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

This collection is made up of 6 letters that Gideon Bingham wrote to his brother Waldo between 1840 and 1847. Bingham described life at Yale College and in Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and New Orleans, Louisiana. He discussed his job prospects, Southern customs, work as a traveling bookseller, and political issues (such as the proposed annexation of Texas).

This collection is made up of letters that Gideon Bingham wrote to members of his family between 1840 and 1849. In his letter of March 15, 1840, Bingham told his brother about a domestic altercation that he and a companion had witnessed; he also mentioned his studies, other students' increasing political awareness prior to the 1840 presidential election, and his resolution to oppose all political candidates who supported the right to slavery. From January 1844-May 1847, Bingham wrote from Richmond, Virginia (January 26, 1844, and February 15, 1845); Petersburg, Virginia (February 23, 1845); Washington, D.C. (January 10, 1845); Pittsburgh (November 25, 1845); Natchez, Mississippi (May 31, 1846); New Orleans, Louisiana (May 2, 1847); and Cincinnati, Ohio (September 30, 1849).

He often described the areas he was travelling through and referred to Southern social customs, such as the treatment of African Americans in Richmond and the city's fondness for public military displays. He noted African American musicians playing at a Washington Day parade in Petersburg, Virginia (February 23, 1845). He called New Orleans "a perfect babel of tongues & such a diversity of color & complexion you would look in vain for any where else," and he commented on burial practices in the city (May 31, 1846). His letters also pertain to political issues, such as local opinions regarding the proposed annexation of Texas. He also wrote about a judge who gambled on the 1844 presidential election (February 23, 1845) and matters relating to the United States War with Mexico (May 24, 1847). While living in the South, Bingham worked as a bookseller, often collaborating with "Mr. King." He commented on his business practices, calling on doctors and lawyers, occasionally the titles he was selling, and his observations while travelling. Bingham described a journey from Connecticut to Washington, D.C., and his sightseeing activities in the national capital, particularly with regard to paintings and sculpture. He also described a steam boat accident on the Mississippi River (May 31, 1846). In an undated letter, Bingham discussed his work presiding over a school in Orange County, New York.

The Griffin family papers contain the letters of a family from Sempronius, New York, and are comprised primarily of correspondence from Lavalette and Reynolds Griffin while serving with the 75th New York Volunteers during the Civil War.

The Griffin family papers contain the letters of the Griffin Family of Sempronius, New York, and are comprised primarily of correspondence from Lavalette and Reynolds Griffin while serving with the 75th New York Volunteers during the Civil War. The collection is composed of 20 letters, 4 miscellaneous compositions, 2 newspaper clippings, and 16 photographs and negatives.

The Correspondence series contains 20 letters, four of which date before the war. The earliest letter is from a group of men, including Daniel Griffin, to their landlord requesting that their credit be extended, because of a bad harvest (1799). The next two are between Adnah H. Griffin and Ephraim, Louisa and Jane Griffin, and concern family issues (1835). Gideon Wales (resident of Pike Pond, [New Hampshire]) wrote a letter to Jennie L. McConnell, in which he discussed many of his relative's struggles with mental illness.

The Civil War letters are from brothers Lavalette and Reynolds Griffin and are primarily addressed to their parents, Adnah H. Griffin and Jane Reynolds Griffin, and their sisters Loretta and Jennie Griffith. The letters were written from several camps in Virginia and Louisiana, and from on board the ship Daniel Webster. The bulk of the letters are in a 103-page letterbook dated October 1861-March 1863. These letters were likely copied by a relative around 1900. Both brothers were competent writers and discussed typical soldier gripes regarding food, pay, bad officers, and the boredom of the army. In a letter from December 30, 1862, Lavalette wrote: "If you want to fix a man so that he does not know anything in this world, nor care a d__m for the next, just put him to soldiering, and keep him shut up in camp for one year."

Seven separate Civil War letters are from Lavalette Griffin, dated April 1862-February 1865, and addressed to his father and sister Loretta ("Rett"). In these, he wrote favorably of the New York Soldiers' Depot, which he found well managed with many amenities for the troops. In an April 1864 letter, he recounted a trip to the capital while stationed at Camp Distribution, Virginia. In the next letter, he spoke highly of General Grant: "One thing is in our favor Since General Grant has assumed command there is not so many shoulder straps lying round Washington and there papers are examined as closely as the meanest private -- There is scarcely a day that there is not some dismissals and there aught to be more[.]" Even after the loss of his brother and his own illnesses, Lavalette found a way to keep his good humor through the war.

The lone post-war letter (1868) is an interesting item from Jennie Griffin to her brother-in-law Silas McConnell, in which she complained about the difference between salaries for male and female teachers in New York.

The Miscellaneous series has 13 items, which include two newspaper clippings; 4 pages of family birth records (1780-1878) from the family Bible; two journals by Mary Jane Wilson, which are entitled Compositions Written by Mary Jane Wilson During the Summer of 1861, A present to her Teacher Jennie Griffin (14 pages), and The Scholar's Casket, A Journal of Councils and Companion for the Young, January 1862, containing amateur essays such as Being Honest, Fault Finding, and Courage; two essays entitled On the Death of Lois Jane Griffin and On the Death of Polly Griffin, Written for her Mother (3 pages); and a receipt for groceries from Syracuse, New York, 1915.

This collection contains 11 photographs and modern prints of 5 negatives of the Griffin family. The original photographs are located in the Clements Library Graphics Division.

This collection consists of 186 letters and documents concerning Heman H. Gillett's participation in the Civil War as a surgeon for the 8th Vermont Volunteers.

Heman H. Gillett papers consist of 186 letters and documents concerning Gillett's participation as a surgeon in the Civil War. The items are primarily incoming general and regimental orders, circulars, and administrative letters addressed to Gillett. Throughout the collection are records, receipts, invoices, and copies of returns; these track medical expenditures, resources, and finances, as well as the maladies of the troops. For example, a document dated December 31, 1862, records the types of illnesses and numbers of persons affected for that month and lists the names of dead for his regiment that month. A June 14, 1863, report logs the sick and wounded for that week. Other documents list the supplies needed for the hospital or brigade. Gillett signed off on the prices and invoices for medicines, hospital stores, bedding, etc. and submitted them to various suppliers and departments. The reports show that Gillett was stationed in Louisiana (Algiers, New Iberia, and New Orleans) in 1863 and 1864. In 1864, he requested supplies from James A. Holmes at the General Hospital at Brashear, Louisiana, which was the primary receiving depot for sick Union soldiers in the area. In 1865, Gillett was stationed at Summit Point, Virginia (January-April 1865), Munson Hill, Virginia (June 1865), and back at Camp Babcock in Summit Point, Virginia, by June 1865.

Throughout the collection are general and personal orders and circulars, including many letters from the Surgeon General's office in Washington. Some reports are assessments of the conditions of the facilities of Gillett's division (December 1864), while others are accounts of how coordinating hospitals are accommodating the wounded. One long circular from September 1864 lays out new policies for how the regiment will account for the sick, including updates of required types of personnel and their new paperwork responsibilities. This circular also details the accoutrements and personnel for each medical wagon. The provisions are very carefully measured out and regulated.

The collection's sole personal letter is from Heman’s brother, S.H. Gillett, but even this letter focuses mainly on medical issues, while touching on .H. Gillett's political opinions (August 5, [1865?]).

Fourteen undated items and fragments document the need for or use of supplies for medical units during the war. One undated item is a list of fallen soldiers. The three post-war documents are all testimonials for solders that were wounded in battle who were petitioning for pensions. The collection's oversized items include 15 reports of sick and wounded and inventories and invoices for medical supplies.

In general, this collection provides much evidence for the management, supplying, and policies of Union hospitals in the South during the Civil War. The Gillett papers demonstrate the high level of administration and infrastructure used by Union medical troops, which, in policy if not practice, relied on organization, accountability, and reports.

Diary by a 20-year-old teacher from New York, containing observations made during an 1853 stay in Mississippi, including thoughts on slavery, African American churches, Southern culture, and the outbreak of a yellow fever epidemic from which he died. The volume also contains a eulogy in a different hand for Mary Lyon, founder of Mount Holyoke.

The 79-page James A. Marshall diary covers July 5-August 27, 1853, during which time Marshall traveled around Mississippi before falling ill with yellow fever and dying on September 5. An unknown person removed 54 pages of writing preceding the July 5 entry. Marshall’s diary contains lengthy and opinionated daily entries, many of which probe Southern society, which, as a New Yorker, he found quite foreign. In one entry, Marshall criticized Southern women: “indulgence certainly is a distinguishing characteristic of the southern lady. Physical exercise they all are averse to and if they even drop their handkerchief upon the floor at their feet, if no servant or gallant is near to pick it up…it must lie there until one comes to restore it” (p. 73). In another entry, Marshall expressed surprise that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was available in Mississippi, writing, “it seems the people here are not ‘afraid’ of reading such books, or having them circulated” (p. 75).

Marshall had an interest in African Americans, and on several occasions, visited a “Colored People’s Church, Methodist I inferred,” but criticized the service for its loudness, comparing it to a “meeting of the shaking Quakers” (p. 85). On July 23, he gave details of a slave auction that he attended: “One girl was sold for eight hundred and eighty dollars, only 16 years old and quite good looking. The man who bought her made no scruple of telling his object in buying her” (p. 98). Despite his special interest in African Americans, his opinions were paternalistic, and he expressed support for slavery, even speculating about owning a plantation himself: “It really would be very interesting it seems to me to have, as all the large planters have, a family of several hundred at ones control: not because of the power allowed, but to feel the satisfaction of being a tender Master to them, and to feel that all their interest were united and to enjoy the pleasure of giving them pleasure” (p. 117).

At the end of the diary, Marshall mentioned the yellow fever epidemic that would kill him within weeks, writing, “I shall not stop at Natchez on account of the Quarantine which has been established both at N. and Vicksburg on account of the prevalence of yellow fever… I am convinced that there is little if any danger to any one who uses due caution in diet” (103).

The volume also contains a 7-page eulogy on Mary Lyon, the founder of Mount Holyoke College, seemingly written by someone who knew her personally. The essay describes Lyon’s personality, manner of dress, and recounts things she said to her students. Also laid into the volume is a religious meditation.

The Price papers consists of 39 letters written by James B. Price and/or his wife, Ellen, to James' sister, Elizabeth Price in Philadelphia. The letters are about personal matters, Price's medical practice, and his impressions of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Price papers consist of 39 letters written by James B. Price and/or his wife, Ellen, to James' sister, Elizabeth Price in Philadelphia. The earliest letters in the collection focus on James' personal life and suggest a critical interest on his and Elizabeth's part in contemporary literature. These letters contain scattered some information on medical matters, such as mention of the yellow fever epidemic of 1819 and the decision of the Philadelphia Board of Health to evacuate a portion of the population to safer grounds in New Jersey.

Price's letters from New Orleans provide excellent descriptions of the scenery and population of Louisiana. His contempt for New Orleans and mistrust for the "Creole" and "French" populations are vividly expressed. These letters are also of interest in drawing a strong, non-technical portrait of medical care and the effect of disease on the population of the New Orleans area in the 1820s. Ellen's letters focus on family and personal matters.

Among the more noteworthy letters in the collection are one concerning the Hicksite schism (1827 July). Although Price had ceased as a practicing Quaker, his sympathies remained with the Friends. In a letter dated September 28th, 1828, Price discussed his attitudes toward slavery which, if not actually pro-slavery, at least view the institution as largely benevolent, because, he felt, slaves were taken care of and not forced to work as hard as many whites.

The Joseph Story papers contain the incoming letters of Joseph Story, a Massachusetts state representative, United States Supreme Court justice, and Harvard Law School professor. The papers deal with a wide range of political and legal issues concerning Massachusetts and the United States in the first half of the 19th century.

The Joseph Story papers (685 items) consist of the incoming letters of Joseph Story, a Massachusetts state representative, United States Supreme Court justice, and Harvard Law School professor. The collection contains 672 letters, 7 financial bills, and five printed items. Included are nine letters written by Story, and four by wife Mary Story. The rest were all addressed to Joseph Story, with the exception of two that were addressed to his daughter Sarah Wetmore Story and 15 written to his son William Wetmore Story. Forty-three items are undated. The papers deal with a wide range of national and state political issues and legal matters.

The collection covers the years 1794-1806, 1819-1825, and 1839-1843, with only a few items representing the remaining years. Included are letters from United States representatives related to congressional news; letters from prominent lawyers, judges, and jurors concerning legal matters and cases; and letters concerning Harvard Law School.

• October 1833: Antoine F. Picquet v. Charles P. Curtis, administrator of James Swan
• October 1843: Augustus H. Fiske v. Lyman Hunt
• October 1843: Bankruptcy case against B____.

The 1794-1806 letters document Story's early days as a Massachusetts lawyer and the beginning of his career as a state representative. Of particular interest are 10 letters from Samuel Sewall, a Massachusetts representative and later Supreme Court chief justice, under whom Story studied law. These mainly deal with Sewall's law office in Salem, Massachusetts, but also contain advice to Story on his reading of the law. Also of note are 14 letters from Jacob Crowninshield, a congress member and later secretary of the navy, concerning legislation affecting Massachusetts, policies regarding the fishing industry, and the presidential election of 1804. Prominent Boston lawyer James Sullivan contributed five letters related to various legal matters of the day.

The 1819-1825 letters document Story's activities as overseer of Harvard University and Supreme Court justice, during which time he split his residency between Salem and Washington D.C. Of special interest are 18 letters from Massachusetts congress member John Davis, in which he discussed international maritime law. Other notable contributors include Simon Greenlead (12 items), who discussed court decisions in Maine; Isaac Parker (6 items), who wrote about legal cases in Boston; Bushrod Washington (4 items), who reported on his legal cases before the Philadelphia circuit court; and Henry Wheaton (10 items), who shared judicial matters about New York. Also of note are letters from 1825 that relate to the need for altering instructional methods at Harvard, and a controversial election of members to the Corporation of Harvard College.

The Story papers contain only 27 items that date from 1826 to 1838. Of these, six are from French jurist Jean-Jacques Gaspard Foelix containing requests for Story to contribute to his journal Revue du droit français et étranger.

The 1839-1842 letters document the end of Story's career as an active justice, scholar, and law professor. Story received letters from prominent lawyers and judges from Portland, Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Story also received requests for speeches and was given honors from scholarly institutions throughout New England.

• John C. Calhoun (1 item)
• Henry A.S. Dearborn (9 items)
• William Fettyplace (7 items)
• Joseph Hopkinson (5 items)
• Susan Ledyard (12 items)
• Francis Lieber (10 items)
• Jeremiah Mason (10 items)
• Theron Metcalf (5 items)
• Richard Peters (15 items)
• John Pickering (8 items)
• John Pitman (20 items)
• William Prescott (5 items)
• Jared Sparks (5 items)
• Charles Sumner (8 items)
• George Ticknor (10 items)
• Bushrod Washington (4 items)
• Daniel Webster (3 items)
• Stephen White (16 items)
• Nathaniel Williams (15 items)

• September 12, 1796: Leonard Woods to Story concerning religion and containing maxims on happiness
• February 12, 1799: Samuel Sewall to Story concerning advice for reading law
• January 15, 1800: Samuel Sewall to Story concerning the death of George Washington
• April 3, 1800: Sewall to Story concerning advice for reading law
• February 13, 1804: Jacob Crowninshield to Story concerning the Louisiana Purchase
• February 26, 1804: Jacob Crowninshield to Story concerning the presidential and vice-presidential elections of 1804
• March 23, 1804: Jacob Crowninshield to Story concerning the sinking of the Ship Philadelphia off the coast of Tripoli and the Barbary conflict
• November 3, 1804: James Sullivan to Story concerning probate court decisions from 1776-1779
• January 28, 1806: Jacob Crowninshield to Story concerning Napoleon's victories in Europe
• April 13, 1819: Henry Wheaton to Story concerning an "Ann Act to protect Banks against embezzlement by their agents, Clerks, or servants, and for other purposes."
• January 15, 1821: Elizabeth H. Walker to Story concerning arguments against slavery in congress
• July 9, 1821: Henry Dearborn to Story concerning a military officer's trial before a Boston circuit court
• August 25, 1821: Theodore Lyman to Story concerning the constitutionality of new laws concerning slaves and abolition in Massachusetts
• December 10, 1821: Elijah Paine to Story concerning the selection of a president of Dartmouth College
• June 1, 1822: Benjamin Livingston to Story concerning William Johnson's Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathaniel Greene
• June 11, 1822: Francis Scott Keys to Story, concerning Ralph Randolph Gurley and the American Colonization Society
• August 15, 1822: Ralph Randolph Gurley to Story concerning American Colonization Society and the "African cause"
• February 23, 1823: Sarah Dunlap to Story requesting help with her son will soon disgrace her family by marrying a divorced wife and profligate actress
• August 22, 1823: William J. Spooner to Story concerning Phi Beta Kappa
• December 7, 1823: John Mason to Story concerning the national debt and the Monroe Doctrine
• June 5, 1825: Massachusetts Governor John Davis to Story concerning the Corporation of Harvard College
• July 7 and October 24, 1825: Justice Smith Thompson to Story providing legal summaries of important cases appearing before Story
• August 20, 1828: Joseph Hopkinson to Story regarding thoughts on the presidential election between Jackson and Adams and on becoming a federal judge
• March 18, 1839: Charles Sumner to Story concerning Lord Brougham gifting Sumner his wig
• August 26, 1839: Charles P. Curtis to Story, proposing the appointment of Edward G. Loring as a master in chancery of the United States Circuit Court.
• January 7, 1842: H.G.V. Colby to William Wetmore Story concerning Colby's remarks in the case of Sampson vs. Stoddard
• March 19 and May 13, 1842: Alexander Maxwell & Son of London to Story concerning a bill for books
• June 7, 1842: Artist Augustin Edouard to Story concerning making a "silhouette likeness" of Story
• December 31, 1845: Harriet Martineau to Sarah Wetmore Story, concerning Joseph Story's death

The Langstroth Family papers document the activities and relationships of several generations of the Langstroth family, originally of Philadelphia, including the founding of several schools for women and African Americans, the experiences of a patient the Friends Asylum, and service in the Civil War.

The correspondence series comprises 600 items covering 1831-1955, and sheds light on the personal lives, careers, and activities of several generations of the Langstroth family. The bulk of the earliest letters, dating from the 1830s, are from Catharine Langstroth to her father and siblings. These letters concern the death of her sister Sarah, financial issues, and the health of several family members, including Margaretta, and refer to temperance (July 20, 1835 “It affords me much pleasure to know that you gathered in your hay on temperance principles”) and religious study. One letter of particular interest is dated January 3, 1839, and was written by Margaretta during a stay at the Friends Asylum in Philadelphia. It describes a harrowing series of treatments for unspecified mental problems: “My head has been cut open to the bone for 3 inches; and large [peas?] inserted; a lead placed over the slit and on the top of this a bread & milk poultice has been applied for two months… My hair has been shaved at least 6 times; and three times since the head was opened.” Margaretta also described the Asylum’s lectures, food, and other patients (“only deranged at intervals”).

Letters from the 1840s and 1850s were written by a variety of family members and document the founding of Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies; the courtship of Thomas Langstroth, III, and Mary Hauss; and a range of religious attitudes, from Margaretta’s intense piety to Thomas’ doubt (December 12, 1853: “most all the young men in our church just before they got married have made a profession of religion, and how have they turned out! Look at them one half are as bad as they were before: but I have no right to judge.”). In early 1855, Margaretta wrote a series of letters from near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, describing her efforts at religious and educational outreach to slaves, for whom she felt sympathy (February 7, 1855: “Slaves! poor slaves! how my heart bleeds for them, they toil from night to morn, from morn to night--live and die here without knowledge enough to save the soul.”).

Little documentation of the family exists from the Civil War period, despite Edward and Thomas’ service on opposite sides, but Edward’s letter to Margaretta of July 14, 1865, indicates a rift between himself and his sisters, perhaps arising from his joining the Confederacy. Letters of the 1860s and 1870s are mainly incoming to Margaretta and concern teaching, finances, and advice. A number of letters to Thomas from the 1880s contain information about his brother Edward’s health. Approximately 25 folders of letters date from the 20th-century and were written between Hugh Tener Langstroth, his sister, Sara Paxson, and other relatives. These concern travel, social visits, health, and business matters.

The financial and legal documents series consists of 124 items relating to the Langstroth family, covering 1778-1913. It includes wills, records relating to milling, land indentures, an account book of 1814-1817 kept by Thomas Langstroth, Jr., paperwork related to loans, and other materials. Some materials relate to the bank failure which forced Langstroth to sell his mill in 1836. Only 15 items date from 1851-1913.

The diaries and journals series represents six volumes and a few fragments, covering the 1830s to the 1860s, all written by Margaretta Langstroth. The volumes dating from the 1830s contain biographies of historical figures and may have been used in school. Subsequent diaries recorded daily entries of varying length, covering parts of 1864-1868. The 1864 volume includes Margaretta’s memorials of deceased family members and is thus a good source of genealogical information. More commonly, her entries describe daily activities, religious meditations, and frequently seem to reflect a fragile mental state, as in this exceprt of April 15, 1865: “Abraham Lincoln shot in the Washington Theatre Secretary Sewar [sic] had this throat cut I hope Edwar [sic] has no hand in this what makes me fear that he had” or an entry of June 19, 1866, describing the death of a robin: “I felt very badly cannot describe my suffering poor bird…read hymns as it was dying wondering if it would live elsewhere[.] In bed all day so distressed so wretched…” In a number of passages, Margaretta noted the Sunday School classes that she taught, and commented on the number of students and the subjects of her lessons.

The Mary J. Simpson autograph album contains signatures and other contributions by Simpson's friends, compiled primarily in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1856-1866. Most entries are poems about morality and friendship, ranging in length from four lines to an entire page.

The Mary J. Simpson autograph album contains signatures and other contributions by Simpson's friends, compiled primarily in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1856-1866. Most entries are poems about morality and friendship, ranging in length from four lines to an entire page.

Simpson received this "Album of Affection" from a friend on January 1, 1856, and invited both male and female friends to write in her book. Many contributors lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though some pages only contain signatures, most of her friends transcribed poems, often dedicated to Simpson. The poems concern many topics, such as friendship and morality, and some are copied from previously published works, including William Cowper's "The Task," C.D. Stuart’s "Three Angel-Spirits," and the anonymous "Good Wishes."

• United States scenery
  • Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia)
  • Mouth of the St. Croix River
  • Kaaterskill Falls (New York)
  • New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Brown's Fall, Minnesota
• Biblical Scenes
  • Jerusalem
  • Mountains of Moab
  • Land of Uz
  • "Moses Found"

The New England family travel photograph album contains approximately 600 photographs that document the domestic life and foreign travels of an unidentified husband and wife couple from suburban Boston during the first decade of the 20th-century.

The New England family travel photograph album contains approximately 600 photographs that document the domestic life and foreign travels of an unidentified husband and wife couple from suburban Boston during the first decade of the 20th-century. The album (28.5 x 36 cm) has pebbled black leather covers with “Photographs” stamped in gold on the front. By and large, images are presented chronologically and many have extensive captions which mainly identify the locations pictured as well as certain individuals. It appears that many image captions were cut and pasted from white paper and added on top of pre-existing faded captions that had been written directly on the album pages. Some images that show people of African descent have subtly derogatory captions. Photographs showcasing the family’s domestic life include pictures of annual spring blooms in their backyard; friends and family; various domestic activities including interacting with pet cats; and regional outings such as visits to Mt. Washington, Point of Pines nature park in Revere, Massachusetts, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier's birthplace in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

In the summer of 1905, the couple travelled to Montreal and up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and beyond, resulting in the production of nearly ten pages of photographic highlights (pgs. 7-16). Later that summer, they also took photographs while vacationing in the Lake Sebago region of Maine with friends whom they later visited in Providence, Rhode Island (pgs. 16-20, 22). A visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, and Beauvoir, Mississippi, in December of 1906 is also documented (pgs. 30-37). In 1907 the couple undertook a period of extensive international travel beginning with a trip to England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, and France (pgs. 38-57). A second visit to Quebec in September 1907 is briefly represented (pgs. 57-58), while a series of pictures from a trip to St. Augustine, Florida, in April 1908 are also included (pgs. 59-62). Photographs related to two separate tours of the Caribbean and Central/South America in July and August of 1908 and March of 1909 make up a substantial portion of the album (pgs. 63-103); images from the first tour mainly include scenes from Caribbean islands such as St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, and Barbados as well as British Guiana, while images from the second trip include scenes from Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Panama, Venezuela, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Also present are several commercially-produced photographs, including a number of panoramic views, showing scenes from Mexico (pgs. 104-111). The majority of images taken during the couple’s travels consist of typical sightseeing photographs showing important cultural landmarks and historic buildings as well as street scenes, methods of transportation, and local people and industries. Throughout the album there are also numerous photographs taken aboard various transport vessels mid-voyage.

A few noteworthy historical events are minimally represented by photographs in this album, such as the January 15 1905 Washington Street Baptist Church fire in Lynn, Massachusetts (pgs. 2 & 3); the Quebec Bridge a few weeks after its collapse on August 29 1907 (pg. 57); the Great Chelsea Fire of 1908 (pg. 59); Panama Canal construction in 1909 (pgs. 87-89); long distance views of the site of the village of St. Pierre, Martinique, which was decimated by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pelée on May 8 1902 (pg. 80); and the wreck of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor (pg. 179). Individuals identified by captions throughout the album include Dr. Robert L. Bartlett (pgs. 4 & 89); “Miss Morse” (pg. 5); Stanley and Donald Clauss of Providence, Rhode Island (pgs. 17, 19 & 22); Hattie English, Lizzie English, “Mrs. Boynton,” and “Miss Lord” (pg. 19); Samuel Pickard (pg. 20); Jessie Pauline Whitney (pg. 21); "Mr. Little" (pgs. 19 & 22); William Rhodes (pg. 26); Maud Burdett (pgs. 38 & 58); George C. Hardin (pg. 74); Dr. Selah Merrill, American Consul in British Guiana (pg. 80); "Mrs. Parker" (pg. 85); and Hermann Ahrensburg (pg. 91). Other images of interest include a couple of photographs showing United States cavalrymen at camp in Lakeville, Massachusetts (pg. 2); a multiple exposure photograph showing the wife and other women (pg. 22); four photos showing a group of women that appear to be associated with a possible Masonic organization with the acronym “O.E.O.T.” (pg. 23); two photos of local boys diving in St. Lucia (pg. 72); a picture of a school for natives in St. Thomas where students were supposedly fined 10 cents a day for being absent (pg. 82); photos from Kingston, Jamaica, showing women working on a railroad and men operating a hand-made sugar mill (pg. 86); a group portrait of a baseball team in Venezuela (pg. 92); photos of the natural asphalt deposit Pitch Lake in Trinidad (pgs. 94 & 95); and photographs showing people with Brownie box cameras (pgs. 82 & 103).

The Oliver-Bonnell collection is made up of 20 letters, documents, printed items, one notebook, and miscellany. They pertain to the family of Paul Ambrose Oliver (1796-1849), his son Paul Ambrose Oliver, Jr. (1830-1912), and Adelaide Bonnell, niece of Paul A. Oliver, Jr. Of particular note are six letters by Paul A. Oliver, Jr., Pennsylvania gunpowder manufacturer, during his education in Germany in 1846, while conducting business in New Orleans in 1852, and from Oliver's Mills in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, between 1883 and 1891.

Please see the box and folder listing below for details about each item in the collection.