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

The Bank of Maryland dividend book records dividends paid twice a year to its shareholders between September 1809 and September 1821. The bank paid its dividends every March 7 and September 7, and its bookkeepers faithfully kept detailed records of these transactions throughout the period. For each date on which dividends were due, the book contains a list of shareholders, organized alphabetically by last name, their number of shares of stock, number of shares of loans, dividends on stocks and loans, the total payment due to the shareholder, a note recording the date of payment, and the recipient's signature. The bank's shareholders included several women, and a few payments were collected by legal representatives rather than by clients themselves; these include James Neilson, authorized by Charles Carroll of Carrollton to receive money due him in September 1815.

The Bank of the United States Signature book, compiled from 1834-1836, holds signatures of the bank's customers from New York and elsewhere. The first page is dated July 21, 1834, but internal evidence indicates later dates in 1835 and 1836. The volume contains company and personal autographs, both directly entered into the volume and pasted in on small fragments of paper. The names, reflect the diversity of the population in New York -- Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, French, and English. A few women signed the book. Many entries include places of residence (e.g. Missouri, Florida, Charleston, Philadelphia) or additional signatures of related individuals or companies.

The Barbary Aplin Cyphering Book contains examples and explanations of arithmetic operations, and genealogical information about the Applin, Sparks, and Coxe families of New Jersey. The first 10 pages of the book are arithmetic rules, proofs, problems and solutions, and tables. Although the manuscript inscription on the cover is "Barbary Aplin's Cyphering Book," Elizabeth Sparks signed her name on page five, suggesting that she may have contributed to the volume.

Eight additional pages contain sparse genealogical notes regarding the Applin, Sparks, and Coxe families of New Jersey, including birth and death dates for several members of the families. Also of interest is a brief note regarding the deaths of Mary and Hanna Sparks in 1824, accompanied by a small swatch of cloth.

The fourth page of the volume includes a young person's drawings of plants, a person, buildings, a fence, and a bird.

The Barbourville (Ky.) Debating Society minutes (122 pages) concern the group's weekly meetings between May 27, 1837, and November 16, 1839, with breaks between November 18, 1837-March 10, 1838, and August 4, 1838-March 30, 1839. The first entry and those that immediately follow the breaks contain the society's 3 constitutions. In addition to meeting minutes, the volume includes a 2-page membership list.

Most sets of weekly minutes list the names of attending members, the names of members selected to debate that meeting's assigned topic, the results of the society's vote, and the topic to be discussed at the following meeting. The minutes also reflect administrative matters settled during meetings, frequently regarding the admittance of new members and the election of officers. The Barbourville Debating Society mainly discussed political matters; some topics were debated on multiple occasions. Issues for debate included banking and taxation, the death penalty, revision of the Kentucky constitution, the admission of Texas to the Union, the relative worth of wealth and talent, the intellectual capacity of men and women, foreign immigration to the United States, the propriety of sanctioning divorces, and the desired amount of government funding for education and infrastructure. On at least two occasions, the society considered whether Native American removal or slavery was the greater evil, and on one occasion they considered whether the United States government could be justified in its actions against the Seminole tribe (July 13, 1839). The society also debated the legacies of politicians such as Andrew Jackson and Napoleon Bonaparte, and discussed the possibility of Henry Clay running for president in 1840.

• Bradley, Erwin Stanley. Union College, 1879-1954: Written in Commemoration of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of Its Founding. Barbourville, Ky.: The College, 1954.
• Cobb, Ann. Kinfolks: Kentucky Mountain Rhymes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1922.

The Barnard family papers consist of correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and maps related to the family of John G. Barnard of Auburn, Massachusetts.

The Correspondence series contains 2 copies of a letter from John G. Barnard to Andrew Sigourney relating to a dispute over payments on a mortgage Sigourney granted to Barnard (August 20, 1830). Additional letters addressed to John G. Barnard represent his other financial interests and concern his debts. Later items are addressed to Betsey Dodge Barnard from her son Charles and his family, who wrote of their lives in Prescott, Wisconsin, and St. Paul, Minnesota. Charles and Emma's provided news about their farm and about family health, and their daughter Hattie wrote a letter about her experiences at school (December 6, 1868).

The Documents series, which comprises the bulk of the collection, has two subseries: Financial records and Legal Documents. John G. Barnard's financial records include receipts and IOUs for various services; several of the receipts pertain to Barnard's tax payments. Most of the legal documents are indentures concerning property in Worcester County, Massachusetts, such as the holdings of Barnard's father-in-law, Daniel Dodge. Several items are signed by John Prentice, a justice of the peace. Manuscript maps illustrate property lines around Auburn, Massachusetts. Many refer to land owned by John G. Barnard.

Among the collection's Ephemera items are three medicinal cures, a calling card, and financial notes.

This oversized scrapbook consists of sections of printed Barnum, Bailey & Hutchinson circus advertising posters. The imagery includes circus tents, musical wagons (including the "Silver-Tubed Caliope" and "Sacred Chimes"), camels and horses, animal trainers, artillerymen seemingly of Middle Eastern descent (possibly part of the "Bedouin Arab" performers), acrobats, minstrel performers, African American musicians, and portraits of P. T. Barnum, J. A. Bailey, and J. L. Hutchinson. The back cover bears the print "Toilers of the Sea - Trawling on t[he Dogger Bank]," showing fishermen at sea.

The Barrett family papers contain the correspondence between Joseph Chandler Barrett and his fiancée, Sarah A. Hillard, during their courtship and the early years of their marriage, as well as additional letters written by family members and friends. Joseph often wrote and received letters about education in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and on one occasion mentioned attending a lecture about Germany delivered by Charles L. Brace (January 10, 1852). The enclosure in the March 3, [1859] letter is a four-page printed "Report of the Superintending School Committee" of Durham, New Hampshire. A large portion of the collection consists of the Barretts' correspondence during their courtship, and family letters about news and events, with occasional remarks about religious habits and views. Additional letters from family members and from acquaintances provide a picture of daily life in New England in the decade preceding the Civil War.

The Bartlett family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, and a scrapbook related to Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett of the United States Navy and to his descendants, including author Lina Bartlett Ditson, his granddaughter.

The Correspondence series contains letters written to various members of the Bartlett family. The earliest items concern Washington A. Bartlett's naval career, including several letters between Bartlett and his wife Ruth. In a letter from May-June 1845, Washington Bartlett discussed political and military conflicts between the United States and Mexico. Much of his other correspondence is contained in a letter book, which covers the years 1835-1862.

Other items in the series are incoming personal and business letters to George L. Ditson, Bartlett's son-in-law. Some of these pertain to his appointment as United States Consul in Nuevitas, Cuba, a few of which are in Spanish. Later material includes a letter from Ronald Lodge to his mother, Oralie Ditson Lodge (Washington A. Bartlett's granddaughter) about his successful fitness examination for the United States Navy, enclosing a photograph of Lodge in uniform (April 17, 1917), and a letter on stationery from the White Star Line ocean liner Olympic (November 14, 1928).

The Documents and Financial Papers relate to several generations of the Bartlett family. Of note are a certificate about Washington A. Bartlett's qualification as a United States Navy midshipmen, signed by Martin Van Buren (November 20, 1839), and an authorized copy of Washington A. Bartlett and Ruth Budd Bloom's marriage certificate (June 17, 1861). The series also contains receipts and accounts.

The Writings series primarily contains typed copies of poems and stories composed by Lina Bartlett Ditson. Included are 8 poems, 1 group of poetry "Fragments," and 7 short stories. Two items, which may not be by Ditson, are in French, including an acrostic poem based on Ruth Budd Bartlett's name.

The collection's 8 Calling Cards and Invitations include manuscript and printed visiting cards for "Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett" and an invitation to the home of William H. and Frances Seward.

A single Illustration, dated August 1833, depicts the brig Mermaid at sea. A map of a portion of Albany, New York, shows the location of B. Lodge & Company.

The Photographs series has mounted and loose portraits, several cartes-de-visite and cabinet cards, a glass-plate positive of a young girl, and numerous snapshots. Early portraits depict Oralie Ditson Lodge and Lina Bartlett Ditson (occasionally in costume), and 130 20th-century snapshots were taken during a family vacation Eagle Lake in New York.

The Lena Bartlett Ditson Scrapbook contains newspaper articles, programs, and correspondence about Lina Bartlett Ditson, assembled by her sister Oralie after Lina's death. Most items pertain to Lina's artistic pursuits, such as vocal performances and published novels. Incoming correspondence to Lina and condolence letters to her family following her death are also present.

The Printed Items series is made up of postcards, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and other items. Newspaper Clippings pertain to numerous topics, such as William S. Lodge's political career, interstate commerce legislation, labor news, and members of the Bartlett family.

• Defence of Washington A. Bartlett, Ex-Lieutenant, United States Navy: Read and admitted to Record, by Naval Court of Inquiry... New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857.
• International Association for the Total Suppression of Vivisection. "The Woman" and the Age: A Letter Addressed to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., First Lord of the Treasury. London: E. W. Allen, 1881.
• Olcott, Henry S. The Spirit of the Zoroastrian Religion. Bombay: 1882.

Other printed material includes poems by Barrington Lodge; engravings of Washington A. Bartlett; a colored print showing a woman in a dress that Ruth Budd Bartlett wore during a royal reception; and a campaign poster for William S. Lodge's mayoral campaign in Albany, New York.

The Genealogy series contains information about Washington A. Bartlett's descendants and allied families, particularly the Lodge family.

In 1539, Bartolomé de las Casas wrote Breuissima relacion de la destruycion de las Indias..., a short treatise that indicted the Spanish conquerors for acts of brutality inflicted on the American Indians in the New World. The first of nine tracts on this subject, Brevissima was first published in 1552 and later published in France in 1579 as Tyrannies et Cruautez des Espagnols Perpetres es Indes Occidentales Quon dit le Nouveau Monde: Brievement Descrites en Lettre Castillane par L'Evesque Don Frere Bartelemy De Las Casas...fidelement traduites par Jackques De Miggrode: à Paris par Guillaume Julien.... Clements manuscript was likely prepared in 1582 for an illustrated Paris edition which was never printed; the 17 watercolor illustrations, depicting gruesome acts of torture, are similar to the engravings of Jodocus van Wingheused used by DeBry for the first illustrated Latin edition in 1598.

Las Casas wrote two chronicles, Historia General de las Indias and Historia Apologetica de las Indias, which were designed to form a single work. He asked his executors not to publish them until forty years after his death. They were not printed, in fact, until 1875-1876 at Madrid, when they appeared under the title "Historia de las Yndias." The original manuscripts are in the Biblioteca de la Academia de la Historia, Madrid. The Clements copy corresponds to the prologue and first 11 chapters of the printed Historia General.

Two bookplates are present on the front pastedown: The Honble. Frederic North, 5th Earl of Guilford and William L. Clements. The first two leaves are mounted and the volume contains other repairs. A note written in ink, possibly a contemporary hand, reads, "Manuscrit original qui a servi à l'imprimé de 1582." The following binding description was provided by Julia Miller: non-contemporary but notable 18th century binding; dark green leather; covers bordered with decorative rolls; large fleur de lis corner decorations; spine gilt; maroon leather lettering piece tooled in gold; black leather roundel, blank; paper shelf label at tail of spine; non-contemporary marbled and plain endpapers; text block sewn on four recessed cords; text edges gilt; worked headbands; pink silk register bound in.

This collection is made up of 20 letters that members of the Beach family wrote to Reverend Joseph P. Fessenden and his wife, Phebe, from 1838-1850; several include contributions from multiple authors. The Fessendens' correspondents included Sargent W. Beach, Martha Beach, Israel Bailey Beach, Sarah Barker Beach, and Thomas Parnell Beach. The letters pertain to the writers' lives in Sharon Township, Ohio.

The Fessendens' incoming correspondence pertains to many aspects of life in Ohio in the mid-19th century. Several letters mention agricultural practices, education, and religion, including Thomas Parnell Beach's request that Joseph P. Fessenden come to Ohio to promote the antislavery cause (December 1, 1845). Others include the writers' comments on local religious denominations and their personal beliefs. Several correspondents provided detailed descriptions of their journeys from New England to Ohio, including travel by railroad, steamboat, and stage, often through the state of New York. Many letters contain and respond to news of family members and acquaintances in New England and Ohio; Israel Bailey Beach reflected on family members' deaths in his later letters.

The Beatrice and William Ebeling letters (32 items) concern the couple's life in China in the early to mid-1940s. Both Beatrice and William composed manuscript and typewritten letters to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Carl Ebeling of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Their first 2 letters pertain to the birth of their son, John Carl Ebeling, and their life in Wuyang Xi'an, Henan, in December 1942; the remaining items relate to their experiences after fleeing to "Pinshien" [Binxian?], Shaanxi, in the summer of 1944 and while living in Hancheng, Shaanxi, from around October 1944 to March 1946. They commented on their missionary work, finances, the progress and end of the Pacific war, the growth of their children, and their travels within China. William's letter of June 8, 1944, recounts a bombing raid. A birth announcement for John Carl Ebeling, with a colored drawing of a baby's head, is enclosed in the Ebelings' letter of December 7, 1942. The collection includes a short, undated note to Ebeling's grandfather.

The Beatty papers date from May 20, 1831, to June 1, 1886, with the bulk falling between February 2, 1855, and November 18, 1878. The papers touch on subjects such as the Tuscarora Academy, Steubenville Female Seminary, child rearing, homemaking, everyday life, education, and religion.

The correspondence is almost exclusively addressed to Joseph Henry Beatty (J. Henry or Henry) though a few are addressed to his parents and to his brother Reading. Joseph Henry received letters from his brother-in-law George Curwen, and letters to and from various family members relating news, giving advice, and asking questions about his schooling, his work in oil well management, his service in the Civil War, and farming. The letters also give substantial information about Joseph Henry's sister, Fanny, and her husband, Robert Holmes. A letter from George F.Curwen to J. Henry Beatty, January 12, 1861, contains a rough sketch of the layout of a plot of land [Bucks or Montgomery County?].

The diaries series consists of two sets of diaries: one written by J. Henry's mother, Mary A. Beatty, dated 1850-1854, and a 16-page diary written by J. Henry Beatty in 1855 while in boarding school. Mary's diaries detail the family's daily life as well as their experiences with education, marriage, childbirth, employment, and travel.

The miscellaneous items include several pages from The Press, a Philadelphia newspaper, regarding the oil industry in Northern Pennsylvania, a Calling card for Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Wiegand, and empty envelopes.

The Beauties of The Sea photograph album (12 x 14 cm ) contains five small commercial photographs of scenes on Nantucket (The Old Windmill; Brant Point Light; Harbor and Sailboats; the Town Crier; and Bank and Methodist Church) glued into small album along with four alternating sheets of decoratively arranged pressed algae. The photographs are possibly by Henry S. Wyer. The album's faded green paper covers are tied with gold tasseled string with a wash drawing and inscribed title "Beauties of The Sea" in ink. Album is housed in light green folder.

This volume contains a manuscript play prompt for the fairytale "Beauty and the Beast," drawn directly from Julia Corner's 1854 adaptation of the same tale.

The text largely corresponds with Corner's adaptation, albeit with abbreviated or simplified stage directions. The text appears to have been written by one hand, with a pencil annotation at the end of the volume in a second hand, crediting the performance of this play to "some of the girls that go to Miss Lacy's School."

Although the location of Miss Lacy's School is unclear, the spelling within may indicate contemporary American rather than British expectations. The roles are for a merchant, the Beast, the merchant's daughters, Beauty, and a beneficent fairy with four attendants.

The Beebee, Ludlow and Company papers consist of business correspondence and financial documents related to the firm, which operated in New York City and Philadelphia in the mid-19th century. The collection holds both incoming and, to a lesser extent, outgoing correspondence related to the company's trade in bullion and specie, which included specie from several foreign countries across Europe and North America, as well as gold from around the world. Most of the letters contain financial figures and account statements between the firm and their business partners, who wrote from locations across the country. Particularly well represented were firms located in Charleston, South Carolina, and Cincinnati, Ohio. Following the Ludlows' departure, the firm represented itself as Beebee & Co, Bullion & Exchange Bankers, after January 1851, but continued to do business with Ludlow & Co. in Philadelphia. The records trace the financial history of the company in its prime and provide insight into the bullion business, and business affairs in general, just prior to the Civil War.

This collection consists of 137 items, including: 55 items relating to financial matters -- receipts, bank and stock records, subscription lists, etc.; 39 items relating to Beeson family history and genealogy, including handwritten notes, and a 33-page typed transcription; 11 letters written by members of the Beeson and Lukens family (related to the Beeson family by marriage); 2 travel journals; 1 daily diary; 1 oversized journal, containing entries on family history, genealogy, and travel; 6 maps, including one pasted onto the flyleaf of the oversized journal; 9 newspaper clippings; 6 legal documents; 7 miscellaneous items; and one unidentified photograph.

The majority of the financial documents consist of lists of stockholders and subscriptions for the Union Bank of Pennsylvania. One document, a receipt for glassware dated 9 August 1827, is written on the illustrated letterhead of the glass manufacturer Bakewell, Page & Bakewell, of Pittsburgh.

The history and genealogy notes concern the branch of the Beeson family that was instrumental in the founding and settling of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Two descendants of this branch, Edward Beeson and Jacob Beeson (b. 1807), contribute diaries and journals to the collection.

Jacob Beeson's 1829-1830 travel journal (with occasional notes in shorthand) relates, in brief but lively entries, a journey from Uniontown to New Orleans, to help an uncle in the mercantile business. While traveling by steamer down the Mississippi, Jacob Beeson gives colorful descriptions of his fellow passengers and shipboard events. "We had scarce went 500 yds. when we were rous'd by the cry of ‘a man overboard'--drop the Stern Boat, etc. I rais'd my eyes from the book & they were immediately fix'd on the face & arm of a Slave who had pitch'd himself from the Bow of the Boat. He was between the Steamer & her boat when I saw him. By the time he got to where I saw him, he appear'd tired of his sport. He gave a piercing scream & sunk amid the Billows. The Boat was dropped awhile for him but twas to no purpose." (27 March 1829) Jacob describes going to the theater in New Orleans (13 May 1829); the landscape and climate of the area east of New Orleans (8 September 1829); a visit to "Crabtown", at Bayou St. John, where Spaniards subsisted solely by fishing for crabs (23 May 1829); battling a forest fire (14 February 1829); and the inadequacy of his boarding house fare: "For dinner, we have the standby dish of bacon, venison, cornbreads and sour milk served in tea cups, handed round on a waiter that for aught I know to the contrary performed the same service prior to the Revolution. For Supper we have the remains of dinner with the addition of coffee that would be better off than on the table." (16 June 1829) He takes several business trips by boat along the gulf coast. The journal ends with a trip North up the Mississippi in early 1830. A later diary kept by Jacob Beeson in 1873 records the business and personal affairs of a now-settled business and family man living in Detroit Michigan.

Edward Beeson provides much of the family history and genealogy in the collection. His handwritten notes, both loose and in a large bound journal, chronicle Beeson family history and lore, and contain names, dates, and narratives of his direct ancestors, and sketchier details of the wider Beeson clan.

Edward Beeson is also the author of two interesting travelogues. The first is included in the journal he kept in an oversized volume, originally intended for shipping manifests for the shipping agent Monson Lockwood, each page headed with an illustration of ships and a lighthouse. In this journal, Edward recounts a trip he takes from Wisconsin west to Kansas in 1866. He describes the towns he visits on the way, and reflects on the scars left by the Civil War. In Aubry, on the Kansas/Missouri border, his Quaker sense of outrage at the violence perpetrated by both sides is aroused by the abandoned and burnt-out homesteads:

Edward Beeson's second travel journal is an account of a trip to Italy, taken by Edward Beeson and his family in 1877-1878. While his daughter, Abbie Beeson Carrington, takes voice lessons, Edward observes Italian life and customs, largely in and around Milan, and is particularly struck by the overall poverty of the region. Edward reports on the Italian diet, domestic arrangements, attitudes toward religion, and local funeral customs. He is present in Rome for the funeral of King Victor Emmanuel II, and attends celebrations commemorating the 1848 Italian Revolution against Austrian rule.

Five of the maps in the collection are hand-drawn survey maps, likely of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, dated from 1830-1850, with one undated. The sixth map, an undated, hand-drawn map of Uniontown, labeling buildings of significance to the Beeson family, is pasted onto the flyleaf of Edward Beeson's oversized journal.

The Bellamy family papers consist primarily of the correspondence and financial documents of a Vergennes, Vermont, family whose members moved westward during the early 19th century. The collection includes 54 correspondence items, 12 legal documents, 132 receipts, 7 account books, 1 pocketbook and its contents, five scrap pages, and ephemera.

The Correspondence series contains items written by various correspondents to members of the Bellamy family of Vergennes, Vermont. Early in the 19th century, Rilla Bellamy received several letters from friends and extended family, who provided updates on their daily lives. On December 28, 1813, for example, a member of the Stowell family described a recent bout of illness in some detail. Later correspondence, often addressed to Edward Bellamy and Joseph Bellamy, occasionally concerned diseases, as well as other routine affairs, like farming, particularly in western Michigan. One late item is composed of scribbles, likely made by a child (January 1860).

The Documents series is comprised primarily of legal documents, many of which relate to Aaron Bellamy. In 1816, Andrew Dyer of Vergennes, Vermont, sold "all the land which I…have a right to claim from the Government of the United States by reason of my enlisting as a Soldier in the Army of the United States to serve during the War the 2nd day of March A.D. 1814" to Aaron Bellamy (January 27, 1816), but the documents more often related to Aaron's legal troubles. The series includes two court summonses, as well as a document ordering Bellamy's release from jail following a lawsuit filed by William Mattack (March 1837). This series also includes a deed made between William Pardee and Justus Bellamy, dated June 22, 1804.

Items in the Financial Records series are mostly receipts belonging to Aaron Bellamy, Samuel Bellamy, Edward Bellamy, and Nathan Holmes.

The Account Books series contains seven small receipt books of unknown ownership. The books consist primarily of numerical figures, but occasionally mention the names of merchants or other people with whom the owners made transactions.

The Pocketbook originally contained 28 items, mostly receipts and other financial items. Among its contents was a short note in which Lloyd Norris instructed Bellamy, "Sir I wish you to leave the following Premises now in your occupation…on my farm…Your compliance with this notice within ten days after its service will prevent any legal measures being taken of me to [obtain] possession" (September 7, 1847).

Miscellaneous items in the collection include a small card of a bird's nest and flowers, with a short poem about "Home," and a business card for sugar merchant W. M. Austin on Wall Street in New York City.

Belle D. Danforth compiled geography exercises in this composition notebook during 1891, when she was approximately thirteen years old. The volume principally focuses on the United States but also includes entries relating to Africa, Asia, and North America. Belle Danforth's exercises provide information on a standard list of topics, including details on the location, the "race of man" to be found in the area, native animals, vegetable life, resources, industries, productions, cities, countries and capitals, and government. However, Danforth did not always include answers for each in her entries, in particular only noting racial groups when writing about larger regions. She also included a hand-drawn map of the area with descriptive text relating to boundaries, bays and gulfs, capes, mountains, rivers, lakes, and cities. Danforth's notes reflect how students were learning about regions' notable features and populations.

• Western and Eastern Hemispheres
• North America
• Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine
• New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey
• Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
• Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin
• Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas
• Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and California
• Michigan
• Asia (encompassing present-day West Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia)
• Africa

A map of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky appears to be missing, but textual information about the region is provided. Only a partial entry is present for Europe.

This collection (41 items) contains items pertaining to the work of Absalom and Belle Patterson Rosenberger at the American Friends Mission in Ramallah, Palestine, in the early 1910s. Belle Patterson Rosenberger, Absalom Rosenberger, and an acquaintance named Laura wrote 34 letters to Belle's brother Willard and his family from 1910-1912, many of which are undated. The majority of the correspondence pertains to Belle's work at the mission and her travels in Palestine and the Mediterranean region. She and the Patterson family's other correspondents discussed fellow missionaries and described local customs, such as a funeral (February 12, 1911); they occasionally commented on current events, such as elections in the United States and the sinking of the Titanic (May 5, 1912). In one undated letter, Belle Rosenberger commented on her intention to resume her teaching career. Her letter of May 7, 1911, contains a sketched map of the coastline between Haifa and Acre.

The collection includes a printed facsimile of the handwritten "Bulletin No. 2," a 5-page document concerning missionary work that Absalom Rosenberger issued from the American Friends Mission on November 1, 1911. Five undated photographic prints show scenes from Palestine, such as men in a "gypsy tent," Palestinian women in formal dress, and girls lined up on their way to church. The final item is a printed advertisement for "Thuyoleum," a medicinal remedy.

The Class Union Society of Beloit College's class of 1866 met irregularly between November 20, 1861, and July 2, 1866. This volume contains the group's meeting minutes and biographical sketches of class members. The society's secretaries filled 81 of 131 numbered pages.

The pages numbered 1 to 57 are comprised of the group's constitution, which it adopted on November 21, 1861, and meeting minutes covering the entirety of the class's time at Beloit College. Secretaries regularly reported on administrative issues, such as the election of officers and the appointment of various committees, and on the group's activities. The class adopted a Greek motto, Νικήσομεν ("we are victorious"); discussed the possibility of procuring class photographs; and circulated a petition to reinstate two dismissed members. They also initiated social activities, such as football games against the other Beloit classes, celebrations of members' birthdays, a visit to the Rockford Female Seminary, and social engagements with women. Later entries concern the organization of a junior exhibition, commencement planning, and the purchase of memorial class trees. A note dated October 29, 1864, explains a large gap in recorded minutes resulting from the enlistment of many class members in the Union Army (pages 30-31).

Brief biographical sketches of 23 members of the Beloit College class of 1866 (including several non-graduating members) are on the pages numbered 101-131. See the additional descriptive data section of this finding aid for the names of members represented in the biographical sketches.

This collection is made up of correspondence between Benedict Law of Erie County, New York, his wife Docia, and members of his extended family.

In letters to his wife and sons, Benedict W. Law discussed his life and work on mining projects in Wyoming and Colorado, particularly in the area around Dixon, Wyoming, and Fourmile, Colorado. He described the scenery around the border area and discussed aspects of camp life and his work, which involved dredging and digging ditches. In 1898, he shared local news and occasionally commented on the progress of the Spanish-American War, though he also mentioned the general scarcity of news in the area where he lived. His letters to Docia often concern the couple's finances and sometimes contain news about her sister, Grace Graley, who lived in Fourmile, Colorado. Law wrote at least one letter to his son Lito in Spanish (May 24, 1899). Law wrote from Routt County, Colorado, in 1902.

From 1897-1901, Benedict W. Law received letters related to his personal life, his travels, and the western mining work that continued after his temporary return to New York in 1901. A few items from this period pertain to Docia Law. After 1906, Grace Graley wrote to her mother about life in Queen City, Texas, and about her children. After 1909, Benedict Law resumed his correspondence with his wife, who also received late letters from her sister and mother

The Benezet family papers consist of scattered documents and letters from the family of Claude Benezet (b. 1737). Among the few items present in this collection are an elaborately detailed marriage contract between James Benezet and Elizabeth Fonnereau, the wills of James and Elizabeth, two letters from Claude's daughter Maria, and two letters from Claude written while in India during the Mysore War. There is also a small series of documents relating to the financial problems of the former British diplomat, Edward Allen, who was seeking a pension from the government. Noteworthy in the collection are three slender volumes of a diary kept by one of the Benezets, probably one of Claude's sons, during a trip to China between March and September, 1780. Though the entries are brief, the journal does give an impression of the emotions and hardships endured in a long ocean voyage.

The most important item is a letter from Claude's first cousin, Anthony Benezet. Anthony, having joined the Society of Friends and emigrated to Philadelphia many years previously, sought to reinitiate correspondence with Claude's family in the hopes of perpetuating the amicable feelings his father felt toward Claude. Benezet continues beyond family matters into a lengthy and powerfully worded argument for the abolition of slavery and the reform of British colonial law relating to slaves.

This collection is made up of 119 letters, most of them written by 1st Lieutenant Benjamin A. Furman during his service as a United States Army surgeon in France and Germany between August 1917 and early 1919; 2 photographs; approximately 290 picture postcards that Furman collected during his time in Europe; and 2 printed items. Furman discussed his voyage to Europe, work at an evacuation hospital, encounters with wounded African American soldiers, and postwar travels.

The Benjamin A. Furman Letters to His Parents subseries contains 97 letters that Furman sent to John A. and Emma C. Furman of Newark, New Jersey, about his experiences in the United States Army between August 1917 and March 1919. His letters form the majority of a numbered series that originally contained at least 87 items, plus additional unnumbered letters and postcards. In his earliest letters, Furman described his voyage from the United States to Europe, which included a close encounter with a German submarine, and his experiences with the 407th Telegraph Battalion. In July 1918, he transferred to the 2nd Evacuation Hospital, where he regularly treated patients suffering from wounds acquired at the front lines. On one occasion, Furman copied a portion of a soldier's letter about injuries sustained from a grenade explosion (August 11, 1918). By October 1918, he reported increased admissions of soldiers with illnesses, which included numerous cases of the mumps and the Spanish influenza. Furman occasionally treated African American soldiers and repeatedly shared his admiration for their bravery and dedication. After the war, he witnessed the plight of released British prisoners of war (November 17, 1918) and discussed his travels in France, which included a visit to no man's land. Furman spent much of early 1919 in Germany, and described trips to Koblenz, Köln, and cities across France.

The Other Correspondence subseries (22 items) is comprised of similar outgoing letters from Furman to other acquaintances, such as his brother John, friends, and a Boy Scout Troop. Several friends wished Furman good luck in a photographic postcard postmarked February 1918; the image depicts a building at Princeton University, his alma mater. Furman received a small number of other letters from friends in the United States during the war.

Two Photographs include a cabinet card portrait of Leon Unger, an American physician who also served in the war, and a snapshot photograph, which apparently depicts Benjamin Furman with his motorized ambulance and driver.

The Printed Ephemera and Map series contains an advertisement for the Hotel Atlantic & Annexe in Nice, France, and a map of the city of Nice.

Throughout his time in Europe, Benjamin A. Furman collected around 290 Picture Postcards of buildings and scenery in France and western Germany. He organized most of the postcards by place or region, and added brief notes.

The collection is comprised of 143 letters and financial documents kept by Benjamin Vaughan and one account book kept by William Oliver Vaughan. The correspondence (19 items) dates from 1774 to 1830 and are related to business matters; many of the letters are fragments. The documents date from 1786 to 1803 and are largely miscellaneous receipts, accounts, and other financial records. The collection contains correspondence and documents respecting business deals, the purchase of goods, and debts; accounts; land agreements; a list of publications; a geometrical drawing; and recipes for industrial goods.

William Oliver Vaughan's account book for 1816 is a record of personal and business expenses. William wrote daily entries, many of which include his expenses. Most notes record only amounts paid or received, with the name of the other party. Some entries some provide information about products such as "Buffaloe skins," clothing, hay, beef, oil, flour, lumber, and various services. Vaughan also kept trip notes, such as for his frequent week-long visits to Boston; he included rates for the stage, food, lodging, and personal items. A few pages in November and October contain written receipts or IOU's signed by various persons to Vaughan.

The account book itself is partially a farmer's almanac for New England with 6 printed pages at the front with information about eclipses, military fines, college vacations, a simple interest table, medical lectures, and lists of local yearly and quarterly meetings of The Society of Friends. An illustrated printed page introduces each month, and displays a list of holidays, a quote about the month, and detailed astronomical calculations.

The Benjamin Brown collection is made up of correspondence, documents, and artifacts related to the showman's career as a circus owner in the early 1800s.

Letters, documents, and printed materials concern Brown's early ventures as a show owner, including correspondence and financial records pertaining to his travels in the Caribbean and to the northeast coast of South America in the early 1830s. These materials document the difficulties of transporting exotic animals by sea, the type of equipment necessary to run a circus, and other logistical issues.

A later group of letters and documents reflects Brown's experiences in Egypt, where he traveled as an agent of the June, Titus, Angevine & Company, attempting to purchase giraffes. Many of these letters are from Stebbins B. June, who was also in Egypt at the time, and several items relate to George R. Gliddon, United States consul in Cairo. Brown's friend Gerard Crane wrote about Brown's business affairs in New York, and frequently reported the increasingly frail health of Brown's father. Benjamin Brown received a letter from P. T. Barnum, who asked him to find a pair of fortune tellers for Barnum's museum. He also inquired about locating a pony small enough to accommodate his performer Tom Thumb (June 29, 1843). While in London, Brown frequently received letters from his sister, Eudocia Brown Noyes, who wrote of the Brown family farm and provided other news from Somers, New York.

The collection includes playbills and broadsides advertising Brown's circus; Brown's marriage license (March 20, 1841); a pencil sketch of Brown; two passports; and three fragments of an Arabic-language scroll, offering protection to the bearer. Later material includes newspaper clippings from 1879, 1880, and 1931, on Brown's life and career, as well as an audio tape of an interview with his grandson, Benjamin Brown.

Box 2 of the collection includes correspondence, documents, printed items, photographs, and audio recordings related to the history of Benjamin Brown, the circus, and Somers, New York. Principally organized around the career and research of Carrie Brown Rorer (1903-1969), President of the Somers Historical Society and Benjamin F. Brown's great-grandaughter, the material provides insight into public history, memory, and research on the circus. Included is a typed document, "Circus History: Recollections by Benjamin Brown (1877-1962) as told to Carrie Brown Roher, (1903-1969), who was one of his three daughters," which details memories of Benjamin F. Brown and family stories about him.

• Two shoes, [1800s]
• Burnoose, [1800s]
• Black circus jacket, [1800s]
• Pipe stem and bowl
• Two rocks
• Fragments from an ostrich eggshell
• Canopic jar lid
• Two small boxes
• Ushabti figure
• Harpocrates figure

The Egyptian figures may date to around 600 BCE.

The Benjamin Bussey collection contains 198 letters, 38 financial records, and one biographical note. These primarily concern Bussey's shipping interests, loans and philanthropy, land holdings in Massachusetts and Maine, and his estate in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The papers document Bussey’s business dealings throughout New England, as well as in New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Barbados, Jamaica, London, Rotterdam, Naples, and Madeira. The collection reveals little about Bussey's personal life but much about his diverse business interests, his far-reaching network of friends and colleagues, and philanthropy in the first half of the 19th century.

The bulk of the collection consists of letters written to Bussey concerning shipping and commerce and other business matters. Bussey's firm traded salt, pepper, sugar, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, flour, fish, saffron, and wine with various European nations. Many of the letters describe the state of trade with Europe and the challenges of shipping operations in the early 19th century, as well as the locations of the best markets for certain goods and the methods of making the most money off a shipment. For example, Bussey’s associate Jonathan Arnold described the volatility of the markets in New Orleans, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, and recounted many of the difficulties encountered in moving goods between these ports (June 2, 1796). In a letter from 1832, George Kuhn, his friend and partner in the Dedham Worsted Company, discussed the price of clothes (as well as Andrew Jackson's electoral prospects in Pennsylvania). Letters from March 22, 1806, and December 17, 1806, concern attempts to salvage barrels of wine from the wreck of the ship Hercules after it was damaged near Kingston, Jamaica.

The political climate concerning international commerce is also often discussed. A letter from September 20, 1810, is representative of how American traders saw the strained relationship between the United States and Europe. Napoleonic Wars were mentioned in several letters dated between 1807 and 1815, as they pertain to commercial interests, primarily the difficulty of American ships safely reaching European ports. Of particular interest are discussions of the British practice of boarding American ships, imprisoning passengers, and impounding cargoes. In a letter dated London, August 5, 1808, Fred Gebhardt described a British ship that seized and impressed non-American citizens aboard the Tyger, on which he was sailing. He was not impressed, because he held a passport, but he was detained for two weeks. He wrote, "Even private individuals can no longer travel or pass the seas without exposing their personal freedom and safety. In England they have become as arbitrary as on the continent." He also discussed Napoleon's violent invasion of Spain and the impending War of the Fifth Coalition. In another letter, he mentioned a particularly unfortunate confrontation in Spanish waters, where a ship was captured, the crew put in irons, and the captain had to stand for trial before the court of Spanish Admiralty (April 21, 1807). The incident resulted in Bussey and his partner Boardman losing $150,000 worth of goods. Along with the many business letters in the collection are receipts, accounts, inventories, and records of Bussey's business dealings, which list prices and destinations for goods. An 1804 note, for instance, contains information on the value of a shipment of coffee and sugar on board the Sampson.

The collection also represents Bussey's non-shipping interests. These include information on wool and sheep for his wool manufacturing facility in Dedham, Massachusetts (May 21, 1812), and details on the prosperity of the Middlesex Canal, which ran from the Merrimack River to Boston Harbor (January 20, 1816). Other items address Bussey’s interests in public office. In a letter, presumably to Bussey, ,dated January 27, 1841, B. Pierce mentions a meeting with John Quincy Adams regarding a petition to the Committee on Indian Affairs, an upcoming visit of "Tipicanoe and Tyler Too," and notes that he will only send the letter "if he can get Congress to pay for it…it isn't worth his own money for postage."

The collection holds a number of letters from acquaintances, organizations, and even strangers asking Bussey for loans and charity. Bussey belonged to the Unitarian Church in Roxbury but believed that other religious institutions also deserved his support. He donated to the Boston Baptist Church, the Summer Street Methodist Church, the First Church of Belfast, Maine, the First Church of Christ, Bangor's Theological Seminary, and to the Frankfort Village Religious Association. Bussey was not targeted for charity only by religious institutions. He received requests to support the Winslow Blues, a local light infantry unit (June 7, 1817); to give to the Massachusetts General Hospital (April 5, 1814); to fund educational institutions, such as a school under the Synod of New York and New Jersey that trained African American men become schoolmasters in America and in Africa (December 31, 1819); and to invest in Sarah Hale’s “Ladies Magazine” (September 26, 1837). He also gave land to the Congregational Female Academy in Augusta, Maine (June 28, 1827).

Bussey received loan and charity requests from individuals as well. Lucy Knox, widow of General Henry Knox, lobbied Bussey to supply books and money for her son's medical education (December 26, 1813 and January 20, 1822). Edward Robbins also asked for financial assistance for his son who was just starting out in life. Bussey was requested to support the arts by an Italian musician from Naples named Norberto Hadrava, who asked for a $100 loan to support his musical endeavors, such as printing and performing his opera The Island of Capri (March 6, 1812). Bussey was a supporter of multiple societies including the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association (1818), Prison Discipline Society (1830), the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians, Massachusetts Charitable Meetings Association, and was the vice president of the Massachusetts Society for the Encouragement of American Manufacturing.

The collection contains only a few personal letters to Bussey and his family. Five are from Bussey's son-in-law Charles Davis, husband of Bussey's daughter, Eliza. In letters from August 2 and 13, 1816, for example, he gives Bussey an update on the construction progress of his Roxbury estate. The collection contains one lengthy letter from Eliza (married to Enos Stewart), dated September 27, 1837, in which she described her time in Florence, Italy, and mentioned current events in Europe. An letter from September 15, 1823, contains a report from Catherine Putnam about the health of Bussey's sick wife, and after Bussey's death, Josiah Quincy, president of Harvard, wrote a letter to Judith inquiring about the Gilbert Stuart portraits owned by the Bussey family. The collection also holds a few letters from Bussey's friends and acquaintances, including letters of introductions and a letter from Commodore William Bainbridge accepting an invitation for a social call to Bussey's estate (November 1819).

The collection contains many letters concerning prominent Boston citizens: many of Bussey's Roxbury neighbors such as General William Sumner (1780-1861), son of the prominent Roxbury merchant Increase Sumner and grandson of William Hyslop, a prosperous Boston merchant; lawyer philanthropist John Lowell; businessman Ebenezer Thatcher and his brother Samuel Thatcher, congressman from Massachusetts; secretary of war and Massachusetts congressman Henry A. S. Dearborn; and Harvard President Josiah Quincy. Other prominent people represented in the collection include Philadelphia lawyer and author William Rawle (November 5, 1831) and Joshua Bates, President of Middlebury College. While some letters from these men directly concern Bussey, many are only tangentially related in discussions regarding topics such as Boston shipping matters or Roxbury events and development. One notable item is from John Brooks, Governor of Massachusetts, to William Sumner about establishing military defenses stationed on Noddle's Island, Massachusetts (April 17, 1813).

The Benjamin Bussey papers contain a few miscellaneous items including notes for a biography or obituary for Roxbury lawyer, John Lowell, and an invitation to an annual visit for donors to "the African School."

A fervent patriot and devout Christian, Benjamin C. Lincoln was also a remarkably regular correspondent. The Lincoln papers contain 437 letters written by and to Benjamin Lincoln between 1861 and 1865, including letters to and from his fiancée, later wife, Dora, letters from his brothers, Sam, Alfred, Irving, Ernest and Eugene, and from friends, Fred Gage, H.O. Walker, Charles H. Mann, Sam Hall, Amy Halliday, and Rev. Samuel Winkley, among others. The high literary quality of much of Lincoln's writing is matched by the quality of his friends' writing. Ideologically, temperamentally, and literarily they are a well matched set. There is a gap in letters written by Lincoln between November, 1863 and October, 1864, caused in part by his visits home. This period, however, is represented by letters to Lincoln, through which some of his activities can be reconstructed. The correspondence ends shortly after Ben's death at the Battle of Natural Bridge in March, 1865.

The collection is a valuable resource for examining the effect that the war had in shaping the relationships of friends, relatives and lovers. Throughout the separations imposed by military service, Lincoln remained in close contact with his fellow members of the Pine Street Chapel Association (many of whom served with him in the 39th Massachusetts Infantry), and his relationship with his brothers remained intimate. The early letters between Lincoln and his then-fiancée Dora provide a depiction of the pain of separation and the psychological hardships placed on these devout and devoted people, and the entire correspondence provides a fascinating portrait of the vicissitudes in their relationship up to and following their marriage in November, 1864. Lincoln and Dora discussed their relationship almost obsessively, whether it was going well or poorly, and the frequency of their letters makes for an unusually dense coverage of the course of one war-time love match. Dora's tendency toward depression was a problem throughout their relationship, and culminated in what appears to have been a mental breakdown early in 1865, probably over the stress of renewed separation from her husband. The collection also includes a wrenching letter from Julia M. (1864 November 21), mourning the loss her fiancé, Sam Lincoln, and several letters from Amy E. Halliday (see especially 1864 November 25) coping with the loss of her fiancé, James Schneider, an officer in the 2nd U.S.C.T.

The military content in the Lincoln papers includes far more on camp life than combat, with a few notable exceptions. During Lincoln's time with the 39th Massachusetts, the regiment was stationed in a comparatively calm part of Maryland or in Washington, D.C., and thus lacks first hand descriptions of skirmishes or battles. Lincoln's letters contain speculation on his own religious convictions, as well as on the spiritual and moral condition of his fellow soldiers, and there are comments on the hostile local citizenry, on his duties as a clerk, and occasionally on the war and the military itself. Once Lincoln receives his commission in the 2nd U.S.C.T. in September, 1863, however, the letters contain more of general interest. The collection is a significant resource for studying the attitudes and activities of a white officer in a "colored" regiment, particularly during the six weeks during which the regiment was filling up at Camp Casey, and during the period in which they were stationed at calm Key West. Lincoln was not always immediately forthcoming in his letters with descriptions of his experiences with his African American troops, partly for fear that Dora would think that he was ignoring her if he discussed anything other than their relationship. Lincoln does, however, provide good descriptions of racial tension surrounding the regiment as it was forming, and some spirited accounts of religious attitudes among the troops, along with several good accounts of their Methodist-style worship. In all, Lincoln's correspondence provides an excellent portrait of the motivations of a white soldier for seeking a commission in a colored regiment, his racial attitudes, and his experiences in camp and, to a lesser degree, in the field.

Equally valuable from the military point of view are the numerous letters from friends and relatives in the service, including those from Ben's brother Sam, a private in the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry and later as a civilian employee of the Quartermaster's Department in New Bern, N.C., and from a friend, Samuel Hall, of Co. G, 39th Massachusetts. Sam Lincoln's letters are filled with information about his regiment, and about life in the garrisoned town of New Bern. His position as a former soldier become civilian makes for an unusual perspective on Union-occupied North Carolina. Letters from Lincoln's other brothers create an impression, somewhat less fleshed-out, of the stresses endured by the members of the Lincoln family during the war, the losses they incurred, and their attempts to cope. The 15 letters from Charlie Brown, initially also a member of the 39th Massachusetts Infantry, but later an officer in the 7th U.S.C.T, are particularly noteworthy. Brown was one of Ben's closest personal friends, as was his wife Ellen, and his writing ability combined with his candor make his letters a particularly important resource for the study of one of the most active "colored" regiments in the Union army. Brown provides a description of the rout at the Battle of Olustee, of engagements near Jacksonville, Fla., and the Battle of New Market Heights, and comments throughout on life in the 7th U.S.C.T.

The 22 letters from Lincoln's civilian friend and fellow Bostonian, H.O. Walker, are also uniformly lively and interesting. A fiery abolitionist and an early advocate of arming African Americans, Walker was a man with strong opinions on the war who seldom demurred from expressing himself. Included among his best letters are a long discussion of electoral politics, radical Republicans, Frémont, Lincoln, and Johnson (1864 June 24 and September 8) and a detailed description of a public meeting held at Cambridge on the subject of conscription (1864 July 26). "We must have black troops," he wrote, "and a limitless number of them too -- paid and treated like their white brothers" (1863 September 5). The four letters from Rev. Samuel Winkley provide an interesting insight both into the powerful force that religious convictions held for some soldiers, but also the bonds of friendship and mutual assistance that tied Winkley and his former Chapel Associates, even across the separations of war. Winkley's letter of September 5, 1863, includes a fine discussion of the duties of a Christian chaplain, written with regard to the African American soldier.

The Benjamin Franklin collection is made up of 21 letters, 17 of which Franklin, as agent for the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in Great Britain, wrote to Joseph Galloway from 1764 to 1775. Franklin addressed numerous political issues, including the Stamp Act, Galloway’s appointment to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, the Currency Act, and other Parliamentary discussions. The letters contain evidence of Franklin’s frustration with British taxation leading up to the Revolution. Four additional letters by Franklin and one document signed by him comprise the remainder of the collection.

The box and folder listing below contains notes respecting contents of each item in the collection.

This collection is made up of 120 incoming business letters addressed to Benjamin Franklin of Burlington, New Jersey, in 1865 and 1866, concerning the oil industry in Kentucky and Tennessee. The letters relate to the discovery of new wells and deposits, the purchase of oil fields, the cost and delivery of equipment, and other subjects.

Though Franklin lived in New Jersey, he occasionally traveled south to look after his business affairs. He primarily received letters from business partners in Louisville and Glasgow, Kentucky, who provided him with detailed descriptions of local oil lands, including physical characteristics, anticipated yields, and the interests of other prospectors. Writers frequently encouraged Franklin to consider purchasing various properties. Other correspondence pertains to the progress of Franklin's wells and to the delivery of machinery, such as steam engines. Most letters directly or indirectly concern Franklin's finances, including content about his stock holdings and costs associated with his oil interests. Partial copies of his draft responses accompany a portion of his incoming letters.

The Ruggles journal represents the second of two journals kept by Benjamin Franklin Ruggles, documenting his overland journey from Minnesota to California and covering the portion of the journey from Salt Lake City to Red Bluff. Ruggles made daily entries in his journal and took his time in writing thoughtfully, describing the scenery, route and the numerous groups of travelers they encountered in their crossing. The details at times provide the most interesting reading, as in his discussion of trying to keep a dog and the oxen alive and healthy when crossing the alkali flats in western Nevada, but the value of the narrative lies as much in providing a closely observed, densely written account of an overland crossing by way of the Mormon and Honey Lake routes. In comparatively few words, Ruggles provides a strongly impression of the landscape and the difficulties encountered in desert travel. It is interesting to note the fear with which he viewed Native Americans, the "hateful sight of sneaking Indians" as he wrote, and although he never personally had any negative encounters with Native Americans, he was more than willing to consider them culpable of misdeeds. Lastly, Ruggles' journal also contains some interesting, though briefer entries for his first few months in Red Bluff. These passage sketch out in rough form the life in a northern California town that was in the process of changing from a frontier town to a more mature settlement.

The Benjamin Gilbert letter book (219 pages) contains copies of 83 personal letters written by Sergeant Benjamin Gilbert during his service in the Revolutionary War (1780-1783). The bulk of Gilbert's letters are to his father and other family member, living in his home town of Brookfield, Massachusetts. The letters provide a picture of a junior officer's outlook on the war.

Gilbert wrote these letters during his service in upper New Jersey in late 1780; during his stay at West Point in early 1781; and while fighting with the Marquis de Lafayette's troops at Trenton, New Jersey; Wilmington and Christiana, Delaware; Elkton and Annapolis, Maryland; and Yorktown, Virginia. He wrote the letters dated 1782-1783 from West Point and Continental Village, New York, where the army awaited the withdrawal of Carleton's forces from New York. Gilbert discussed Arnold's treason; the revolt of the Pennsylvania Line; the burning of Manchester, Virginia; southern hospitality; the exhilaration of the impending triumph at Yorktown; widespread desertion of Hessians during the evacuation of New York; and severe shortages of pay, food, and clothing. Throughout the volume, Gilbert wrote reflective comments on the progress of the war.

Several letters concern personal matters. Four are love letters, two to an anonymous recipient (October 14, 1780, October 19, 1780) and two that relate to a paternity claim made by a Patience Converse, with whom he was romantically involved (September 30, 1782 and March 24, 1783). Family news and personal finances are mentioned frequently throughout the volume.

For an annotated transcription of the letterbook, with a comprehensive index, see: Winding Down: the Revolutionary War Letters of Lieutenant Benjamin Gilbert of Massachusetts, 1780-1783

This account book (roughly 360 pages) contains financial records for the mercantile firm Benjamin Helm & Company, which operated in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, between 1823 and 1824. Included are 179 pages of accounts with individuals (1823-1824), 6 pages of double-entry bookkeeping accounts (June 1823-December 1824, pp. 180-185), approximately 150 pages of daybook records (July 13, 1824-[December] 8, 1824), and a 25-page list of the inventory of the company upon its dissolution on December 8, 1824. Though the firm dealt primarily in cloth, other textiles, and related goods, it also sold dry goods, alcohol, coffee, tea, and other miscellaneous items.

The 179 pages of accounts record transactions between Benjamin Helm & Company and individuals between June 1823 and December 1824. Along with silk, calico, and other fabrics, the firm sold sugar, alcohol, and manufactured goods, such as handkerchiefs, buttons, and paper. Though most customers were men, the company also did business with several women. Accounts for future Kentucky governor John LaRue Helm and his mother Rebecca are included, as well as accounts with other prominent local individuals and with family members, such as John B. Helm. Individuals are recorded in an index preceding the accounts. The following 6 pages are comprised of double-bookkeeping entries for similar transactions with several individuals and firms; each account was later settled.

Approximately 150 pages consist of a daybook covering the company's sales between July 13, 1824, and [December 8], 1824. The entries are arranged chronologically, and most do not overlap with the individual accounts recorded earlier, which primarily end around May 1824. The final 25 pages contain a detailed inventory of Benjamin Helm & Company's goods, taken upon the partnership's dissolution on December 8, 1824. Each line provides a type of item, per-unit price, number of units on hand, and the total value. The items are largely arranged according to type, and include blankets, fabrics, books, and consumable goods.

This collection is made up of 4 letters that Benjamin Kite, Jr., received from his parents, Benjamin and Rebecca Kite (September 28, 1825, and May 1, 1828), and from his siblings Nathan (March 30, 1827) and Mary (June 1, 1828). The Kite family lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rebecca Kite expressed her belief that married couples, such as Benjamin and his wife Eliza, shared a common interest; and she provided news of Benjamin's brother Joseph, who was suffering from a grave illness. Nathan Kite wrote a humorous letter of introduction for "W. Kite," remarking that the traveler would be renowned for his trip down the Delaware River.

Benjamin Kite's letter concerns his retirement and his son Thomas's printing establishment; he expected to move in with Thomas, becoming his bookkeeper and errand-man. Mary Kite's letter contains news of each of the Kite siblings and encourages Benjamin to contribute to financial support for their parents. She also wrote about the family's move away from their longtime residence and reflected upon the impermanence of the temporal world.

The collection is made up of a single tray case containing eight items: seven water colors, each encapsulated, along with a facsimile of a watercolor.

The collection consists of tropical landscape views attributed to Benjamin Latrobe, possibly in Central America or southern United States, including a sugar mill and huts that are likely slave quarters. The facsimile in the collection is a rendition of the building "Old West" at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, designed by Latrobe in 1803 and built in 1822.

The letters comprising this collection fall into two discrete groups representing the periods of time when Nichols was separated from his family: those written while he was at college (1800-1804) and those written from Boston (1824-1831).

Benjamin's college letters give a strong impression of student life at Harvard shortly after the turn of the century. Of particular interest are his father's letter of advice on the proper conduct of a young man preparing to enter college (dated [1800]), Benjamin's apparently sincere apology for not having followed this advice (19 Sept. 1800), two letters describing student unrest following the expulsion of a classmate (1 and 14 Sept. 1800), and a letter regarding vandalism at the chapel (23 Nov. 1802).

Two of the letters written from Boston (11 and 16 February 1829) concern the Nichols' attempts to locate a suitable wetnurse following Mrs. Nichols' giving birth to twins.

This collection contains 31 letters, telegrams, photographs, and documents related to Benjamin Stark's service in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War. Stark wrote 2 letters to "Daisy" from an army camp in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in June and July 1898, while awaiting departure for Puerto Rico or Cuba. One document pertains to the estate of Benjamin Stark, Sr., and the appointment of William M. Stark as its administrator (November 25, 1898).

From November 17, 1898-April 20, 1899, Benjamin Stark, Jr., wrote 8 letters to his siblings from Manzanillo, Cuba, where he was stationed with the 4th Volunteer Infantry Regiment ("Immunes"). He discussed various aspects of military life, shared news of other soldiers, and described his duties while filling in for a promoted quartermaster. In the summer of 1899, Stark lived in Washington, D.C., where he attempted to reconcile his debts and other financial affairs. During this time he sent his sister a cedar chest made of wood from an old Spanish fort in Cuba. A telegram ordering Stark to report to the 31st Volunteer Infantry (July 13, 1899) is present, as is a copy of Stark's telegraphed acceptance of the commission. In letters from Fort Thomas, Kentucky, and Presidio, California, Stark described camp life and mentioned the difficulty of transporting horses from the United States to the Philippines.

Stark's remaining 9 letters (February 10, 1900-April 2, 1902) pertain to his service in the Philippines, where he reported on local customs, the possibility of active combat, and his surroundings. Though he had an opportunity to return home in the spring of 1901, Stark decided to remain in the Philippines, where he became superintendent of a military prison and farm at San Ramon. He described the farm, which included two mills.

The collection's 4 photographs depict United States soldiers in uniform, ca. 1898-1902, and an unidentified military encampment.

The letter book contains copies of letters Benjamin Stevens wrote while executing his duties as Commissary General at Hartford, Connecticut, from 1781 to 1784. Several of the letters are addressed to the governor of Connecticut, Jonathan Trumbull. The letters contain frequent requests for items such as salt, meat, flour, and rum. Stevens had to deal with the problems of short supplies, and damaged goods. Following the letters are two stanzas of a poem about a "young Irish Girl" (page 17), and nine pages of work accounts for Stevens and William Kingsbury for the "making of Bricks and Lime" from 1806 to 1808.

The Benneville Hiester diary contains about 50 pages of short daily entries about his travels from Pleasant Township, Ohio, to St. Louis, Missouri, and back to Pennsylvania in 1853.

In January 1853, Hiester lived in Pleasant Township, Ohio, where he chopped wood and performed other tasks for local farmers. In his journal, he mentioned the names of those for whom he worked, as well as his work at a nearby poorhouse and his labor digging graves and building pig sties. On February 19, he visited Joseph Hiester and his son Daniel in Boylston, Ohio, and on March 7, he left Lancaster for Columbus, Ohio, where he boarded a train for Cincinnati with a companion named Jacob. Hiester noted the cost of his ticket and provided brief descriptions of his journey across Ohio and Indiana, including a stop at Vandala, Indiana, to visit acquaintances. On March 20, he and Jacob traveled on the "National Road" to Illinois, and they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, on the 22nd. Hiester set out for Pennsylvania on the same day, paying $10.50 for a steamboat ticket on the Elephant, which traveled along Ohio River to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which Hiester reached on April 4. From there, he went to Harrisburg and then to his home near Bern, which he reached by foot on April 6. The final entries, which Hiester wrote regularly until May 1 and again from June 14 to June 22, concern the daily weather and his manual labor. The entry for June 21 mentions his work with tobacco.

This collection is primarily made up of Benson J. Lossing's incoming and outgoing correspondence (179 items, 1850-1904) concerning his writings about and interest in numerous subjects in American history. Essays, newspaper clippings, and ephemera are also included (18 items, 1849- ca. 1884).

The Correspondence series (179 items) mostly contains incoming letters to Lossing about his career as a historian. Some writers thanked Lossing for sending them copies of his books or otherwise commented on his works, such as his Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812. Others offered biographical details on historical figures, notes on family genealogies, and information about historical events. Some older correspondents provided firsthand accounts of events, and other writers shared information about potential primary source material. The American Revolutionary era and War of 1812 were common topics, though at least one letter was written during the Civil War. Historical figures discussed included John André and Oliver Hazard Perry; one man wrote about busts of George Washington at Mount Vernon. Some authors enclosed newspaper clippings in their letters, and two made drawings: one of an unidentified building (June 2, 1851) and one of the grave of James Ross (May 11, 1852). One letter from a publisher postdates Lossing's death.

Benson Lossing wrote occasional letters about his work, and at least one of his letters contains a printed form letter requesting historical information.

The Writings and Biographical Sketches (8 items) are brief essays about historical topics, mostly in Benson J. Lossing's handwriting. Subjects include copied inscriptions from a monument marking the Battle of Red Bank and biographies of Colonel Anthony White, William H. Winder, and Alexander Lillington. One item is a copied "Parole of Honor," with Lossing's added notes on some of its signers. Two signed manuscript drafts of articles include "The British Flag and the American Sailor Boy," which was later published as "Anna Van Antwerp and John Van Arsdale" in the Christian Union, and "Mr. Lincoln A Statesman," which appeared in Osborn H. Oldroyd's The Lincoln Memorial: Album-Immortelles. An essay about William H. Winder is attributed to Mrs. A. W. Townsend of Oyster Bay, New York.

The Printed Items series (10 items) is comprised of programs, newspaper clippings, obituaries, a chapter in a published volume, and engravings. One clipping is a reprint of an article written by Benson J. Lossing.

The Berdan family papers contain the journal of David Berdan, Sr. describing his travels through Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois in 1819-1820 on behalf of the New York Emigration Society, and the correspondence of David Berdan, Jr., while working as law clerk in New York City and on a trip to Europe. The collection also contains correspondence and humorous writings of James Berdan and other miscellaneous material. The collection is arranged into four series by author: David Berdan Sr.'s journal, the correspondence of David Berdan Jr, correspondence and manuscripts of James Berdan, and additional material from other authors.

The journal of David Berdan, Sr., is a detailed account of an Odyssean journey through New York, Pennsylvania, and the frontier towns and wilderness of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, mostly on horseback. The travelers endured winter blizzards, mud, ice, swollen rivers, and lame horses, all faithfully recorded in Berdan's journal. There were some dramatic moments on the journey, of near-starvation, near-freezing, and near-drowning, all related in Berdan's phlegmatic style.

Because of the nature of the mission, Berdan made diligent notes on topography, soil conditions, timber, and access to waterways of all potential settlement sites. He provides physical descriptions of the towns visited en route, including St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Erie. In Cincinnati, he stopped long enough to meet with General (later President) William Henry Harrison, who advised him on the route ahead and provided him with a passport, addressed to his Native American acquaintances, to provide safe passage for Berdan's party.

Berdan's journal records his experience when taken to meet Captain Anderson, chief of the Delaware Nations. Anderson had recently sold the Delaware lands to the United States government as part of a treaty agreement, and planed to leave, with his tribe, for the Arkansas Territory. Anderson says to Berdan that the whites "would sometimes bring whiskey among them of which they were very fond and when intoxicated would be very troublesome and revengeful. He had warned his countrymen when hunting to keep on their own grounds and not molest the whites." (p. 62) In St. Louis, Berdan observes a local custom in which a party of townsfolk -- made up of men and boys armed with cow and sheep bells, conch shells, horns, and pots and pans -- proceeds to the residence of a newlywed couple. Making noise until the groom appears, the crowd demands either a "grand ball" or money enough to treat the entire company. Despite having failed in his primary mission, Berdan's account remains as a depiction of the western wilderness of 1819-1820, its nascent settlements, and the harsh realities of early travel.

The correspondence of David Berdan, Jr., to his friend and fellow Union graduate James Marshall, provides a glimpse into the life of an educated, sensitive young man of limited means struggling to find his way in New York City in the 1820s. His letters describe his life of work and study in New York City, with keen observations of the progress (and foibles) of fellow Union graduates. He himself gradually matures from the fond reminiscence of his dissipated days at Union to a growing repudiation of the drinking and gambling lifestyle -- the results of which he observes at first hand.

Another subject in the correspondence is Berdan's experiences (or lack thereof) with women. He fondly remembers female acquaintances at Union, presses James Marshall for descriptions of women he encounters, and relates several instances of his own brief social contacts. David gradually accepts that his pecuniary existence and limited prospects will afford him no opportunity to associate with suitable women, much less to entertain the prospect of marriage in the near future.

"Let me be coldly indifferent or stupidly unconscious of the fascination of refinement in society and I shall spend a few more years in quiet study and in the indulgence of those delicious reveries attendant upon solitude. The pleasures I shall receive from such habits will be less substantial and less productive of excitement but they will be purer and better adapted to my situation. Adieu then to the airy hopes I have in my happier moments encouraged -- my way is plain before me. The road is strewn with thorns that will tear me in my eagerness to advance but philosophy shall cover me as with a garment and protect me from impediments that will be thrown in my path. Henceforward Literature shall be my mistress and in her embraces and in still stronger attachment to my friends I shall be prepared to endure the contention of the world and to commence and continue the arduous work of building up my fortune and my fame." (David Berdan, Jr. to James Marshall, 11, 18 February 1823).

David's letters also describe his time as a teacher at a boarding school. He finds little satisfaction in the work, but paints a colorful and entertaining picture of the working class family with whom he boards, predicaments brought about by the promiscuous behavior of the eldest daughter, and his struggles to resist his attraction to her younger sister.

David's letters reflect his enthusiasm for a trip to Europe suggested by his friend. The prospect of the journey helps him to forget his occasional bouts of "melancholy" and dissatisfaction with his current career, and inspires an almost spiritual longing. He views it "as a light sent down from heaven to illumine the darkness of the path which fate has spread before me...". (David Berdan, Jr. to James Marshall, 25 July 1824). He mentions his illness only in passing, hoping that it does not fasten upon him until after the completion of his journey. He begins his travels with a trip back to Union College, through New York and Ohio to Virginia, and then sails for Gibraltar. Only two letters from Europe are included in the collection. In them David describes the richness of its history and strangeness of the sights. "The Moors are bare legged, wear long grizzled beards and are wrapped in winding sheets so they contrive to look as grim and ghastly as ever Lazarus did." (David Berdan, Jr. to James Marshall, 10 November 1825) He doesn't neglect to report on the charms of the Spanish women at the theater: "But the dancing -- Lord preserve a poor fellow who has been out of sight of women for forty days. The female dancer seemed to exult in the complete exposure of a very handsome pair of legs." David died on the voyage home and was buried at sea. He was 24 years old.

Also included in the collection are 15 satirical pieces, unsigned, but possibly written by David's brother, James Berdan. These sketches, with titles such as "Manifesto of the Ugly Club" and "The Society for the Diffusion of Gumption," parody cultural events of the time -- social clubs, lecture series, and debating societies. Eight letters from James Berdan are also in the collection including three to his future wife Jane Simms.

Additional material consists of various letters and papers related to the Berdan family including the resolution of the New York Emigration Society authorizing David Berdan Sr.'s eplorator trip, a letter describing the death of Margaret Irving and a letter describing David Berdan Jr.'s death.

Also with the additional material is a handwritten manuscript of the eulogy for David Berdan, written by William H. Seward and presented to the Adelphic Society of Union College on July 21, 1828. It contains an account of David Berdan's personal history, excerpts from his letters, and much praise of his character and academic prowess, all in high oratorical style: "...he never spurned from him aught but dishonor, he despised nothing but what was low, he knew not in his own bosom the existence of envy, and affectation never dwelt in a heart so humble as his." (p. 10)

This collection consists of three volumes containing astronomical and meteorological observations made in Goliad, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico, from 1832 to 1835.

The first two volumes, individually labeled "A" and "B," are titled Observaciones Astronomicas por Berlandier y Chovell. Jean Luis Berlandier and Rafael Chovell recorded astronomical observations made between 1832 and 1835. They entered data on a near-daily basis, with occasional gaps, and included positions of various astronomical bodies and points of interest. The observations, made with a chronometer and sextant, included latitude and longitude readings.

• December 11, 1832-February 21, 1833
• May 22, 1833-July 9, 1833
• May 9, 1834-October 10, 1834

• October 14, 1834-December 31, 1834
• January 15, 1835-May 30, 1835
• September 27, 1835-November 6, 1835

The third volume is titled Meteorologie Observations faites a Goliad i devant Bakia del Espiritu, Santo Texas. It is a record of meteorological observations made by the pair at Santo, Texas, between December 1, 1832, and December 31, 1833. Entries included information about wind direction and observations about the sky.

This collection is made up of 77 postcards that Bernard Eckloff wrote to his family in Washington, D.C., while stationed at Camp Lee, Virginia, between September 3, 1918, and March 17, 1919, as well as 1 postcard addressed to George F. Harbin of Washington, D.C. Eckloff wrote to his mother Catherine and his siblings Genevieve, Thomas and Mary about his trip to Virginia and aspects of his life at Camp Lee. He discussed his participation in drill exercises, his work in the camp kitchen, and the influenza epidemic; he also mentioned his correspondence and listed the contents of the care packages he received. His postcard of September 13, 1918, contains a description of a new uniform, and his postcard of November 22, 1918, includes a satirical poem entitled "In Line." After the Armistice, Eckloff often wrote about his trips to Petersburg, Virginia, and his attempts to apply for a discharge. One item is a postcard to George F. Harbin of Washington, D.C., from Martin & Allardyce in Asbury Park, New Jersey, regarding a family engraving the firm recently acquired and wished to sell (January 25, 1919).

This collection is made up of 10 letters that Sergeant Bernard J. Davis sent to his wife and their young son, also named Bernard, while serving in the United States Army's 249th Port Company during World War II. Davis responded to news from home, particularly regarding young his son's growth and activities, and expressed his desire to reunite with his family. His letters occasionally include references to his army experiences, such as the rationing of cigarettes (March 25, 1945), Philippine children's efforts to find food (May 27, 1945), and the recreation centers where American soldiers could obtain foods from home (July 28, 1945). Davis wrote 2 letters home after the war ended, eagerly anticipating his return to the United States but encouraging his wife not to get her hopes up for his quick return.

This collection is made up of 60 letters between Bernard M. Baruch and Mark Sullivan, a testimony and several pamphlets by Baruch, and a signed, dedicated portrait photograph of Baruch. The majority of the collection consists of Baruch's letters to Sullivan. The correspondence addresses United States politics, beginning in the early 1920s with foreign policy, farm policy, and the long term outcomes of the Paris Peace Conference. Later letters contain Baruch's critiques of U.S. fiscal policy, foreign policy, and military preparedness, as well as general thoughts about the U.S. economy and the political environment following the Wilson administration.

Baruch and Sullivan discussed their writings and other works, offering critiques, recommendations, and congratulations. They discussed Sullivan's journalism and historic works, and Baruch's political career and treatment in the media. In one letter, Baruch gave a narrative account of his early education in South Carolina (January 21, 1927). The letters also contain discussions of more personal matters, holiday greetings, and invitations for Sullivan to vacation at the Hobcaw House. At various points in the correspondence Baruch expressed his perception of anti-Semitism in U.S. politics and education. The collection includes one photograph portrait of Bernard M. Baruch, signed and dedicated to Duane Norman Diedrich. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information.

This 132-page diary chronicles the experiences of Bert C. Whitney, of Washington, Michigan, who served with the 304th Sanitary Train in France during World War I. Whitney described both of his transatlantic voyages, his experiences near the front line at Verdun in late 1918, and his travels around France after the armistice. The journal is housed in a leather wallet, and has a drawing of a flag on its inside cover.

Whitney began his account in early July 1918, while en route to Brooklyn, New York, where his regiment embarked for France on July 10. During his time at sea, he described the ships in his convoy, submarine scares, and daily life onboard the transport ship Lutetia. Shortly after their arrival at Brest on July 21, Whitney recounted his movements in France until mid-September, when he reached the front lines. Though he did not participate directly in active combat, he described life behind the lines and witnessed artillery barrages, gas attacks, and aerial battles. Near the end of the war, he remarked about the destruction of the area around Verdun and anticipated an armistice, particularly after he saw a German delegation on their way to meet with General John J. Pershing. On November 11, 1918, Whitney counted down the final minutes of active combat, noting the ferocity of the fire until the stroke of 11:00 a.m. After the armistice, he recorded his travels around France and his negative opinions of French soldiers. He embarked for the United States in the spring of 1919 and wrote his final entry on May 30, 1919, as the ship approached the United States. Enclosures include poppies taken from a battlefield (pressed into the volume around October 22, 1918), 2 military documents related to his promotion to sergeant, and a poem entitled "Romeo to Verdun," printed in the Romeo Observer.

This single volume notebook contains lecture notes on a variety of topics in library science as studied by Bessie Baldwin Beach, who spent most of her career as a librarian for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Carlisle and Chilocco Indian Schools in the 1900s and 1910s.

From the address on the cover and the contents within, the notebook dates to Miss Beach's time as a library science student at the Columbian University (Washington, D.C.) from 1897 to 1899. The only three dates denoted are March 23, March 30, and April 8, 1898. Newly founded in October 1897, the library science program (housed in the Corcoran Scientific School) consisted of a four-year curriculum towards a Bachelor's of Science in the discipline. Headed by Ainsworth Rand Spofford, who had just completed his tenure as Librarian of Congress, the department consisted of two other instructors: William P. Cutter and Henderson Presnell. Courses covered a range of library skills including administration, cataloging, reference, as well as a thesis.

Works referenced within the notebook appear to include the following:

• Various definitions and entry on "Accession book:" Dewey, Melvil. Simplified Library School Rules. Boston: Library Bureau, 1898.
• Definition of "Accession book:" Jones, Gardner Maynard. "Accession Department." In Papers Prepared for the World's Library Congress, Held at the Columbian Exposition, ed. Melvil Dewey. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896, 809-826.
• Entry on "Classification:" Sixteenth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Public Schools for the Year Ending August 1, 1870. St. Louis: Plate, Olshausen, and Co., 1871.
• Entry on "Charging System:" Plummer, Mary Wright. "Loan Systems." In Papers Prepared for the World's Library Congress, Held at the Columbian Exposition, ed. Melvil Dewey. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896, 898-906.
• Entry on "Card catalog:" Dewey, Melvil, ed. Library Notes: Improved Methods and Labor-Savers for Librarians, Readers, and Writers. Boston: Library Bureau, 1886.
• Entries on "Periodical Literature," "Book buying," "Helps to reading," "Character and Requirements of librarian," "Preparation of books for the shelves," "Accuracy," "Order and System," "Liberal and impartial mind," "Books," "Old book stores," "Pamphlets," and "Library History" : Spofford, Ainsworth Rand. A Book for All Readers: Designed as an Aid to the Collection, Use, and Preservation of Books and the Formation of Public and Private Libraries. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1900.

This collection contains around 37 letters that Bertha Kucher wrote to her sister Ida while living in Seattle and Enumclaw, Washington, from June 1903 to October 1904. She commented on fashion, hearing loss, and her work as a housekeeper. In her first letter, written on successive days after June 20, 1903, Kucher recounted her journey to Seattle and her safe arrival in the city, where she joined her brother Charles and his family. She frequently commented on his wife Elva and their son Ronald, and described Washington fashion and local travels. In 1904, she sought work as a housekeeper, and she was employed by a man in Enumclaw, Washington, by the fall. Many of Bertha's letters to Ida are over ten pages in length. Enclosures include flowers, a ticket from the S. Willey Navigation Company, and cloth samples. A woman named Nellie Van wrote one letter from New York, dated January 29, 1904.

This collection contains letters and documents related to the early history and economic development of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Most of the items originated in the town itself, though correspondence addressed to Bethlehem locals also forms a significant portion of the material. Examples of documents are a copy of the original indenture for the plot of land that became Bethlehem (July 18, 1741), an order to open a road through the town (June 7, 1755), and a number of receipts and financial documents. Of interest is a petition sent to the Pennsylvania General Assembly on behalf of a group of Bethlehem residents, who wrote, "...the said Brethren are willing and ready, to contribute whatever sums of Money shall be necessary for the Defence of his Majesty's Person and Government in such Proportion, as such sum is usually rated on other Persons residing in the said Northhampton County" (March 30, 1759). Moravian and other religious influences are apparent throughout the collection, which has a minute book kept by an anonymous religious society between 1745 and 1747. Other material includes a significant amount of correspondence focusing on financial matters, as well as a series of affectionate personal letters written by John Okely of Philadelphia to Heartzel Brownfield in Bethlehem. Also of note is a German-language letter from Peter Böhler to an unnamed group of brethren about Native Americans and treatment of Native Americans in Philadelphia at the close of the French and Indian War.

This collection is made up of correspondence related to the Clement family of Hanford, California. Bettye Clement wrote 8 letters to her brother, A. Russell Clement, from Hanford and Fresno, California, between April 19, 1944, and April 1, 1945. She discussed her work and social activities, and shared news of friends (frequently revolving around their romantic relationships). On at least two occasions, she visited local USO centers, where she, her sisters, and a friend played pool and met soldiers. Clement often referred to her relationship with Bill Harp, an active-duty sailor, commenting on his return from overseas duty in February 1945 and explaining their decision to break up because of his desire to remain in the navy and her desire to settle down and begin a family (March 15, 1945). Bill Harp wrote to Bettye's parents from the United States Naval Hospital at San Diego, California, around February 13, 1944. Harp thanked them for a recent gift and discussed a recent illness that had prevented him from deploying with his former ship.

The Beverly Brittain daybook (62 pages) contains daily records for tin work done in Salona, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, in 1860 and 1861. The book, titled "Beverly Brittain. Day Book for 1860," covers July 9, 1860-October 16, 1861, and reflects labor done by the tinsmith for various local residents, including several women, as well as the amount charged for each piece. Much of Brittain's work revolved around kitchen products, and he frequently made and repaired pots, tea kettles, and similar items; wash basins were another frequent product. An 8-page booklet laid in the volume, contains additional accounts with several people, and indicates the purchase of several "glasses of sling," among other alcoholic beverages; the booklet is undated.

This collection is made up of letters that B. F. Tarr wrote to Moses Lane, his brother-in-law (6 items, October 29, 1841-February 25, 1848); Edward F. Tarr, his brother (3 items, January 25, 1846-July 11, 1848); and 3 other recipients (February 14, 1847-December 7, 1847) about his life in Chillicothe, Missouri.

Tarr's letters contain some of his observations about local farming practices and the differences between life in New England and in the South. His letter of December 10, 1845, contains a passage on the "spirit of improvement" among Northerners and slow industrial progress in the South. He often shared personal news, such as his intention to establish a legal practice and updates about his family's fragile health. His wife Harriet occasionally contributed to his letters until her death in 1847, and he reflected on his loneliness after his children moved temporarily to Wisconsin (April 16, 1847). Though he focused primarily on personal matters, he mentioned giving a speech after the American victory at Vera Cruz (April 16, 1847).

This volume contains 21 compositions by 12 students (eight girls and four boys) of Biddeford High School, Maine, between 1850 and 1851 (approx. 90 pages). These "prize compositions" pertain to subjects such as nature, morality, happiness, music, comparisons between the country as it was versus how it is now, industry, and intemperance.

The volume concludes with a one-page letter of thanks from Biddeford High School principal Horace Piper to his students, September 10, 1859, thanking them for the gift of a chair; and a two-page letter from the "Ladies [of] Biddeford" to the Triumph Engine Company (fire brigade), presenting them with an American flag.

• Page 1: "Botanical Chart"
• Pages 3-6: Elizabeth L. P. Adams, "Reading"
• Pages 7-9: Maria C. Grey, "Advantages of Industry"
• Pages 11-13: Hannah A. Burnham, "Saco Falls"
• Pages 15-18: Henri B. Haskell, "Beauties of Nature in Oxford County"
• Pages 19-24: Elizabeth L. P. Adams, "The Beauties of Nature"
• Pages 25-27: Robert Russell, "Beauties of Nature"
• Pages 29-32: Maria C. Grey, "The Beauties of Nature"
• Pages 33-36: Luther T. Mason, "The Art of Writing"
• Pages 39-41: Charles Nichols, "Children should obey their Parents"

• Pages 44-47: Maria C. Grey, "Happiness"
• Pages 48-51: Sarah M. Kendell, "A bad Sholar [sic.]"
• Pages 51-52: Unsigned, "Intemperance"
• Pages 56-59: John B. Lowell, "This Country as it was and as it is"
• Pages 60-64: Luther T. Mason, "This Country as it was, and as it is"
• Pages 65-67: Hannah A. Burnham, "Happiness"
• Pages 68-69: Ellen Smith, "Doing Good to Others"
• Pages 70-74: E. L. P. Adams, "Happiness"

• Pages 76-77: Maria C. Morton, "On The improvement of Time"
• Pages 78-80: Maria C. Morton, "To a Flower" (poem)
• Pages 81-84: Julia A. Lord, "Music"
• Pages 84-89: Maria C. Grey, "Flowers"

• Horace Piper, "A Card To my Former Pupils who honored me with a present on the ninth instant", Biddeford, September 10, 1859 (1 page)
• Ladies [of] Biddeford, to "Gentlemen of the Triumph Engine Company" (2 pages)

The Bigelow-Monks correspondence contains correspondence from several soldiers serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, as well as a series of letters written by Charles A. Monks to his wife Susannah, when he was in Gibbon, Nebraska. Much of the collection consists of the war-era correspondence of several soldiers to Susannah Bigelow and to the Monks family, from friends and family members. Several of Susannah's friends wrote throughout the war, and described in detail their experiences in camp, on the battlefield, and in the hospital. Corporal Jeremiah P. Williams of the 57th New York Infantry Regiment wrote early of his optimism for the Union effort; he drew a patriotic picture of an eagle holding the shield of the United States in his letter of January 23, 1862; he also discussed his impressions of the battle site of First Bull Run at Manassas, Virginia. Lewis Turner, a soldier in the 15th New Jersey Infantry Regiment, served with Charles A. Monks in Company C, and frequently told Susannah of his experiences, including a detailed description of the Battle of Fredericksburg (May 28, 1863). Turner was wounded in the Spotsylvania campaign, but later returned to his regiment. Beverly Post of the 7th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment became a frequent correspondent later in the war, as did his brother Jerry, who often discussed his experiences recuperating from a wound at Stanton Hospital in Washington, D. C. The Posts often referred to Susannah's brother Jonathan, and alluded to his status as a prisoner of war in early 1865.

The collection holds a large number of items written by Charles A. and Sidney N. Monks to their sister Jarrett and to their father William. The pair described the details of camp life during the defense of Washington, D. C., early in the war, but their later correspondence reflects their increasing involvement in the fighting; Charles wrote at one point that he was lucky to have only a bullet through his clothing. Both brothers detailed their battlefield experiences, and both participated in the Battle of Gettysburg. Sidney mentioned enclosing a ring taken from a dead Confederate soldier in his letter of August 15, 1863, and Charles twice provided detailed descriptions of the fighting, in his letters of July 6, 1863, and July 17, 1863. In the second letter, he drew a small map of the Confederate lines. Each of the soldiers provided a rich view of army life, and several wrote on illustrated Union stationery.

A series of letters from 1871 pertains to the experiences of Charles A. Monks as he headed to Gibbon, Nebraska, to assess the possibility of starting a farm there under the Homestead Act. In his letters to his wife Susannah, who remained in New Jersey, he provided detailed descriptions of people, scenery, and everyday life out west. He liked his neighbors and Nebraska, but he returned to his New Jersey home in October 1871.

The Billings family collection (2.5 linear feet) contains correspondence, invitations, ephemera, and other items related to Marcia Billings of Denver, Colorado; Owego, New York; and Brookville, Pennsylvania. Much of the material pertains to her social life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Correspondence series (551 items), which comprises the bulk of the collection, includes several Civil War-era letters to Mary Pearsall from her friend Emily Jewett, as well as other earlier items addressed to Marcia Billings. Most items concern the social lives of Billings's friends and family members in Denver, Colorado; Owego, New York; and Brookville, Pennsylvania, in the 1880s and 1890s. A series of 5 letters from September 1890 pertains to Colorado travel, including newspaper clippings with information for tourists. Two letters enclose photographs (January 19, 1909 and April 2, 1913) and one picture postcard shows a view of a town (August 14, 1911). Later items include letters by Marcia's husband, Benjamin Thomas, and letters to her mother, Gertrude Billings.

The Diaries series (4 items) is made up of a diary that Marcia Billings kept in 1870, the diary of an unidentified writer covering the year 1909, and 2 books containing records of correspondence and personal finances.

The School Papers series (17 items) consists of a Denver High School report card for Marcia Billings, 4 lists of examination questions from geography and grammar exams, 8 manuscript essays, and a card with the program from a "Friday Evening Club [Soiree]" held at Warren's Dancing Academy on November 30, 1882. The series also contains 3 sets of graded notes by Helen C. Jones, October 5-7, 1896, on arithmetic, history, and physiology.

The accounts and receipts in the Financial Records series (6 items) pertain to the personal finances of Marcia Billings and Benjamin Thomas.

The Photographs (6 items), taken in the early 20th century, show unidentified women. The series includes a group of photographs whose images are no longer discernible (counted as 1 item).

The Illustrations series (3 items) contains a colored drawing of a young girl sewing, a colored drawing of a woman holding flowers, and a sheet with sketches of farm animals and people.

Invitations, Responses to Invitations, Cards, and Ephemera (94 items), mainly addressed to Marcia Billings, concern events such as marriages, birthday celebrations, and casual outings. Ephemeral items include lists of dances from social events.

Printed Items (39 items) include over 30 newspaper clippings, most of which concern social events, elopements, and deaths; others contain poetry, cartoons, and news stories. Other printed items are advertisements, a poem entitled "The Mark of a Man-Child," and a poem entitled "The Type-Writer," which contains a printed illustration of a woman typing.

The Realia items are a ribbon, a sock, and an accompanying poem about a "Sock Social" held by the Ladies Aid Society.

The Billings-Stanton correspondence (103 items) largely consists of incoming personal correspondence to Abby Billings Stanton in Trenton and Russia, New York, but also includes incoming personal letters to her sister-in-law, Fanny Stanton of Wethersfield, Connecticut; notes from a book on Christian miracles and prophecy; and genealogical notes about the Stanton family.

Abby Billings Stanton regularly received letters from cousins, aunts, siblings, and friends, mostly female, between 1826 and 1852. Her most frequent correspondents were Gloriana Fosdick, her aunt; Sarah G. Hollister, her cousin; and Frances B. Mason, another cousin. They commented on numerous aspects of their daily lives in towns in Connecticut, New York, and Ohio, and shared news of family members and acquaintances. Some letters pertain to education, marriage, and local travel. Fanny Stanton of Wethersfield, Connecticut, Abby's sister-in-law, also wrote to Abby; her letter of June 24, 1851, mentions a recent visit by P. T. Barnum and the opera singer Jenny Lind's decision to leave his management. Most of the remaining correspondence is addressed to Fanny Stanton, including two partially printed reports of her performance at Hartford Female Seminary in the mid-1830s (October 11, 1836, and October 10, 1837). The final items are 3 pages of notes copied and summarized from Joseph Butler's The Analogy of Religion Natural and Revealed (1736) and 4 pages of genealogical notes about the family of Robert Stanton, beginning with his departure from Lancashire, England, around 1640.

The Bing Crosby collection includes 21 letters and documents from Crosby's professional and personal life, three photographs or photograph reproductions, and one autograph musical quotation. Most letters and documents are in regards to Crosby's film projects during the 1940s and 1950s. Multiple documents pertain to the film White Christmas, including a letter confirming the early script approval by the Paramount Picture Company, and a planning document for the presentation of names in the credits.

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

Amos Binney, a Boston real estate agent, compiled the Binney papers (57 items) in the late 1800s. They include correspondence, documents, newspapers, and photographs related to his ancestors John Binney, Amos Binney, and Horace Binney, Jr.

The Correspondence and Documents series, originally housed in a red leather file folder, consists of several thematically distinct groups of material. The first is a series of six letters that Captain John Binney wrote to his brother Amos between 1809 and 1811, about his military service near Wiscasset, Maine. He defended his honor against recent defamations, discussed supplies for the forts under his command, and commented on the international tension immediately preceding the War of 1812. This group also includes an indenture for land Binney purchased in Plymouth County, Massachusetts (October 18, 1813).

The next group of items is a pair of legal documents concerning Horace Binney, Jr., and a transaction involving land in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The documents list payments made between 1844 and 1852. The third group is a set of three letters between the younger Amos Binney and the United States auditor of the treasury concerning the Binney family genealogy. Binney requested information about Amos and John, his ancestors (particularly their military service), and received responses from Samuel Blackwell (August 18, 1894) and F. M. Ramsay (September 5, 1894). The series also holds an undated letter written by John A. Binney and a map showing property bordered by North, East, Bridge, and Short Streets in an unknown town.

• Nonconsecutive issues of the Boston Castigator, bound together (August 7, 1822-October 2, 1822)
• The Independent Bostonian (October 5, 1822)
• American Statesman and Evening Advertiser, with several additional clippings pertaining to Amos Binney's service as navy agent in Boston (November 18, 1822)
• Bostonian & Mechanics' Journal (November 23, 1822)
• Boston Patriot & Daily Mercantile Advertiser (November 25, 1824)

The third series is a printed, annotated copy of Genealogy of the Binney Family in the United States , which includes enclosures compiled by the younger Amos Binney in the 1890s. Several entries, such as those on Amos and John Binney, have margin notes. The annotations and loose items provide additional information on the family's history, and include family trees, letters between the younger Amos Binney and his uncle, and photographs of Binney family residences and graves.

The Bird family papers are made up of correspondence, documents, ephemera, and other materials related to members of the Bird family of East Smithfield, Pennsylvania. A number of letters written between George Niles Bird and Frances Rowe depict their lengthy, occasionally difficult, courtship in the late 19th century. Letters from other friends and family members are interspersed, including a letter from Hope Rowe recounting the funeral of President James A. Garfield (October 9, 1881).

Nancy N. Bird's correspondence consists primarily of incoming personal letters. Nancy's cousins wrote many of the letters, with the family's religiosity influencing much of their writing. The Bird family papers include many of Nancy N. Bird's speeches, including a series of talks delivered to fellow members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) between 1886 and 1912. She discussed temperance, religion, and topics of local interest, including the history of Smithfield, Pennsylvania. Nancy N. Bird's printed materials consist primarily of ephemera, programs, and newspaper clippings, largely related to her work with the WCTU and to the Bradford Baptist Association. Also present are three items written by Nancy: a short book entitled A History of the Sunday Schools in East Smithfield, PA. Since 1822, and two copies of The History of the Baptist Church of East Smithfield, PA. Other materials related to Nancy include journal pages, a photograph, and Sunday School papers.

Helen Bird's letters, written to her mother, chronicle her year at the West Chester Normal School, 1912-1913, and include frequent complaints about the atmosphere, the people, and the food.

Materials relating to George Bird consist primarily of incoming correspondence from friends and from his cousin Geraldine ("Jerry"). Jerry, who financially supported George during his time at Pennsylvania State University, also offered advice and updates on her academic life at Cornell University, while George's friend Eugene Edgar Doll discussed his experiences at the University of Chicago and his patronage of the arts. The collection also includes reports from George Bird's early studies and from his time at Pennsylvania State.

Personal letters from other members of the Niles and Bird families include early letters from Hannah Niles to her husband Samuel, and letters addressed to George N. Bird, his wife Frances, and their daughter-in-law Carrie. Two printed letters from "Robert and Bernie" in Impur, India, describe the country and their educational and missionary work; on January 7, 1921, they mentioned Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.

The collection contains diaries and journals, account books, and albums. The diaries include an 1844 unsigned journal, Hannah Minor Niles' 1866 diary, Nancy Niles Bird's 1851 diary, and Carrie M. Bird's 1921 diary. An account books tracks John Bird's expenses between 1846 and 1858, and a record book kept by Nancy Niles Bird includes the meeting minutes from the Soldiers Aid Society during the Civil War and household accounts. George Bird's autograph album covers the years 1879-1881 and Nancy Niles Bird's scrapbook, kept between 1850 and 1925, contains newspaper articles about her mother Hannah, members of the Bird family, and acquaintances from Pennsylvania and Kansas.

Other miscellaneous items include a printed map, a document related to the military chapel at Ellington Field, Texas, genealogical items, and manuscript poems.

The Blairstown (N.J.) photograph album (18.5 x 25.5 cm) contains 1 clipping and approximately 91 snapshots of young adults. The clipping is from the marriage of Janith Tate Edgerton. The majority of the images within the album capture candid moments in and around the Delaware Water Gap in New Jersey, including a mix of people, buildings, farm animals, and scenic shots. Descriptive captions are written on some of the photographs.

The second page of the album features members of the Blairstown High School Class of 1915 while the third page features views of what is likely Rutgers University. Page 11 includes an aerial view of a parade for the 150th anniversary of Rutgers. Pages in the back of the album include a photograph of women cross-dressing while "looking for a dear," images of a new car, medieval reenactors, and a group of people dressed as "Bandits." Nine loose photographs of Washington, D.C., soldiers boarding a train during World War I, and snapshots of people are contained in an envelope within the ablum.

This collection (131 items) is made up of correspondence related to Ira Blake of Chester, Vermont, and his descendants, and is divided into three main groups: letters between Ira Blake and Mary Seamans, his future wife (8 items); letters to Frances Blake, their daughter (30 items); and letters by Ormond and Oscar Colony, Frances's sons. The Blake letters primarily concern courtship and family news in New England, and the Colony letters pertain to the brothers' experiences traveling to and living in Colorado during the Civil War.

The Blake correspondence (38 items) relates to Ira Blake's immediate family. In 1807, during their courtship, Ira Blake and Mary Seamans exchanged 8 letters about their relationship and separation. The remaining 30 items are mostly letters to Frances Blake (later Colony) containing personal and family news, with the exception of one letter by [G.]S. Barstow to "Mr. Stutevant" relating to information about local deaths from 1859-1861 (December 30, 1864). The majority of the letters are from Mary Blake (later Mary Moore), Frances's mother, and Cyrus Blake, a friend who wrote of life in Roxbury and Boston, Massachusetts, and who provided a list of items he purchased for Frances, along with each item's cost (August 12, 1831).

The Colony correspondence (103 items) chiefly consists of letters that Ormond and Oscar Colony wrote to their family in Keene, New Hampshire, while living in Central City, Colorado, during the Civil War. Winslow J. Howard wrote the earliest letter to the twins' brother Lewis; he described the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico (May 16, 1859). Oscar and Ormond Colony wrote the remainder of the letters. Ormond departed from New Hampshire in the summer of 1862 and wrote several letters from Saint Joseph, Missouri, before embarking on an overland journey to Colorado. He traveled in covered wagons across the Great Plains, which he described in a lengthy composite letter composed after his arrival in Central City, Colorado (June 3, 1862). His first work in Colorado required occasional journeys in the mountains to survey potential routes for the Pacific Railroad. He wrote about his daily life in the town, mentioning its gold mines and describing the surrounding scenery.

Oscar joined Ormond in early December 1862, and the brothers continued to provide their family with updates on their everyday lives and local news, including at least one report of a trial (October 20, 1863). On December 25, 1862, Ormond drew a detailed picture of their home and shop, complete with sketches of their merchandise, which included stuffed mountain birds and fiddles. Oscar shared a related drawing of a covered wagon pulled by two mules, captioned "…our gilded chariot, and we are inside, but you can't see me" (October 16, 1863). The pair also took several trips throughout the surrounding area. On two occasions, they described the perils of cross-country railroad travel, which included fatal Indian attacks (December 6, 1864), causing Ormond to remark that he wanted the Indians "wiped out" (December 11, 1864). The twins also occasionally commented on the Civil War and contemporary politics. While in Missouri, Ormond mentioned a local military unit and the effects of martial law, and in Colorado they occasionally saw military recruiters and wrote about the public's view of the war. On January 8, 1864, Ormond shared his belief that future politics would be difficult because of problems posed by African Americans, Native Americans, and Mormons. In his final letters, written in or around 1865, he revealed his plans to return to New Hampshire following the closing of his business ventures in Colorado.

Undated material includes several letter fragments and drawings. Among the latter are a valentine and a poem; a surreal drawing depicting "A Dream;" a picture of a man driving a mule behind two men carrying long guns; and a drawing of the Pikes Peak Stage labeled "Mr. Aged Individual Candidate for Pikes Peak." Other items include a newspaper clipping regarding Howard & Colony's jewelry products and a printed advertisement for Winslow J. Howard's jewelry business in Santa Fe.

The Blake family correspondence (140 items) includes incoming letters to Jonathan Blake of Warwick, Massachusetts, and New York City (around 115 letters), along with a smaller set of incoming letters to Blake's future son-in-law, Ephraim Lyon of New York City (around 15 items). Their outgoing correspondence makes up the remainder of the items.

Jonathan Blake's incoming correspondence, which is dated from 1825-1847, mainly consists of personal letters from his siblings and cousins, though he also received letters from other acquaintances. His family often provided news of their lives in Warwick, Massachusetts, and Northampton, Massachusetts, commenting on subjects such as education, local and family health, and religion. A brief group of letters between Jonathan Blake and his wife Mary in 1838, 1840, and 1843 concerns his attempts to persuade her to join him in Warwick, where he hoped to nurse his fragile health, though she did not wish to leave New York City. After 1847, the correspondence largely consists of incoming personal letters to Ephraim Lyon and Lyon's letters to Mary Blake before their marriage. His friends and family members reported on their social lives in Waterford, Connecticut, and on other subjects, and Lyon wrote to Blake about his romantic feelings for her and, in one letter, the possibility of moving to California to pursue his fortune (August 3, 1852).

Although most of this correspondence relates to Lena and Blanche Smith, the earlier letters include six excellent courtship letters from their mother to their father, while she was still in Connecticut and he was in Chicago. There are a handful of letters from Fannie's sister Jennie and other relations, and from Horace's Aunt C. Manning Watson, and her daughter Elizabeth. Most of the letters are from Blanche's friends and Lena's boyfriend Will Brown; there are also a significant number from the sisters, written from Colorado Springs, back home to their parents. In addition to over 500 letters, there is a large amount of ephemera, including school papers, sketches, unidentified photographs, invitations, and some items relating to tuberculosis.

Miss Fannie had a wonderfully forthright writing style. She informed Horace, "I do not want to deceive you, and I tell you frankly, that we are poor but respectable, and that we work for what we have" (1876 April 16). Fannie had learned dressmaking, and was prepared to support herself if necessary. Although she liked to tease Horace, she also seemed to write straight from her heart. For instance, she reflected on the continuing impact of her father's death: "I thought I shed as many tears as I could when he died, but I have found I was mistaken for there are times when I miss him as much if not more than at first. And if he had lived I don't think I should have ever have left home seeing I was the youngest and the only one left, and he was lame and thought so much of his home, and of having me stay there" (1876 May 3).

Both Horace and Fannie's complaints about their health foreshadowed their daughter's tuberculosis. Horace had "weak lungs," and when they were courting, Fannie informed Horace that "I think sometimes I am troubled by Catarrh, but not as bad as I was before I went West, the climate helped me I think for I did not doctor for it any. I am so afraid it will lead to Consumption if not taken care of at first I was frightened about myself once but it was more imagination than anything else" (1876 May 17).

For her part, Blanche maintained a fairly straightforward, patient view of her illness, which was often tinged with humor. She described her doctor in San Francisco as "just like all the other doctors in Calif. thump you a little, ask you a string of questions just for show, & charge you $10.00" (1904 December 2). Once she was in Colorado, she wrote her parents. "You know I don't want to keep any thing from you, but I do hate to fill up a letter with my aches & pains. I can stand it better than being punched twice a day" (1904 December 30).

She kept true to her word about not wanting to keep anything from her parents. She wrote frankly about the Ranch -- "The only thing I think is wrong about the place is their emptying all the old slop right out on the ground about 20 ft. from my tent..." -- and her inner workings: "I eat all I possibly can & have quite a time keeping my bowels in order. I drink 6 glasses of milk & take 6 raw eggs a day" (1905 January 5, January 20).

Both sisters also kept their parents well-informed about each other's good and bad behavior. Lena often got frustrated with her needy sister, and after working all day, did not always want to sit with her, or devote her time to writing letters home or to her boyfriend back in Friend, Will Brown. Blanche complained about feeling lonely, and that Lena was spending too much time with various men. One man "always turns up just at the right time. If Will Brown knew half she was doing I think he would make sure of her inside of a month. Some of her actions surprise me, and that's saying a good deal" (1906 January 15). In her last letter to her father, marked "Private," Blanche was still sharply voicing her concern about her sister's behavior (1906 March 9).

Blanche may well have been jealous of the attentions paid to her sister, and of the men who took up Lena's free time. Her reports, however, were probably not exaggerated. One letter in the collection, from "Sam," to Lena, includes this startling bit: "I do love you Lena today as much as any time we were together and I do hope all will go well as we had planned. Do you still hope the same?" (1904 May 24).

Will Brown began writing to Lena in 1902, and after reading his prolific letters it is easier to sympathize with the errant Lena. Will was constantly traveling on business, and would write Lena tedious descriptions of where he was, what he was doing, and what his prospects for the future were. The fact that all of his plans for getting ahead in business fell through, year after year, probably did not enhance Lena's reading experience. In June of 1905 she evidently berated Will for his writing style, but although he admitted "I have felt that my letters to you were not what they should be," he excused himself by saying he thought Blanche would probably be reading the letters too, so he did not want to get too personal (1905 June 22). Lena even confided in her father about Will, telling him, "I'm afraid I feel more each day that I'm getting out of the notion of marrying anyway -- that I'd rather take care of myself again," indicating that caring for Blanche was taking its toll on her sister (1906 February 9).

Will never did get very romantic, and his overall tone was more one of defeat. Even a turn as a successful hotelier in Loveland, Colorado, was brought to a screeching halt by an appendectomy, which left Will in terrible debt and unable to work for several months. He released Lena from her engagement, and although she was entertaining a very familiar correspondence with Billy Taylor, whom she had met in Colorado, and complaining again about Will's letters and the long delay in their plans, Lena did eventually marry Will Brown (1907 November 9, 1908 July 5).

Blanche corresponded with friends she had made at various stages in her life. Lulu Hall, Carrie Roehl, and the Browns were all people she had met while living in Friend. Her California friends included Babe Sinclair, Miss Rich, Isis Gasaway, Freda Wisner, and Charles Putnam, a boy she had probably gone with in San Francisco. Charles seems rather immature, and Blanche evidently found him too "spoony" and got tired of him writing about how much he loved her (1905 April 17). Charles thought she was only discouraging him because of her sickness, and relied on that old but effective trick, jealousy, to warm her up again. After nonchalantly describing various events he had attended as the escort of "Miss C.," Charles apparently began hearing from Blanche more regularly.

Isis and Freda both got married while Blanche was in Colorado. Isis still lived with her family, which she found a bit disconcerting. She confided in Blanche, "as it is, it just kind of seems like Sherm just came here to stay with all of us. Don't tell anybody but the only time it really seems like I'm married is when I go to bed with Sherm" (1906 February 17).

After she moved into the cottage in Colorado Springs, Blanche received a few letters from Fred Davis and Bob Ferris, two "lungers" she had met at the ranch. Fred, who had moved on to the Adam Memorial Home in Denver, wrote, "I am so tired of these institutions. I long -- oh how I long for a home with a little h where I can put my feet on the parlor furniture and hoist the curtains above see-level and go to the pantry and detach choice bits from the cold turkey left from dinner and -- oh just holler" (1906 January 23).

In the last few months of her life, Blanche met and began going to see Mrs. Carpenter, a Christian Scientist who changed the way Blanche thought about her illness. "It isn't our body that's sick, its the thought," she informed her parents (1906 January 26). Lena thought the influence of Christian Science might do Blanche some good, for Mrs. Carpenter "told Bee that fear was one of her greatest troubles -- that because she had this trouble she was scared all the time for fear she wouldn't get well" (1906 February 9). Putting her faith in God as a healer freed Blanche from her fear. In her last letter to her "Popsie" before her death, even as her limbs were swelling up "large & hard," Blanche wrote: "Christian Science is wonderful and O, so much good is done by it. I feel such a decided change going on, all over my body & I know its God's healing power. He is healing me every day papa & I want you to know it. Think it & declare it every day for your thots will do me so much good" (1906 March 9). Within three weeks, Blanche had died.

The Bland family papers contain correspondence, documents, and genealogical information related to the family of Theodoric Bland, a Continental Army officer, delegate to the Continental Congress, and Virginia politician. The earliest items in the Correspondence and Documents series are related to his ancestors, including a court document from "James Citty," listing a "Theo. Bland" as a member of the court (October 16, 1665), and a 1720 letter regarding British military affairs. The Theodoric Bland in this collection wrote the majority of items, often copies of his outgoing correspondence related to local and national politics in the latter years of the American Revolution; among these are letters to Benjamin Harrison and to Patrick Henry. Two items concern the Siege of Gibraltar, including a 1778 warrant for John Sweetland and a letter by Thomas Cranfield to his mother and father about his experiences during the siege (September 7, 1783). The collection also holds a muster roll of Lt. Purviss's Company, in a regiment of guards, from 1779. Later legal documents pertain to the career of Maryland judge Theodorick Bland, of another branch of the Virginia Bland family. Later material includes several personal letters to "Mr. and Mrs. Bland" from family and friends dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as responses to genealogical inquiries.

The Genealogy and Images series contains engravings and drawings of several Bland family members, including a detailed pencil drawing of P. E. Bland, who served as a colonel in the Civil War. Other genealogical notes trace branches of the family through the mid-19th and early-20th centuries.

The Bookplates and Printed Items series holds several bookplates, 20th century newspaper clippings, and pages from books.

The Blanding-Carpenter papers contain 70 incoming and outgoing letters of the families of Noah Blanding of Attleboro, Massachusetts, and James Blanding of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Correspondents include friends and family members from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York.

Family and local news were frequent topics of conversation, as were illnesses and their treatments. Several friends reported news of acquaintances' teaching careers around New England. Others mentioned their travels, particularly within Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and some mentioned people who were considering a move to California during the Gold Rush. Though based in Bristol County, Massachusetts, each family received letters from a variety of locations, and several recipients spent time in Seekonk, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and Brooklyn, New York. On one occasion, Nancy A. Blanding wrote her sister Elizabeth about a party she attended in Brooklyn (January 28, 1847). Childcare was also discussed; for example, Susannah Carpenter Blanding, then married to Nathaniel Arey (or Avrey), wrote about the growth of her children, and included a pattern for a child's stocking (September 12, 1852).

The Bleecker Houston papers consist of 90 items all of which pertain to her service in the Women's Army (Auxiliary) Corps during World War II. The collection consists of 49 photographs, four photograph negatives, 32 military papers, and five miscellaneous items. The photographs include five of Bleecker Houston herself, four military photographs (including an encampment, a photo of a group of soldiers, red cross vehicle, and a prop plane), 12 photographs of Douglas MacArthur and several other officials, three photographs of the signing of the surrender of Japan, four scenic photos taken in London, and 18 photographs (of photographs) of the sinking of the Bismarck.

Houston's military papers contain 15 documents pertaining to her duties and five documents regarding her training and enlistment in the WAAC. Sergio Osmana and Douglas MacArthur authored 5 documents to the people of the Philippines to provide assurance and to induce a fighting spirit. In a General Order, MacArthur expresses his appreciation to his troops, staff, and the Philippine people. Two documents pertain to Houston's son, John Thomas Simmons Jr., and one pertains to John T. Simmons.

In addition, the collection includes a manuscript piece of sheet music "Women's Army Corps," a certificate of appreciation from St. Mary's County Commission for Women, and two V-mail political cartoons from John Simmons to Houston. The five miscellaneous items include three newspaper clippings related to Bleecker Houston, and two pieces of Japanese currency used by the military.

The Bloomfield-Pike letterbook contains copies of outgoing correspondence from two important American generals in the northern theater during the War of 1812. It documents two months of Joseph Bloomfield's command at Plattsburg, September-November, 1812, and the last two months of Zebulon Montgomery Pike's life, while commanding American forces at Saranac and Sackett's Harbor, N.Y. This letterbook contains no letters written after the departure of American forces from Sackett's Harbor during the assault on York, Ontario.

Given its two-part nature, the letterbook presents a minor problem regarding its origin and provenance. It appears first to have been used by a member of Bloomfield's staff. Memoranda were entered at the front of the letterbook in a section reserved for them, and copies of outgoing letters were recorded further back in chronological order. When the book came into Pike's use, a member of his staff entered copies of letters in two different places: sometimes in the first available blank pages (pp. 1-36) and sometimes at the end of where the Bloomfield letters had left off (p. 123). Both sections are in chronological order, but the dates of letters overlap. How, precisely, the book went from recording orders issued by Bloomfield to orders issued by Pike has not been determined, but it may have been the property of a officer under Bloomfield's command who was transferred under Pike near the end of the year, 1812.

This minute book contains administrative and logistical information related to the Blooming Grove Horse Thief Detective Society of Blooming Grove, New York, between 1866 and 1883. The minutes are a record of changing board members and positions, routes, riders, report submissions, the use of telegraphs, poster printing, and directions for leaving descriptions of stolen horses at stations, ferries, and livery stables.

This collection consists of three letters sent from members of the Blount and Bulen families from Minnesota in 1844 and 1855 back to relatives in Mexico, New York. They describe the family's migration from New York to Phelps, Minnesota, their efforts to establish farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and descriptions of the country. The letters include phonetic spellings, and two of the letters were written jointly by several members of the family. For additional information, see the individual descriptions in the Contents List.

B. M. Sheldon kept this cash book (169 pages) while working as a clerk for Eber Brock Ward's steamboat company in Detroit, Michigan, in the early 1850s. The first section of the volume (160 pages) is a cash book, containing accounts dated November 19, 1852-August 16, 1853. Each transaction is listed separately, with running totals calculated daily. Many entries refer to specific steamboats. Sheldon recorded payments related to grocery bills and transactions of company treasurer Oren C. Thompson. The final 9 pages of the volume are accounts dated from July and August 1853, many of which were made in Thompson's absence.

The Correspondence series consists of 167 personal and business letters of Elijah Boardman and his family. Many of the letters are copies sent to Eli Baldwin, who managed Boardman's property in Ohio. Oliver Wolcott, from the Connecticut Council Chamber, sent multiple letters (1818, 1820) informing Boardman of his elections to state office. The collection also contains letters between friends and family members, including a number of items between Elijah and his son William, who was studying at Harvard College in Massachusetts, and letters to and from William's brother George and his mother Mary ("Mama"). In addition to the Boardman material is a small set of fifteen 20th century letters pertaining to Walter G. Drogue, comprising.

The Documents series contains 10 items, mostly inventories of Boardman's estate and property, along with his last will and testament.

The Business and Financial Papers series of 163 items consists of promissory notes, tuition receipts from Harvard and Yale, correspondence on orders and shipments from Villee and Burrail, and miscellaneous receipts and financial accounts.

The Miscellaneous: Political and Other series holds 30 items, both related to Boardman's public work as well as some truly miscellaneous items, such as a poem titled Oh Unfortunate, and a printed list of prices for produce in New York. Two items of note are a booklet with a list of names of "Freemen Republicans" and "Freemen Federal," and Boardman's Political Notebook from 1803.

The Drafts, Research, and Notes and series contains an undated manuscript draft of Walter Gerald Drogue biography of Elijah Boardman and the the materials he used to write the history. This series is comprised of 1,848 dated and undated items such as letters from libraries and special collections detailing their related holdings, and note cards with citations from primary and secondary sources.

The Books series contains two volumes: William Boardman's "Commonplace Book," which mentions topics such as philosophy, astronomy, and poetry; and the published Memoir of the Life and Character of Mrs. Mary Anna Boardman, with a Historical Account of Her Forefathers, and Biographical and Genealogical Notices of Many of Her Kindred and Relatives, by John Frederick Schroeder, published in New Haven, in 1849.

The Bonynge family photograph collection consists of ten photograph albums and approximately 600 loose photographs pertaining to the Bonynge family of New Jersey. The albums center on Henry Arthur Bonynge Jr., M.D., his wife Elizabeth and daughter Marjorie. Images include snapshots of family life in northeastern United States, trips to Wyoming, El Salvador, Bermuda, Cuba, and Europe. The albums are roughly arranged in chronological order while the loose photographs are organized by location.

Volume One: The Bonynge family Hoboken album (27.25 x 36.25 cm, lacks covers) contains approximately 90 snapshots of Henry Bonynge Jr.'s family when he was a young man. A majority of these images are dated from 1898-1901 and were taken at 931 Washington Street in Hoboken. Images of note include domestic interior views, a Christmas tree, charming casual portraits, street snapshots, photographs of Henry Bonynge Sr.’s sister Florence graduating from high school, an October 1899 trip to visit landmarks in New York City, and visits to the Jersey Shore.

Volume Two: The Christ Church Hospital, Jersey City album (26.5 x 30.5 cm, black leather cover with gilt title) contains approximately 30 professional quality photographs related to Henry Bonynge Jr.'s medical internship in 1906-1907. There are several carefully composed views of hospital exteriors, interiors, equipment, and staff in uniform. Of note is a view across Hoboken rooftops, the Hudson River, to New York City. Also a fine image of the hospital kitchen and staff. Includes one card photograph of employees with a stretcher in front of a hospital ambulance.

Volume Three: The Bonynge family early snapshots album (26.75 x 36.75 cm, black leather cover in poor condition) contains approximately 400 photographs documenting Henry and Elizabeth Bonynge's early years of marriage as well as Marjorie's infancy. Images of interest include photographs of daily life and family trips from 1910 to 1917 in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Lake Waramaug (Connecticut), Prince Edward Island, Lake George (New York), Newport, Rhode Island, Maine, Atlantic City, New Jersey and Mount Vernon, Virginia. Includes notable images of recreational activities, early automobile travel, horseback riding, construction of the Prospect Street house in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and a July 4th parade. Later notes from Susan B. Strange identify many individuals represented in the album in addition to captions written by Elizabeth and/or Henry.

Volume Four: The Bonynge family snapshots album (27.25 x 36.75 cm, black leather cover, poor condition) contains approximately 250 photographs of Henry, Elizabeth and Marjorie. While some of the images included in this album were taken in 1911, most date to ca. 1918-1925. Images of interest include photographs of Marjorie as a young child riding horses (including ‘Lightning’, a Shetland Pony), trips to Niagara Falls, Quebec, and Lake George in 1921, a trip to Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York in 1922 and a pictures from a "Charley trip," possibly to Wyoming.

Volume Five: The New Preston, Ridgewood, and Nantucket album (24.25 x 36.75 cm, black leather cover) contains approximately 45 high quality photographic prints of people and places in New Preston, Connecticut, and Nantucket, Massachusetts as well as the family home in Ridgewood, New Jersey. There is a partial index for the album which was likely filled out by Marjorie. Images of note include Elizabeth and Marjorie with a pony in 1918, interior photographs of the house at 107 Prospect Street and ten photographs of Nantucket.

Volume Six: The Marjorie Bonynge childhood album (19 x 29.25 cm, black leather cover) contains approximately 40 photographs, including numerous portraits of people and of Marjorie as a child from 1920-1929. Of note is an image of children dressed for a Halloween party.

Volume Seven: The Bonynge European travel album (23.5 x 35.5 cm, black leather cover) contains approximately 70 photographs of a Atlantic crossing aboard the U.S.S. Minnetonka in 1925. The photographs focus on Cherbourg (France), Edinburgh (Scotland), Stratford-upon-Avon, (England), and Volendam (the Netherlands). Images of interest include several views of Henry Bonynge Jr.'s mother's home in Bath, England.

Volume Eight: The Bonynge Wyoming trips album (23.5 x 35.5 cm, black leather cover) contains approximately 65 photographs of a family trip to the Fred Richard Ranch near Cody, Wyoming in 1922. Images include views of hunting, mountain vistas, and horseback riding. There are also copies of three newspaper clippings describing Henry Bonynge Jr.'s near death experience on the trip while hunting.

Volume Nine: The Bonynge Nantucket trips album (23.5 x 35.5 cm, black leather cover) contains approximately 150 photographs of two trips to Nantucket in 1923 and 1924.

Volume Ten: The Bonynge Yellowstone trip album (24.25 x 36.75 cm, black leather cover) contains approximately 150 photographs of a trip to Yellowstone National Park and Shoshone Canyon ca.1920-1922. Notes have been added by both Susan B. Strange and likely Henry Bonynge Jr. Images of interest include photographs of a ranch and horseback riding in an unmarked location, probably near Cody, Wyoming.

The 600 loose photographs in this collection are stored in 11 separate envelopes and have been sorted according to the location they were taken. The majority of these images were taken during a number of family vacations during the 1930s. There are several images that are duplicates of photographs that appear in the albums.

Envelope One and Envelope Two contain approximately 60 images of family, pets, school groups and Ridgewood and Hoboken, New Jersey.

Envelope Three contains approximately 30 images of a cruise to what appears to be Bermuda.

Envelope Four contains approximately 38 images of horses and views of locations in Kentucky.

Envelope Five contains approximately 70 images of multiple trips to Salmon, Idaho. Photographs document the Bonynge family partaking in horseback riding and rodeo at a friend's ranch.

Envelope Six contains approximately 80 images of trips to various locations in the United States from 1936 until ca. 1940. The images have been separated by note cards with locations and dates.

Envelope Seven contains approximately 60 images of a trip taken by Marjorie in March of 1937 to El Salvador and Central America in order to visit a friend from high school named Eva Duke.

Envelopes Eight and Nine contain approximately 170 images from a 1937 Caribbean Cruise aboard the S.S.Quirigua. Many of the images depict Havana, Cuba.

Envelope Ten contains approximately 58 images from a number of unidentified places as well as two photographs from a 1932 trip to Venice, Italy.

Envelope Eleven contains approximately 45 images of unidentified people. Some images appear to be from ca. 1900, though most of the photographs are of friends or neighbors of the Bonynge family in the 1930s.

This collection is made up of individual letters and documents related to the trade and collection of rare books in the United States. The majority of the material is correspondence between individuals and dealers, and reflects the history of rare book collecting, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Book Collectors collection includes letters by many prominent collectors, historians, and political figures. A selection of items relates to the collections of the William L. Clements Library and to its namesake, including 2 letters from William L. Clements to Worthington C. Ford, one of which regards Ford's contribution to the newly opened library (June 27, 1923). Clements Library directors Randolph G. Adams and Howard H. Peckham also contributed to the collection. See the box and folder listing below for an inventory of contributors' and subjects' names.

This collection is comprised of 11 letters that Booker T. Washington wrote between 1897 and 1915. Five letters are addressed to William Hayes Ward, editor of the Independent, about William Hannibal Thomas's The American Negro. The remaining items pertain to his duties as principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.

Washington's first 2 letters, written in 1897 and 1898, respond to inquiries about the Tuskegee Institute and about its newspaper, Southern Letter. Another, responding to a request for a female housekeeper, relates Washington's thoughts on the prospects for graduates in their home communities (April 9, 1903). In two later letters Washington discussed the school's financial situation and requested donations (March 28, 1907, and May 22, 1915). On May 22, 1915, he mentioned the impact of World War I on the economic state of the South, suffering from decreased cotton exports to Europe.

Booker T. Washington corresponded with William Hayes Ward, editor of the New York Independent, in early 1901, writing 5 letters about The American Negro, recently published by William Hannibal Thomas. Washington disputed the book's factual accuracy as well as some of the author's asserted accomplishments. He also lauded the success of African American physicians in the state of Alabama (January 25, 1901).

The letters are written on Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute stationery.

The Boston Beer Company collection contains correspondence addressed to Gamaliel Bradford of Boston, Massachusetts, regarding the company's incoming shipments of supplies and outgoing shipments of beer. Suppliers of barley malt were the most frequent correspondents, and included firms from New York and New Hampshire. Other businesses from various locations, including New Orleans, Louisiana, requested shipments of the company's products, especially porter and pale ale, for use in local hotels. Samuel Kathrens, a frequent correspondent from New Orleans, provided information on the local beer industry and reported that "almost every Bottle" in a recent order for porter "was bursted and the corks driven all I got out of the three barrels was thirteen Bottles of Porter" (November 27, 1830). Several letters are composed on partially printed shipping receipts, and other financial accounts are interspersed throughout the collection. The material documents the early history of the company and of the beer industry in the early 19th-century United States.

This collection consists of 8 letters written to John and Thomas Fleet, editors of the Boston Evening Post, during the pre-Revolutionary period.

• [Joseph Warren?], attacking John Mein, publisher of the Boston Chronicle, for criticizing the Boston non-importation agreement (published September 4, 1769)
• [Joseph Warren?], describing the murder of 13-year-old Christopher Snider following a riot related to the Boston non-importation agreement (published February 26, 1770)
• Joseph Allen, describing a violent dispute over the ownership of a farm in Greenwich, Massachusetts, and including a related resolution from several nearby towns' Committees of Correspondence (November 10, 1774; published December 19, 1774)
• [John Fuller?], favorably reporting that "Doctor John Taylor of Lunenburg, in Order for the Promotion of Military Knowledge, which in these Times of Public Calamity, seems Indispensably necessary, generally gave to the Minute Company of that Town, 55 Military Books" (December 8, 1774)
• Anonymous, reporting that Thomas Weeks, Deputy Sheriff of Greenwich, Massachusetts, resigned and burned his commission as a protest against "Unconstitutional Government," including a list of 8 celebratory toasts (December 19, 1774; published January 16, 1775)
• Ephraim Whitney, recanting a statement published on October 17, 1774, in which he claimed to support the British government, and claiming the earlier statement was made under coercion [1774]
• Solomon Stoddard, affirming his intentions to submit to the actions of the Continental Congress and to have no correspondence with General Thomas Gage, possibly made under coercion (February 3, 1775)
• "A Real Friend to Government," quoting several laws related to punishments for British military officers who participate in riots and calling for a trial of related parties; possibly in response to the Boston Massacre (undated)

This collection consists of photographs of Boston, Massachusetts, and other New England towns, taken around the turn of the 20th century. The collection includes pictures of commercial and municipal buildings, battleships, and city landmarks.

Large format photographs show a variety of Boston scenes, including commercial streets and buildings, harbor views, waterfront parks, the USS Hartford and USS New York, a streetcar station and tracks, a horse-drawn firefighting ladder truck, and a crowd waching the launch of an unrigged yacht in Boston Harbor. Buildings depicted include Faneuil Hall, the Jordan Marsh department store, and the U.S. Customhouse. A scene on the Boston Common shows the statue of George Washington being decorated, with a crowd of pedestrians including a Civil War veteran wearing a uniform with medals. Also included is a photograph of the Witch House in Salem, Mass., former residence of Joseph Corwin, a judge at the Salem witch trials; and a collision of two locomotives with a photographer on the scene, possibly staged. The first image (10cm x 14.5cm), an overhead view of Charlestown and the Bunker Hill Monument, is affixed to a wall calendar for the year 1884; all of its removable monthly pages are still intact. The calendar was presented with "Compliments of Annie T. Smith."

The Boston Mob Pennsylvania Tour and Cross-Country Tour photograph albums contain 213 pictures taken during travels in the Mid-Atlantic States, the northern Midwest, Colorado, and California in the early 1890s. Each album is 29cm x 35cm with titles stamped in gold on the front covers. Most photographs are captioned.

The first volume, "Pennsylvania Tour 1891," contains 77 items, comprised of 15.5cm x 20cm prints pasted one to a page and 9cm x 12cm prints pasted three or four to a page. The first 7 pictures and the final picture were taken at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, including views of battlefield monuments and a military cemetery. The photographer also traveled to Luray, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Richmond, Virginia. A few shots are group portraits of male and female tourists, who posed once in a railroad car by a banner reading "Boston Mob," and many others are images of city streets and natural scenery, including a series taken in and around a natural bridge and Cedar Creek in Virginia. While visiting Washington, D.C., the compiler photographed landmarks such as the Washington Monument, United States Treasury, White House, and State, War, and Navy Building. Ferries, horse-drawn trolleys (running on tracks), trains, bridges, and railroad depots are visible in many photographs. Of note is an aerial photograph of the White House and surrounding buildings taken from the top of the Washington Monument and a group of 5 items showing African American children playing on a street in Luray, Virginia.

The second volume, "Across the Continent 1892," contains 136 photographs (9cm x 12cm each), usually pasted four to a page. Most items are views of buildings and natural scenery in locations such as Niagara Falls; Sioux City, Iowa; Denver, Colorado; San Francisco, California; Los Angeles, California; Seattle, Washington; and Duluth, Minnesota, as well as other towns in Colorado and California. The pictures show donkeys, town and city buildings, a cattle ranch, and rock formations, particularly in the Garden of the Gods; the photographer visited Seattle during a snowy winter. A number of photographs show a smelter in Denver, Colorado. One group of California photographs features orange trees. Other items of note are a "Spirit Picture" of two overlapped city scenes and a shot of Grover Cleveland's inauguration on March 4, 1893.

The Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad photograph album consists of 43 photographs taken in various locations in Massachusetts most likely along the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad line. The album (39 x 29 cm) is hardbound with a green cover. Images include views of urban street scenes in several Massachusetts towns, including Lynn; railroad passenger stations; a trolley car; street car tracks; the Bay State House in Worcester, Massachusetts; various storefronts; a locomotive with a plow attachment; numerous horse-drawn carriages; a sign stating "Railroad crossing. Look out for the engine while the bell rings."; a woman identified by a handwritten caption as "Louise" posing outside of a carriage stable; and what appears to be either two horse cars or two electric automobiles parked on a street.

The Boston to St. Louis travel diary recounts an arduous month-long journey between the two cities made by rail, steamboat, and stagecoach in the fall of 1837. The anonymous author, a staunchly religious man, refused to travel on Sundays and attended Sunday religious services at Presbyterian churches throughout his travels, which took him through northern New York, down the Erie Canal, across lower Michigan and northern Illinois, and finally down the Mississippi River to St. Louis. The diarist wrote daily entries about frequent delays, bad weather, his route, the scenery, and various traveling companions, many of whom he knew. Though the initial leg from Boston to Rochester, New York, proceeded without difficulty, he became stranded in Cleveland and was frequently held back by poor, muddy roads as he proceeded by stagecoach from Detroit to Chicago. He finally reached St. Louis on November 28 and concluded the journal on November 30, a lonely and homesick Thanksgiving. Though the author's daily entries fully chronicle the hardships of travel in the early 19th century, they also provide interesting anecdotes and commentary, including encounters with wild animals along the road, and news of the murder of abolitionist minister Elijah Parish Lovejoy, which the diarist first heard about in Chicago, but also later in Alton, Illinois, where the murder made "abolitionism…more than ever the topic of conversation" (November 25). The final two pages of the volume consist of a table of distances, fares, and expenses incurred throughout the trip.

Bouquet's Expedition against the Indians consists of two headquarters books (262 pages) of orders issued by Colonel Henry Bouquet, spanning August-November, 1764, during which time he lead a small army, made up of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland troops, into western Ohio Indian territory to retrieve all white captives in the region and to enforce a peace settlement with the Delaware, Mingo, Shawnee, and Wyandot Indians. The orderly books are entitled "Orders and Dispositions for the Troops Serving in the Southern Department on an Expedition against the Savages, in 1764," and are the first two of a three volume set (the whereabouts of the third volume is unknown, but Bouquet's mission ended only nine days after the second journal ends). The two volumes are written in several different hands.

The entries contain typical orders, such as promotions, disciplinary actions, travel progress, food ration amounts, and the daily parole and countersign, but the books are notable for their detailed descriptions of Bouquet's military strategies for leading a small army into an unfamiliar wilderness, and for their thorough documentation of army life. Orders contain lengthy discussions of troop formations and are accompanied by diagrams of camp layouts, and marching and attack formations. (For a complete list of diagrams, see the Related Collections section below where each sketch has been individually catalogued). Bouquet gives specific instructions for how the camp is to be maintained. For example, on August 18 he orders: "At least Ten yards in Front and rear of the different faces of the Encampment to be cleared & swept Clean Immediately. All the men off Duty to be employed at this Work and the Quarter Master of the Day will see that is properly performed." Each operation is given in a similar if not better level of attention. Bouquet often even specifies the precise distance that should separate troops while marching. No detail, it seems, is too small to escape Bouquet's attention.

Bouquet's orders contain the names of his officers and many of the soldiers marching with him. Throughout the journal he notes the numbers, ranks, and occupations of his forces, as well as those stationed in forts along the way. Positions include regulars, light infantry, reserve, flankers, advanced rifle men, doctors, surgeons, cattle drivers, coopers, horse men, axe men, and hunters. The troops expended much effort clearing paths through the thick forests, but their hatchets served an important second purpose. On September 8, Bouquet recommended that the officers "be particularly carefull that their Men do not negligently lose or abuse their Hatchets as they are the only weapons they can depend on in Attacking the Enemy after they have discharged their Fire Arms."

The orderly books document women traveling with the troops, though Bouquet did not approve of their presence. On August 13 and 15, Bouquet ordered a prohibition on women travelling with the army. By September 23, however, Bouquet ordered that "One Woman belonging to Each Corps & two Nurses for the Genl Hospital will be pitched upon by the Commanding Offic[ers] of Corps to proceed wt ye Army...All the Women now in Camp and Those unnecessary in Garrison are to be sent down the Country." Bouquet repeated this order on September 27 and threatened that any women following the army would "be punished in the Severest Manner and sent back unprotected from the Enemy and unprovided wt Food." Nurses were mentioned again on November 1, in an order for them to attend the sick and the young children among the captives.

The second volume opens with a general order from Bouquet stating "that every thing is now ready to act offensively against the enemy Indians in order to obtain satisfaction for the Murders and depredations they have committed against his Majestys Subjects, without the least provocation, cause, or pretence...The Savages now will find to their Terror...men [filled] with resentment at at so many Injuries received and not yet revenged" (October 2, 1764). Though similar proclamations of revenge are scattered throughout the books, the mission turned out to be largely peaceful with few violent encounters with the enemy. In fact, after a soldier was murdered by some Indians on November 7, Bouquet first requested that the chiefs offer up the murderer for justice, and also "Expressly forbid that any person in the Army shou'd Offer Violence, to any of the Indians on that account." Bouquet sought to control all British interactions with the Indians. He forbade any trading, especially horse trading, between soldiers and Indians, and commanded that "Any person Detected for the future, in the Actual possession of a horse, not his own whether he be a White man, or Indian will be Immediately Hang'd" (November 8). The punishment for embezzlement or theft was equally severe (October 8).

Of particular interest is the description of the expedition's treatment of the returned white captives. On October 29, for instance, Bouquet ordered that "Upon the delivery of the Prisoners they are to be separated and sent to the Apartments alloted for each Sex. Exact and distinct Lists of their Names to be Immediately taken, specifying their Age, Sex, where and when taken &c And particular description of the Features, Complexion, Size...there will be many among them who are very much attached to the Savages by having lived wt them from their Infancy, These if not narrowly watched may be apt to make their Escape after they are delivered up." These descriptions were taken so that family would be able to claim their lost relatives. Also of interest are references to military leaders such as General Thomas Gage, General John Forbes, and Sir William Johnson.

Bouquet's forces marched through the following locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio, as noted in the orderly books:

Volume 1, August 5-October 1, 1764 (167 pages): Carlisle, Fort Loudoun, Fort Littleton, Fort Bedford, Camp at Edmonds Swamp, Quemahoning Bridge, Fort Ligonier, a camp at Nine Mile Run, and Fort Pitt.

Volume 2, October 2 to November 9, 1764 (95 pages): Mont Gage, a number of encampments on the banks of the Ohio River labeled by mileage markers from Fort Pitt, camp at Tuscarawas, camps on the Muskingum River, and camps near the Wakatomika Creek.

The back of the first volume contains 7 pages of earlier general orders, starting on November [18], 1763, with a blank order followed by lengthier entries for scattered dates between January 7, 1764 and June 14, 1764:

• January 7: General orders commendation from His Majesty for the Battle of Bushy Run.
• January 15: Notice of a general court marshal hearing in Albany.
• January 16: Discharge and payment of the members of the 1st Battalion Royal American Regiment.
• January 23: Information for the discharge of the men of the 77 and 42 Regiments.
• February 22: Orders for transporting the 3rd Battalion.
• March 30: Future instructions for accounting for leaves of absence.
• April 1: Announcement of Colonel Bradstreet's appointment.
• April 4: Rough estimates of numbers of officers in the Royal American Regiment.
• June 14: recruiting notice.

See Related Collections for information on the published versions of the journals.

The Bowman collection contains financial documents, correspondence, and essays related to the family of Samuel Bowman of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Two early receipts, dated 1770 and 1771, pertain to the financial affairs of William Ledlie, Captain Samuel Bowman's father-in-law. Other receipts from the 1790s, indicate Bowman's purchase of "twenty Gallons of Whiskey and one Cask," and a transaction involving a horse; one later financial document records an order for schoolbooks in 1809 made by Jacob Morris, a Revolutionary War colonel.

Several legal documents throughout the collection document land holdings of the Bowman family, as well as additional fiscal matters; these include a sworn statement about Ebenezer Bowman's debts (November 10, 1821), a deed for land owned by the estate of Jesse Fell near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania [1831], and a notice of a pending lawsuit against William Ledlie Bowman (February 20, 1837).

The collection also holds personal correspondence, including, among other material, one anonymous, religious letter (May 29, 1797), and an item about local military recruitment efforts (February 4, 1800). Among the additional materials are a celebratory essay written on July 4, 1825; an article about local lawyer Mr. Phillips, addressed to the editor of the Wyoming Herald; and an essay composed "On Nothing."

The jail record for Box Butte County begins in October 14, 1887 and concludes February 14, 1966. The ledger, maintained by the Sheriff, is divided into two parts: first, an incomplete alphabetical register of defendants, and secondly, a chronological record of prisoner's names, crimes, dates of residency, disposition, and financial accounting. The ledger records a variety of infractions, such as drunk and disorderly behavior, assault, adultery, rape, robbery, theft, forgery, gambling, destroying railroad property, and illegal train-riding. The early, less populated years seem to have been fairly free of crime, with only five partial pages devoted to the entire span from 1887 to 1901. The few crimes that were reported are generally very minor in nature.

During Prohibition, the preponderance of crime related to the production, distribution, and consumption of alcohol (e.g. bootlegging, drunkenness, possession of still, and sale of liquor to Indians) With the advent of the automobile, the infractions include moving violations, such as speeding, driving without lights, driving without a license, reckless driving, "joy riding", driving while intoxicated, and auto theft (replacing horse-stealing). At lease two persons, one with Hispanic surname, were jailed for possession of marijuana (1948 and 1950). Given the paucity of data, it is difficult to identify any clear patterns of change in criminal behavior, however, during and after the Second World War, the number of offenders with Native American names appears to increase significantly, perhaps reflecting a trend toward integration into town life.

Most of the letters (1-25) were written by John Boynton; 23 to his father Isaac, one each to brother-in-law Herman Huntington and sister Hannah. They cover his career as a student and teacher in various locales. The letters reveal Boynton to have been a perceptive, thoughtful young man with strong religious and temperance views and a New Englander's dislike of slavery. His rather strait-laced temperament was relieved by a light-hearted sense of humor and a love of boyish pursuits --hunting, fishing, playing ball. He was warmly appreciative of home and family, and one of his letters (14) muses on the imagined family scene he is missing, speculating on the activities and thoughts of each family member.

Boynton's letters from Mississippi (19-25) are the highlight of the collection. In them he expresses his disapproval of slavery and of southern culture in general (particularly its loose religious ways), while admitting a fondness for the weather, the hunting, the landscape, and the unaffected friendliness of southerners. It is interesting to note that, for one who voices such distaste of slavery, Boynton is clearly racially prejudiced, and does not seem to object to having a servant assigned to him. On a stop-over at a Maryland tobacco plantation, having arrived at night, he records his reactions of the next morning: "Creation. Niggers as thick as toads after a shower. ... Negroes among [the tobacco fields] in every direction. It reminded me, as I looked out upon his fields, of what I have witnessed at home -- a platter of baked beans with a large quantity of black ones among them. No reflections on baked beans by the way."

In Mississippi, he describes the scene from his bedroom window: "There are ten Negroes to every one white person. The labor here is done altogether by slaves. ... about 90 Negroes in the field picking cotton. About an equal number of men & women, some children. You would also see a white man with a whip in his hand following in the rear." Noting the comfort of his situation, he writes that "A Negro boy about 15 years old is at my command any moment. He comes into my room every night about 9 o'clock with his blanket, blacks my boots & shoes, sleeps on the floor in my room, builds me a fire, if I need one in the morning before I am up; brings a pitcher of fresh water, etc. While I am at breakfast he makes my bed, sweeps my room & puts all things in order." Still, Boynton expresses a repugnance of slavery, and looks forward to the day when " I may inhale the pure air of Freedom!" He tires of the constant talk of "land and Negroes," the mania for profit, the violence and lawlessness, and the disregard for religion and the Sabbath. "The sabbath in Mississippi is hell in minerature [sic]. All sorts of games from the horserace & cock-fight down to playing of marbles is engaged in upon Sunday." While he enjoyed his sojourn and much appreciated the high salaries paid to teachers, Boynton never intended to settle in the south. Sadly, he lived only a short while after returning to home and family.

The Boynton papers document the lives of other family members in far less detail. They are mentioned or addressed in John's letters, and are writers and recipients of the twelve letters in the collection which post-date his death. John addressed most letters to father Isaac, a brick-maker, but often inquired after or included messages for his mother, Sibyl; brothers David, Henry, and Royal; and sisters Hannah, Harriet, and Sibyl. A daughter of Hannah Boynton Haynes, Elmira Spaulding, is also represented in the collection.

The rest of the letters (26-38) are to and from other members of the Boynton family and relate largely to family matters, brother Henry's school teaching career, and religion. One poignant letter (30) records the grief of a mother at the death of her baby daughter, as she consoles herself with the thought of her child in heaven. An undated letter from Elmira Spaulding to her mother Hannah Boynton Haynes (36) discusses her life as a millworker in Leominster, Mass.

This book contains two editions of the Boys' Excelsior Lyceum's magazine Excelsior, containing essays and poetry by students in Cohoes, New York. The bound volume, third in a series, contains manuscript copies of two issues from the magazine's 4th volume, numbers 15 (March 26, 1861, pp.1-62) and 16 (April 9, 1861, pp.63-97), edited by Charles Francis Doyle and Lizzie L. Giles. Each begins with a lengthy essay addressed to the editor, reflecting an ongoing debate between "John Brown, Esq.," and "Dick" on the merits of slavery and temperance. Both authors utilized Biblical quotations while offering lengthy moral justifications for their positions. Additional essays address a range of topics such as war, gambling, and truth, and a number of poems reflect more lighthearted topics, such as ice skating and kissing. What appears to be a third edition of the magazine, dated May 15, 1862 (30 pp.), is inserted into the volume and tied together with red, white, and blue ribbons. Its topics are similar to those in the previous volume, though the debates on slavery and temperance are not addressed. One essay in this edition, attributed to "Alice," pertains to a visit to "the Washington Hospital" and a discussion with a convalescent soldier.

This collection is comprised of three volumes holding the correspondence and meeting minutes of the Bradford Club, a mid-19th century bibliophilic society that published books about various topics related to American history. The first two volumes consist of 550 letters addressed to the club's secretary, John B. Moreau, often thanking the club for sending copies of its publications and requesting further volumes. Additionally, letters from printers and other collaborators document the contemporary publishing process, including issues related to copyright. The third volume contains the group's meeting minutes, compiled by Moreau throughout the entirety of the Bradford Club's history. Club members often met to discuss the publication of a new historical volume, and their meetings most frequently concerned distribution of the books. A printed circular advertisement for the club's latest publication accompanies each set of minutes. One circular, attributed to "A few Gentlemen in the City, interested in the study of American History and Literature," predates the Bradford Club (April 1859). Additionally, Moreau recorded an inventory for each publication, including a list of the recipients of each individual copy. This volume also holds a printed list of the Bradford Club's subscribers, as well as a manuscript copy of its constitution. Loose documents laid into the volume include financial records related to printing costs and an engraving showing a rock labeled "Washington" in a stormy sea.

These eight letters, several of which contain more than one letter, were all written from Cincinnati back to the mother, father, and sisters at home in Duxbury. Claudius, Maria, and after she joined them, Lucia, all wrote long, dense letters detailing their experiences in the "western" United States.

The births of Maria's two girls are the focus of three letters. Claudius joked about girls being "all the fashion," and reported that "some think it is a sort of provision in nature to supply the deficiency -- there being 2 males to 1 female in the Western country. At any rate, it is a remarkable fact (as far as our knowledge extends) that most of the children that are born are females" (1831 October 20-24).

Maria's loving letter to her mother after the birth of her first daughter is quite specific. The delivery was quick, and the "pains for the last 1/2 hour were exquisite but very short." Maria told her mother, "as soon as I heard the child cry I began to laugh but the Doctor said I must not laugh or talk for a day or 2, as it would disturb my whole system" (1831 November 21). The doctor also refused to let her drink spirits, because they "cause a fever in the breasts, which is the cause of so many people suffering from the ague &c." Having a child of her own made Maria feel even closer to her mother and her mother's experiences: "I know now what it is to be a mother, and I hope and pray to God that I may make as good a mother as you have been to me, and I hope my child will love me as well as I do you."

The baby died the next summer, but there is no correspondence from that period of time. The next letter is from Lucia and Claudius, announcing the birth of a second daughter, who "looks pretty cross," according to her aunt (1834 February 19-20). Claudius was relieved that this baby, although "not so pretty as our other little one," appeared to have a better constitution. He added, "Maria thinks herself and child being so well is owing to her drinking so much beer . . . every day for a long time when I came from school, I have had to go & bring her a bottle of beer & a gingerbread horseman."

Lucia remained in Cincinnati with her sister's family until they all moved back to Massachusetts in the spring of 1835. In her letters home to her parents and sisters she expressed a desire to return to Duxbury, and even asked her father to send Elizabeth out in her stead, but he must have refused. Lucia's homesickness and the dullness of helping her sister keep house was somewhat offset by her thriving social scene and exciting local events. She had a best girlfriend, Caroline Sampson, and was quite close to Sophia, the nurse. She played chess with Mr. Prescott on a regular basis, and played card games (old maid, whist, and vingt un), and blind man's bluff at parties.

Living with her sister possibly gave her more freedom than she would have had living with her parents. Lucia took long, unchaperoned walks in the woods: "Girls do not often go alone but Miss Matthews and I have been and are going again, as we did not meet with any accident" (1834 August 21), she informed her sister Elizabeth. During the hot summer, she also developed a taste for beer, and wrote that "Maria has porter now all the time I like it very well but I used to hate it" (1834 August 21).

In addition to her more private entertainments, Lucia soaked up exciting civic events. She witnessed a balloon ascension, "the most beautiful sight I ever saw" and election fever (1834 December 22, November 11). Lucia shared her entertaining observations of male behavior during election time with her sister: "The Jackson candidate was Mr. Lytle and the Whig candidate Mr. Storer. They had stages driving about filled with people they kept crossing from one street to another and all of the men in them screaming hurra for Storer and hurra for Lytle. The Jackson men on their stages had hickory brooms stuck all about them I could not think what it meant at first. They looked just like birch brooms. . . . So it was nothing but hurra for Storer and hurra for Lytle for several days."

The open-minded Lucia also took advantage of the numerous opportunities for edification. She reported, "I went last week to hear a black man give an account of the colony at Liberia where he has been spending some time. It was funny to see a black man speaking in a church before an audience but it was something new and quite interesting" (1834 November 11). Mr. Sampson, her friend Caroline's father, invited Lucia to a meeting of the Swedenborgians or New Jerusalem Church, but she had a party to go to instead. Nevertheless, she wrote, "I like to go to their church very much but am not quite a New Churchwoman yet" (1834 December 22). Although she still missed her parents and her sisters at specific moments ("enjoyed myself as well as could be expected without either of you with me"), by the end of her stay in Cincinnati Lucia had really come into her own (1834 December 22).

This 137-page volume consists of records and accounts of Baptist minister Bradford K. Barber of Galway and Charleston, New York, and various locations in central and western Wisconsin, between 1845 and 1885. The volume consists of three primary parts: a section dated between 1845 and 1849, containing accounts related to public school finances in Galway; a section documenting personal, ministerial, and civil activities and accounts, between the 1840s and 1868; and a section documenting marriages over which Barber presided between 1859 and 1885.

Between 1845 and 1849, Bradford Barber received Galway, New York, public school money from the town collector for visiting schools, providing and examining reports, and examining teachers. He paid out teachers' wages and public library monies. In the 1840s and 1850s, Rev. Barber recorded financial transactions associated with the First Galway Baptist Church and the Baptist Church of Charleston, New York. From the late 1850s through the 1860s, the accounting pertained to expenses associated with churches at Oxford and Moundville, Wisconsin, as well as accounts related to farming. He also documented prayer meetings and covenant meetings at Moundville, Oxford, and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, and money collected from foreign missions and subscriptions. Some entries contain lines of scripture or subjects of Barber's sermons.

The volume also contains 50 pages documenting marriages presided over by Rev. Barber between 1859 and 1885. The marriages largely took place in western Wisconsin, with weddings located at Oxford, Jackson, New Haven, Springfield, Manchester, Buffalo, Milton, Tomah, Farmington, Osceola, Warren Mills, Albion, and La Grange. For most of the marriages documented, Barber included the names of the husband and wife, names of their parents, where the newlyweds were born, where they currently lived, the husband's occupation, their "color" (all of them are listed as "white"), the ceremony performed, and names of witnesses.

This volume (58 pages) contains meeting minutes pertaining to the administration of a school in Bradford, New Hampshire, from December 22, 1806-April 6, 1829. Residents of District No. 4 met semi-annually and annually to discuss issues such as building maintenance, the construction of a chimney, the supply of firewood, and the opening dates of school terms; some entries include associated costs. The attendees began each meeting by electing officers, who often remained consistent from year to year. At their meeting of April 3, 1809, attendees decreed that parents would be held responsible for any damage that their children did to the school. Later minutes refer to schoolmistresses' board. The volume also contains the copied text of a formal meeting notice dated February 18, 1828.

This collection is made up of correspondence and legal documents pertaining to Martha Bradstreet of northern New York State. Much of the material pertains to Bradstreet's efforts to recover titles to her inherited land along the Mohawk River. The collection also contains materials related to Samuel Bradstreet and a group of Civil War letters from Silas E. Crandall to Phoebe Bradstreet.

The Martha Bradstreet Papers are divided into subseries of Martha Bradstreet Correspondence (126 items) and Martha Bradstreet Documents (25 items). The correspondence, including letters by and to Martha Bradstreet, largely pertains to her legal and financial affairs. Many items concern disputes over the land she inherited in upstate New York. Bradstreet's personal correspondence includes letters that she received from her children while traveling and letters to her children and others about their personal activities, such as her daughter Sarah's return to an abusive husband (November 26, 1840). Bradstreet's children wrote to one another about their personal lives, their mother's legal difficulties, and finances. The series' legal documents concern Bradstreet's New York property disputes, the will of Elizabeth Livius, and a civil suit between Elizabeth C. Bennett and Washington Garlock. A map of Mary Bradstreet's land along the Mohawk River is housed in the Map Division.

The Samuel Bradstreet Correspondence (138 items), dated 1800-1866, reflects the contentious relationship between Martha Bradstreet, her brother Samuel, and her husband, Matthew Codd, particularly with regard to real property and inheritance. The series includes several items written by Samuel's sons and grandsons.

The S. E. Crandall and Phoebe Bradstreet Correspondence (12 items) largely consists of letters that S. E. Crandall sent to Phoebe Bradstreet, whom he addressed as "Mother," while serving in the 17th Army Corps during the Civil War. He discussed his experiences in and around Atlanta, Georgia. He also sent letters before and after his military service about his life in Minnesota and about possible conflicts with the Sioux Indians (June 6, 1863).

The Photograph is a large portrait of a woman, mounted in a card frame.

This collection contains the World War II-era Correspondence of sisters Margaret and Dorothy Brainerd of the Bronx and Kingston, New York, respectively, as well as that of Margaret's later husband, Tony Gioia, who served in Europe during the war. The majority of the letters date between 1942 and 1946, and were written to the sisters by Gioia and other members of the United States military serving in both major theaters of the war. Dorothy received letters from men serving in the army, navy, and coast guard, who described various aspects of military life. One of her most frequent correspondents was her cousin, James Dingman, a corporal with the 65th Fighter Squadron. Along with news of his health and his thoughts on military life, he described a pilot's death during training in Groton, Connecticut (May 7, 1942), and told his aunt, Dorothy's mother Margaret, about an audience with the Pope in Rome (October 25, 1944).

The bulk of the collection consists of letters written by Tony Gioia to Margaret Brainerd, his girlfriend and future wife. Tony wrote of camp life and his related work at Camp Swift, Texas, and of the war in Europe after his unit was stationed there in October 1944. Tony served throughout Western and Central Europe, and frequently described military actions; he also attempted to share a picture of the war from a soldier's point of view, and he warned Margaret that the mainstream media was not a reliable source for such information (December 4, 1944). After the war, he remained in Europe for several months, and described the busy life of American soldiers during the military occupation of Germany. Though the bulk of the correspondence ends in 1946, after Tony's return to New York, the collection contains several letters to both Margaret and Dorothy Brainerd from friends and family in the late 1940s. The collection also holds a handful of letters to Tony Gioia from his parents, written in Italian, and a few written to him by Margaret, mostly after the war. In a series of three letters, William Roosa, a member of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, wrote to his father about his recall to the army and preparation for participation in the Korean War; he wrote one of these from Korea (February 18, 1951).

The collection also holds Newspaper clippings from the war, including several sent from Tony to Margaret during his service in Europe.

The Brandon Iron Company Records contain 23 letters written by John A. Conant on behalf of the firm C. W. and J. A. Conant (later Brandon Iron Company) to their retailer, Henry W. Miller, of Worcester, Massachusetts. The letters document the relationship between the wholesaler and retailer, and contain material on stove design and function. A series of three letters (3-5) provides a detailed discussion of a suit for infringement of patent rights, Stanley v. Town, concerning a stove manufactured by the Conants. The defendants hired Roger M. Sherman as attorney; whether he bears any relationship to Roger Sherman of Revolutionary War fame is not mentioned.

The Brasee-Scofield family papers are made up of correspondence, legal and financial documents, and ephemera related to Elnathan Scofield, John Trafford Brasee, and John Scofield Brasee, who lived in Lancaster, Ohio, in the early 1800s. The collection concerns their business affairs, Lancaster's early history, the Lancaster Lateral Canal, and the Lancaster Canal Mill Company.

Personal and business letters, indentures, military documents, and other items concern many aspects of the men's business careers and personal lives, including Scofield's surveying work in central Ohio, John T. Brasee's studies at Ohio University, John T. Brasee's courtship with Mary Jane Scofield, and John Scofield Brasee's Civil War service. Local legal cases are also represented. Of particular interest are letters by William Tecumseh Sherman (December 3, 1883) and Edwin L. Stanton (August 7, 1863, and December 4, 1864) to Morton Brasee. Among other topics, Stanton discussed West Point admissions and the 1864 presidential election.

The collection holds legal documents and ephemera pertaining to the early history of central Ohio, particularly the area around Lancaster. Materials relating to the Lancaster Lateral Canal (1825-1838), the Lancaster Canal Mill Company (1840-1846), and railroad companies are also included.

The collection also contains ephemera and other items, such as family photographs, funeral notices, printed programs, newspaper clippings, a political cartoon, and lists of toasts used on different occasions.

This diary records the sermon notes and spiritual reflections of an unnamed member of Boston's Brattle Street church between March 1772 and April 1775.

The diarist wrote each "Sabbath evening" as well as on occasions when s/he attended special Fast-day services or religious lectures. Entries also appear in the middle of a week when someone the diarist knew died suddenly. Other entries of note include those in which the writer was unable to attend worship because of "bruises I received by a fall from a Sley" [16 Jan. 1774] and because of a smallpox outbreak [26 March 1775].

A typical Sabbath entry opens with thanks to God for the favor to attend "his House," gives an account of who preached and from what text for both the morning and afternoon services, and offers a short reflection on or explanation of the sermon. The writer also examined his/her spiritual state and beseeched God for mercy and for his/her heart to be bent to God's will. Additionally, many entries feature anywhere from a few lines to the complete set of stanzas for hymns from English writers like Isaac Watts and the Wesley brothers.

The diarist mentioned hearing sermons from approximately twenty ministers over this three-year span, including Dr. Samuel Cooper, Dr. Charles Chauncy, Dr. Andrew Eliot, Mr. Joseph Howe, Mr. John Hunt, and Dr. Mather Byles, all of whom were ministers at some of the city's largest churches.

While attending Beloit Academy to prepare for college, Smith wrote of his coursework, progress in studying, struggles with exams, weather, and his relationships with other students, roommates, and boarding house proprietors. Smith also documented his activities with local religious groups, debating societies, and baseball clubs.

During vacations, Smith returned to his family who lived near Janesville, Wisconsin. He described his leisure activities, including picking berries and hunting, his struggles to continue studying, and his active involvement in local baseball, both in organized clubs and informal games among friends. Throughout the summer, Smith frequently documented information about area baseball clubs, practices, games, and tournaments.

In mid-September, Smith matriculated at the University of Michigan, and his diary includes a record of his experiences with entrance exams, tutoring, coursework, and his observations of student activities and elections. He also commented on the "University nine" baseball players, noting several of their games, and the creation of a baseball club for the freshman class.

The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. An additional 36 manuscript items and 2 bound volumes are also included in the collection.

The collection appears to have been first started by Brearley during the mid-1860s, possibly during or immediately after his Civil War service. He seems to have solicited the autographs of a variety of famous individuals (including authors, performers, musicians, scientists, spiritual leaders, politicians, foreign rulers, and military officers) primarily by mailing them photographs of themselves and requesting their signatures. Possession of the collection appears to have been transferred to Pingree at some point, and he continued to make further contributions. Pingree’s daughter Hazel retained possession of the collection after her father’s death before eventually donating it to the Clements Library. All components of the collection are stored together in one box.

While most portraits in the collection are original studio photographs taken by a variety of photographers including Mathew Brady and Napoleon Sarony, a relatively small number of photographic reproductions of non-photographic portraits are also present (including depictions of James Monroe, Stonewall Jackson, and Henry and Clara Ford).

Volume 1: Brearley collection reproduction souvenir album

This album (16.5 x 15 cm) has green leather covers with lines of poetry from Henry W. Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life stamped in gold on the front. An index included at the beginning lists the names of 96 individuals represented across the album’s 24 pages. After the index, a passage written by William H. Brearley and dated August 1st 1874 explains that he created a limited number of facsimile copies of his original autographed portrait collection at the “urgent solicitation” of many interested friends. Brearley also explains that he acquired the original photographs and autographs in his collection “by long and patient effort, & tending over a period of ten years, and involving an expense of several Hundred dollars.” Subsequent album pages each contain four individually pasted 5.5 x 4 cm albumen print photographic reproductions of original portraits found in Brearley’s collection. This item was acquired from a separate source and was not part of the original collection of materials donated to the Clements Library by Hazel Hope Pingree Mills.

Volume 2: Brearley-Pingree collection original album

This album (30 x 26 cm) has brown leather covers and the words “Portraits. Autographs” and “Brearley” stamped in gold on the spine. The original autographed portraits of the Brearley-Pingree collection were once housed in this album before Clements Library staff removed the original photographs and substituted them with photocopies in 2010 for conservation and preservation purposes. Manuscript captions were also added by Clements Library staff. The original photographs are housed separately in smaller boxes and have been arranged according to size/format and ordered alphabetically by subject surname. See below for a complete list of photographic subjects contained in each box.

Of additional interest are three manuscript items, including the clipped signature of Hyacinthe Loyson and an October 15th 1873 letter from Henry W. Longfellow containing the same lines of poetry from A Psalm of Life that appear on the cover of the Brearley collection souvenir album. Also present is a letter from Buckingham Palace sent to Brearley in 1873 by Sir Thomas Biddulph explaining that the “enclosed Photograph” of Queen Victoria is being returned but that “The Queen’s Autograph is never given away.” Three wax seals are also included in the volume including an “Imperial Chancellor’s seal” (associated with a portrait of Otto von Bismarck); “the Napoleon Seal” (associated with a portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte); and a Great Seal of the Realm attached to the 1873 letter from Buckingham Palace.

Box 1.1: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, A-E

This box contains 47 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

• Adams, Charles Francis, 1807-1886.
• Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873.
• Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888.
• Anderson, Richard Heron, 1821-1879.
• Anderson, Robert, 1805-1871.
• Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906.
• Bancroft, George, 1800-1891.
• Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891.
• Barrett, Lawrence, 1838-1891.
• Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant), 1818-1893.
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887.
• Billings, Josh, 1818-1885. [Henry Wheeler Shaw]
• Birney, David Bell, 1825-1864.
• Bishop, Anna, 1810-1884. [Anna Riviere Schultz]
• Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898.
• Bonaparte, Jérôme, King of Westphalia, 1784-1860.
• Bonner, Robert, 1824-1899.
• Booth, Edwin, 1833-1893.
• Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875.
• Bright, John, 1811-1889.
• Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878.
• Buchanan, James, 1791-1868.
• Bülow, Hans von, 1830-1894.
• Bunker, Chang, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Eng Bunker]
• Bunker, Eng, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Chang Bunker]
• Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824-1881. [two portraits included]
• Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893.
• Carleton, Will, 1845-1912.
• Chapin, E. H. (Edwin Hubbell), 1814-1880.
• Clem, John Lincoln, 1851-1937.
• Clough, J. E. (John Everett), 1836-1910.
• Coan, Titus, 1801-1882.
• Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885.
• Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889.
• Cook, Eliza, 1818-1889.
• Coombs, Jane, 1842- .
• Curtis, George William, 1824-1892.
• Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876.
• Dana, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1819-1897.
• Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
• Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.
• Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932.
• Dix, John A. (John Adams), 1798-1879.
• Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883.
• Doubleday, Abner, 1819-1893.
• Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895.
• Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.
• Emory, William H. (William Hemsley), 1811-1887.

Box 1.2: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, F-N

This box contains 46 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

• Farragut, David Glasgow, 1801-1870.
• Ferrero, Edward, 1831-1899.
• Field, Cyrus W. (Cyrus West), 1819-1892.
• Field, Kate, 1838-1896. [Mary Katherine Keemle Field]
• Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874.
• Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821-1877.
• Fowler, O. S. (Orson Squire), 1809-1887.
• Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879.
• Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898.
• Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885.
• Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872.
• Greenwood, Grace, 1823-1904. [Sarah Jane Clarke Lippincott]
• Hall, John, 1829-1898.
• Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872.
• Hancock, Winfield Scott, 1824-1886.
• Hay, John, 1838-1905.
• Heintzelman, Samuel Peter, 1805-1880.
• Hoar, E. R. (Ebenezer Rockwood), 1816-1895.
• Holland, J. G. (Josiah Gilbert), 1819-1881.
• Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
• Hooker, Joseph, 1814-1879.
• Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909.
• Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885.
• Jackson, Stonewall, 1824-1863.
• Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875.
• Kirby-Smith, Edmund, 1824-1893.
• Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905.
• Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870.
• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
• Locke, David Ross, 1833-1888. [Petroleum V. Nasby]
• Logan, John Alexander, 1826-1886.
• Longstreet, James, 1821-1904.
• Loring, Charles G. (Charles Greely), 1794-1867.
• Loyson, Hyacinthe, 1827-1912.
• Lucca, Pauline, 1841-1908.
• Mario, Giovanni, 1810-1883. [Mario, T.]
• McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885.
• Mitchell, Maggie, 1837-1918.
• Moltke, Helmuth, Graf von, 1800-1891.
• Monroe, James, 1758-1831.
• Morse, Edward Sylvester, 1838-1925.
• Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877.
• Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh, Shah of Iran, 1831-1896.
• Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902.
• Nilsson, Christine, 1843-1921.
• Nutt, Commodore, 1848-1881. [group portrait with Minnie Warren]

Box 1.3: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, O-Z

This box contains 36 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

• Ord, Edward Otho Cresap, 1818-1883.
• Parepa-Rosa, Euphrosyne, 1836-1874.
• Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919.
• Phillipps, Adelaide, 1833-1882.
• Porter, David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891.
• Rogers, Randolph, 1825-1892.
• Salvini, Tommaso, 1829-1915.
• Saxe, John Godfrey, 1816-1887.
• Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906.
• Scott-Siddons, Mary Frances, 1844-1896.
• Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888.
• Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.
• Sothern, Edward Askew, 1826-1881.
• Spinner, Francis Elias, 1802-1890.
• Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon), 1834-1892.
• Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904.
• Stephens, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), 1812-1883.
• Strakosch, Max, 1835-1892.
• Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874.
• Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892.
• Terry, Alfred Howe, 1827-1890.
• Thiers, Adolphe, 1797-1877.
• Thomas, George H. (George Henry), 1816-1870.
• Thomas, Theodore, 1835-1905.
• Thumb, Tom, 1838-1883. [Charles Sherwood Stratton; group portrait with Lavinia Warren]
• Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. [Samuel L. Clemens; both names signed on photograph]
• Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 1794-1877.
• Waite, Morrison R. (Morrison Remick), 1816-1888.
• Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882.
• Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878.
• Willcox, Orlando B.
• Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875.
• Woodhull, Victoria C. (Victoria Claflin), 1838-1927.
• Wright, Horatio Gouverneur, 1820-1899.
• Yates, Edmund, 1831-1894.
• Young, Brigham, 1801-1877.

Box 2: Brearley-Pingree collection cabinet cards

This box contains 27 cabinet cards. Represented individuals include the following:

• Andrade, Ignacio, 1836-1925.
• Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886.
• Bernhardt, Sarah, 1844-1923.
• Booth-Tucker, Emma, 1860-1903.
• Booth-Tucker, Frederick St. George de Lautour, 1853-1929.
• Bull, Ole, 1810-1880.
• Cable, George Washington, 1844-1925.
• Chamberlain, Joseph, 1836-1914.
• Dickinson, Donald McDonald, 1846-1917.
• Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881.
• Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph, 1832-1918.
• Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893.
• Janauschek, Francesca Romana Magdalena, 1830-1904.
• Kellogg, Clara Louisa, 1842-1916.
• Kennan, George, 1845-1924.
• Kruger, Paul, 1825-1904.
• Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882.
• Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884.
• Ranavalona III, Queen of Madagascar, 1861-1917.
• Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902.
• Stead, W. T. (William Thomas), 1849-1912. [three portraits included]
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896.
• Urso, Camilla, 1842-1902.
• Victoria, Queen of Britain, 1819-1901.
• Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892.

Box 3: Brearley-Pingree collection large photographs and manuscript materials

This box contains 9 large format mounted photographs and 33 manuscript items. Represented individuals among the photographs include the following:

• Cleveland, Frances Folsom, 1864-1947.
• Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
• Ford, Clara Bryant, 1866-1950.
• Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.
• Gibbons, James, 1834-1921.
• Guzmán Blanco, Antonio, 1828-1899.
• Mace, Aurelia Gay, 1835-1910.
• Milles, Carl, 1875-1955.
• Wilder, Marshall P.

Manuscript materials of interest include a number of letters dating to the mid-1870s from various individuals (including John A. Dix, C. H. Spurgeon, H. W. Longfellow, and Lucretia R. Garfield) possibly sent to William H. Brearley in response to autograph solicitations and other requests; and numerous letters addressed to Hazen S. Pingree from various individuals (inlcuding William Thomas Stead, Ignacio Andrade, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley) dating to the 1890s. Other items of interest include a copy of "Special Order No. 166 'Extract' Head Quarters 2d Brigade 3d Div 2d A.I." dated June 15th 1865 stating that the 1st Mass Heavy Artillery had been ordered by Brig. Gen. Franklin Pierce to repost to General Hancock; calling cards for "Sixto Sanchez Director General de Coreeos - Postmaster" as well as "The Admiral of the Navy" George Dewey from "when he called on Gov. Pingree in Detroit"; a clipped signature of "Louis Botha Commandant General"; an undated note to poet Louise Chandler Moulton; a document dated August 1st 1892 detailing financial investment information related to the Michigan-Peninsular Car Company with pasted clippings of wealthy politicians and their net worths as well as annotations by Pingree; a letter dated Feb 19th 1892 from Don M. Dickinson to Pingree regarding the prospective visit of Grover Clevland to Detroit, Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan; a letter dated March 9th 1949 from Hazel Hope Pingree Mills to Director of the William L. Clements Library Randolph G. Adams regarding progress being made on research regarding the life of William H. Brearley; and an undated typed copy of a short essay titled "Brearley - Man of Action, Started Many Important Detroit Activities" by historian George B. Catlin.

The Bremen, Germany photograph album contains 22 photographs of Heligoland and the Bremen region along the Weser River from 1935 to 1936. Each photograph contains notation in German stating date, time, and location. Images show the Weserwehr (dam), Weserdeich (dike), Oberneuland, Wesermünde, the shoreline in Bremerhaven, and a fish auction at Fischereihafen (Bremerhaven). Also included are images of a trip to Heligoland; a steamer traveling to/from Roter Sand lighthouse, and views from the main island. The album ends with a family photograph.

The album is 10.5 x 7.5 cm with brown paper covers.

Breve Trattato di Geografia is a 55-page, 17th-century Italian work on celestial and terrestrial geography, including several maps and diagrams of the world. The treatise is divided into four primary sections and, within them, individual chapters. Early chapters in the book mention the zodiac and celestial features, while later chapters focus on the world's landmasses and degrees of latitude and longitude. The latter half of the volume contains several hand-drawn maps that depict the contemporary view of the world on several scales and according to different projections. One map of the world shows North and South America and "Terra Australe Incognita," while another map of North and South America is labeled "Mexicana" and "Peruana," respectively. Azimuthal projections of Africa and Asia and of the northern hemisphere and a map of Italy showing the location of Rome are also included. Assistant Curator of Maps Mary Pedley transcribed and translated the 2-page index that follows the text of the volume: Breve Trattato di Geografia Index (.pdf).

The Brevoort family papers contain personal and professional correspondence of brothers William H. and Edwin L. Brevoort, of Walesboro and Vincennes, Indiana. The first letters in the collection are primarily addressed to William H. Brevoort during his time at North Western Christian University (now Butler University), particularly during the first years of the Civil War. Though Henry Brevoort, a relative, occasionally addressed state politics, much of the correspondence relates to family news and to education, including a series from his brother Edwin about his own studies at the university. Both brothers frequently received updates from their mother, who wrote about the family farm, and from each other, discussing their lives and post-educational prospects. William ultimately wished to become a farmer, but briefly considered enlisting: he told his brother, "Whether I farm or not my enlistment will destroy all my prospects of a happy life, hence my hesitation. But if Father does not intend to give me an opportunity to farm, I cannot follow anything else (because unfit) and I shall volunteer and die" (October 6, 1861). Both continued to receive correspondence from their parents, cousins, and from each other throughout their adult lives, and many later letters relate to William's business affairs and landholdings in and around Vincennes, Indiana, in the 1870s and 1880s; he frequently wrote of selling cattle and of other agricultural pursuits. Other late items are addressed to William's second wife, Amelia Shattuck, about the couple's farm; several of these are written by E. W. Pegg in Clintonville, Ohio. The collection contains one undated photographic postcard with a portrait of an unidentified older woman.

This collection (155 items) contains correspondence related to Brewster E. Littlefield's service with the United States Army's 101st Engineers during World War I. Littlefield wrote around 110 letters to his family in Braintree, Massachusetts, about his experiences in France, which included service in the front lines. The collection also contains letters about Littlefield's death, poetry about the war, and photographs.

The Correspondence series (135 items), which comprises the bulk of the collection, contains letters that Brewster E. Littlefield wrote to his parents from September 25, 1917-October 31, 1918. Early letters pertain to his journey to France via Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Southampton, England. After arriving in France in October 1917, Littlefield wrote about his daily experiences with the 101st Engineer Regiment. He discussed his living quarters, his religious life, and his work as a gas mask specialist, which involved frequent travel by motorcycle and on horseback. Littlefield also commented on his training exercises, which included a simulated gas attack, and mentioned his pride in the American "doughboys." He spent time in the trenches and near the front lines, traveled around France, and attended training in Paris; his letters include descriptions of artillery attacks, aerial warfare, and gas attacks. He reflected on the impact that the war had on him, such as his gradual adjustment to shelling. On several occasions, including in his final letter, he remarked on close encounters with German bombs. Littlefield also wrote about his relationship and correspondence with a girl named Almira, an encounter with German prisoners of war, and the impact of the influenza epidemic.

Additional correspondence items largely postdate Littlefield's death. In November 1918, the Littlefield family received a telegram and official letter notifying them of Brewster E. Littlefield's death, and they later received 2 letters from his army acquaintances about the precise circumstances of the incident. Later correspondence relates to Littlefield's personal effects and final paycheck. Two sets of military orders concern other American soldiers.

The Poems, Photographs, and Currency series (20 items) contains additional materials related to Brewster E. Littlefield and the First World War. Two typed poems concern soldiers' experiences during the war. Seventeen snapshots and card photographs (one of which is dated December 1, 1941) show families, a dog in the snow, and World War I-era United States soldiers in uniform, including Brewster E. Littlefield. The final item is a one-franc note.

This collection contains six letters and postcards written by brothers Cornelius L. and Anthony J. Brigel to their families during their service in World War II. Cornelius wrote the first three letters to his wife Ada, and described his arrival at Fort Thomas, Kentucky, in two postcards from December 1942. He mentioned trading in his civilian clothing and receiving a vaccination, and promised a friend: "I get to Germany, I will get Hitler's mustache and use it for a shoe brush" (December 19, 1942). In his third letter, written on stationery from Camp Roberts, California, he described a trip to Santa Barbara, California, while on 36 hours' leave (February 8, 1943).

Anthony composed two letters to his "Brother and Sister" from his post with the 758th Railway Shop Battalion, then stationed in India. He wrote about his disappointment with his St. Patrick's Day celebrations (March 17, 1944) and offered his condolences for a family member's death, via a v-mail message (May 26, 1944). A final postcard, addressed to Cornelius and postmarked Detroit, Michigan, announced the birth of a baby girl, signed by "Pink" (October 29, 1944).