3 cubic ft. (in 2 boxes, 12 Oversized volumes)
The collection includes township and school district records organized by size, then alphabetically and chronologically.
.5 cubic foot (in 1 box)
The Chaney Family Papers include correspondence, notebooks, legal documents, essays, and photos, which are arranged alphabetically by topic. The correspondence spans almost 120 years and consists of correspondence between family and friends. A letter from L. W. Caryl to Henry Chaney, dated 29 July 1832, describes a method for early diagnosis and cure of cholera. Between May 1837 and January 1838, Isabella Caryl (then living in New York) received letters from several of her former school mates (who called themselves “The Hill Girls”) who had moved to Detroit. Among the notebooks is one of Willard Chaney’s medical notebooks. Of the seventeen photos in the collection, only one, Marjorie Chaney Bow (Henry’s granddaughter), is identified.
3.5 cubic feet (in 7 boxes, 1 Oversized folder)
This Musical Collection, 1901-1927, undated, 3.5 cubic ft. (in 7 boxes, 1 Ov. folder), consists mostly of published, copyrighted dance band music. This collection documents Michigan music publishing companies and distribution companies used by dance bands prior to 1930, and, to a lesser extent, some individual Michigan publishers and/or composers, including Susie Adams, Joseph H. Hughes, and R. Harry Richardson. The smaller publishers may have been Michigan town newspaper publishers. There are also some examples of tunes with Michigan or a Michigan town in the title. Overall the music is in good condition, but some of it is becoming acidic. There are some songs which are incomplete, missing, for example, a trumpet or viola part. All of the music is letter-size except for the one folder of oversized music.
Most of the music was published by the Detroit branch of New York publisher Jerome H. Remick. Other publishers include: Jos. H. Hughes, Saginaw, and Michigan Music P.C. [Publishing Company], Saginaw. [Joseph H. Hughes is listed in OCLC as a composer who worked with arranger R. Harry Richardson. They composed a patriotic song, “I love my home land,” which was published in Saginaw in 1917.]
The collection is organized as follows: Basic dance band music from these three publishers, organized alphabetically by title (Boxes 1-5); 2-sided, dance band music with one song printed on the front side, and a second song printed on the back side of the same piece of music, organized alphabetically by title (Boxes 6-7). The last two folders in Box 7 include Advertising Materials from the Jerome H. Remick Company, Detroit, 1913-1917, undated; and manuscript music for the tune “She Rests…,” composed by Susie Adams, stamped R. Harry Richardson Co., W. Bay City, 1901. Oversized materials (in 1 Oversized folder) include five songs, three published in Saginaw, two by Jos. H. Hughes and one by Williams Song P.C. The last two songs include one published by the Grinnell Bros., Detroit, 1908, and the song “Ypsilanti,” published by a Chicago firm, undated. For each piece of music the folder label includes: title, composer, publisher name and location, and date. All boxes are letter-size .5 cubic foot, except Box 5 which is letter-size .25 cubic foot.
Processing Notes: During processing approximately 5 cubic feet of materials were withdrawn from the collection and returned to the donor, as per the donor agreement. This material included duplicates, concertina music, published music journals and catalogs, and miscellaneous, peripheral items. A few Michigan business fliers or brochures were added to the Michigan vertical files.
15 cubic ft. (in 11 boxes, 43 Oversized volumes)
The business records document Ruggles’ vast business interests including: lumber, gas, oil, railroads, and real estate. Most of the records are some form of accounts, payment information, leases, or legal contracts. Also included are numerous published court cases or trial testimonies of his lengthy legal case against Buckley and Douglas Lumber Company and other legal concerns. The collection provides a solid look at his complex business dealings and the shrewdness with which he amassed his wealth and made numerous enemies. The only personal information is some family photographs and his will.
2 cubic ft. (in 5 boxes, 1 Oversized folder)
The collection consists mostly of Dr. Marvin and Louis Marvin’s papers, with a few items of other family members. They offer a view of family life and work in Ithaca.
The papers consist of Dr. Marvin’s Civil War papers (mostly forms for supplies, ordnance, muster roll, and his muster-out certificate from 1864-1865; Family Biographical Materials, 1850, 1869-1902; Family Correspondence, 1850, from Rough and Ready, California, describing gold mining conditions, 1890-1900, and undated; Family Legal Papers (mostly land records), 1850-1899; Burr Marvin’s poetry booklet, undated; and diplomas of Burr, Ella, and Dr. Marvin, and a chemistry certificate of Burr’s, 1851, 1887-1908. A few published items complete the papers. One is about Northern Michigan Medical Association prices and resolutions (1864) and the other is about Ithaca’s Common Council (1881).
The volumes include Dr. Marvin’s account books (general), 1853-1869; and (doctor’s), 1884; and diaries, 1868-1901 (4 volumes). Louis Marvin’s account books, 1902-1904 and 1944-1946; diaries, 1875-1944 (76 volumes), a Blacksmith’s account book, 1852-1856; and the account books of Marvin Bros., 1863-1948 (5 volumes) complete the volumes.
Of particular interest here are the doctor’s account book giving dates, names, and health problems of patients, and fees. Dr. Marvin’s diaries have scattered entries noting some church and school activities and patients’ cases. In August 1885, he traveled to the Dakota Territory and Nebraska, writing detailed entries in his diary.
Louis’ diaries detail his various interests and pursuits including school, his experiences teaching in Frankenmuth (January-March 1882), and Ithaca; work in Texas (1883) and later as a printer in Ithaca; Dr. Marvin’s death (1902); service in county offices (1903); and service as a delegate to the Republican County Convention. His diaries, 1902-1944, mostly note farm work and events in Ithaca, his work to erect the H. R. Pattengill Monument on the lawn of the Ithaca City Hall (1924); and his organization of the H. R. Pattengill Reunions, 1888-1938.
4 cubic feet (in 4 boxes)
This is one of the finest collections in the U. S. of Strangite Mormon material in the world housed in a public institution. A large number of publications from Strang’s Beaver Island printing press are included. More significant is an excellent collection of letters and diaries of his Strangite followers. Also, there is a strong photographic collection of Strangites.
Topics covered include Strangite Mormonism, the Beaver Island colony, various Mormon controversies, the question of succession, etc. The papers of James J. Strang, the Strang Family, and Strangite followers (disciples): Mark A. Strang, Lorenzo Dow Hickey, Warren Post, Wingfield Watson, Lloyd A. Flanders, Stanley L. Johnson, and Alexandre Roger Caffiaux complete the collection.
U.S. District Court vs. James J. Strang, cases 9-22 records, 1851, are microfilmed and in the Mark Strang papers in Box 4. Additional related letters are in the James J. Strang papers in Box 1.
Some materials are microfilmed while many materials are photocopied from other institutions. Additionally, small additions to the collection may be found in the Strangite Miscellaneous Collection, Lorenzo Dow Hickey, and Watson Wingfield collections.
The collection is also described on the Clarke’s webpage.
.5 cubic foot (in 1 box)
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.
1 cubic foot (in 1 box)
The papers mostly document a wide variety of Michigan topics in which Professor Larzelere was interested or taught, and they document the life of a CMU professor.
1.25 cubic feet (in 3 boxes)
The collection includes all the correspondence, notes, testimony, resolutions, subpoenas, newspaper articles, press releases, hearing schedules, and other subject files collected by the Senate Committee during its investigation of CMU. Most of the correspondence, subject files, and testimony dates to 1965, although some of the affected professors and deans’ folders include materials dating back as far as 1949. Undated materials are circa 1965.
1 cubic foot (in 2 boxes)
This is a wonderful collection documenting the state-side World War II experience of the average homesick Michigander, pressed into duty for his country and wanting desperately to get home as soon as possible to his wife and new baby. It is also a unique collection documenting the prisoners of war, mainly German, who were processed in/out and worked in North Carolina, their treatment, work projects, and care.
The collection includes 173 letters that Lillian received from her husband, Lloyd Thompson. 165 were written between February and December 1945, and eight were written in 1946. Lloyd wrote them from North Carolina, where he was stationed either at the Prisoner of War Camp of Fort Butner or Hendersonville. Lloyd always wrote of missing her, wishing to be discharged, of his friends and officers in the army, of working on and driving various vehicles, of their baby, of life in the barracks, of prostitutes and drinking in town and at parties, of the arrest of prostitutes and GIs caught with them in Durham, and of the point system by which U.S. soldiers were dismissed from duty. Mostly, Lloyd wrote of the prisoners of war (POWs), who were all Germans until November 23, 1945 when French, Czech, Polish and Dutch prisoners were added to the camps. He noted the weekly American movies they watched, the crops they harvested, POW escapes, a tunnel and bomb they created, searching them, transporting them, what they ate, changes in their status and privileges after VE Day, how his truck drivers occasionally hit POWs, and how local farmers and pulp wood manufacturers fought Washington, D.C. to extend the time they could employ POWs. (The deadline originally was January 1, 1947, but this was extended through the end of March.) Lloyd was assigned to clean out side POW camps and eventually Camp Butner. His dismissal was delayed until the camp was nearly emptied, at which point he collected supplies for his wife and himself (new shoes, wool trousers, a jacket, soap, and towels) and shipped them home. He also noted others, particularly civilians, who were caught sneaking into POW areas and, later, civilians who stole camp supplies.
Also included in the collection are letters Lillian received from female relatives and friends, including two from her mother-in-law, Mrs. M. Thompson, in 1944 and 1945; one from a friend Corporal Abbigail Balgooyen [spelled with two b’s]; two from her sister, Ella Jannetta, in Durham, North Carolina, in 1945; two from Thompson relatives, Mary Ellen, and Bob, Helen and Kids; and a congratulatory baby card form two friends, all dated 1945. Most of the letters are pretty general in nature and brief, inquiring about Lillian and the baby, Lloyd being gone, and noting the health and activities of mutual friends and family members. Of special note is the letter from Lillian’s friend, Cpl. Abbigail Balgooyen, dated June 20, 9144. Abbigail was a member of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (a WAAC) stationed “Somewhere in England”. Her letter vividly describes the extremely uncomfortable living conditions in her “camp,” which included straw mattresses (bolsters), “cell” like rooms, and having no pillows. She had had measles, which delayed her being sent to England. A U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Record of Lloyd W. Thompson (copy) is included.
The letters are all handwritten, mostly in ink, a few in pencil, on various types and sizes of paper. A few of the letters are acidic and yellowed. Two photographs are included, one of an old man and two young boys ( with letter of March 27, 1945) and one of Lloyd, who has his back towards the camera (with letter of June 8, 1945). Information about POW camps in the U.S. and Fort Butner is included (copies, 2006), as well as a rough inventory of the letters.