Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Republican governor of Michigan, 1905-1910. Account books, and legal and business papers of P. Dean Warner, Oakland County, Michigan, farmer and cheese manufacturer; and political scrapbooks and other papers of his adopted son, Fred M. Warner, largely concerning election campaigns; and photographs.

The Fred M. Warner papers include papers of P. Dean Warner and Fred M. Warner. Included are letters, legal documents, business papers, a volume recording customers of Warner's cheese business, and scrapbooks. Except for a few folders relating to aid given to California following the 1906 earthquake, there are few documents relating to Warner's terms as governor.

Ann Arbor, Michigan businessman and surveyor general of the Dakota Territory; correspondence and business papers.

The George D. Hill papers consists of correspondence and financial papers relating to his Ann Arbor business interests and to his service as surveyor general of the Dakota Territory in the 1860s. Some of the additional topics covered in the collection include the Free Homestead Association of Central New York, lumbering activities (1854-1857), the Michigan militia (1858-1861), the removal of President Henry P. Tappan from University of Michigan, and Hill's role in Republican Party politics (1856-1857). Hill numbered among his correspondents Cyrus Aldrich, Henry J. Alvord, Moses K. Armstrong, Kinsley S. Bingham, Philemon Bliss, W. W. Brookings, Walter A. Burleigh, Zachariah Chandler, Frederick W. Curtenius, Mark W. Delahay, Charles H. Dennison, James M. Edmunds, Newton Edmunds, Alpheus Felch, James S. Foster, Orrin N. Giddings, Bradley F. Granger, William Jayne, Whitney Jones, Francis R. Stebbins, Henry P. Tappan, T. J. Townsend, Jerome M. Treadwell, Seymour B. Treadwell, and Benjamin F. Wade.

Flint, Michigan industrialist; governor of Michigan, 1865-1868. Correspondence concerning land speculations, lumbering, and political activities; correspondence of his son primarily relating to estate and land holdings; speeches, notes and other papers detailing his gubernatorial administration; deeds and other papers concerning land purchases in Ohio, Iowa, and Michigan; newspaper clippings, biographical material and obituaries; journals, diaries, notebooks, letter book, political scrapbook, 1866-1869, executive journal of state of Michigan, 1865-1867, farm records and accounts; and photographs.

The Crapo papers have been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Personal and Biographical; Political; Business records; and Miscellaneous (mainly financial). The collection relates primarily to the career of Henry H. Crapo with the files dating after 1869 pertaining to the business activities and political activities of his son W. W. Crapo.

In 1992, the bulk of the Crapo papers was microfilmed. This finding aid begins with a listing of the contents of the microfilm followed by a container listing of those portions of the collection which were not microfilmed. For reasons of preservation, the researcher should use the microfilm copy. Access to the original materials will be limited to the unmicrofilmed portions of the Crapo papers.

Marshall, Calhoun County, attorney, Republican state senator, 1878-1882; contain correspondence, legal files, diaries and financial records concerning business and family affairs and the history of Marshall; also family papers, including Civil War letters of brother, Philo D. Patterson, student letters from the University of Michigan of son, Frank D. Patterson, 1892-1894, and records of business partner William H. Brown.

The John C. Patterson collection is divided into the following series: Correspondence; Letterpress books; Legal files; Diaries; Miscellaneous business records; John C. Patterson personal; and Other family members and miscellaneous. Much of the correspondence is addressed either to Patterson or to William H. Brown and pertains to their law practice. Other correspondence relates to family matters, politics, and Hillsdale College. Included in the correspondence are nine letters of Philo D. Patterson written while he was serving in Company H, Ninth Michigan Infantry, February-September 1865. Two of the letters reflect on the assassination of President Lincoln. There are also letters from Frank Dean Patterson, 1892-1894, when he was a student at the University of Michigan.

Republican congressman and U.S. district judge from Lansing, Michigan. Correspondence, business and legal papers, manuscript addresses, photographs, and miscellaneous items; include material concerning Michigan politics and his Civil War activities as a member of Congress; journal, 1871 containing a few brief entries on business matters.

The papers of John Wesley Longyear spans the period from 1837 to 1875. The bulk of the collection covers two periods of Longyear's life: his two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1863-1866) and his service as U.S. district court judge (1870-1875).

Businessman, of Washtenaw County, Michigan, publisher of Ann Arbor Courier, and chairman of Executive Committee, Michigan Republican Party. Correspondence, account books, business records, receipts, deeds, and other financial records.

The Rice Aner Beal collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Political and Legal papers; and Financial records. Among Rice Beal's correspondents were such personages as James B. Angell, Henry P. Baldwin, Zachariah Chandler, Isaac P. Christiancy, Omar D. Conger, Thomas M. Cooley, Charles M. Croswell, Byron M. Cutcheon, Thomas W. Ferry, James F. Joy, James McMillan, Thomas W. Palmer, John T. Rich, Moses C. Tyler, Henry Waldron, Edwin Willits, and Alexander Winchell. Within the Political and Legal papers series there are materials relating to litigation with Alvin W. Chase and Silas Douglas. His political career is partially documented in ledger volumes that he maintained while attending the Republican State conventions in 1878 and 1880. In these volumes, Beal listed the names of delegates with comments on their candidate preferences and abilities.

Family of Brackley Shaw of Adrian, Michigan, Republican state representative from Lenawee County, Michigan, 1869-1870, later state senator, 1881-1884. The collection consists of personal correspondence of Shaw, his son Horatio W., and his brother Horatio W. Shaw.

The Shaw family collection consists of letters to and from several members of the Shaw family of Lenawee County during the period 1840-1938, with the bulk falling in the years roughly 1860-1890. Family members represented include Horatio Shaw (1822-1910), a Presbyterian missionary and clergyman; his brother, Brackley Shaw (b. 1818), member of the Michigan Legislature (1869-70; 1881-84); and Brackley's son, Horatio W. Shaw (1847-1918), Michigan artist. The letters have been described by chronological time period.

1845-1848: Letters from Horatio Shaw to Brackley Shaw

1850-1859: Largely family correspondence, including some letters home (1855, 1857) from Reverend and Mrs. Horatio Shaw from their missionary station in Allahabad, India.

1860-1865: Correspondence includes a few items pertaining to the Civil War, most of which does not relate to Michigan.

1866-1870: A great deal of political correspondence is included in these years, particularly during 1869, when Brackley Shaw served as a Republican member of the state House of Representatives from Lenawee County. There are letters from Shaw to his wife describing events in Lansing, and correspondence with various persons on such subjects as railroads, prisons and other state institutions, and dentistry regulation. There is also a letter of H. E. Baker (Detroit Advertiser and Tribune) to Brackley Shaw, dated December 25, 1668, with comments on the character of Senator Zachariah Chandler.

1871-1879: Mostly family correspondence, including letters written from White Cloud, Kansas, with descriptions of conditions there in the late 1860's and early 1870's.

1880-1890: Considerable political correspondence during Brackley Shaw's two terms as Republican member of the state senate (1880-1884). Topics covered include: homeopathic medicines, temperance and prohibition, Republican Party politics, prisons and reformatories, protection for corporate minority stockholders, and a great deal of correspondence pertaining to the election of a United States Senator in the spring of 1983. There is a large collection of letters from Shaw to his wife describing his senatorial activities. Also included are letters, 1881, 1383, 1884, from various Philadelphia artists to Horatio Shaw, the painter, and letters, 1881-92, from H. Shaw (signed "Pat") to his wife Susie. Some letters contain references to well-known American painters of the time, including comments on Shaw's style and abilities as an artist

1891-1936: family correspondence.