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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 Brayton W. Smith diary includes daily entries detailing Smith's experiences as a student at Beloit Academy in Beloit, Wisconsin, and at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, during 1867. His entries describe curricula, student life, studying habits, boarding houses, family matters, and his interest in baseball.

While attending Beloit Academy to prepare for college, Smith wrote of his coursework, progress in studying, struggles with exams, weather, and his relationships with other students, roommates, and boarding house proprietors. Smith also documented his activities with local religious groups, debating societies, and baseball clubs.

During vacations, Smith returned to his family who lived near Janesville, Wisconsin. He described his leisure activities, including picking berries and hunting, his struggles to continue studying, and his active involvement in local baseball, both in organized clubs and informal games among friends. Throughout the summer, Smith frequently documented information about area baseball clubs, practices, games, and tournaments.

In mid-September, Smith matriculated at the University of Michigan, and his diary includes a record of his experiences with entrance exams, tutoring, coursework, and his observations of student activities and elections. He also commented on the "University nine" baseball players, noting several of their games, and the creation of a baseball club for the freshman class.

The Michigan School photograph album contains studio portraits of unidentified men, women, and children taken mostly in Central and Southeast Michigan in the late 19th century, as well as two pictures of school buildings, at least one of which is from the campus of Michigan Agricultural College. The album contents are possibly a mixture of students and professors of M.A.C. plus family and friends of the unknown compiler.

The Michigan School photograph album (27cm x 21cm) contains 54 studio portraits of unidentified men, women, and children taken in Michigan cities such as Albion, Ann Arbor, Jackson, and Lansing in the late 19th century. The photographs are comprised of 40 cabinet cards and similarly sized card photographs, 11 cartes-de-visite, and 3 tintypes. Four pages from a different album (containing seven photographs) are laid into the volume, as is a photograph of an infant. Most of the images are individual portraits of adult men and women. Two images by a Lansing Michigan photographer are of school buildings, one identified as Michigan Agricultural College. A floral design is printed directly onto each page, and one cabinet card is designed to look as though the print is peeling off of the mount. A pink ribbon with the letters "Q," "L," and "S" attached to it is laid into the album. The volume's padded covers are wrapped in red cloth with a floral design imprinted on the front. A hard surface with the title "Album" is attached to the front cover.