Collections

Papers of the Wells family of New York (State) and Saginaw, Michigan, include business records, correspondence, diaries, genealogy notes, photographs, oversized materials, and Eclipse Motor Car Company vouchers.

The Wells Business Records, almost all legal-size (2 cubic feet in 5 boxes), is divided into Eclipse Motor Car Company Vouchers, 1906-1911 (3 boxes), and Traverse City Iron Works Estimates, 1931-1942, except for 1940. Eclipse Motor Car Company was an automobile company based in Saginaw and operated by the Smith family that was later purchased by General Motors Company. It ordered iron supplies from Traverse City. Also included is one folder of letter-size business correspondence requesting catalogs and information on machinery of the Brady Cooperage Machinery Company, which was located in Manistee and Traverse City, Michigan, 1911-1916. This was apparently a company that supplied machinery to make barrels. Apparently, Brady Cooperage Machinery Company made round wooden tire spokes for the Eclipse Motor Car Company.

The Wells Family Correspondence, 1823-1947 (Scattered), and undated (5 cubic feet in 10 boxes), is composed almost entirely of letter-size correspondence between Wells family members and their extended relatives, Cochranes, Smiths, Wadhams, and Wells, and their friends and some business associates. Correspondence is filed alphabetically by surname, then first name of the writer of the letters, and chronologically within each folder. Additional miscellaneous items that do not fit elsewhere in the collection, such as locks of hair, report cards, etc. are also filed with correspondence. It is clear that for the most part the families through the generations cared about each other. Most of the letters concern family news of birth, deaths, marriages, news of illness and social events. Letters that may of particular interest to researchers include: A letter to Mrs. Wallis Craig Smith (nee Jean Wadhams Wells, daughter of C. W. Wells) from Mrs. Jefferson Davis, 1905, with an undated clipping of Jefferson Davis’ signature; Civil War correspondence of C. W. Wells to his parents, siblings, and friends, 1861-1865, particularly a letter discussing a battle with Confederate General James Longstreet’s troops, April 23, 1863; Correspondence from California discussing earthquakes, business, and gold mining, from Chester (Chet) Wells to his parents and siblings, 1853-1886; To Wells, Ermina, from William and Col. Luman Wadhams (cousin) and L. Wadhams (nephew), mostly in San Francisco, 1850-1882 (scattered). The Wadhams operated a general store in San Francisco; Correspondence from Wells, Jane A., to Benjamin and Charlie (sons) and Charlie’s wife, Mollie, June 3 and 14, 1876 re: death of their daughter Mattie of Scarlet; a letter from Mollie Wells to Mr. Paxson regarding Women’s Temperance, November 11, 1870; a letter from C. W. Wells to daughter, Jean W. Wells, October 10, 1893 while at the World’s Fair in Chicago; and Correspondence from Cochrane, John to Jane Cochrane (mother), James C. (brother), and sister, 1848-1862 (This includes an 1849 letter from Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1850 from San Francisco, and an 1851 letter from Panama.)

Diaries, (.5 cubic foot in 1 box), include those of Mrs. E. J. (Mrs. W. V.) McLean, 1854, 1871 (2 v.) and 1867 (1 v.); her husband, W. V. McLean, W.V., 1855, 1863, 1865, 1869, 1875 (5 v.); possibly Mrs. Henry Prindle?, 1886 (1 v.), and G. W. Smith, 1883 (1 v.). There are also six unidentified diaries, 1862, 1865-1866, 1872, 1884, and 1891. The link between G. W. Smith and Mrs. Henry Prindle and the Wells is undetermined.

Genealogy Notes, 1894-1945 (Scattered), and undated, (1 cubic foot in 2 boxes), are grouped roughly by surname of family members. These notes were definitely generated and gathered by Jean Craig Smith and include a number of her correspondence regarding her ancestry and for admittance into the DAR.

Photographs, 1860s-1915, and undated (1 cubic foot in 2 boxes), consists of various sizes and types of photographic materials, including cabinet cards, albumen image in a case, cartes-de-visites, stereoscopic views, and a variety of other 19th and early 20th century family photographs. Many of the images are partially identified if not both identified and partially dated. Photographs are grouped by type, size, and family groups. Of particular interest to researchers will be the Civil War Cabinet Card Portraits, includes C.W. Wells and Maj. Gen. Joe Hooker (39 total) and Stereoscopic Views, two of the Civil War, and one of C.W. Wells’ House.

Oversized Materials include Legal Documents, 1872-1901 (Scattered) mainly related to the Last Will and Testament of C.W. Wells, deeds, and guardianship legal documents (.5 cubic foot in 2 boxes), Oversized Photographs,1910-1916, and undated (.25 cubic foot in 1 box), and Oversized Miscellaneous including notes, obituaries, undated (.25 cubic foot in 1 box).

Oversized Folders include: blueprints, drawings, and proposals related to the Battle Creek Pump Station 8, 1941; Battle Creek Sewage Plant, 1938, the Midland Chemical Warfare Plant, 1942, and the Traverse City Pump/Lift Station, 1941, and an undated partial map of Essex County, New York State, showing the AuSable River, home of the Benjamin Wells family. The map was probably cut out of a magazine.

Lastly, Oversized Volumes, are the account ledgers of Jean Wells Smith, 1893-1901, and 1898-1906.

Wesley Foundation (Central Michigan University) includes plans, reports, board meetings, newsletters, applications, photographs, slides, an object, and a CD.

The Organizational Records, 1939-2016, and undated contain the Wesley Foundation (Central Michigan University) (WFCMU)’s plans, reports, board meetings, newsletters, applications, photographs, slides, an object, and a CD. The collection is organized alphabetically. The majority of the collection contains WFCMU minutes, annual reports, and many photographs of different events related to the WFCMU activities including, parties, gatherings, trips, and others. The slide box contains slides of the Wesley Foundation activities including, notably, a mission trip to Jamaica and a metal trading stamp saver with stamp books used in a campaign to purchase a bus to transport students. The oversized folders include a scrapbook, 1948-1950, and loose pages of a scrapbook missing its covers, with photographs of early WFCMU people, places, and events with a description written about each black and white photograph. The Homosexuality folder contains letters of appreciation and welcome flyers that invite all people of various orientation. The CD documents one of the leading pastors, the Rev. Thomas Robert Jones, with a slide show of Jones, the church members and a trip they took to New York City. Another pastor documented in the collection is the Rev. Steven Michael Smith, who was the lead pastor, 1996-2000. The collection also includes newsletters and newsletters about Native American tribes, like the Anishinaabe and the Saginaw Chippewas in the Mount Pleasant area, published by the WFCMU.

Researchers may also be interested in the Above Ground newsletter of the WFCMU and Rev. Thomas R. Jones' collection, which are separately cataloged and housed in the Clarke.

Collection includes various sizes and types of photographic materials of the William H. White family,William H. White and Company, a lumbering and shipping business, and the city and people of Boyne City, Michigan.

The collection biographical materials, accounts, correspondence, deeds and legal papers, tax receipts, wills, and photographic materials.

The collection includes family papers for several generations of Knaggs. Among them are a petition by George Knaggs for reimbursement of property damaged in the War of 1812; a silhouette of Whitmore Knaggs; tax receipts for land in Detroit, Mich., Lucas and Henry Counties, Ohio and Eldora, Kansas; an 1866 Toledo, Ohio census; and essay on epidemics in Toledo, undated (ca. late 18th century?); and a telegram from the mayor of Chicago, R. B. Mason about the distress caused by the Great Fire of 1871.

The collection consists of the diaries of William A. Craker, 1919-1951, son of missionaries to the Chippewa Indians, and later a farmer and Superintendent of the Leelanau County farm and home, later known as the Infirmary.

The collection consists almost entirely of his diaries, 1919-1951, giving daily accounts of his activities, church attendance, work, and family. The entries are brief to moderate in length and detail. Also included is biographical information on Craker and a diary of Carrie Craker, 1920.

Photographs of students in Chaffee's Central Michigan University physics classes.

The collection consists of 8x10 and 12x15 inch black and white photographs of the students in Chaffee’s various physics classes, 1977-1989. Most of the photographs have paper attached to them with an outline of each student in the photograph, as well as their name. Apparently, Prof. Chaffee used the photographs to help him identify the students during class time. An occasional syllabus, test, or experiment project outlines are included with the photographs. Chaffee’s obituary, January, 22, 1991, (a copy) is also included. The photographs are organized chronologically by school terms and then by class number.

Processing Note: Duplicate photographs, negatives, and class lists or test answers with students’ names and social security numbers were removed from the collection.

The collection contains biographical materials, reports, Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs materials, Michigan Governor's Special Task Force on Indian Fishing Rights reports, Michigan Interim Action Committee on Indian Problems, newspaper clippings, photographs, and copy of the Corporate Charter of the Wisconsin.

The collection documents Native American issues, legislation, and governmental organizations concerned about the issues, in Mich. and the U.S. Most of the collection documents the Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs, 1969-1972, undated, in reports, by-laws, correspondence, memos, project files, meeting minutes and agendas, proposals and surveys, etc. Other Michigan organizations in the collection include the Michigan Governor’s Special Task Force on Indian Fishing Rights, Michigan Interim Action Committee on Indian Problems, and the Inter-Tribal Councils of Michigan. Additional subject folders document U.S. or Michigan Native Americans, their issue, or other non-Michigan governmental units concerned with Native American issues, such as treaties and legislation. Miscellaneous materials on the Butt family complete the collection.

Processing Note: Photographs of Upper Peninsula Native Americans in this collection were added to the Clarke Photograph collection

The collection contains biographical materials, deeds, bonds, assignments, land books, and mortgages.

The collection consists mostly of William Hinman’s legal, financial, and tax records (receipts) relating to his real estate business, 1844-1909. Most of these records are for land in Ingham County, although a few are for land in Livingston or Wayne counties, Michigan. Some of the land and legal records relate to family property, such as his father-in-law’s estate papers, 1857. Some records document land owned by his wife and daughters. A few records of William C. Hinman, related to property and delinquent taxes, 1844, 1902, complete the collection.

The collection is divided into the papers of William Hinman and then William C. Hinman.

Papers include biographical materials, correspondence, military correspondence, and miscellaneous.

The collection includes Biographical Materials, Certificates re: his Postmaster position; Correspondence, 1899-1935, mostly about postal service and politics; State Liquor Control Commission correspondence and related materials, 1933-1934; Military Correspondence, 1915-1916, about his conflicts with work versus military duties; and Miscellaneous, including his typed diaries of a 1914 trip on the (yacht) Virginia.

Papers include copies and transcriptions of correspondence, articles, and biographical materials. Note: A users copy is available for researchers to use.

The collection consists of photocopies and transcriptions of correspondence to and from Watson, copies of articles he wrote and published, copies of Strangite Mormon articles he reprinted, and copies of his biographical information.

Some correspondence is with family and friends, including his daughter, Grace, and his grandchildren. Other correspondence is with two of Strang’s widows, Betsy (Elizabeth) and Elvira and three of Strang’s sons, Charles J., Gabriel, and Clement J. Strang. There is also correspondence with major Strangite Mormons, such as Lorenzo Dow (L. D.) Hickey, publisher Edward Couch, and Joseph Smith III, leader of the Reorganized Church. The correspondence mainly discusses Strangite beliefs, activities, and history.

For further information see related collections such as Lorenzo D. Hickey Papers, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Strangite) Collection and Miscellaneous collection, or numerous books on Mormons and Strangites at the Clarke Historical Library.

Note: A users copy is available for researchers to use.