Collections

These two volumes contain complementary financial records kept by Andrew Thompson, a merchant in Chester County, Pennsylvania, who traded foodstuffs and alcohol, particularly whiskey, in the early 1800s. One volume lists daily transactions and the other tracks running accounts with specific individuals. Each contains additional laid-in items such as receipts, financial records, and notes.

These two volumes contain complementary financial records kept by Andrew Thompson, a merchant in Chester County, Pennsylvania, who traded foodstuffs and alcohol in the early 1800s. The first volume holds chronological accounts of Thompson's daily transactions between April 2, 1816, and August 28, 1821. Each entry typically reflects an individual purchase, and corresponds with a running account kept in the accompanying volume. Thompson most frequently sold whiskey, which constituted the entirety of his sales on several occasions. Other entries reflect the costs of labor, including sawing work; at least one regards a "coloured man" who assisted in "diging for pipes in meadow" (February 25, 1817). Receipts and financial records laid into the volume often correspond with the dates of accounts; one loose item also contains a poem (June 10, 1820). Two pages in the back of the volume document Thompson's accounts with "Stiles," from whom he bought oats, rye, and whiskey in bulk.

The second volume contains similar accounts for the same types of goods, kept as running totals with specific individuals, as well as an index of Thompson's customers, who included several women. Entries in this volume correspond with those in the first, and some are accompanied by signed notes verifying that they had been settled. Receipts and other financial records are similarly laid into this volume, and they include an unofficial copy of a court summons, signed by Samuel Wilson of Chester County, Pennsylvania (February 28, 1818; p. 130). Every other page of this volume is numbered, and it contains in total approximately 532 total pages.

This collection of four letters relate to the post-Revolutionary War reputation of Dr. Andrew Turnbull, founder of the New Smyrna colony in East Florida. They were principally written by former Governor of East Florida Patrick Tonyn to British officials and include opposition to Turnbull receiving a government salary.

Please see the Contents List for individual item descriptions.

This bound manuscript contains the text of a sermon delivered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in December 1783, about a desirable political future of the United States from a Christian point of view.

This bound manuscript contains the text of a sermon delivered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in December 1783, about a desirable political future of the United States from a Christian point of view. The 31-page volume, entitled "An Exhortation to Peace under the American Revolution, addressed to the Inhabitants of Lancaster in the State of Pennsylvania, December 11, 1783," is divided into several sections, each copied by a distinct, clear hand and signed, though the text runs unbroken throughout the book. The first page of the address indicates that it is based on Jeremiah 24:7, and it begins by examining the situation of the Jews in ancient Babylon, and comparing that to the situation that led to the American colonies' fight for independence. From there, the sermon continues to expound upon religious and political themes, encouraging a "cordial union among the members of each particular state, as well as among the United States in general" and arguing that a Christian ethos would serve as a strong foundation for the new nation. The treatise weaves together themes of Christian faith and contemporary politics to create a vision of a positive future for the United States.

In the 1850s, Anna Cora Ritchie, a writer and actress, became involved in the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, whose mission was (and is) to preserve the home of George Washington. This collection includes incoming correspondence related to fundraising activities for the Association and letters from friends in her theatrical and literary circles.

The Anna Cora Ritchie collection includes incoming correspondence regarding the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, theatre life, and other matters. Twenty letters are addressed to Anna Cora Ritchie, and two to William Foushee Ritchie.

Personal letters to Anna Cora include correspondence from writers, artists, and others involved in the theatrical world. James O. Sargent, younger brother of Epes Sargent, wrote to her regarding a search for a Mr. Johnson. She received two copies of a letter from J. Guido Methua, a German artist and husband of the actress Marie Scheller-Methua, reporting that he had begun to paint since she left the theatre. Other correspondents included Katharine Sedgwick, an American novelist, Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune (pen name Marion Harland), another writer, and Caroline M. Richings, an opera singer. The letters cover current affairs, her writings, and other personal topics.

Several of the letters discuss the activities of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association (MVLA), particularly regarding various fundraising efforts on behalf of the organization. Four of the letters are from fellow members of the MVLA, Louisa Ingersoll Greenough, Susan Pellet, Judith Rives, and Mattie L. Hedrick. A letter from E.S. (possibly Epes Sargent, Anna Cora's literary advisor) mentioned that he had visited Mt. Vernon twice and was very pleased with the MVLA efforts. Andrew H. H. Dawson, who spoke on behalf of the MVLA, William H. Bruce, and C. F. Bartholomew also wrote to Anna Cora regarding the MVLA.

William Foushee Ritchie received two letters, one from James Lyons, a Richmond lawyer, and another from Robert H. Gray regarding an address written for the MVLA and a lengthy discussion of party politics.

This volume contains the double-entry bookkeeping records of a merchant based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1849. The unidentified merchant sold a variety of goods to customers in and around Ann Arbor, Pittsfield, Whitmore Lake, Webster, and Hamburg, Michigan.

This volume (8" x 12", 145 pages) contains the double-entry bookkeeping records of a merchant based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1849. The unidentified merchant sold a variety of goods to customers in and around Ann Arbor, Pittsfield, Whitmore Lake, Webster, and Hamburg, Michigan. Most pages contain running accounts for specific individuals, with debits and credits noted in two columns. Notes along the margins of many pages indicate the customer's specific location in eastern Washtenaw County or southern Livingston County.

Though the merchant most often recorded sales of "sundries," the accounts occasionally specify items such as hats, shoes, coffee, ribbon, a broom, and sugar. Occasionally, he paid for errors made in previous bills. Customers paid in cash or in kind, most frequently with foodstuffs or items of clothing and sometimes with more unusual items, including a horse and buggy (p. 14). One note concerns a boarder named Carpenter who moved into a home in late August 1849 (p. 97). Though the merchant most frequently dealt with men, the ledger documents accounts with a few women and several firms. A fragment from a letter to Charles W. Butler concerning unsold land, dated January 19, 1833, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is laid into the volume between pages 144 and 145.

The Ann Arbor (Mich.) rent receipt ledger contains a landlord's financial records pertaining to domestic and commercial properties leased from 1887-1892.

The Ann Arbor (Mich.) rent receipt ledger contains 40 pages of financial accounts pertaining to domestic and commercial properties leased between May 1887 and January 1892. Most entries list the amount of rent due on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis, and record payments in cash or (rarely) in labor or trade. Tenets frequently leased properties in the "Buchoz Block" on Detroit Street. The landlord also rented rooms in the E. W. Morgan House on the northeast corner of Huron Street and Fifth Street (now Fifth Avenue). The ledger also records land rented for a marble shop and a lumber yard, as well as lots for pasture.

This collection consists of six manuscript poems written by Anna Seward (1742-1809), including a copy of Monody on Major André, which was published in 1781.

This collection consists of two volumes that contain six manuscript poems written by Anna Seward (1742-1809). The first volume includes a 21-page copy of Monody on Major André, which was published in 1781, as well as an untitled 6-line poem in French on the follies of young women. Major John André, about whom she composed her Monody, had courted one of Seward's close friends and went on to be accused and executed by the Americans as a spy during the Revolutionary War. The pieces in the second volume include 8 pages of "Verses by Miss Seward, on receving [sic] Mr Hayley's Picture drawn for her by Mr. Romney," signed by Seward and dated Litchfield, November 7, 1781; a 12-line "Epitaph On Anne Whately who died May 1793 aged ten years"; and two undated sonnets.

William Hayley was an English poet who briefly courted Seward and with whom she corresponded throughout her adult life. The William L. Clements Library holds prints of the George Romney portrait to which her poem refers. Anne Whately has not been identified.

This collection is comprised of 7 letters Anne Belden received from her friend Clara in 1851 and 1852. Clara wrote of her social life in New York City and detailed her travels through upper New York to Niagara Falls and into Canada.

This collection is comprised of 7 letters Anne Belden received from her friend Clara in 1851 and 1852. Clara wrote of her social life in New York City and detailed her travels through upper New York to Niagara Falls and into Canada. In her first letter, dated December 31, 1851-January 2, 1852, Clara wrote of her New Year's resolution "to commence writing more legible and, I hope, more interesting letters." Her subsequent letters, frequently compiled over the course of several days, provide details her social life in New York City, which involved group gatherings and more intimate meetings with acquaintances, as well as her trip across northern New York and into Canada. From July through August 1852, Clara traveled by railroad and steamship first to Trenton Falls, New York, and thence to Niagara Falls. Along the way, she described the scenery, her companions, and her modes of transportation; she also spent time in Canada near Lake Champlain and in Montreal, where she focused again on her natural surroundings. Clara continued to write after her return to New York City, and on November 18, 1852, described the plight of the Gallia, recently wrecked in the Bahamas, on which a friend had originally intended to travel.

This collection is made up of eight incoming letters to Scotland-born Anne Dickson Porritt and her husband David Porritt in Bury, Lancashire, England, between 1849 and 1859. They received letters from siblings who emigrated from Scotland and England to Buffalo, New York, and Janesville, Wisconsin. Their correspondents shared their perspectives on immigration to the United States, cynical reactions to liberty and equality in a slave-owning and class-divided society, labor (farmers, joiners, carpenters, etc.), industry, wages, child rearing, hired servants, land speculation, and other subjects. Letter-writers include A. W. Dickson (1 item, Buffalo, New York, 1849), farmer Eliza Cross Dickson Bleasdale (2 items, Janesville, Wisconsin, 1855 and 1857), and John Dickson (5 items, Janesville, Wisconsin, and Leeds, England, 1857-1859).

This collection is made up of eight incoming letters to Scotland-born Anne Dickson Porritt and her husband David Porritt in Bury, Lancashire, England, between 1849 and 1859. They received letters from siblings who emigrated from Scotland and England to Buffalo, New York, and Janesville, Wisconsin. They shared their perspectives on immigration to the United States, cynical reactions to liberty and equality in a slave-owning and class-divided society, labor (farmers, joiners, carpenters, etc.), industry, wages, child rearing, hired servants, land speculation, and other subjects. Letter-writers include A. W. Dickson (1 item, Buffalo, New York, 1849), farmer Eliza Cross Dickson Bleasdale (2 items, Janesville, Wisconsin, 1855 and 1857), and John Dickson (5 items, Janesville, Wisconsin, and Leeds, England, 1857-1859).

See the box and folder listing below for detailed descriptions of each letter.

The Tousard papers contain the correspondence of the army officer and military engineer Anne-Louis de Tousard, relating to his plantation in Saint-Domingue (Haiti), military service, and family life.

The Correspondence and Documents seriescontain 3.75 linear feet of material, arranged chronologically, and spanning 1659-1932 (bulk 1778-1820). The collection contains both incoming and outgoing letters, covering Tousard's service in the American Revolutionary War, his management of a coffee plantation in Haiti, family life, settlement in the United States beginning in 1793, and military activities in Haiti and America. The majority of the material is in French, with a few scattered items in English. Most of the letters have been translated into English; quotes in this finding aid draw from those translations.

After a 1659 inventory of property owned by "M. Touzard," an ancestor of Louis Tousard, the collection opens with several letters pertaining to Tousard's time in North America during the American Revolution. These include several lengthy letters items by Tousard himself with commentary on his French and American Army officers, the progress of the war, his attempts at learning English, and his impressions of several cities. In a long letter dated August 3, 1777, he noted the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by the British and the desire of Americans to put General Philip Schuyler on trial for its surrender. He also stated that everything in Philadelphia cost "a dreadful price" and that "the money here is discredited." In the same letter, he discussed the major generalship that had been promised to, and later taken from, Philippe Charles Tronson de Coudray and called the Americans "vain, disunited, envying and detesting the French." Tousard's relatives, including his mother, wrote the bulk of other letters during the period. These primarily share news of the Tousards' social circle in France and occasionally make brief reference to political turmoil there.

Beginning in 1786, the focus of the collection shifts to the courtship and eventual marriage partnership of Marie-Reine St. Martin, a young widow and native of Saint-Domingue, and Louis Tousard. Their affectionate sequence of letters begins December 23, 1786. In addition to revealing details of their personalities and relationship, the letters also shed light on their shared management of several coffee plantations and dozens of slaves. Louis' letters to Marie discuss politics in Haiti and France, show the difficulty of importing desired goods to Haiti, and express regret that he must frequently spend time away from her. The couple frequently articulated the idea that together they formed an effective partnership; in a letter of January 26, 1788, Louis wrote, "On my arrival I shall tell you my plans. You will tell me yours and from the two we shall make a single one." In another letter, he stated his dependence "entirely on [Marie's] good judgment" in managing their coffee workforce (May 3, 1789). The letters also provide details of plantation life, including the preciousness of wine and bacon and difficulties of obtaining them (June 20, 1787), Marie's hobbies and entertainments on the plantation (May 3, 1789), and the difficulties of feeding the slaves and workmen (April 3 and 6, 1789).

In their letters, the couple also wrote frankly about their slaves. Escape seems to have been a frequent occurrence; after a particular incident, Louis urged Marie not to become discouraged and assured her that "[t]he slaves will soon stop running away…. Try to make them be afraid of me" (December 28, 1787). In another letter, presumably after a similar event, Louis wrote to tell Marie that he had sent "two collars to help the Maroon negroes to walk in the woods or at least able to feel their stupidity in creating enduring shame for themselves" ([No month] 27, 1787; filed at the end of 1787). The Tousards also complained that their slaves stole from them ([1787]) and inspired each other to rebellion (January 17, 1788). In addition to doling out punishments to them, Louis and Marie also sometimes expressed affection for various slaves, and presented them with gifts of clothing and food. In one incident, Marie went further and defended a slave, referred to repeatedly as "The African": "The poor African was beaten by a driver. I have complained, but I could not obtain justice" (January 10, 1793). Louis also commonly worked alongside the slaves that he oversaw, and sometimes even noted, "I worked like a slave," as in a letter of May 3, 1789. The letters are especially valuable for the detailed information they provide on the complexities of the master-slave relationship.

Although Tousard's regiment attempted to put down the Haitian Revolution, the collection contains only a handful of references to fighting. The most direct, dated "September 1791," likely refers to an engagement at Port-Margot. On the subject, Tousard wrote, "I gave a lesson to the cavalry. I taught them to charge. Two cannon shots were fired at us and they had not time to fire again. In one minute we were upon them and cut them down." Thereafter, the collection documents Tousard's imprisonment in France and contains some material concerning his later military career and family life, including letters between Tousard, his daughters, and their husbands. Also among the later items are a small number relating to his consular appointments in Philadelphia and New Orleans. Two letters concern the quarantine imposed on ships arriving in Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic of 1798, the first of which (Timothy Pickering to Tousard; June 27, 1798) informs Tousard of the decision of Congress to prevent ships from Saint-Domingue landing at Philadelphia, ordering him to stand by in his capacity as Major of Artillery. The second is a copy of orders to Stephen Decatur to prevent the landing of a ship manned by "Frenchmen and Negroes," the latter of whom "have discovered a Disposition to outrage" (June 28, 1798). Tousard's letter of July 25, 1814, includes a detailed discussion of the attitudes of the French residents of New Orleans toward the Bourbons. Suffice it to say that Tousard, the Royalist, elicited the negative attention of the "Jacobins" of New Orleans. The collection closes with letters between Tousard's daughters, Caroline and Laurette, and several items concerning his death on March 4, 1817.

The Tousard papers also contain many undated items, which have been placed at the end. These include a significant number of letters by Marie, who frequently left date information off her letters, as well as a small printed portrait of Tousard. Also present is an uncut bookplate, showing Tousard's coat-of-arms, motto, liberty cap, artillery, and the right arm that he lost during the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778. Also of interest is a biographical sketch of Tousard, written by one of his nieces sometime after his death.

The Account Book series includes one account book with entries dated from 1813 to 1816. Louis and Laurette Tousard appear several times throughout the volume.

The Printed Items series contains two items, Histoire des Six Dernières Années de l'Ordre de Malte (1805) and Justification of Lewis Tousard Addressed to the National Convention of France. Written and Published from the Bloody Prisons of the Abbaye, by Himself. The 24th of January, 1793 (Philadelphia: Daniel Humphreys, 1793).