Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Arthur R. Kooker was a professor of history at the University of Southern California. His specialty was the anti-slavery movement. In the course of his work on his dissertation, Kooker acquired, from different sources, material pertaining to the anti-slavery movement in Michigan. Collection includes correspondence, notebooks, writings, and genealogical material of Nathan M. Thomas, Schoolcraft, Michigan, physician, anti-slavery spokesman and activist, agent for Signal of Liberty (abolitionist newspaper) and conductor on the underground railroad; include letter describing Kansas in 1856, letters discussing pre- and post-Civil War politics, especially as relates to anti-slavery, and letters from Gerrit Smith, 1858-1859.

The Arthur R. Kooker collection consists of collected materials on the anti-slavery movement in Michigan. It came to the library in two principal accessions, 1979 and 1984. The collection is small but rich in source material. Included are correspondence, notebooks, writings, and genealogical material of Nathan M. Thomas, who was a Schoolcraft, Michigan physician and anti-slavery activist. Thomas was agent for the abolitionist newspaper The Signal of Liberty, and a conductor on the underground railroad. The collection includes letters discussing pre- and post-Civil War politics, especially relating to the issue of slavery. Of special note is a letter describing the situation in Kansas in 1856 and letters from Gerrit Smith, 1858-185. One of Kooker's interest was the underground railroad. Among the materials that he collected is a notebook probably compiled by a conductor in which he lists the stops of safe haven in the journey from the South through Michigan and into Canada. This volume also lists the names of fugitive slaves who made their way to Canada.

Circuit court judge and Michigan Supreme Court justice; his wife, Ann Lapham Graves, was a Battle Creek educator and civic leader; their son, Henry B. Graves, was a Detroit lawyer. Family correspondence concerning life in Battle Creek, Michigan, student life of H. B. Graves at the University of Michigan, 1879-1882, Kansas land speculation, 1883-1885, the Spanish-American War and legal affairs; personal journals and circuit court and Supreme Court record books of B. F. Graves; and photographs.

The Benjamin F. Graves papers consist of family correspondence concerning life in Battle Creek, Michigan, student life of H. B. Graves at the University of Michigan, 1879-1882, Kansas land speculation, 1883-1885, the Spanish-American War and legal affairs; personal journals and circuit court and Michigan Supreme Court record books of B. F. Graves; and correspondence of Henry B. Graves and Ann Lapham Graves. The collection has been arranged by name of individual family member: Benjamin F. Graves; Lapham family; Henry B. Graves; and Miscellaneous.

The correspondence of Benjamin F. Graves includes letters from Henry B. Brown, December 26, 1890; Julius C. Burrows, March 17, 1869; James V. Campbell, 1858-1883; Isaac P. Christiancy, June 1868, November and December 1862, February 1873, August 1877; Thomas M. Cooley (throughout); Donald M. Dickinson, undated and December 1883; Alpheus Felch, December 1894; and John W. Longyear, April 1864 and March 1865.

Emmet O. and Elizabeth Howell Allen family of Bridgewater Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan. Correspondence concerning daily activities and pioneer life in Kansas and Clinton, Michigan.

This family collection is divided into the following series: William F. Allen; Emmet O. Allen; Elizabeth Howell Allen; Matthew Howell; and Photographs

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.