Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is made up of the incoming and outgoing correspondence of Amelia Lippincott Williams of New York City and her husband, Esek Hartshorne Williams of Red Bank, New Jersey. The bulk of the collection is comprised of 15 letters that Esek wrote to Amelia during their courtship and while traveling for business reasons during the first few years of their marriage. Amelia and Esek received the remaining 7 letters from friends and family members in New York and New Jersey.

This collection is made up of the incoming and outgoing letters of Amelia Lippincott Williams and her husband, Esek Hartshorne Williams. Esek wrote 16 love letters to Amelia during their courtship and early married life. Amelia also received 2 letters from friends and 1 from a niece named Mary. Esek received 1 letter from Amelia, 2 from his brother George, and 1 from a friend.

Amelia Lippincott was living in New York City when she received 7 letters from Esek H. Williams of Red Bank, New Jersey, between April 22, 1833, and November 10, 1834 (including 1 undated). His letters are affectionate and flirtatious, and often refer indirectly to the couple's romantic relationship. Esek Williams shared news from Red Bank, occasionally mentioned his work in a local store, and, on November 4, 1834, joked about Amelia's political awareness and her support of the Whigs.

After their marriage, Esek wrote 9 letters to his wife while he traveled west for business reasons; he sent 6 of these letters from Michigan in the winter of 1840-1841. He described his experiences near Fredonia, New York (December 13, 1840); Cleveland, Ohio (December 19, 1840); and Kankakee, Illinois (February 14, 1841). He mentioned his lodgings and modes of travel, and often remarked about his love for his wife and children, who remained in New York City. He spent much of his journey in southeast Michigan, where he had financial interests, and provided Amelia with news of his arrival and activities in Detroit (January 1, 1841, and January 10, 1841) and Ann Arbor (March 7, 1841). He discussed financial matters, including his difficulties with state-issued currency, "Michigan money," which he referred to as the only currency in regular circulation in Ann Arbor (March 7, 1841). On a later trip to Michigan, he noted the economic conditions in Detroit (January 1, 1843). On July 2, 1848, he composed his final letter, written from Marshall, Michigan; he expressed his intent to sell his farm in Ann Arbor. Two of his letters have pencil sketches of horses.

Amelia Lippincott Williams received dated personal letters from R. Montgomery, who shared her thoughts on fashionable hats (May 26, 1835), and a woman named Catherine Lent, who hoped Amelia could soon visit (October 1, 1835). Undated letters include 3 from friends and acquaintances, including one in which Amelia's niece Mary mentioned an outbreak of measles and a large social gathering in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. Esek H. Williams received two brief personal letters from his brother George.

This collection contains correspondence, a school notebook, and other material related to Howard W. Wiltse, a native of Hannibal, New York, who graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1861.

This collection (13 items) contains correspondence, a school notebook (approximately 200 pages), and other material related to Howard W. Wiltse, a native of Hannibal, New York, who graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1861.

Howard W. Wiltse entered the University of Michigan Law School in 1859, the year it was founded, and graduated in 1861. From November 29, 1859-December 18, 1860, he composed class notes in a copy of Clayton's Quarto Diary for 1859. Wiltse's notes are based on lectures by the school's three professors (James V. Campbell, Thomas B. Cooley, and Charles I. Walker) and concern a wide range of legal topics, including civil law and criminal law, with an emphasis on economic practices; individual lectures often pertain to legal precedent. A dried fern leaf is laid into the volume.

Letters (10 items), a financial document (1 item), and a newspaper (1 item), once laid into the volume, also relate to Howard W. Wiltse's experiences in New York and Michigan. He wrote 2 letters to an unidentified brother in March 1852 and April 1855 about his experiences teaching school in a town called Burns, and he wrote 7 letters to other family members between May 1859 and April 1862. Wiltse discussed his studies at the University of Michigan Law School, the cost of his schoolbooks, and his legal career in Big Rapids, Michigan. In one letter, written on stationery depicting five of the university's buildings, he mentioned the turbulent political situation just before the Civil War (February 19, 1861). Later items include a financial document (April 3, 1874) and a letter from a man named Charles to a woman named Nettie (September 3, 1886). Howard W. Wiltse also sent his family the first issue of the Mecosta County Pioneer (April 17, 1862).

This volume (112 pages) contains Sarah Welles Hunt's reminiscences about her life, as well as occasional journal entries that Hunt composed from July 1, 1851-May 23, 1893. She wrote about her travels in New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, and Québec; her encounters with famous individuals; her family; and current events.

This volume (112 pages) contains Sarah Welles Hunt's reminiscences about her life, as well as occasional journal entries that Hunt composed from July 1, 1851-April 9, 1891. She wrote about her travels in New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, and Québec; her encounters with notable individuals; her family; and current events.

Hunt began her diary on July 1, 1851, with her recollections about her life from her birth in 1810 to around 1851, including information about her family, travels, and notable individuals she had seen or met. She mentioned attending the Clinton Female Seminary in 1826 and noted the cholera outbreak of 1832 in Utica, New York. Some pages have been cut out of the volume.

From 1851-1891, Hunt occasionally wrote journal entries about her life in New York, Massachusetts, and Michigan. While living in the east, she recounted her visits to family members in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Ashtabula, Ohio; on one occasion, she traveled through New York to Montréal, Québec (1860, pp. 77-78). After moving to Michigan, Hunt sometimes traveled to Ohio and New York. Hunt periodically recorded news about her siblings, parents, in-laws, and children, including dates of births, marriages, and deaths. She also commented on current events, such as European politics in the early 1850s, a railroad accident in Norwalk, Connecticut (May 6, 1853, pp. 46-47), and the Civil War (1864-1865, pp. 80-83). In 1876, Hunt visited the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Genealogical notes and 2 newspaper obituaries for John Alfred Davenport are laid into the volume.

The Sears family papers contain the financial records and correspondence of Peter Sears, who owned a general store in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, and his adopted son, Peter, who settled in Dexter, Michigan.

The Sears family papers contain 31 letters, 21 account books, 20 legal documents, 9 school writings, and 360 receipts, spanning 1767-1848.

The Correspondence series primarily covers two periods of time: 1771-1806 (21 letters) and 1832-1842 (10 letters). Relatives of the elder Peter Sears and his wife Thankful wrote many of the letters dating to the earlier period, concerning family news and health. An early undated letter, written by Salley Sears during the Revolutionary War, conveys the news that one of Peter Sears' brothers had been captured and transported to Charleston, South Carolina. On September 12, 1802, Joseph Sears wrote a letter to Thankful, acknowledging Peter Sears' death and expressing sympathy. Several other letters of this period contain orders for salt from Peter Sears' store. The younger Peter Sears is the recipient of all of the later correspondence; relatives who had settled across the Midwest, in towns such as Kalamazoo, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Perrysburg, Ohio, wrote to him with updates on their new lives. A common theme in the letters is the hardships they faced as early settlers.

The Documents series contains 20 items ranging in date from 1770-1853, including three wills, several legal documents relating to land in Washtenaw County, and two items relating to the younger Sears' service in the Massachusetts Militia. The Account Books series encompasses records for Peter Sears' store in Yarmouth from 1768-1794, which list items that he bought for himself, as well as orders that he placed for others.

The Receipts and Financial Records series is by far the largest, and spans 1770-1849. Records from 1770 to 1802 show the types of items that Peter Sears stocked in his store, as well as well as his network of suppliers. After 1802, the financial materials relate to the younger Peter Sears; they document his purchases, payment of taxes, sale of land prior to leaving for Michigan, and debts.

The William H. Coats papers are made up of incoming correspondence to Coats from his mother and acquaintances, who wrote about life in Connecticut and Michigan during the Civil War, and documents related to his studies at the Connecticut Literary Institution and other aspects of his life.

The William H. Coats papers are made up of incoming correspondence to Coats from his mother and acquaintances, who wrote about life in Connecticut and Michigan during the Civil War, and documents related to his time at the Connecticut Literary Institution and other aspects of his life.

The Correspondence series (24 items) contains letters to Coats from friends and family members. Acquaintances in New York, Connecticut, and Michigan corresponded with Coats throughout the Civil War period, providing updates on their daily lives and, in one case, offering humorous advice on dealing with women (March 20, 1861). Schuyler Grant wrote a letter from Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended school, and shared news of mutual acquaintances who had recently graduated from the University of Michigan; he also requested career advice (May 7, 1864). His letter of June 1, 1865, discusses events that followed Confederate troops' surrender and optimism about Reconstruction. The Hines family of Binghamton, New York, wrote to Coats about an employment opportunity that Coats accepted in the summer of 1863. Later items include 4 letters by Abby L. Coats, who wrote to her son about family health and news of North Stonington, Connecticut, and 1 by "Ella," a friend, who congratulated him on his upcoming marriage (March 8, 1868).

The Ephemera and Documents series (5 items) includes a "Notice of Enrollment" informing Coats of his eligibility for military service (July 15, 1864). Other items are a school report from the Connecticut Literary Instutition (March 22, 1859), printed programs, and calling cards for residents of East Saginaw, Michigan.