the executors.

The first series of Adams' papers (folders 1-11) contains bills and receipts issued by and to Adams for items ranging from milk and soap to building materials. Also included in this series are a work pass for his sister, Violet, and two important and highly unusual subscription letters seeking assistance for Adams in completing the building of his house. The second series (folders 12-30) includes Adams' will, an inventory and a complete breakdown of the distribution of his estate, bills submitted to the estate with numbered receipts showing their payment, and numerous other estate-related items. This series appears to contain nearly complete documentation of the progress of the estate, and the inventories, evaluations, and itemized list of the distribution of the estate offer an extremely detailed portrait of Adams' financial holdings and personal and business relationships

The Jonathan Chase papers contain letters and documents relating to the services of Colonel Jonathan Chase, of the 13th and 15th New Hampshire Militia regiments, during the Revolutionary War. These record Chase's involvement with recruiting soldiers and providing supplies for the army during the war.

The Jonathan Chase papers (74 items) in the Schoff Revolutionary War Collection contain 39 letters, 1 letterbook, and 34 documents and financial records (including receipts, soldier rolls, and commissions) relating to the services of Colonel Jonathan Chase, of the 13th and 15th New Hampshire Militia regiments, during the Revolutionary War. Chase was actively involved in recruiting soldiers and in providing supplies for the army during the war. This collection documents his part in these efforts and includes several wartime letters that depict the military situation in New England.

The Correspondence series contains 39 items, all of which are related to the Revolutionary War. Frequent correspondents include Benjamin Giles, a New Hampshire officer stationed in Charlestown, Massachusetts; Meshech Weare, President of New Hampshire; Major Jonathan Child; Major General Nathaniel Fulsom; and Jacob Bayley. The earliest letters are requests from officers at Charlestown, Massachusetts, with orders for Chase to send flour and meat to feed their troops. Meshech Weare wrote 10 letters on behalf of the Committee of Safety for New Hampshire, headquartered in Exeter. These dealt with military matters, informing Chase of the structure of the militia (July 18, 1777) and calling for him to draft a certain number of men from his militia units to fill a quota mandated by the Continental Congress. Weare specifically recommended that Chase must not trust prisoners of war or enemy deserters (March 9, 1778).

Other notable items include letters dealing with military matters such as deserters (July 23, 1779 and May 27, 1781), and pay incentives for enlisted soldiers (June 20, 1779). A report issued by the New Hampshire House of Representatives, dated April 15, 1781, outlined plans for the defense of the western New Hampshire frontier. One of several letters from Jacob Bayley warned of a possible attack near Otter Creek in Vermont and advised that "each man would equip himself with snow-shoes &c" (February 8, 1780). In an urgent letter, General Peter Olcott advised Chase to have his men ready "to march at a minutes warning to the relief of any quarter which may be invaded" (October 15, 1781). Post-war items, in both the Correspondence and Documents and Financial Records series concern reimbursements from the United States government for expenses incurred during the war. Though most of the items in the collection are official in nature, one letter reveals personal struggles during the war: Elisha Payne, in a letter dated May 12, 1777, explained to Jonathan Chase that he cannot stay with the militia because he must tend to his wife and many small children, and can find no one to take care of his land while he is away; also, he is unsure his health can take the strain.

The 14-page Letterbook contains 34 numbered letters. While the letterbook is largely comprised of copies of records dealing with supplies, food, and money, it also contains letters from Chase, Moses Hazen, Major Jonathan Childs, Jacob Bailey, and Horatio Gates. These describe troop missions and news about the war. Of note are two letters: one is from Moses Hazen mentioning that the French fleet is to be expected to arrive at the end of June, 1780 (p. 9, June [14], 1780); and the other is 1778 letter to the Chairman of the Committee of Bennington discussing the sending the 15th New Hampshire regiment to defend Vermont (p.12-13, [1780]).

The Documents and Financial Records series (34 items) contains lists of officers and soldiers recruited and dispatched by Chase, records of military expenses kept by Chase, and 3 printed items appointing Chase to various official positions. Nine items are regimental returns and other lists of soldiers, including returns for soldiers who marched with Chase to Ticonderoga and Saratoga. One document, of June 10, 1777, lists men under guard, with their infractions. The series contains 12 military records of payments for food, supplies, and soldiers pay. Two of these are post-war accounts kept by Jonathan Child and Jonathan Chase, documenting expenses incurred on behalf of the United States during the war, with calculations of interest up to December 13, 1786, and March 1, 1791.

• May 8, 1781, Jonathan Chase's appointment as "Colonel of the first Regiment in the 3rd Brigade & third Regiment of the Militia of this State [of Vermont]," signed by Thomas Chittenden
• December 25, 1784, Jonathan Chase's appointment as "Colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment of Militia, in the said State of New-Hampshire." signed by Meshech Weare
• September 13, 1786, Jonathan Chase's appointment as "a Brigadier General of the Militia, in the said State of New-Hampshire." signed by John Sullivan and Joseph Pearson. A note on the document, dated June 9, 1791, and signed by Josiah Bartlett, grants Jonathan Chase "leave to resign his Commission as a Brigadier General of the militia."

The William Howe orderly book contains copies of orders for a brigade under British Commander-in-Chief Sir William Howe, from March 9, 1776, to May 1, 1778. Entries record the progress of Howe's army, from their embarkation at Portsmouth, England, through New York and New Jersey, to the end of their occupation Philadelphia.

The William Howe orderly book (554 pages) contains copies of orders for a brigade under British Commander-in-Chief Sir William Howe, from March 9, 1776, to May 1, 1778. Entries record the progress of the British Army under Howe from their embarkation at Portsmouth, England, through New York and New Jersey, to the end of their occupation of Philadelphia. Included are general orders from a moving headquarters, standing orders, brigade orders, regimental orders, morning orders, after orders, and memoranda. The orders contain reports on the following: troop movements and the activities of specific units; the planning and execution of attacks, including troop formations and details on command decisions; courts martial deserters and rebel prisoners; surgeons, hospitals, and accounting for the sick and wounded; instructions for working parties and recruiting troops; and promotions. Also present are detail lists with counts of troops and officers and information on food, water, liquor, arms, bedding, and other provisions. The memoranda are typically records of lost or stolen goods. Though the anonymous clerk recorded entries daily, no orders were kept from April 28 to August 2, 1776.

The volume has three sections of orders. The first section contains embarkation orders from the Earl of Loudoun and other commanders, given before the army left England. The battalion boarded the Royal George transport in April 1776, and arrived at Staten Island almost 4 months later in August 1776.

The second section consists of orders from various headquarters in Boston (January 27-February 12, 1776), Halifax (April 26, 1776), and finally, from on board the HMS Greyhound at Sandy Hook, New Jersey (June 29, 1776).

The third section, which comprises the bulk of the volume, documents the activities of Howe's army in America, including their landing on Staten Island, preparations at New Utrecht for the advance on New York, occupation of Manhattan, battles in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and the taking of Philadelphia. Of note is a copy of a November 3, 1777, letter from Burgoyne to Howe relating his account of the Battle of Saratoga and his surrender to General Gates, with a detail of each article of the terms of surrender (dated October 20, 1777). The volume ends on May 1, 1778, when Howe was still headquartered at Philadelphia. See additional descriptive data for a list of headquarters throughout the volume.

The back of the volume contains returns of a detachment from the brigade of foot guards commanded by Brigadier General Edward Mathew (March 22-August 13, 1776), a list of casualties from the summer of 1776, and 44 memoranda of general orders issued while the British were in Philadelphia (December 31, 1777-April 6, 1778).

This collection is comprised of seventy muster rolls and 15 additional letters and documents of the German regiments employed by the British to fight in the American Revolutionary War.

This collection is comprised of seventy muster rolls and 15 related letters and documents of the German regiments employed by the British to fight in the American Revolutionary War. Most of the rolls are from 1781 and 1783 and include lists for soldiers captured at Yorktown. The rolls contain details such as the rank and names of the Hessians, casualties, and remarks, such as "sick in the Barracks." These rolls are certified by British commanding officers.

• Anhalt Zerbst army under Riedesel, Regiment Prinz Friedrich, Grenadier Battalion von Mengen, Regiment von Riedesel, Regiment von Specht.
• Hesse-Cassel. Grenadier Battalion vacant Graff; Grenadier Battalion von Loewenstein,Company von Biesenrodt, Company von Mondorff, Company von Wachs; Grenadier Regiment d'Angelelli, Leib Conmpany; Regiment von Bunau, Leib Company; Regiment Erb Prinz (4 folls for this list names of Hessians captured at Yorktown), Company von Cochenhausen, Company von Fuchs; Regiment von Lossberg, Jr., Company von Baurmeister, Company von Biesenrodt, Company von Romrod, Company von Wilmowsky, Leib Company.
• Hesse-Hanau. Artillery detachment under Pausch.
• Waldeck. Third Regiment, Company von Alberti, Company von Horn, Company von Penzel.

In addition to muster rolls is a copy of the treaty executed in 1776 between the Duke of Brunswick and George III for hiring German mercenaries. Also enclosed is a barrack account for the first regiment of Anspach troops during the winter of 1777-1778; several receipts, including three accounts submitted to the Great Britain Army Victualing Office (1786); an account of payments to foreign troops in America; and a statement from a surgeon named Pralle of the Bath infantry, certifying that several men belonged to Major General de Rhetz' regiment (1781). Documents are in English and German.