Collections

Collection of the history of the department and jail, and related clippings (copies), mainly compiled in 2001.

This collection consists of a typed history of the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department and Jail, gleaned from meeting minutes, records, and the remaining folders, which consists mainly of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, newspaper clippings (copies), 1960-2011, mainly compiled by Banta in 2001.

The papers include documents and transcriptions of papers of and about Frederic Baraga and an engraving.

The collection consists of copies of transcribed documents assembled from originals or photocopies in the U. S., Canada, and Europe by the Historical Commission of the Bishop Baraga Association. The goal of the Association is to the promoted the Cause for Beatification of Bishop Baraga.

An extensive list of the documents includes, for each item: date, name and location of author, and recipient and institution where the document is housed. This list was compiled by the Association in 1954 and is found after the finding aid. Transcripts are filed within the boxes in chronological order.

Most of the documents are letters from Baraga to other clergy about his mission work and aspects of Catholicism. Some letters are to his siblings. Material after his death includes a eulogy and letters from clergy about Baraga.

Collection of research materials on Michigan topics, mostly photocopies, notes, drafts of articles, and correspondence.

The collection consists mostly of photocopies of newspaper articles, magazine articles, information from websites, the Congressional Record, and chapters from reference and other books, on topics of interest to Barnett. Also included are his correspondence and email to various institutions and people asking for information and material, his notes, and typed articles he wrote on various topics. Topics documented in depth include: Ash, Center Line, John Farmer, Upper Peninsula railroads, Magnet Truck, Michigan railroads, the Mackinac Bridge, music and singers who sang songs about Michigan and or cars, the longstanding oleo versus margarine debates and laws, Michigan Central Railroad Co. Head Lights (a publication), Michigan jazz, traffic lights, with biographical materials on W.L. Potts, and Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad Co. maps (oversized transparencies). The materials (photocopies)on Headlights or Headlight Flashes includes: an advertising publication of the Company, which describes the comfort of traveling via the Company's trains and provides city histories with biographies of important families and individuals, as well as photographs of those people, expensive homes, businesses, public buildings, and pastoral scenes. Towns described include: Michigan City (Ind.), 1894; and the Mich. cities of: Albion, 1895; Pontiac, 1897; Benton Harbor and Flint, 1896; and Saint Joseph, 1898. Also included are microfilmed newspaper articles (photocopies), in which the Headlights of various cities were advertised, 1895-1896 and 1941, and 1997-2000 typed transcripts of other similar newspaper advertisements, 1895-1898. Additional subjects include: Agricultural Demonstration Trains of Michigan State University, 1906-1937; buying Michigan, 1795-1796; counties, name changes/considered creation of new counties; the history of county names; dandelions [as an emergency source of post-World War II rubber]; highway lighthouses [precursors to traffic lights]; lynchings; prisoners building Michigan roads during the 1920s; reflectors (roadside); roadside parks [Michigan had the first]; stagecoaches; broadcasting; homestead lands; Hollywood; the Port Huron and Milwaukee Railroad; Sabbath blue laws; Ludington (Mich.); swamp lands; centroids; Iron Range and Huron Bay Rialroad; ferries; population centers; Oldsmar, Florida; David Ward, Deward (Mich.); the Detroit and Charlevoix Railroad Company; Cigar Industry in Detroit, including strikes, unions, and women employees; Cigar Store Indians; crops of Flax and Gingseng and flax industries in Michigan prisons; Michigan Indians mentioned in county histories; Michigan Road Construction Train; Michigan World War I fruit and olive pit gathering campaign to create gas masks; Ragweed and hay fever and the Northern Hay Fever Resort Association, Topinabee, and the Western Hay Fever Association of the U.S., headquartered in Petoskey; General Philip H. Sheridan 's warhorse Rienzi; St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Company and its subsidiary units, the Canal Mineral Land Company and the Michigan Pine Land Association; and Windmills in Detroit. Also included is a draft of a book by Graydon M. Meints on lumber baron David Ward that Barnett reviewed. The major topics found in 2021 Addition, Boxes 63-75, include: American Tract Society, Bloomers, Colporteur, Graphite Mining in Michigan, Medical Quacks, Michigan Iron and Land Company, Samuel Geil Maps of Michigan, and Whipping (Military corporal punishment). The 2022 Addition, Boxes 76-79, includes the major topics of Vigilance Committees against German Americans during World War I and Ski Trains. Other topics include: Buffalo Bill Train Accident, Carbon Works in Detroit, Detroit’s Streetlight Towers, Grand Duke Alexis A Romanov Visits Detroit, ‘Hello Girls’ [U.S. Army Signal Corps, World War I], Lindbergh in Michigan, Michigan World War II Veterans Bonus, Wetzel (Antrim County, MI, village), Bomb Mackinaw (which were 1925 practice maneuver plans to prevent enemies from crossing into the straits by dropping bombs from airplanes), and Crawfish. The collection is ongoing.

Processing Note: Abbreviations used by Barnett on folder labels were used and copied by Clarke processors exactly. Acidic materials were copied in 2014.

The Stephen L Barstow collection consists of various architectural records dating between 1953 and 1988, mostly undated, drawn or collected by Barstow.

The Stephen L Barstow collection consists of various architectural records dating between 1953 and 1988, mostly undated. The records are organized by topic. There may be drafts and copies, as well as some original blueprints for each building, but the collection does not include an entire set of complete blueprints for any building. Drawings include proposed developments, sketches, site plans, mechanical and other details, floor plans, survey maps, site profiles and plans, preliminary views, alternate plans, design development plans, elevations, master development plans, foundation plans, among others. There are various types of pencil notations on blueline and trace paper drawings. Items within each folder are numbered in pencil in the lower right corner to assist patrons in retrieving specific items.

The collection includes architectural drawings of various houses and churches of Midland, Michigan, including the Church of the Nazarene, and other nearby buildings including West Midland Community Center, Northwood Institute, Crown Petroleum, Inc. gas station on US-23, the Midland County Santa Claus Workshop [house], West Midland County Parks Site Plan, Midland Hospital’s chronic care room. Blueprints for Interlochen Music Camp, Kent Intermediate Schools, Bay Refining Company Station, Central Pumping Station, DePauw University Performing Arts Center, Kalamazoo Nature Center, the Leonard Refineries, Inc. service station and sign, Stadium Boulevard Site Plan, Theater for Wayne State University, Young Subdivision curb grades, Roscommon Congregational Church, Temple Beth-El in Spring Valley, New York, lamps and decks are also included.

Note: Some records are brittle due to high acidity and there is also an issue of fading.

Copyright Note: Many of the drawings in the collection are copyrighted by Alden B. Dow. It is unclear how or why Barstow collected them. “Copyright of all Aden B. Dow materials is held by the Alden B. and Vada B. Dow Creativity Foundation. Patrons wishing to reproduce the material for purposes other than scholarship purposes must contact the Foundation.” Drawings in the collection which are not under Dow copyright are so indicated in the folder listing.

The collection documents Dr. Baugh’s time as a professor at CMU, the Affirmative Action Council, materials from Ken Hechler, Secretary of State, after his (and former Republican Congressman George Wortley’s) visit to CMU through the Congress to Campus program, Eyes on the Prize course materials, Task Force folder includes some extremely hateful and inappropriate terminology in letters and songs that students and faculty received at CMU which demonstrate the racism/prejudices theyfaced in the early 1990s.

The collection, 1984-2017 (scattered), and undated, . 5 cubic feet in 1 box, 1 Ov. Folder) consists of materials documenting biographical information about Dr. Baugh’s time as a professor at CMU, email correspondence regarding the materials she donated, meetings minutes and information pertaining to the Affirmative Action Council, and a newspaper clipping and associated letters and songs from Ken Hechler, Secretary of State, after his (and former Republican Congressman George Wortley’s) visit to CMU through the Congress to Campus program. The collection also includes early notes and a class syllabus for the Eyes on the Prize course, and meeting minutes, meetings notes, and three days of transcripts from the public hearings held on campus and the report done after they were concluded. The Task Force folder includes some extremely hateful and inappropriate terminology in letters and songs that students and faculty received at CMU which demonstrate the racism/prejudices they were facing even in the early 1990s.

The collection documents the activities and history of the Bay View Association of the Methodist Church in Bay View, Michigan.

The collection consists of published materials of the Association, including Catalogue/Bulletins, 1892-1985; various programs; by-laws; periodicals; and brochures. The collection documents the goals, history, and activities of the Association.

This collection consists of personal information and correspondence of Daisy Bazzett, 1933-1936, 1937, 1938, and undated.

This collection consists of personal information and correspondence of Daisy Bazzett, 1933-1936, 1937, 1938, and undated, 1.75 Cubic Feet (in 4 boxes). The collection is organized by date and each folder alphabetically.

Bazzett, Correspondence: The majority of the collection consists of letters sent from Daisy to Ellis Bazzett while she attended CSTC 1932-1936. Her letters begin in the fall of 1933, and detail her daily life at CSTC in the 1930s. Materials include: letters, postcards, and newspaper clippings. Topics covered include information about life at CSTC, such as the dorms, classes, and social life. Daisy made frequent mention of dances and social events organized by the literary societies which she invited Ellis to, and to different things that she and her roommate Helen did, such as buying a radio, or typing up papers for girls in the dorm on a typewriter. These letters also document the growing seriousness of the relationship between Daisy and Ellis, even discussion of marriage as she approached graduation. Daisy was a very engaging writer and her humor really shines through in her letters to Ellis. Some collection highlights include a letter dated January 10th, 1935, which has an illustration with the inscription “dropping you a line.” Letters such as one dated May 21st, 1935 describe the more difficult aspects of being active on campus, as Daisy writes “Its hell being President of a club of catty women.” Later letters reveal more about Daisy’s relationship with Ellis. On October 1st, 1935 she sent Ellis a letter where she had copied Elizabeth Barret Browning’s Sonnet 43 from 1850, which begins “How do I love thee…” In March of 1936, Daisy sent Ellis a kiss through the mail, her red lipstick staining the letter. Also significant is information relating to graduation, including an invitation to graduation activities that lasted from June 5th through the 22nd.

Miscellaneous Materials: This portion of the collection mostly includes correspondence received by Daisy or Ellis, sent by Ellis, photographs, or auxiliary collections material. Materials include: biographical material from Daisy titled “Notes from my Nineties,” a series of photographs, correspondence to Ellis, as well as Miscellaneous letters and notes to Ellis. Completing the collection are notes on the correspondence from Timothy Bazzett, Daisy and Ellis’ son. Topics mentioned include: Daisy’s life on the Whalen farm in Oakley, her life at Central, and anecdotes about her life with Ellis; Ellis’ work correspondence, and letters that he and others wrote to Daisy. The photographs include a photograph of Ellis, photographs of Daisy and Helen with other friends on campus, and photographs from the wedding of Daisy’s brother, Clarence, in which Daisy and Ellis also appear “Notes from My Nineties” by Daisy Bazzett was copyrighted in 2008 by Rathole Books.

Processing Note: During processing .25 cubic feet of peripheral materials and envelopes were removed from the collection. Acidic materials were photocopied and the originals were withdrawn from the collection.

Family correspondence mainly between Beach, his sister, brother, other relatives, friends, his parents and their siblings, friends, and relatives.

The collection mainly consists of family correspondence to Marvin from Gertie, mostly Frank, other relatives and friends. There is also earlier correspondence between Emma and Porter, their siblings, friends and other relatives. An unidentified tintype of a man is in the Biographical materials folder.

Family papers include correspondence, account books, autograph albums, records of Dean Creek Threshing Company, state tax land deeds, and miscellaneous.

The collection includes the correspondence between Clarence and Lucy before they married, 1890-1896, and later correspondence with friends and relatives. Also included are Autograph Albums, Clarence’s Account Books, and records of the Dean Creek Threshing Company. The deeds in the collection do not name a Beardslee as a seller or owner. Miscellaneous materials include a program for a Detroit Provisional Imperial Klanvocational, June 30-July 9, 1923, with handwritten notes on speakers and officers, and the words to a Klan song based on the melody of “Michigan, My Michigan,” on the inside back cover.

Family Correspondence of Nelson Bebee

Most of the letters between John and Nelson and their sisters and friends concern their health, the weather, and news of family and friends both at home and in the service. John also wrote about picket duty (December 31, 1861); “killing niggers” (January 14, 1862); visiting girls (January 17, 1862, January 25, 1862); Jefferson Davis (February 17, 1862); George B. McClellan (April 23, 1862); and the Mechanicsville Battle (June 27, 1862).

Nelson wrote briefly and mostly that he was often ill and had the mumps and about Rebels fighting (both on April 16, 1863); the draft and the dead on battlefields (November 3, 1863, October 2, 1864); about Rebel POWs, some of whom joined the US Navy (“Navie”) (October 31, 1862, November 18, 1862, June 12, 1864, June 22, 1864, December 9, 1864); Copperheads and the 1864 convention (September 4, 1864, November 9, 1865). Letters about John’s death can be found from July 4 and 19, 1865.

There are also letters about Grant and Lee and fighting in Virginia, from Harrison to Nelson (1864?); about General Hooker, from Ferdon to Maggie (March 8, 1863); and about taking goods from Southern plantations (October 31, 1862).

John and Nelson both had bad penmanship and spelling skills. Several of the letters are badly faded and one is stained. One letter is only a fragment.