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

This volume is comprised of retained copies of letters that William and Ann Story of Wigton, England, wrote to their son Daniel after his immigration to North America in the early 1840s. The couple described political and economic conditions in England and discussed their preparations for joining Daniel in North America.

This vellum-bound volume is comprised of 24 pages of retained copies of letters that William and Ann Story of Wigton, England, wrote to their son Daniel between June 23, 1840, and March 17, 1842, after Daniel's immigration to North America. They described political and economic conditions in England and discussed their preparations for joining Daniel in North America.

Daniel Story arrived in Liverpool before June 1840 and sailed for North America on July 13, 1840, accompanied by a friend or relative named Thomas. William and Ann Story responded to news of Daniel's journey and to his thoughts about their potential emigration. They provided updates about acquaintances and family members in England, including Daniel's sisters, and frequently discussed political and economic issues, the Chartist movement, and political figures such as Daniel O'Connell and Feargus O'Connor. Some letters include information on recent trials and elections, and on local food prices. In later letters, the couple described their preparations for a move to North America and the difficulty they had recovering money from various debtors. Though Daniel offered to visit England to assist, his parents dismissed the idea as too dangerous and recounted stories of recent shipwrecks.

Following the family letters, Jane Story copied a 1-page article about a prophet in France who supposedly predicted Great Britain's destruction by war in 1842. The article originally appeared in a German-language newspaper. The volume is bound in vellum.

This collection consists of three letters sent by William and Charlotte Scott of Geneva, New York, to homeopathic physician Henry Barden of Penn Yan, New York. They discussed various ailments in their family, including difficulties with breastfeeding an infant, menstrual disruptions, headaches, digestive issues, and childhood ailments like warts, worms, and acid reflux. They requested Barden's medicines and noted their effectiveness.

This collection consists of three letters sent by William and Charlotte Scott of Geneva, New York, to homeopathic physician Henry Barden of Penn Yan, New York. They discussed various ailments in their family, including difficulties with breastfeeding an infant, menstrual disruptions, headaches, digestive issues, and childhood ailments like warts, worms, and acid reflux. They requested Barden's medicines and noted their effectiveness.

This collection consists of three letters sent by William and Charlotte Scott of Geneva, New York, to homeopathic physician Henry Barden of Penn Yan, New York. They discussed various ailments in their family, including difficulties with breastfeeding an infant, menstrual disruptions, headaches, digestive issues, and childhood ailments like warts, worms, and acid reflux. They requested Barden's medicines and noted their effectiveness.

This collection consists of three letters sent by William and Charlotte Scott of Geneva, New York, to homeopathic physician Henry Barden of Penn Yan, New York. They discussed various ailments in their family, including difficulties with breastfeeding an infant, menstrual disruptions, headaches, digestive issues, and childhood ailments like warts, worms, and acid reflux. They requested Barden's medicines and noted their effectiveness.

This collection is comprised of 24 letters that Ellen Cannon Poe and her husband William wrote to her parents, Joseph and Nancy Taylor of Anderson, South Carolina, as well as 1 letter that Ellen wrote to her brother Benjamin. They discussed aspects of their lives in Augusta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; and Montgomery, Alabama, emphasizing family news and information about their female slaves.

This collection is comprised of 24 letters that Ellen Cannon Poe (6 letters) and her husband William (18 letters) wrote to her parents, Joseph and Nancy Taylor of Anderson, South Carolina, as well as 1 letter that Ellen wrote to her brother Benjamin. They discussed aspects of their lives in Augusta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; and Montgomery, Alabama, emphasizing family news and information about their female slaves.

Ellen Cannon Poe first wrote to her parents around 1836, shortly after her marriage to William Poe, a banker who lived in Augusta, Georgia. William and Ellen provided regular updates about their lives until 1845, and again from 1851 to 1852. Ellen described domestic affairs and her relationship with her two stepsons, Thomas and Robert. Ellen and William frequently commented on the health of their slaves. When William Poe decided to take a banking job in Baltimore, Maryland, he and his wife wrote about their attempts to sell or hire out their slaves. Once in Maryland, William worried about the ease with which Juliet, the slave who accompanied them, could escape servitude. Ellen also explained her hesitation to sell a slave named Harriet, whose husband lived nearby, and complained about a slave named Lizzy. Lizzy, who seemed unable to learn simple household tasks, later became pregnant with a child that Ellen assumed was fathered by a white man. Lizzy eventually escaped to New Orleans, where Ellen suspected she passed as a white woman. William and Ellen Poe also wrote about family matters, their crops, William's business affairs, Ellen's poor health, and other news.

The William Anderson papers contain correspondence written by Anderson while he served as a corporal in the United States Army during the Second World War. Anderson remained in the United States throughout the conflict, and spent most of his time in Pennsylvania performing clerical duties.

The William Anderson papers contain correspondence written by Anderson while he served as a corporal in the United States Army during the Second World War. Of the 166 letters in the collection, the vast majority were composed by Anderson to his wife Esther, who remained in Kansas City, Kansas, throughout his wartime service. His letters reflect the daily life and leisure activities of a soldier on the home front throughout the war, and frequently make mention of dances and other leisure activities the soldier pursued during his time in the Army. Anderson, who signed himself "Gilman," began basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in December 1943, and spent the remainder of the war in Pennsylvania, at Camp Reynolds and Indiantown Gap. Though he attained the rank of corporal, he did not express particular enthusiasm for military service, and his letters focused on news of his friends and on incidents from camp life rather than the war. His letters also reveal that Esther suffered a fairly severe illness while he was away, and imply an occasionally tense relationship between the pair, possibly due to his fondness for dancing with local girls. The bulk of the collection covers Anderson's army service between December 1943 and April 1945, and additional material includes an early letter from a friend, Karl, who enlisted prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor (October 24, 1941), as well as two written by Esther to her husband in late 1945 and a handful of other correspondence addressed to the couple. Among the Anderson correspondence are a Christmas card (December 21, 1944), birthday card (December 21, 1944), and valentine (February 5, 1945), sent by him to his wife.

The William and Isaac Perkins papers contain correspondence written between brothers William Lee Perkins and Isaac Perkins, 1784-1794, concerning politics, their careers, and family news.

The William and Isaac Perkins papers contain 18 letters written between brothers William Lee Perkins and Isaac Perkins, of Ashford, Connecticut, and Kingston upon Thames, England. Their correspondence, written from 1784 to1794, frequently touched on politics, including a fairly long account of Shays' Rebellion (January 25, 1787), mention of the Constitutional Convention (May 28, 1787), and speculation by William on the chances of a reunion between the United States and Great Britain (May 14, 1787).

Also present are comments on Loyalists, the national debt, and news concerning their families and careers. In his letter dated April 4, 1788, William Lee Perkins commented on his medical writing, including attempts at "arranging and distinguishing diseases, which I am contributing my poor Endeavours to introduce in this Country." He also gave medical advice in several letters.

The Seymour papers contain materials relating primarily to the Civil War service of Col. Isaac G. Seymour (6th Louisiana Infantry) and his son, William J., both residents of New Orleans.

The Seymour papers contain materials relating primarily to the Civil War service of Col. Isaac G. Seymour (6th Louisiana Infantry) and his son, William J., both residents of New Orleans. The most important items in the collection are the two journals kept by William Seymour describing his experiences in the defense of New Orleans, 1862, and as Assistant Adjutant General in the 1st Louisiana Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. The first of these "journals" was begun by Col. Isaac Seymour as a manuscript drill manual for his regiment (55 pp.), but it appears to have been taken up by William following Isaac's death. This volume is arranged in four sections and includes a record of William Seymour's experiences from March, 1862 through May, 1864. The second volume is organized in a similar manner, but covers the period from April, 1863 through October, 1864, terminating in the middle of a description of the Battle of Cedar Creek. Both of William's "journals" are post-war memoirs drawn extensively from original diaries and notes, with some polishing and embellishment.

William Seymour's "journals" contain outstanding descriptions of life in the Confederate Army and are one of the premier sources for the Confederate side of the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. His journals also contain very important accounts for Chancellorsville, 2nd Winchester, Gettysburg (Cemetery Hill), Mine Run, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania (the Bloody Angle), but almost as important are the descriptions of camp life, and the morale and emotions of the troops. Seymour is an observant, critical, and knowledgeable writer who was placed in a position where he had access to information on fairly high level command decisions. Yet while his journal is focused on the military aspects of the war, he includes a number of brief personal sketches of officers and soldiers, and vignettes of life in the army, ranging from accounts of Union soldiers bolstered in their courage by whiskey, to the courage of an officer's wife stopping a deserter and the Knights of the Golden Circle surfacing in Pennsylvania during the Confederate invasion.

The remainder of the collection includes three Civil War-date letters relating to Isaac Seymour, one written from Camp Bienville near Manassas, Va. (1861 September 2), one from the Shenandoah River (1862 May 2), and the third a letter relaying news of Seymour's death at Gaines Mills. The letter of May 1862 is a powerful, despairing one, and includes Isaac Seymour's thoughts on the Confederate loss of New Orleans and severe criticism for Jefferson Davis, a "man of small caliber, with mind perhaps enough, but without those qualities which go to make up the great and good man." At this moment, Seymour reported that he was disappointed in the quality of his officers, and regretted that he had not resigned his commission upon his son's enlistment, and further, he felt that the Confederacy was being held together only tenuously, due solely to the "the righteousness of our cause, and the innate, deep rooted mendicable hatred to the Yankee race." The remainder of the correspondence consists primarily of documents, but includes an interesting Seminole War letter of Isaac to Eulalia Whitlock and a letter from "Sister Régis" to Isaac, as editor of the New Orleans Bulletin, begging the aid of the press on behalf of the Female Orphan Asylum.

This collection is made up of financial records and correspondence related to William and Robert Thompson of Thompsontown, Pennsylvania. Most of the financial records pertain to the Thompsons' subscriptions to periodicals and to their purchases of goods from Philadelphia merchants.

This collection (51 items) is made up of financial records and correspondence related to merchants William and Robert Thompson of Thompsontown, Pennsylvania. The bulk of the collection is made up of receipts, invoices, and similar documents addressed to the Thompson brothers, particularly Robert, from 1815-1826. Most of these records pertain to purchases of various kinds of goods from merchants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; a smaller number of items relate to periodical subscriptions. Among the goods that the Thompsons bought were tobacco, oils, and shoes. The collection's early items largely consist of financial documents sent to William and Robert's father, also named William, as well as a newspaper clipping listing US exports between October 1800 and September 1801. A small group of correspondence includes personal letters to Robert Thompson; one correspondent wrote about the distribution of election tickets in Mexico, Pennsylvania (October 20, 1816).

This 111-page pocket notebook documents the studies and travels of William Anthony, a student at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1851 to 1855. The bulk of the entries are medical notes regarding patients Anthony encountered during his time at Jefferson.

The volume opens with the inscription "Wm. Anthony's Book October 17th 1851," followed by three pages of notes and questions regarding government and international relations. The next section of 12 pages respects Anthony's education and travels from 1852 to 1855. He studied medicine with Dr. Robert McChesney in Shelocta, Pennsylvania, until the fall of 1853, when he enrolled at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He traveled to Ohio with his father to visit relatives and to New York to visit the World's Fair. Included in the itinerary are costs and modes of transportation.

The majority of the notebook is made up of notes on patients, including symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment plans, from Anthony's first year of medical school. Named instructors are Drs. Dunglison, Mitchell, Pancoast, and Mütter. Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Dunglison oversaw internal medicine cases ranging from epilepsy to kidney disease from late 1853 to early 1854. Dr. Pancoast and Dr. Mütter demonstrated surgical cases covering tumor removal, amputations, and granular eyelid surgery. Dr. Pancoast's other operations include staphyloraphy and utilization of an apparatus to straighten the elbow (both performed February 4, 1854). Instructions for concocting certain medications and expenses for books and supplies are also included.

The William B. Clinton papers consist primarily of letters that Clinton wrote to his mother and siblings in Schenectady, New York, while working at a mining camp in Sewell, Chile, in the early 20th century.

The William B. Clinton papers consist of 153 letters that Clinton wrote to his mother and siblings in Schenectady, New York, while working at a mining camp in Sewell, Chile, in the early 20th century. The collections also includes an additional 6 letters written by various senders, 2 newspaper clippings, a 2-page journal entry, and 2 pieces of ephemera.

Clinton wrote about his life in Chile, exploring topics that ranged from local geography to customs and politics. The bulk of the correspondence begins in January 1917, with Clinton only 8 weeks into his Chilean experience, and many of his early letters concern his homesickness. As he adapted to Sewell, Clinton focused more on his job and on everyday life in Chile and spent significant periods of time in other Chilean towns on work-related business. In addition to describing his duties at work and his thoughts about labor politics, he frequently made observations about cultural differences and his social life. In his letter of March 7, 1920, he enclosed a dance card and printed program for an event featuring "The Chocolate Soldier Minstrels."

During the First World War, Clinton heard little international news but kept up on local politics. He observed holidays such as the Fourth of July, even though local residents often took no notice of them and often displayed disdain toward the United States. Several of his letters of the letters focus on culinary topics such as a cooking class (with attached recipes) (November 8, 1919) and a diet prescribed by "Dr. Rich" (Ddecember 22, 1921).

The collection also contains a 2-page journal entry detailing an anonymous author's experience escorting strikebreakers into a mill, 2 newspaper clippings, and a recipe for a tomato-based sauce, and a typed poem about workers entitled "Time Clocks Start - October 12."