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

The John Simcoe papers are a miscellaneous collection of letters and documents pertaining to Loyalist Colonel Simcoe's career as an officer during the American Revolution and as Governor of Upper Canada (1792-1796).

The John Simcoe papers are a miscellaneous collection of letters and documents pertaining to Colonel Simcoe's military career in the British Army during the American Revolution and his post-war life. The collection contains letters between Col. Simcoe and a variety of correspondents. Most prominent are 23 letters from General Sir Henry Clinton, dated 1782-1792; letters and documents related to the Queen's Rangers, including military orders and returns, dated 1774-1799; nine letters from Col. Henry Caldwell regarding a monument to General James Wolfe, dated 1802-1804; and letters between Simcoe and George Hammond, the first British minister to the United States. Several unofficial documents relate to Simcoe's advancement and the disposal of his Canadian estates. Other miscellaneous letters and documents include one by Margaret Graves, in which she defends the conduct of her husband, Admiral Samuel Graves, in Boston before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.

The collection contains one "Memorandum Book," which is made up of copies of letters and military orders written for Simcoe by his Secretary, Major Edward Baker Littlehales, dated 1792-1793. Maps from the Simcoe papers have been transferred to the Map Division, including several attributed to John's wife, Elizabeth Simcoe. An unsigned commonplace book and a selection of literary drafts (including one for Simcoe's publishedRemarks on the travels of the Marquis de Chastellux in North America, 1787) and fragments of other works complete the Simcoe papers

This volume (7.5"x6") contains John Greenwood's memoirs about his experiences during the Revolutionary War (approximately 163 pages) and about his family and personal life (17 pages). During the war, Greenwood was a fife player with a Massachusetts regiment and served on privateers and other vessels in the Caribbean Sea. He originally composed his Revolutionary War memoirs in 1809; this item is a later copy made by his son Clark.

This volume (7.5"x6") contains John Greenwood's memoirs about his experiences during the Revolutionary War (approximately 163 pages) and about his family and personal life (17 pages). During the war, Greenwood was a fife player with a Massachusetts regiment and served on privateers and other vessels in the Caribbean Sea. Greenwood originally composed his Revolutionary War memoirs in 1809; this item is a later copy made by his son Clark.

After a brief note by Clark Greenwood, who transcribed his father's memoirs, the main narrative opens with John Greenwood's brief account of his early years in Boston and in Portland, Maine, and of the unrest that eventually led to the American Revolution (5 pages). Pages 5-51 consist of Greenwood's detailed recollections about playing the fife in a Massachusetts regiment in the Continental Army, and about his experiences in the military. After page 51, the memoirs focus on the interception of British ships in the Caribbean Sea, during which time Greenwood was captured as a British prisoner of war. In addition to his wartime experiences, he also briefly recounted some stories of his postwar life, such as the beginning of his dental practice (pp. 85-89). The remaining parts of the volume include a note by a Greenwood family member who had recently read the memoirs (January 11, 1894), and an additional 17-page autobiographical account by John Greenwood.

The John G. Spencer collection contains diaries and incoming correspondence of Spencer, a storekeeper in Pennsylvania, on political and business topics.

The John G. Spencer papers contain four letters and two diaries, spanning 1827-1855. The incoming letters date from 1844-1855 and are from friends and colleagues. They mainly concern Spencer's political activities and allegiance. The first letter invites Spencer and other members of the Oxford Clay Club to a pole-raising (September 24, 1844). Two other letters concern Spencer's involvement with political newspapers; one from "J. Brown" requests that Spencer enroll subscribers for the Intelligencer (August 6, 1850) and the other requests several issues of the "Clay Banner", which the writer [Eqi] Justice believed Spencer owned. In the final letter in the collection, Robert Beans advocated a strong antislavery stance in answer to an apparent inquiry by Spencer (September 26, 1855).

The collection's two diaries cover October 30, 1827 to November 23, 1827 and February 27, 1834 to mid-February 1836. The first is a 16-page travel diary entitled "Memorandum of a Voyage to the Falls of Niagara in the Autumn of 1827." In it, Spencer documented his observations on the falls themselves, as well as the places he visited during the journey. On New York City, he noted, "It exceeds Phila. in commercial business, but falls short of it in respect to neatness and elegance" (October 31). He also described rides on several steamboats, and the types of settlements and wildlife he encountered at various stops. After arriving at Niagara Falls on November 9, he gave an account of standing 10 feet from the waterfall, of walking around Devil's Hole, and of an evening trip to a Tuscarora Indian village, where he noted the industriousness of the women. On his return to Pennsylvania, he described travels through Ithaca and Owego. When he arrived home, he observed that the people he met "appear to be ardently engaged in the pursuit of wealth" (November 23, 1827).

The second diary contains scattered entries over a period of approximately two years. It begins with Spencer's marriage to Elizabeth Fetter on February 27, 1834, and his comments upon "giv[ing] up the gay and giddy pleasures of youth for the more solid and mature joys of the married state." Other early entries describe social visits, work in a store, agricultural activities, and health concerns. In the later part of the diary, he described local elections (June 6, 1835) and business activities, including going into business for himself (March 7, 1835).

The John H. Dixon diary provides a day-in-the-life account of a young man, trying to establish himself in Indiana, in 1861. Dixon described his move from Ohio to Indiana and his daily activities working as an itinerant laborer.

The John H. Dixon diary is a 4"x2¾", 142-page leather-bound journal. The diary opens with Dixon's trip from Tuscarawas County, Ohio, to Daviess County, Indiana, from September 5-24, 1861. He made the journey with a group of westward migrants, though he rarely mentioned his companions. Dixon noted each county through which they passed, the terrain, and the food they ate. He often slept in hay or in his wagon and ate in taverns when he could. He also noted when they set off each day (they rested on Sundays) and when they stopped for breakfast and dinner.

The next set of entries, starting on September 25, 1861, is entitled: "An account to things common and general, that may take place during my stay in Indiana." Dixon recorded his daily work activities as a laborer (building and painting houses, maintaining carriages, caring for horses, chopping wood, husking corn, and making apple butter) and his social life (talking, singing, attending a prayer meeting at a United Brethren church, and writing letters). He spent most of his time in and around Clarksburg and Washington, Indiana. On October 1, 1861, Dixon applied for a teaching certificate, for which he was asked to read and write, and was quizzed on geography and grammar. The journal ends with a 7-page "true and correct history" of his life from September 5-October 31, 1861. In these pages, Dixon stated his plans to send this diary back to his friends in Ohio to "keep it to remember me when I am dead and gone."

Dixon often worked with Esrom Redman of Madison, Indiana. When work was slow, Dixon washed dishes, swept the floor, and tended the horses. He spent much of his social time with a man named Clark. His diary entries provide a day-in-the-life account of a young man, trying to establish himself in Indiana, in 1861.

The John Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur collection contains one copybook of official certificates, endorsements, and testimonies, and three original documents, used to prove his children's inheritance rights to his French estate.

The John Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur collection contains one copybook of official certificates, endorsements, and testimonies, and three original documents, used to prove his children's inheritance rights to his French estate. Crèvecoeur needed to provide documentation to the French government, because his children were born in America to a protestant American mother, and because he and his wife were married outside the Catholic Church.

The volume (147 pages) was assembled in 1786 with documents translated from the original English by Monsieur de Lisle. The volume opens with a table of contents that lists 47 documents, though the volume only contains the first 24 items. Pages 1-78 are primarily English language documents, and pages 79-140 are the French translations of these documents. Several documents, such as nos. 12 and 14, were originally in French and not translated into English. Crèvecoeur petitioned the French Consul General with copies of marriage and baptism records along with notarized accounts and public endorsements attesting to his children's legitimacy. Contributors included New York Governor George Clinton; clerk official of Orange County, New York, Thomas Moffat; the politician and jurist Robert R. Livingston; Mayor of New Haven Roger Sherman; Revolutionary War Colonel Jesse Woodhull; and numerous other notaries and officials from New York and Connecticut. Friends also offered testimony and accounts of the Crèvecoeur marriage, such as item 15, which contains letters from Dorothy and Verdine Elsworth, mentioning Crèvecoeur's wife in 1776.

The collection holds 3 original items with signatures and wax seals. The first two items are labeled No. 16 and No. 12, corresponding with document numbers in the copybook, and dated February 11, 1784, and February 5, 1785, respectively. Both are in French. The first document is an official copy of Crèvecoeur's commission as diplomat to New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The second item is a two-page document concerning the citizenship of Crèvecoeur's two sons. The third item, April 10, 1790, is a four-page document with an English translation, certifying that William Alexander St. John, Crèvecoeur's 17-year-old son, is an American citizen.

This collection includes 2 letters that Lieutenant Colonel John Herries wrote to Charles Herries while serving with the 102nd Regiment of Foot in Canada during the War of 1812, as well as a later manuscript service record.

This collection includes 2 letters (7 pages) that Lieutenant Colonel John Herries wrote to Colonel Charles Herries while serving with the 102nd Regiment of Foot in Canada during the War of 1812, as well as a later manuscript service record (1 page).

Herries wrote his first letter (4 pages) from Moose Island, Passamaquoddy Bay, on October 30, 1814, and his second letter (3 pages) from St. John, New Brunswick, on August 5, 1815. Herries reflected on his military activities and reported recent war news, such as the Royal Navy's defeat at Lake Champlain in September 1814. Herries described New Brunswick as a "rascally country," and noted that its main population consisted of pioneers. In his second letter, he reported that he had read about the Duke of Wellington's victory at Waterloo. The final item is a manuscript document that provides details about Herries's military career, which included service in India, Europe, and North America. The record was compiled after his death; according to the docket, the document was "Read 12/2 51."

The John H. Graham journals record Graham's experiences as a student at the University of Mississippi as the Civil War began, as well as Graham's service with the 11th Mississippi Infantry in 1862.

The Graham journals cover two non-continuous periods. The first contains an excellent record of the first months of 1861, when Graham was a sophomore at the University of Mississippi. Unusually literate and passionate, Graham depicts himself very much in the image of the southern gentleman whose personal honor is at stake in the war. He is moral and religious, but not strongly moralizing, and he writes with a style and intensity that make excellent reading. Though covering only a brief four months, the journal provides an excellent sense of how the University community became caught up in the emotions of the early secession, forming not only the University Grays, but the Lamar Rifles and other militia units. The standard high jinks of student life in the 19th century seem to have been somewhat accentuated by the political tensions.

Graham's second journal includes an account of his service from the winter doldrums of 1861-62 through the unrelenting summer campaigns of 1862. The entries are brief, but occasionally very informative, and he includes useful accounts of the Battles of Fair Oaks, Mechanicsville, Gaines Mills, Malvern Hill, and skirmishes in the 2nd Bull Run Campaign. His descriptions of forced marches through miserable conditions provide a soldier's perspective on just how much the average soldier endured in achieving the efficiency and mobility for which the Army of Northern Virginia was known. Graham's description of the regiment's camps are somewhat limited, but there is a pervasive sense of the support that Confederate troops felt in northern Virginia in his accounts of wandering away from camp into the fields and homes of Virginians. The journal ends in mid-September, 1862, shortly before Antietam. A note dated January, 1863, indicates that Graham returned to the life of a bachelor on his plantation in Clarke County, but a small number of entries dated between August, 1863, and January, 1864, indicates that he had returned to active mounted service. The journal also includes several pages of quotations and notes on Shakespearian plays made at a later time.

The John H. Griffith collection contains letters and documents pertaining to Griffith's time as a surgical technician in the United States Army during World War II and to his life in Bologna, Italy, as a Rotary Fellow from 1951-1952. Much of the collection consists of Griffith's wartime correspondence with his parents.

The John H. Griffith collection contains letters and documents pertaining to Griffith's time as a surgical technician in the United States Army during World War II and to his life in Bologna, Italy, as a Rotary Fellow from 1951-1952. Much of the collection consists of Griffith's wartime correspondence with his parents.

The Correspondence series (344 items) relates to Griffith's life in Ann Arbor before the war, his service in the United States Army Medical Department, and his experiences in Europe as a research fellow in Bologna, Italy. Griffith addressed the majority of his correspondence to his parents, Leon and Amelia Griffith of Vicksburg, Michigan; Griffith also wrote to his younger siblings, Richard ("Dick") and Helen. His earliest letters document his life as a freshman at the University of Michigan. One letter contains newspaper clippings pertaining to a convoy trip taken by a University of Michigan student (December 6, 1942); several letters to Griffith's father from the university offer congratulations on Griffith's academic record.

After he was drafted in 1944, Griffith wrote to his parents about army life, documenting his service at Camp Bowie in Texas; Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia; and Moore General Hospital in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Enclosures include newsletters from Camp Bowie (April 29, 1944; May 6, 1944) and an "Organization Day" flyer from Lawson General Hospital (July 2, 1944); one letter contains a diagram of a battlefield (June 8, 1944).

Griffith remained in the United States with the 86th Evacuation Hospital and the 134th Evacuation Hospital until the latter was deployed overseas in January 1945. His later letters, some of which have been censored, pertain to army life during the closing stages of combat in the European Theater. Griffith described postwar Germany and "the constant dribble of slave laborers leaving the Reich" (April 20, 1945). He wrote 1 letter to his grandfather in German, remarking on the beauty of the German countryside (April 28, 1945).

After the war, Griffith returned to the United States; he resumed his correspondence in August 1951, when he related his experiences traveling throughout Europe and living in Bologna, Italy. The collection also contains 2 letters in German to Leon and Amelia Griffith from a relative, "Uncle Chris," in Genkingen, Germany, whom Griffith visited during his travels abroad (December 27, 1951; January 14, 1952).

The Documents series (18 items) contains items related to Griffith's education and World War II service, including a notebook and a certificate for successful course completion at the United States Army Surgical Technician School, Griffith's curriculum vitae, report cards from his elementary and high school studies, and a war ration booklet.

The Photographs series (100 items) contains portraits and landscapes shot in Europe during the war and during the early 1950s. Most items are labeled, and include scenes from postwar Germany.

The Printed Materials series (24 items) contains clippings of Ernie Pyle columns from a Michigan newspaper as well as clippings mentioning Griffith's university scholarship; a copy of The Daily American (November 27, 1951); 2 books for American soldiers, including an "overseas edition" of James Thurber's My World--And Welcome To It; and a program from graduation exercises for the Army's School for Medical Department Technicians.

The Artifacts series contains 2 World War II Army patches, 1 WWII blue star service flag, and a flashlight.

This diary of Corporal John H. Harris concerns his service with the United States Army's 145th Infantry Regiment in France and Belgium during World War I. The volume also contains lists of soldiers' equipment, battles in which Harris participated, and members in his first squad.

The 37-page diary of Corporal John H. Harris concerns his service with the United States Army's 145th Infantry Regiment in France and Belgium during World War I. The volume also contains lists of soldiers' equipment, the battles in which Harris participated, and members of his first squad.

Harris began his diary with a history of his service from his enlistment in the American Expeditionary Forces through his transfer to the 145th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Division. Between June 6 and June 15, 1918, he briefly commented on his travels in the United States, and he mentioned an extended training exercise for trench warfare on June 8, 1918 (p. 2). After sailing to France onboard the Leviathan in mid-June 1918, he described his experiences in active service in France and Belgium. As he traveled, Harris consistently recorded the names of towns and villages and noted that his unit continued to train throughout their time abroad.

Harris often fought in the trenches, and wrote about his experiences during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (September 25-31, 1918, pp. 9-12). The 145th Infantry traveled through France and Belgium after the armistice, and Harris occasionally commented on his accommodations and meals. In early March 1919, he recorded his distaste for camp life near Brest, France (March 5 and March 16, 1919, pp. 27-28). Harris embarked for the United States on the Great Northern on March 26, 1919, and recalled some incidents during the journey, which included a small fire and a strong storm. After his arrival, Harris was stationed near New York City and in Ohio. He wrote his final entry on April 23, 1919, after his discharge and arrival in Akron, Ohio.

• List of battles in with Corporal John H. Harris participated during World War I (1 page)
• Inventory of United States Army soldiers' clothing (1 page)
• List of items that John H. Harris carried in his pack during World War I (3 pages)
• Illustration showing the layout of soldier's pack during an inspection near Le Mans, France, ca. 1919 (1 page)
• List of men in Corporal John H. Harris's first squad (1 page)

This collection is made up of around 70 incoming letters to John H. Hunt of Sag Harbor, New York. Hunt's correspondents primarily wrote about their daily lives in Brooklyn, New York, and Chicago, Illinois, though they also commented on politics, marriage, religion, and business.

This collection is made up of around 70 incoming letters to editor John H. Hunt of Sag Harbor, New York. Hunt's correspondents primarily wrote about their daily lives in Brooklyn, New York, and Chicago, Illinois, though they also commented on politics, marriage, religion, and business.

Hunt's most frequent correspondents were G. H. Gleason, W. Henry Seely, and D. Lansing Lambert; he also received 3 letters from his brothers and a late series of letters from Benjamin F. Huntting. Gleason, Seely, and Lambert requested news from Sag Harbor and often referred to mutual acquaintances. The bulk of the correspondence concerns their daily lives and, to a lesser extent, their economic fortunes, particularly during the mid-1850s. W. H. Seely, who worked in Chicago, complained about the unfavorable economic climate in the West, and briefly considered joining a friend who had moved to Bolivia to pursue a business opportunity (November 28, 1857). Seely also commented on his religious views, and others mentioned their involvement with Sabbath schools or prayer meetings. During the summer of 1856, letter writers mentioned the upcoming election, and most reported their intention to vote for John C. Frémont. Hunt's correspondents occasionally provided their opinions about marriage and shared news of recent unions. In multiple letters, D. Lansing Lambert mentioned his "wife," whom he revealed to be a young man and a close acquaintance (May 28, 1856). He enclosed an explicit broadside in his letter of October 19, 1857, titled To Lovers of Horizontal Refreshments, which provides a list of services offered by a brothel.