Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Tecumseh, Michigan, builder; account books and miscellaneous family papers.

The collection consists of account books of Salmon Crane's business activities, including a ledger previously used for the accounts, 1838-1841, of Spafford and Smith, Tecumseh merchants, and as day book, 1857-1858, of the Tecumseh Herald newspaper. In addition, there are miscellaneous papers of Crane's sons, Theodore H. and Eugene W. Crane, both soldiers in Co. E, 18th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. Other family members represented in the collection include Charles S. and Verner B. Crane. Photographer Walker Evans was the great-grandson of Salmon Crane.

A diary (Jan. 1, 1862-Apr. 30, 1863) kept while he was serving in Company D, 9th Michigan Infantry as corporal and sergeant (1861-1864), mostly in Tennessee. The brief entries tell of guard and picket duty and other daily activities in camp and on the march, of an occasional skirmish with the enemy, the weather, and church attendance. He also describes the battlefield of Stones River. Also includes miscellaneous papers relating to his military service and an address to the Grange, ca. 1870.

Ten letters written while he was serving in Company D, 9th Michigan Infantry, September 1864-June 1865, Most of the letters are written from Chattanooga. He tells of cutting logs to build shanties; of voting in the regiment (with 500 out of 506 votes cast for Lincoln); and of drilling new recruits. He likes soldiering in fair weather, but five men in a small cloth tent on rainy days have to keep jokes going to be happy. The camp on the banks of the Tennessee River was a pleasant place for watching steamboats and trains. On November 18 he went on detached service guarding prisoners. One prisoner was shot for disobeying orders, but he himself had no trouble with the about 200 prisoners in the camp. In January he remarked that "full rations is something I have not seen since I have been down here." Though costly, they sometimes bought butter, cheese, cakes, pies, and sometimes were given soft bread instead of hard tack. He tells of a Negro regiment doing picket duty for a white regiment. He hopes some of the men back home get caught in the draft soon to take place. The weather is cold with rain and snow, but the boys are well. In February he and a friend built a shanty with a bed and a fireplace. They took turns getting dinner-eggs, sausages, meat, bread, butter, coffee. Ninety new recruits arrived in camp. They had a great time February 20th when guns were fired. "Then all the locomotives and steamboats and mills and furnaces and everything that could make a noise set up a whistle for about 10 minutes. There was quite a howl in the city of Chattanooga." In April they were in Nashville. They had news of Lee's surrender, and there was "tall canonading to celebrate."

Letters describing his war-time activities as a first lieutenant and later a captain; includes details about the battles of Stone's River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, as well as the sieges of Kennesaw Mountain and of Atlanta. He expresses admiration for Generals Rosecrans and Thomas, tells of transporting prisoners and deserters, describes a hanging, and defines the Legion of Honor. Also contains some papers concerning his wife Lottie Langdon Conely's family and two Civil War letters to Lottie from David P. Ingraham (from Brooklyn, Mich.), a lieutenant and captain in Co. A, Ninth Michigan Cavalry, who tells about celebrating the Fourth of July and Christmas, and describes the Tennessee mountains. Includes unidentified photos of a beach party and bicyclists.

The Conant Family papers trace several generations of the Conant family in Van Buren Township, Wayne County and Salem Township, Washtenaw County. The collection contains Civil War correspondence, general family correspondence spanning a period of 130 years, warranty deeds regarding the Conant farmstead, genealogical research, photographs and negatives.

The Conant Family papers cover the period between 1833 and 2001. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, warranty deeds, land documents, financial statements, newspaper clippings, genealogical research, photographs and negatives. The collection has the following series: Family, Land and Finances, Genealogy, and Visual Material.

Primarily consists of fifty letters (1862-1864) written to his wife, Elise, while Comte was serving in Company C, 5th Michigan Cavalry. Many of the letters are written in a humorous vein as he tells of camp life, food, army clothing, picket duty, scouting and bushwhackers. He is much in earnest as he expresses his attitude toward slavery, foraging from destitute Southern families, and re-enlisting. There is an account of the battle of Gettysburg and the casualties among Michigan regiments, and also of Williamsport and Falling Waters where four Michigan cavalry regiments engaged eight infantry regiments of Lee's retreating army. Also includes a marriage certificate, miscellaneous items, and photographic portraits (tintype original and copy print).

Pension papers and other materials concerning his military service; also letter from Lieutenant Charles D. Todd (located near Blaines Cross Roads, Tenn.) about sending Comstock's body home to Adrian, Michigan, from Knoxville, Tennessee, and miscellaneous papers of Lucia Comstock.

Correspondence (1865-1901), with letters about his Civil War activities (including one written on Dec. 29, 1861 from Camp Lebanon to his parents, which contains a description of his quarters and the accidental burning of his tent); also a record of labor accounts, 1872-1875, military service papers and miscellaneous election tickets and campaign ribbons. Correspondents include: Charles M. Croswell and Fred M. Warner.

Twelve letters (1862-1865) written to his sister while he was serving in Company I, 3rd Michigan Cavalry. The chief items of interest are a secondhand account of the battle of Corinth; the skirmish at Holly Springs; the "Gallant charge on the log heaps"; guerrilla warfare; characterization of General Sherman; criticism of officers and chaplains; and a description of the camp at Brownsville, Ark.

Eleanor (Norcross) Claus (1882-1962) was a Tipton, Michigan resident. The collection consists of photographs of a Civil War monument in a Lenawee County (Mich.) cemetery.

The collection consists of photographs, taken by Russell A. Spalding, of a Civil War monument in a Lenawee County, Michigan, cemetery.