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

The Cushing family collection is made up of correspondence, financial records, and other items pertaining to the family and descendants of Boston merchant Hayward P. Cushing.

The Cushing Family collection is made up of correspondence, financial records, and other items pertaining to the family and descendants of Boston merchant Hayward P. Cushing, including his son, Hayward W. Cushing.

The Correspondence series (124 items) is primarily made up of incoming letters to Hayward P. Cushing, Maria Peirce Cushing, and Hayward W. Cushing. The first item is a letter to Betsy Barber in Epping, New Hampshire (May 9, 1790).

Hayward P. Cushing received personal and professional letters from family members and business acquaintances from 1828-1870. His brother Nathaniel wrote of his life in Brooklyn and Grand Island, New York, in the 1830s and 1840s; one letter concerns his journey to Grand Island on the Erie Canal (August 9, 1835). Jane Cushing, Hayward and Nathaniel's sister, discussed her life in Scituate, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. Sophia Cushing, Hayward's cousin and his most frequent correspondent, reported on her financial difficulties, thanked him for his assistance, and shared news from Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Hayward P. Cushing received letters from his wife Maria while she vacationed in Maine, and from his daughter Florence. His business correspondence includes a letter about the sale of the brig Ann Tyler (January 23, 1858).

Maria Peirce Cushing's earliest incoming letters are courtship letters from Hayward P. Cushing, her future husband. After the mid-1850s, he wrote to her from Boston, Massachusetts, while she vacationed in Scituate, Massachusetts, and Frankfort, Maine. He provided news about his life and their children. Maria's sister Caroline discussed her life in Bridgeport, Maine, and a cousin named Abby described her life in Boston. In the mid-1870s, the Cushings' daughters Florence and Jenny wrote to their mother about their courses, textbooks, and experiences at Vassar College.

The final group of dated correspondence consists of incoming letters to Hayward Warren Cushing, including news from Massachusetts medical organizations operating in the 1880s and a series of 10 letters by his wife Martha, who described her trip to Europe in 1928. She discussed her transatlantic voyage and Mediterranean cruise on the Canadian Pacific ship SS Empress of Scotland, as well as her experiences in countries including Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, Turkey, Italy, Israel, Egypt, Monaco, France, and England. She enclosed a postcard from Naples, Italy, in one of her letters.

Undated correspondence includes additional letters to members of the Cushing family, as well as picture postcards showing French surgeons, statues, and buildings.

The Journals and Notebooks series consists of 2 items. Florence M. Cushing kept a diary while visiting London from January 2, 1880-January 18, 1880. Her sightseeing excursions included trips to the British Museum, National Gallery, Windsor Castle, and Westminster Abbey. The notebook contains recipes, instructions, and scientific notes compiled by Hayward W. Cushing. Entries about building animal traps and tying knots are accompanied by explanatory illustrations. Other topics include medicinal formulas and chemistry, instructions for making types of ink (including invisible inks), and lists of items used on camping trips.

The Financial papers series is comprised of account books, receipts, and other records related to members of the Cushing and Peirce families.

• An appraisal of Hayward Peirce's estate in Scituate, Massachusetts, recorded in March 1827, with two sections listing the value of his personal property and transactions involving his land.
• H. M. Peirce's record of purchases, primarily of school supplies, from May 1834-April 1835. A printed notice about the estate of Silas Peirce is laid into the volume (May 21, 1920).
• Nathaniel Cushing's account book, pertaining to transactions with Nathan Cushing, from whom he primarily purchased groceries between October 1853 and August 1861.
• Hayward P. Cushing's account book concerns shares that he and Jane Cushing owned in railroad companies and banks (July 1849-July 1855). Additional financial notes relate to the settlement of related financial accounts.
• Account book recording Maria P. Cushing's investments and dividends (October 1870-January 1894); she received income from the estate of Silas Peirce, Sr., among other sources.

The Receipts, Checks, and Accounts (over 300 items) are arranged by person and company; each group of items is arranged chronologically. Nathaniel Cushing materials pertain to board, taxation, food, and other miscellaneous expenses. The Cushing, Hall, and Peirce documents concern financial affairs, including stock and bond investments. The group of items related to Hayward W. Cushing includes a large number of personal checks from many different banks, as well as additional accounts and documents. Among the financial papers related to Hayward P. Cushing is a receipt for Jane Cushing's board at the McLean Asylum for the Insane (December 31, 1869). The series contains additional accounts and financial records.

The Documents series (20 items) is made up of legal and financial contracts related to business partnerships, estates, and land ownership. The final item is an "Apple Pest Survey in Worcester County" for 1929-1931 (April 15, 1932).

The Drawings (3 items) are architectural drawings of methods for dropping masts (February 25, 1888), several floor plans (1919-1931), and an overhead view of an orchard (undated).

The Printed Items and Ephemera series includes 3 newspapers (1800-1864), 2 annual reports of the Boston Lyceum (1838 and 1840); a lecture by Benjamin Scott about the Pilgrims (1866); a reprinted love letter from John Kelly to an unidentified recipient (original 1817; printed in 1892); a group of check tickets from the Pullman Company; a printed calendar for 1870; a facsimile of The New-England Courant from February 1723; calling cards and invitations; and an embroidered piece of cloth.

The Genealogy series (14 items) consists of pamphlets, bulletins, newspaper clippings, and other items related to various members of the Cushing family from the 19th century into the early 20th century.

This collection is made up of the papers of five generations of the Dwight, Willard, Alden, Allen, and Freeman families of the East Coast and (later) U.S. Midwest, between 1752 and 1937. Around 3/4 of the collection is incoming and outgoing correspondence of family members, friends, and colleagues. The primary persons represented are Lydia Dwight of Massachusetts and her husband John Willard, who served in the French and Indian War; Connecticut mother Abigail Willard along with her husband Samuel Alden, who ran an apothecary in Hanover, New Jersey; Allen Female Seminary School alumna and teacher Sarah J. Allen; American Civil War surgeon Otis Russell Freeman; Presbyterian minister and temperance advocate Rev. Samuel Alden Freeman; and prominent public librarian Marilla Waite Freeman. The papers also include diaries and journals, writings, school certificates, military and ecclesiastical documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, advertisements, business and name cards, invitations to events, and brochures for plays and other performances.

The collection is arranged first by family grouping, then by material type. These series roughly reflect the arrangement of the collection when it arrived at the William L. Clements Library.

The Dwight-Willard-Alden Family Papers are comprised of around 250 items, dating between 1752 and 1884. One fifth or so of this grouping is predominantly correspondence between Lydia Dwight/Lydia Dwight Willard, her father, stepmother, siblings, husband, and sons, 1752-1791. These intermarried families were based largely in Sheffield and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The letters include discussions about mending and cleaning clothing; feelings about their father/husband gone to serve in the French and Indian War; putting up a monument to replace faltering graves; the return of Elijah and Col. Williams from the field on account of sickness; coming and going of soldiers; moral and practical advice; teaching and boarding young students during the war; settling into (“no longer free”) married life; the death of Bathsheba Dwight; the meeting of local men in private homes and the training of minute men in Stockbridge; the prolonged case of smallpox experienced by Lydia’s son in 1785; and news of John Willard, Jr.’s admission to Harvard.

The remaining four fifths of this grouping are largely incoming correspondence of Abigail Willard Alden (1771-1832) and her daughter Abigail Alden (1809-1854). Their correspondents were located in Stafford, Connecticut; Hanover and Lancaster, New Hampshire; Lunenburg, Vermont; and elsewhere. They begin with letters from siblings and parents to the newly married Abigail Willard Alden (ca. 1800); Samuel Alden travel letters to New York City; and news of a Stafford doctor named Chandler who had promised marriage to a woman and then fleeced her for $500 before fleeing to parts unknown. A group of letters regard pharmacy matters, the burning of Samuel Willard’s drugstore (January-April 1802), and the state of Anti-Federalists and Federalists in Stafford (1802). A large portion the letters include content on sickness and health, with varying degrees of detail, including several family members sick and dying from measles in 1803. Other topics include Hanover, New Hampshire, gossip on local premarital sex; a debate on whether or not to hire a black female domestic laborer; comments on a local suicide attempt; a young woman deliberating on objections to women spending time reading novels (April 10, 1806); and treatment by a quack doctor. These papers also include two diaries, poetry and essays, two silhouettes, genealogical manuscripts, and miscellaneous printed items.

The Allen Family Papers are largely incoming letters to Sarah Jane Allen prior to her marriage to Samuel A. Freeman (around 300 items), and from her father-in-law Otis Russell Freeman (around 60 items) between 1860 and 1865. An abundance of the letters were written to Sarah while she attended the Allen Female Seminary in Rochester, New York, and afterward when she lived at Honeoye Falls, New York. They include letters from her parents, cousins, friends, and siblings. A sampling suggests that the bulk are letters by young women attempting to eke out a life for themselves through seminary education, teaching, and domestic labor. Among much else, they include content on Elmira Female Seminary, New York state travel, and female friendship and support.

The Otis Russell Freeman letters date between 1862 and 1865, while he served as a surgeon in the 10th and 14th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. He wrote about the everyday camp life with a focus on the health and sickness of the soldiers. His letters include content on the defenses of Washington, D.C., fighting at Cold Harbor and outside Richmond, Virginia, the surrender of Robert E. Lee, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln's body lying in state at Jersey City. Two carte-de-visite photographs of Otis Freeman are present.

A diary kept by Sarah J. Allen began on the day of her marriage, September 26, 1865, documents her honeymoon to Niagara Falls. It ends in November 1865. The remainder of the volume is filled with recipes for baked goods, pickles, and other foods. The printed items include ephemera from Sarah Jane Allen’s tenure at Elmira Female College five issues of the Callisophia Society’s newspaper The Callisophia (vol. 1, nos. 1, 3-6; March/April 1860-January/February 1861), as well as a Catalogue of Books in Callisophia Library, December 1862.

The Samuel Alden Freeman Family Papers include approximately 300 largely incoming letters to Presbyterian minister S. A. Freeman, plus printed materials, ephemera, photographs, and bound volumes, dating in the 1810s and from the 1860s to 1880s. Correspondence of his second wife Olive dates from the 1810s in central New York. The collection includes letters to S. A. Freeman from his first wife Sarah, daughter Abigail Alden Freeman (1873-1925), and Sara Harriet Freeman (1879-1946). These materials include courtship correspondence of Sarah Jane Allen and S. A. Freeman. A considerable portion relates to Presbyterianism and at least one temperance society pledge sheet is present. Approximately 50 photographs, about half of them identified, are largely of Samuel A. Freeman and the Freeman daughters Marilla and Abigail. Among the printed ephemeral items are advertisements for programming at Corinthian Hall (probably Rochester, New York), items related to a Sunday School Association (including a printed broadside catalog of books at a N.J. Sunday School), and pamphlets on Presbyterianism. A medicinal recipe book from the mid-19th century and a commonplace book of poetry are examples of the S. A. Freeman family bound volumes.

The collection concludes with letters, photographs, ephemera, and printed items comprising the Marilla Waite Freeman Papers. Around 600 letters are largely incoming to public librarian M. W. Freeman from female educators and librarians. They discussed their profession, books, reading, and intellectual topics. A small clutch of letters, about three dozen manuscript and typed poems, and a dozen or more newspaper clippings, 1900s-1910s, comprise poet Floyd Dell’s contributions to the collection. Marilla also corresponded with poets and writers Margaret Todd Ritter, Robert Frost and Mrs. Frost, and Marie Bullock about public and private recitations and lectures. Examples of subjects covered by the printed materials include orations, educational/school/college items, library-related items, newspapers and clippings, fliers, women's clubs, New York City theater, the American Library Association, Poetry Society of America, poems by various authors, such as Ina Robert and John Belknap, visiting and business cards, and travel.

This collection is made up of approximately 160 items related to the Hillard family and Low family of New York and Boston, including correspondence, documents, photographs, poetry, ephemera, and pamphlets. Family members wrote around one-third of the approximately 110 letters and typescripts, as well as 35 pages from a letter book, while living and working in China in the mid-1800s. Other letters and additional materials concern the families' social and business lives in New York and Massachusetts throughout the 19th century. The families were related by marriage.

This collection contains approximately 155 items related to the Hillard family and Low family of New York and Boston, including correspondence, documents, photographs, poetry, ephemera, and pamphlets. Family members wrote around one-third of the approximately 110 letters and typescripts, as well as 35 pages from a letter book, while living and working in China in the mid-1800s. Other letters and additional material concern the families' social and business lives in New York and Massachusetts throughout the 19th century. The families were related by marriage.

The Correspondence series contains the following subseries: Manuscript Correspondence, Edward Low Letter Book, and Low Family Typescripts.

The Manuscript Correspondence subseries contains around 100 items related to the Hillard and Low families. "Caroline," a friend of Harriet Low, wrote letters to Harriet in New York City from Macau, China, in 1834 and 1835. Caroline commented on aspects of her life abroad, such as William Napier's arrival from Great Britain and the difficulty of having goods shipped from the United States. Other early correspondence includes personal letters between members of the Low family, who often wrote from Boston about family news and their social lives.

Francis (Frank) A. Hillard wrote 25 letters to his parents and siblings between June 1844 and July 1846, including 2 while traveling onboard the ship Honqua and 23 while living in Canton (now Guangzhou) and Macau, China. He described many aspects of his everyday life and of his career as a merchant, and provided detailed accounts of scenery, people, customs, and local news. He also commented on his experiences as a foreigner living abroad. After returning to the United States and settling in Brooklyn, New York, he corresponded with his brother Oliver, to whom he wrote approximately 30 letters between 1847 and 1853. Frank discussed his mercantile career and social life, which included interactions with members of the Delano family. The bulk of the correspondence ends in 1853.

Abiel Abbot Low wrote 4 letters to his wife Ellen on June 12, 1841, and from June 28, 1845-August 21, 1845. In his first letter, he described his travels in northern New York along the Erie Canal. Low's letter of June 28, 1845, pertains to his transatlantic voyage to Manchester, England, on the Great Western: he discussed his fellow passengers, his leisure activities on the ship, and his reunion with his sister Harriet and her children. The final 2 items (August 16, 1845, and August 21, 1845) concern Low's life in New York City after his return from England; he provided news of acquaintances and briefly mentioned the possibility of war with Mexico.

The subseries contains a letter Frank received from his brother Oliver, who provided news of United States politics (June 9, 1846), a letter from a girl named Hattie to her mother that mentions a sermon by a "Mr. Longfellow" [1864?], and a letter and membership card from the New York State Woman Suffrage Association sent to Mary Loines (September 21, 1895).

The Edward Low Letter Book is comprised of 35-pages of retained copies of letters that Low wrote to various family members, including William Henry and Abiel Abbot, while living in Macau, China, from May to September 1842. He discussed his life and work in China, as well as the Chinese economy and current events.

A group of Low Family Typescripts contains 12 letters exchanged by members of the Low family between 1829 and 1841, accompanied by a table of contents and a letter about the original material, dated 1935. The location of the original letters is unknown. Harriett Low wrote the first 9 letters between 1829 and 1834, while traveling in the Pacific and living in Macau, China. She told her mother and sister of her life onboard steamships and about her loneliness, caused by separation from her family in the United States. The remaining 11 letters include items by Frank and William Henry Low concerning their travels to China and around the Pacific region. They also commented on financial affairs.

The Documents series has 2 subseries: Legal and Financial Documents (5 items) and Passports (2 items). Included are an indenture between John Hillard, Harriet Low, and Seth Low (November 1, 1836); 4 receipts (August 1894-March 9, 1896, and undated); and passports for John Hillard (1842) and George Stillman Hillard (1859). Each passport is housed in a leather wallet.

The Photographs series contains 3 cartes-de-visite of Samuel Stillman and Rebecca Allen Stillman, as well as 3 card photographs of George Stillman Hillard.

Poetry and Other Writings (10 items) are comprised of 3 small poems, including one Francis A. Hillard wrote for his brother Oliver; 1 long poem entitled "The Tale" (27 pages); a preface and notes concerning the preparation of a work on the Low family papers; 3 loose pages and 1 packet of notes; and a 2-page prose draft.

The Genealogy series holds a 25-page document with genealogical information about the Hillard family and associated families.

Printed Items are divided into 3 subseries. Printed Ephemera (4 items) includes an illustrated envelope for the company Fritz and Dean, a business card for John B. Hillard, an image of George S. Hillard, and a bookplate for items bequeathed to the Massachusetts Historical Society by James Savage. The Currency (13 items) was all issued in North America between 1770 and 1780. Three of the four published Pamphlets were written by George Stillman Hillard between 1843 and 1852. The final pamphlet is a copy of "A Clipper Ship and Her Commander" (1924).

The Hopkins family papers contain wide variety of materials relating to the Hopkins family of Vermont and California. A few of the wide variety of topics covered include the Episcopal Church, student life at the University of Vermont, the 1849 Gold Rush and 19th-century life in California, the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, art, and music.

The Hopkins Family papers document the activities of several generations of the Hopkins family of Vermont and California, whose members included prominent 19th century artists, musicians, religious figures, and writers. Among its notable figures are John Henry Hopkins (1792-1868), the first Episcopal bishop of Vermont; John Henry Hopkins, Jr., best known for writing the song "We Three Kings"; and Caspar Hopkins, a writer, early explorer of southern Oregon, and miner and entrepreneur during the California Gold Rush. Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the Hopkins family was the wide extent of their collective talents and experiences. As a result, their collection touches on numerous historical subjects, including the Episcopal Church, the insurance business in California, shipping, Vermont in the 19th century, California during and after the Gold Rush, gothic architecture, classical and religious music, education, and family life during the 19th century. Spanning 1800 to 1932, and comprising four linear feet of material, the collection contains a huge variety of material, including correspondence, documents, printed matter, drawings, manuscript and printed music, photographs, broadsides, pamphlets, monographs, periodicals, and maps.

The Correspondence series contains approximately 400 incoming and outgoing letters, spanning 1824 to 1932, with the bulk concentrated in the years between 1830 and 1890. Caspar Hopkins contributed the largest number of letters to the collection, writing approximately 25%; followed by his brother, John, Jr., (15%); his mother, Melusina (10%); his wife, Almira (5%), and his father, John, Sr., (5%). Caspar wrote frequent letters to his wife and family, and they document many stages of his life, such as his 1849 voyage to California via Mexico and his participation in the Gold Rush as a speculator and businessman, his exploration of the Umpqua River in southern Oregon in the early 1850s, and his career as president of the California Insurance Company in the 1860s through the 1880s. His Gold Rush letters in particular contain incisive comments on the miners he encountered and on their way of life. On October 14, 1850, he wrote a letter to "Friend Clarke," describing frontier conditions, the attitudes of settlers, and the habits of Native Americans in the Klamath River Valley. Many letters also discuss religious and intellectual matters, two areas of interest for Caspar.

Bishop John H. Hopkins' letters span 1831-1866 and contain a great deal of advice to Caspar, as well as his thoughts on religious matters, the Civil War, family affairs, and many other topics. In a few early letters written to Caspar when he was a young man, John described his views on the raising of children and gave advice on being successful (December 11, 1850); he lamented Caspar's lack of interest in the ministry as a career (February 20, 1851). Other letters by the bishop touch on the satisfaction of worship (August 17, 1854), contain pro-South speculation as to the causes of the Civil War (May 28, 1861), and mention his upcoming golden wedding anniversary with Melusina (March 10, 1865). In a letter of August 10, 1866, John addressed Caspar's growing skepticism toward organized religion, urging him to return to the church "to which you and your dear family rightfully belong," despite its "earthly" defects. John Henry Hopkins, Jr., wrote several dozen letters, primarily concerning his experience as a member of the clergy, touching often on pedagogical subjects which ranged from arguments on why Lincoln was a bad president to theological discourses, some even written in Latin. On February 25, 1844, he wrote a particularly good description of student life at the University of Vermont, and bemoaned the "inveterate practice of loafing into each other's rooms in study hours" and "lolling on each other's beds." The Hopkins women are also well-represented among the letter-writers. Melusina Mueller Hopkins, the wife of Bishop Hopkins, wrote numerous letters to Caspar, which include biographical information about Caspar's siblings and father, as well as other family news. Others female writers include Amelia Muller (Melusina's sister), and Caspar's sisters Caroline Hopkins Canfield and Matilda Hopkins Camp.

The Bishop Hopkins' Sermons and Pastoral Letters series contains ten manuscript sermons (including one fragment), two printed sermons, and two printed pastoral letters. The manuscript items note the various dates on which Hopkins read them before his congregation; he frequently performed them multiple times between 1824 and 1862. The printed sermons and pastoral letters all date to the period of 1850-1855. They touch on numerous religious and scriptural themes and shed light on the Episcopal Church in Vermont and Hopkins' own views on morality, the meaning of life, and the role of the church. Many additional items written by Hopkins are housed in the Book Division, and listed under "Additional Descriptive Data."

The Caspar Hopkins' Writings and Documents series contains one linear foot of material, dating from Hopkins' college years (1845-1847) to the end of his life in the 1890s. Containing both manuscript and printed items, it includes four subseries. The General Writings subseries consists of 24 items, including essays that Hopkins wrote for classes at the University of Vermont, several plays, and articles that he wrote on topics as diverse as divorce law, happiness, American government, and the insurance agency. The second subseries, Berkeley Club Writings, contains 16 manuscript essays that Hopkins wrote between 1873 and 1889 for presentation to the social and intellectual organization, the Berkeley Club. They pertain to such topic as evolution, agnosticism, religion in public schools, and marriage and divorce. The Autobiography subseries consists of three copies of Hopkins' self-published biography, written in 1889, which provides biographical information and insightful commentary on himself and various other members of the Hopkins family. The final subseries, Documents, includes three documents relating to Caspar Hopkins dated between 1873 and 1893: a publishing contract, a printed petition, and a will.

The Printed Matter and Clippings series contains miscellaneous printed items related to or collected by members of the Hopkins family, dating ca. 1850 to ca. 1940. The series comprises printed playbills and concert programs, newspaper articles relating to members of the family, and other printed material. It also includes an undated phrenology chart for Caspar Hopkins. Two printed broadsides in this series are housed in the Graphics Division. For more information, see "Separated Materials" under "Additional Descriptive Data."

The Genealogy series contains manuscript and printed information on various lines of the Hopkins family, gathered primarily in the early 20th-century.

The Music series includes manuscript and printed music played or written by various members of the Hopkins family. Among the many items of interest are a volume of music written by Bishop John Hopkins; a set of scores written and copied by Caspar Hopkins while in California, 1861-1865; and two ca. 1800 books of German songs belonging to the sisters of Melusina Mueller, Charlotte and Theresa.

The Art series contains the drawings, sketches, watercolors, and hand-colored botanical paintings produced by Bishop John Hopkins, his mother (Elizabeth Fitzackerly), and his children. Included are six volumes of drawings and watercolors by the bishop, which depict scenes he encountered while traveling in upstate New York in 1825, gothic churches, landscapes, and human hands. Of particular note are nineteen large plates from Hopkins' 1834 Vermont Flower Book, nine of which his children hand-painted, as well as a letter from William Bayard Hopkins, laid into the volume, describing their habit of working together around the dining room table. Also of interest are botanical paintings by Hopkins' mother, Elizabeth Fitzackerly, dating to the late 18th- or early 19th-century.

The Photographs and Maps series includes approximately 50 photographs of various members of the Hopkins family, including John Hopkins, Sr.; Melusina Hopkins; Caspar Hopkins; John Henry Hopkins; Jr.; Frances (Hopkins) Hinckley; William Bayard Hopkins; and various family groups, landmarks, and homes. Formats include cartes de visite, cabinet cards, tintypes, and a glass plate positive. Also present are two large views of San Francisco shortly after the destruction of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The collection also includes three maps, housed in the Map Division. They include an 1849 sketch of San Francisco by Caspar Hopkins; a map of Penobscot County, Maine (ca. 1900); and one of the Union Pacific Railroad and its rail connections (1872). For more information, see "Separated Materials" under "Additional Descriptive Data."

These 3 volumes pertain to the McKelligett family's annual automobile trips from their home in Warren, Massachusetts, to Québec, by way of New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, and Ontario. The scrapbooks contain manuscript descriptions of the family's travels, occasionally accompanied by photographs, maps, and ephemera.

These 3 volumes (approximately 110 pages, 110 pages, and 65 pages, respectively) pertain to the McKelligett family's annual automobile trips from their home in Warren, Massachusetts, to the province of Québec, by way of New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, and Ontario. The scrapbooks contain manuscript descriptions of the family's travels, occasionally accompanied by photographs, maps, and ephemera. The volumes are dated August 17, 1922-August 28, 1922; July 17, 1923-July 29, 1923; and August 14, 1924-August 20, 1924.

Each of the scrapbooks consists primarily of a narrative account of the McKelligetts' daily experiences, including a record of the car's total mileage, daily mileage, daily gas consumption, and daily mileage per gallon of gas. Expenses are recorded at the time of payment and in itemized lists at the end of each volume. The family took different routes each year, but visited some locations on multiple occasions. They attended religious services and celebrations at Catholic churches and cathedrals, including the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré and Saint Joseph's Oratory in Québec, and visited natural landmarks such as the Old Man in the Mountain and Niagara Falls. The author often described the scenery and recorded brief stories about the family's activities, their campsites and hosts, and aspects of local culture, particularly in French-speaking areas. The travelogues also include mentions of encounters with other motorists and car maintenance issues such as flat tires.

Each of the volumes contains a printed map highlighting the McKelligett family's traveling route; the map in the first volume is extended by manuscript line drawings. Photographs include images of family members, their car, campsites, man-made landmarks, and natural scenery; most are personal photographs, though some commercial prints and newspaper clippings are also present. Additional items include souvenir scenes of New York lake regions and Toronto landmarks, a beer label from a Canadian brewery, a ticket for a trip across the Victoria Jubilee Bridge, and a receipt for a speeding ticket.

The Northwest Territory Celebration letters chronicle the daily experiences of a group of re-enactors who traveled from Ipswich, Massachusetts, to Marietta, Ohio, by ox-driven Conestoga wagon and self-made flatboat in 1937-1938 to mark the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Northwest Territory.

The 64 Northwest Territory Celebration letters chronicle the daily experiences of a group of 36 historical reenactors who traveled from Ipswich, Massachusetts, to Marietta, Ohio, by ox-driven Conestoga wagon and self-made flatboat in 1937-1938, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Northwest Territory.

The party produced letters en route almost daily from December 3, 1937-January 20, 1938; weekly from January 20, 1938-March 29, 1938; and almost daily from March 29, 1938-April 7, 1938. These letters were sent to subscriber Fred G. Olson of Fulton, Illinois, and contain reports about towns in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. At some stops, local Boy Scout troops or other groups staged reenacted attacks by Native Americans; at other times, the travelers faced difficulties when crossing snowy landscapes and the Allegheny Mountains. The travelers mentioned their oxen, "Tom" and "Jerry," and other animals, such as horses and dogs. While at West Newton, Pennsylvania, they discussed their efforts to construct 18th-century flatboats for the final leg of their journey (February 10, 1938-March 29, 1938).

The Northwest Territory Celebration Commission authorized the journey, and postage was free. Each of the letters was folded, addressed, and sealed with wax in the style of 18th-century post. The address on each is accompanied by an illustration by party member Milo Scott. The illustrations depict scenes of the journey and of pioneer life.