Collections

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.

Newton family correspondence, last will and testament of William Newton, miscellaneous, and an essay on New York religious settlements.

The collection consists almost entirely of family correspondence, 1812-1924, and undated. The correspondence discusses news of family and friends, and social conditions in England. Later letters, 1902-1924, are to Fannie Newton from her parents, William and Emily J. Newton of Henrietta (New York), discussing the death of William’s son-in-law, Frank Hinds and other family news. A letter from G. Ambrose, a member of Company B, 85th Indiana Infantry discusses the hardships of being a Civil War Soldier, January 19, 1863. The last Will and Testament of William Newton, February 18, 1924 of Henrietta (N.Y.), miscellaneous, and an undated essay on New York religious settlements complete the collection. The will mentions William’s dead daughter, Martha N. Short, and living relatives, son-in-law, Richard B. Short, son, Harold C. Short, and daughters Carrie D. Hindis, Ella N. Mellers, and Alice N. Dewitt.

The collection includes negatives of various sizes with images of Round Island Light House, Le Cheneaux Hotel, Great Lakes ferries,people, and miscellaneous, on or near Mackinac Island, and, possibly, in Saint Ignace, Michigan.

The collection was originally inventoried as including Saint Ignace and Les Cheneaux Island, Michigan, glass plate negatives, 1870-1880. Actually, most of the images are of Mackinac Island, Great Lakes ferries, and people, some of which may be from Saint Ignace and Les Cheneaux Island. The glass plate negatives measure 5x7 inches, 8x10 inches, 6.5x8.5 inches, and 8.5x10 inches. The photographer or photographers are unidentified. Items were identified as much as possible from labels, slips of papers, notes on original boxes, and on/in the negatives themselves. Negatives with damage, such as fading, spotting, oxidation, cracks, broken or missing pieces, and deteriorated, or flaking emulsions have been noted on the sleeves. The images are duplicated in the Saint Ignace-Mackinac Photograph File in the Clarke Historical Library’s Photograph Vertical Files Collection. Boxes 3-4 are Heavy and should be lifted with care.

The collection includes miscellaneous township records of Nottawa and Vernon townships (Isabella County, Mich.) and Shepherd, Mich.

The collection includes Township records for Nottawa Township, Shepherd Village, and Vernon Township Isabella County, Michigan. The Nottawa Township records are school records and include Annual Reports and Census statistics.The Shepherd Village records include a School District Record Book. The Vernon Township records are very incomplete and there are large gaps in years when it was received by the Clarke. The Board of Review papers include minutes. Board of Township papers include meeting minutes, letter to the Board, Resolutions, and Agreements, etc. The Election papers mainly consist of election returns and other related materials. The Highway Commission papers include petitions to, a resolution with map, map of road districts, contracts, correspondence, order for traffic signs, etc. The Miscellaneous papers include a proof of publication, a voided bond from Vernon Township, original bids to build the township hall (which is still standing and in use in 2012) and work on the hall, etc. Oaths of Office papers include oaths and bonds with oaths attached. The Township Clerk papers include letters to, valuation of lands, financial records, minutes, etc. Schools papers Miscellaneous include maps of school districts, a postcard with names of teachers from Vernon Township 1880, Isabella County Teachers Directory, 1907-1908, etc.

Processing Note: During processing, 5 cubic feet of loose papers and 53 Oversized Volumes were withdrawn from the collection as per Michigan local and township records schedules. Publications from the State of Michigan, donated with the collection, are separately cataloged.

Some treasurer’s and tax records were retained as 20th century examples.

The collection documents several generations of the Parker family of Frankfort, Grand Rapids, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, focusing on N. A. and Dora B. Parker.

The collection documents the Parker family of Frankfort and Grand Rapids, Michigan, particularly captain and lawyer N.A. Parker, and his daughter, Dora B. Parker, later of Los Angeles, California. Most of the collection consists of various types of family photographs in a variety of media, correspondence, legal documents, genealogical materials, publications, verse and poetry, and other materials. Dora’s life and that of women of her period and education are documented by photographs of activities, such as biking and trips, travel journals, and by the Woman’s Lakeside Literary Club (Frankfort, Michigan), Annual Programs, 1896/1897, 1919/1920-1925/1926, of which she was a member. N.A. Parker’s life is documented mostly in photographs, notably in a fine photograph album of the Civil War, mostly of the 20th Michigan Infantry, with carte de visites of officers of the unit, and one composite image of President Lincoln. Many of the photographs are autographed or have annotations on them concerning the officer’s death. N.A. Parker is also documented in post-war GAR reunion materials and in family genealogical materials. Two published books were retained in the collection because of the additional materials and personal dedications in them to Dora. Copies are separately cataloged in the Clarke. Although Mary E. Parker’s obituary notes her early activities as a suffragette, there is no documentation of these activities or interests within the collection.

The papers consists of business, personal, and biographical materials, and Buck's Civil War diaries.

The collection includes biographical, business, and personal materials. His diaries describe his Civil War experiences describe his march from Detroit to the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, camp life, equipment, cavalry pickets, and fighting at Chattanooga and Trenton, Tennessee, among other places. The 1855 diary is of a trip from Illinois to Nevada. Bookkeeping journals, receipts, and indentures relate to the sale of merchandise in Paw Paw. The Ida Oil Well Co. Treasury book is from Kent County, Ontario, Canada.

A photograph of Buck in uniform may be found in the Clarke Photograph file and two shoulder straps of the rank of Captain and one cap badge should be in the Display Items boxes.

The majority of the papers are the correspondence, tax receipts for Michigan and Illinois, deeds, indentures, and mortgages of Clark’s wife, Mary E. Clark.

The majority of the papers are the correspondence, tax receipts for Michigan and Illinois, deeds, indentures, and mortgages of Clark’s wife, Mary E. Clark. There is also a sketch of a bronze memorial tablet honoring Clark by the Michigan Engineering Society for his work as a Deputy U.S. Land Surveyor. Mary’s correspondence to family and friends describes family affairs and her farm business, 1838-1870. Correspondence, 1832-1837, is to Mary from Robert. It is affectionately written with brief notes about his work. Mary’s estate is detailed in a notebook, 1867-1898, in John M. Clark’s Papers.

Robert Clark’s papers also include an oversized certificate appointed him Quartermaster of the 11th Regiment, Michigan Militia in 1833, signed by Lewis Cass, and one folder of correspondence and a notebook documenting his supplies and duties as Quartermaster, 1829, 1832-1834, and undated.

Item-level index cards are available to assist researchers.

Papers of a U.S. Civil War Paymaster, consisting mostly of account books, correspondence, vouchers, disbursement accounts, returns, pay records for numerous Michigan, U.S., and U.S. Colored regiments.

The collection is organized alphabetically by format and size, and then chronologically, 1861-1865. It consists of Hunt’s Pay Master records, a wide variety, for a large number of troops including Michigan, U.S. Colored Troops, and non-Michigan troops. Michigan units documented in the collection include: Michigan Engineers and Mechanics Regiment, 1st , Michigan Infantry Regiment, 7th, Michigan Infantry Regiment, 13th, 1863-1865, Michigan Infantry Regiment, 21st, Michigan Infantry Regiment, 22nd, 1864-1865. U.S. Colored Troops including: 1st U.S. Infantry, U.S. Colored Infantry, 14th Regiment; U.S. Colored Infantry, 18th Regiment; and the U.S. Colored Infantry, 44th Regiment are documented in the collection. Non-Michigan units documented in the collection include some from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Iowa, New York (state), Wisconsin, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Connecticut. Materials for different units are sorted by year, not by month and day.

The papers include Robert Troup's accounts, land papers for New York counties, legal papers,correspondence, miscellaneous, genealogical materials, and materials of his children, Louisa and Robert.

The collection consists mostly of Robert Troup’s Accounts, 1790-1831, undated; Land Papers for New York counties, 1759-1826, undated; Legal Papers, 1812-1831; Correspondence, 1793-1831, undated; Miscellaneous, 1763-1851, undated; Genealogical Materials; and the Papers from two of Robert’s children, Louisa and Charles Goelet Troup. Of note are land documents re: the Puteney Estate, Phelps-Gorham Tract, and the Holland Purchase. Originally, this collection had been split into two separate collections.

This collection of family papers includes photographic materials, papers, family trees, and newspaper or magazine clippings of the Copeman and Reimer families and their friends and family from the Mount Pleasant, Michigan area.

This collection of family papers includes photographic materials, papers, family trees, and newspaper or magazine clippings of the Copeman and Reimer families and their friends and family from the Mount Pleasant, Michigan area. The collection is organized by series, alphabetically, and chronologically. Overall, the collection is in very good condition with some acidification, one glass plate negative with a broken corner, and tintypes which are a bit warped with minor edge damage. The major series of this collection are Copeman, Reimer, and Simonds. Nina Copeman is the main person in connection in the Copeman papers due to her historical family research. Much of the series consists of photographic materials including multiple formats of photographs from ambrotypes and tintypes through color photography. Papers consist of family correspondence, including about family history, materials related to their relative Linda Ronstadt, and the Henry Baldwin Copeman family farm in Crawford, Michigan. The Reimer series also consists of family photographs and materials, with photographs of reunions and family headstones in Palo and Mount Pleasant cemeteries. The Simonds series consists of photographs of family and their grocery store located in Mount Pleasant. The rest of the collection consist of family photographs and materials from the related Brownell, Ettinger, and Preston Families, as well as materials related to Palo Schools, Central State Teachers College, later Central Michigan University, history, and postcards with substantive notes between family members and photographic postcards of family members. The Oversized folder contains photographs of the Henry Baldwin Copeman Farm and Copeman and Reimer family trees.

Researchers should note that materials related to the family’s homestead in Idaho, Kenneth and Taimie Preston’s college photographs, Kenneth Preston’s work with the Civilian Conservation Corp, and Henry B. Copeman’s remaining diaries (including all Ku Klux Klan entries) were donated to the University of Idaho by the donor. The remaining material related to the family’s lives in Idaho were donated to Coeur d’Alene Museum and the Kellogg Museum by the donor.

Processing Note: .75 cubic feet of photographic materials, miscellaneous, and duplicates were withdrawn during processing. Acidic news clippings and materials were photocopied and the copies retained within the collection. Interfiled into other collections in the Clarke were seventeen postcards, two Michigan vertical file items, and a CMU commencement program. In August 2023, a 1852 wedding bedspread from Centreville, Pennsylvania, two Michigan friendship pillows, and miscellaneous family jewelry were transferred to the Ionia County Historical Society, and an Almont, Michigan, miniature tourist creamer or pitcher was transferred to the Almont Michigan Historical Society. Other miscellaneous items without a definite family provenance were withdrawn during processing.