Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Slatford Bird families were residents of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Correspondence and family papers, including letters, 1851-1853, of John Slatford written from the California gold fields describing his activities.

The Slatford and Bird family papers were collected by Julia Bird Martin, who was the great grand-daughter of Job Slatford and grand-daughter of Jane Slatford Bird. The collection consists of family correspondence from various members of both the Slatford and Bird families. The collection not only relates to family matters, but also includes letters of John Slatford written from the California gold fields, 1851-1853. In addition there are clippings, photographs, postcards, and family memorabilia.

Township record books, 1845-1902; registers of births, 1906-1943; registers of deaths, 1897-1912; poll books, tally sheets, and statement of votes from polls within township; records relating to surveys, repairs, etc. of township roads; reports and compiled statistics pertaining to township schools; property assessment roll books; and other miscellaneous records.

The records of Ann Arbor Township include township record books, 1845-1902; registers of births, 1906-1943; registers of deaths, 1897-1912; poll books, tally sheets, and statement of votes from polls within township; records relating to surveys, repairs, etc. of township roads; reports and compiled statistics pertaining to township schools; property assessment roll books; and other miscellaneous records. The records are organized into nine series:

1. Township Record Books, 1845-1902
2. Registers of Births, 1906-1943
3. Registers of Deaths, 1897-1912
4. Election records
5. Highway Records, 1820s-1920s
6. Treasurer's records, 1830s-1923
7. School Records, 1840s-1930s
8. Miscellaneous, 1827-1920s
9. Assessment Roll Books, 1872-1996

Ann Arbor, Michigan family. Ledger, of Elijah W. Morgan, attorney and businessman, compiled in the 1840's containing his comments and evaluations of business and professional abilities of early businessmen of Washtenaw County, Michigan; correspondence, autobiography, and other miscellaneous business papers and deeds; also correspondence, drawings, and writings of his wife Lucy Stow Morgan, including letter describing life and customs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1831; and other papers of Elijah's parents, including autobiographies of Elisha Morgan and Polly Babcock Morgan.

The Morgan family collection consists primarily of the personal and business papers of Elijah W. Morgan, one of Ann Arbor's pioneer citizens who had a distinguished career as an attorney and banker; letters and other materials of his wife Lucy Stow Morgan; and autobiographies and scattered papers of Elijah's parents, Elisha and Polly Babcock Morgan of Watertown, New York.

The bulk of the collection consists of the personal and business papers of Elijah W. Morgan. This includes correspondence (1821-1889), autobiographical material, essays on religion and temperance, and a large section of business and financial papers generated as a result of his law practice or his various business dealings.

Washtenaw County, Michigan minister, local historian and public official; correspondence, sermons, and collected papers relating to the history of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, Michigan.

Except for a scattering of correspondence and sermon notes, the bulk of the Davis collection relates to the Washtenaw County Pioneer Society and to the history of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. Included is correspondence of Ezra and William S. Maynard, biographies of early pioneers, papers relating to the development of the temperance movement in Washtenaw County, the history of Northfield, Sylvan, and Ypsilanti Townships, Michigan; papers, 1881, concerning the First Congregational Church of Salem Township, Michigan; and papers, 1866, concerning the Ann Arbor Sunday School Convention.

Local historical society for Washtenaw County, Michigan Organizational records and collected historical materials.

The Washtenaw County Historical Society records include collected historical documents and photographs relating to the people, events, and history of the county, its cities and townships. There are also administrative records of the organization, including minutes of meetings, subjects relating to Society programs and projects, and financial miscellanea.

The Pittsfield Township (Washtenaw County, Mich.) records contain school district records for districts 1 through 8 and 8 fractional from 1860-1930, with occasional records dating back to 1830. The collection also contains a wide range of types of township records dealing with assessments, elections, finance, and legal activities, dating from 1832 to 1980. Township Board proceedings (1834-1965, with some gaps) and road records (1835-1887) are also available in digitized versions.

The collection consists of the following series: Pittsfield School Districts records, Miscellaneous Township Responsibilities, Township Administration, Treasurer's records, Assessment Rolls, Tax Rolls, Rolls of Lands Upon Which Taxes Were Unpaid, and Other Assessments.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, resident and local historian. Collected Washtenaw County historical documents and scrapbooks of clippings, programs, photographs, and memorabilia.

The Lucy Chapin collection includes collected letters and manuscripts, most notably papers of James Kingsley, Washtenaw County public figure and member of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. Of great importance are the scrapbooks maintained by Lucy Chapin on the people and events of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. These scrapbooks document life in the nineteenth century from the 1840s to 1900. The volumes include clippings, programs, photographs, and memorabilia.

Sylvan Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan records.

The record group consists of township board records, 1834-1910, justice of the peace docket books, 1885-1925, assessment books, 1859-1886 (with some gaps), minutes of the board of school inspectors, 1866-1894, and records of School District Number 7 records, 1837-1910.

Letters from Lucy Smith to her parents in Vermont describing her life in Michigan (originals and photocopies) and notebook of poetry and personal writings (photocopy); genealogical materials; materials related to Harry Keal, and paper concerning the Orrin White house.

Manchester Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan, farmer. Material concerning farming activities, English's work with the Southern Washtenaw Farmers' Club, local Democratic Party affairs, his work as clerk of the Iron Creek (Manchester Township) Free Will Baptist Church; correspondence; miscellaneous account books of family members, notebooks containing reference information, and reports of the overseer of highways for Manchester Township; and photographs. Correspondence includes a letter from Thomas English of West Virginia, who was formerly an enslaved person. The collection also includes a diary of Lucy English, Albert D. English's sister.

The English collection documents different phases of his life and provides the researcher with material for the study of Manchester, Michigan between 1880 and 1910. In addition to correspondence, the collection includes notebooks containing the newspaper columns on local affairs which English wrote for several county newspapers. There are also 18 "Ready Reference Books" containing lists of local, state, and national political candidates and office holders, Manchester property owners, lists of school teachers and graduates, church leaders, as well as other information gleaned from almanacs and newspapers over the years. Included are also several farm journals of Albert English and his father Benjamin English, and a personal diary and a scrapbook of Albert's sister Lucy English (in marriage, Lucy Simmons). Much of the correspondence files concerns the Free Will Baptist Church. Correspondence includes one letter from Thomas English of West Virginia, a formerly enslaved person, whom Albert English apparently contacted in regard to the family genealogy. There is no record of continued correspondence on this subject.

Ann Arbor, Michigan businessman and surveyor general of the Dakota Territory; correspondence and business papers.

The George D. Hill papers consists of correspondence and financial papers relating to his Ann Arbor business interests and to his service as surveyor general of the Dakota Territory in the 1860s. Some of the additional topics covered in the collection include the Free Homestead Association of Central New York, lumbering activities (1854-1857), the Michigan militia (1858-1861), the removal of President Henry P. Tappan from University of Michigan, and Hill's role in Republican Party politics (1856-1857). Hill numbered among his correspondents Cyrus Aldrich, Henry J. Alvord, Moses K. Armstrong, Kinsley S. Bingham, Philemon Bliss, W. W. Brookings, Walter A. Burleigh, Zachariah Chandler, Frederick W. Curtenius, Mark W. Delahay, Charles H. Dennison, James M. Edmunds, Newton Edmunds, Alpheus Felch, James S. Foster, Orrin N. Giddings, Bradley F. Granger, William Jayne, Whitney Jones, Francis R. Stebbins, Henry P. Tappan, T. J. Townsend, Jerome M. Treadwell, Seymour B. Treadwell, and Benjamin F. Wade.

Physician; member of the first graduating class of the University of Michigan in 1845; papers include journals, correspondence, physician's records.

The Pray collection includes journals, 1844-1849, covering his years as a student at the University of Michigan and in the Medical Department of Western Reserve College, Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, there is correspondence exchanged with his wife, Adele, primarily during the year 1879 when they were separated due to his service in the Michigan House. Other materials of interest include various personal and business account books and record books from his medical practice.

Diary of a young woman who was born 20 April 1838. In 2021, the diary was attributed to Sarah Ruckman. The diary reflects on her personal and religious activities, and describes a fire at the Normal School.

The diary reflects on the woman's personal, family, and religious activities, and describes a fire at the Michigan State Normal School.

Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, Michigan, area family; correspondence, diaries, and other family materials.

The Campbell family collection includes correspondence and other family materials. Items of interest include Civil War correspondence of Gabriel Campbell and John S. Farnill; correspondence, diaries, and teaching materials of William Campbell; personal correspondence of Mary and Sarah (Sadie) Campbell concerning farming, local Republican politics, and school affairs; and printed materials concerning the Free Silver question and the election of 1896. The papers of Robert C. Campbell include diaries and University of Michigan student notebooks. Of interest are the notes he took from the lectures of John Dewey in philosophy, Henry Carter Adams in political economy, Burke A. Hinsdale in pedagogy, Joseph B. Steere in zoology, and A.A. Stanley in music, among other professors. The collection also includes high school notebooks of Carrie Read and E. Mabel Read.

Ypsilanti, Michigan, attorney, Washtenaw County circuit court judge. Papers concerning family history, Masonic activities, and legal interests; also photographs.

The Breakey papers includes personal and professional papers, files relating to his participation in different Masonic organizations, and photographs. Of special note is correspondence exchanged with U.S. Supreme Court Judge Tom C. Clark. There are also notes Breakey made concerning the visit of William Jennings Bryan to Ann Arbor. The photographs include portraits (photos and silhouette) of family members, including William F. Breakey; photos of homes, including the James A. Breakey farm near Cheney, (Crawford County) Michigan; photos of Ann Arbor and University of Michigan buildings; and photos of the Cleary College commencement in 1958.

Carr-Stearns family of Whitehall, Muskegon County, Michigan, and Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, Michigan; family correspondence, including Civil War materials.

The collection includes letters, diaries, and a memoir of Ezra Stearns relating to his Civil War service. There are also letters and other miscellanea of Marvin S. Carr written while a student at Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti, and later as a cadet at the United States School of Military Aeronautics at Champaign, Ill., Dallas, Texas, and Mount Clemens, Michigan during World War I. The photographs in the collection are of the family farm, with some high school photographs made in Whitehall public schools.

Member of the Michigan State Legislature. Personal papers include correspondence, speeches and writings, a scrapbook, and photographs.

The collection has been arranged into a single series of Personal papers. Included are correspondence; two volumes of speeches and other writings concerning prohibition, woman suffrage, and other political and patriotic subjects; scrapbook, family materials, and miscellanea. Within the correspondence, there are collected letters of Michigan Senator Charles E. Townsend, 1913-1914, and a letter from Benjamin R. Tillman concerning smoking in the U.S. Senate. Other correspondents include J. G. Cannon, Secretary of State William J. Bryan, Booker T. Washington, James B. Angell, Frank Knox, Harry B. Hutchins, Charles E. Townsend, and Earl C. Michener.

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

Minutes of executive committee, 1874-2002 (with some gaps); minutes and proceedings of state convention, 1873-1880; financial records; and roster, 1873-1978, of lodges chartered by Michigan Grange, showing date of charter, location and other data; also records of various defunct local granges.

The records of the Michigan State Grange include minutes and proceedings of the state convention, minutes of the executive committee, financial statements; and rosters and applications for membership of individual chapters of the State Grange. Whenever a local chapter ceased operations, its records would be transferred to the State Grange office. The records of some of these defunct chapters make up the bulk of the State Grange record group. Records of local Granges may include minutes of lodge meetings, financial records and membership lists. The local records are listed in the contents list in the order in which they were received they were received from the state office. Two indexes, one by chapter name and the other by chapter number, should be used to locate the records of a particular chapter. The chapter numbers were assigned consecutively as the chapters were organized. Counties represented in these defunct chapters include Alcona, Antrim, Arenac, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Crawford, Emmet, Genesee, Gogebic Hillsdale, Iosco, Jackson, Lenawee, Macomb, Marquette, Menominee, Midland, Monroe, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otsego, Sanilac, Saginaw, Schoolcraft, Shiawassee, Tuscola, Washtenaw, and Wayne.

Another portion of the record group includes materials of W. J. Brake, who was a lecturer for the National Grange and who held office for the State Grange.

Other records of the Michigan State Grange were donated to the University Archives and Historical Collections of Michigan State University. The MSU Archives holds the Grange records from the following counties: Allegan, Barry, Benzie, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Clare, Clinton, Eaton, Grand Traverse, Gratiot, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Leelanau, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, Otsego, Ottawa, Shiawassee, St. Joseph, Van Buren, and Wexford.

Justice, civil and criminal docket books of the first and second districts of Ypsilanti township, Washtenaw County, Michigan.

The docket books are arranged by district and then by category: justice, civil, and criminal.