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

The Samuel Sitgreaves papers contain letters primarily from Sitgreaves to his sister-in-law concerning observations about European society and politics, as well as descriptions of daily life and travel.

The Samuel Sitgreaves papers contain 13 letters written by Sitgreaves during travels around England, France, and the Netherlands. Ten items date from March to November of 1800; Sitgreaves likely also wrote the collection's three undated items during this period, while serving as U.S. commissioner to Great Britain. Sophia Kemper, Sitgreaves' sister-in-law, was the recipient of at least nine of the letters, while two items are Sitgreaves' retained copies of letters to fellow Pennsylvania politician, Thomas FitzSimons. Timothy Pickering is the recipient of an additional letter. Most of the letters are fragmentary, but still substantial.

Letters to Kemper contain rich details of daily life and travel, as well as observations on European society and politics. Two letters describe Sitgreaves' journey from London to Calais, including topics such as the necessity of bribing French officials (May 20, 1800), the sick and dying French expatriates on his ship, and his observations of the scantily-clad peasant women of Calais, which he found "at once distressing and disgusting beyond measure" (May 27, 1800). In many of the letters, he expressed surprise at the poverty of the French and English populations, and particularly the "universal suffering" of the inhabitants of London (November 8, 1800). In other letters, Sitgreave reflected on particular topics, including the English theater, which he attended four nights per week (October 17, 1800) and the State Opening of Parliament by King George III (November 16, 1800).

Sitgreaves' correspondence to FitzSimons relates to foreign relations with France and Great Britain and the ongoing issues arising from the Jay Treaty. In a letter of August 7, 1800, Sitgreaves translated for FitzSimons his letter to the Doctrina et Amicitia, a Dutch patriot society, in which he described the "three Points constitut[ing] the Subject of the Negotiations" with France. In another letter, dated August 12, 1800, he further discussed the group, as well as negotiations with the French regarding ports and asylum, and his suspicions about their motives and desire to influence American politics.

Samuel L. Young of Reading, Pennsylvania, kept this 108-page journal "during a tour through the United States" between June 1, 1846, and October 12, 1846. He traveled by railroad, steamship, and stagecoach, and recorded his impressions of major cities, local scenery, and fellow travelers. Young ventured as far west as St. Louis, Missouri; as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada; and as far south as Lexington, Kentucky.

Samuel L. Young of Reading, Pennsylvania, kept this 108-page journal "during a tour of the United States" between June 1, 1846, and October 12, 1846. He traveled by railroad, steamship, and stagecoach, and recorded his impressions of major cities, local scenery, and fellow travelers. Young ventured as far west as St. Louis, Missouri; as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada; and as far south as Lexington, Kentucky.

Young's journal, which contains descriptions and anecdotes from his travel, begins with an entry expressing his sadness upon leaving his loved ones (p. 1). He departed Reading for New York City, where he remained for 4 days; there, he witnessed a procession by the Sons of Temperance. Young then traveled to Connecticut and Massachusetts, where he commented on Boston's Chinese residents (p. 8). He continued to Niagara Falls, Detroit, and Chicago. In Detroit, he received copper samples from Morgan Bates, a prospector (p. 31); in Chicago he recorded his disappointment with the city and its construction. While in western Illinois and Iowa, Young visited a smelting furnace and mine (pp. 43-44), a "lead cave" and mine (pp. 48-49), and the Mormon temple at Nauvoo, Illinois (pp. 56-58).

When Young reached St. Louis, Missouri, he boarded a riverboat bound for Louisville, Kentucky, though he and three other travelers opted to walk the final stretch of the trip (pp. 70-71). Young recalled a stagecoach conversation about slavery, though he declined to participate (pp. 74-75). Upon his arrival in Lexington, Kentucky, he met with Henry Clay at his Ashland estate (pp. 87-88). Young spent much of September in Cincinnati, Ohio. Between Cincinnati and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), he met Lewis C. F. Fatio, former captain of the United States revenue cutter Wolcott, who was on his way to contest a charge of disobedience in Washington, D. C. (pp. 101-102). Young began the last leg of his journey on October 10, 1846, heading for Philadelphia and, later, Reading, where he returned on October 12 (p. 108).

Young occasionally encountered dangerous situations, including a narrowly avoided stagecoach accident between Kalamazoo and St. Joseph, Michigan (p. 33), a fire next door to his Chicago hotel (pp. 36-37), and a suspicious stagecoach passenger at Rockford, Illinois (p. 42). He made acquaintance with many fellow travelers, and often joined them for excursions. Young played the accordion, read local newspapers and the works of Friedrich Schiller, occasionally measured the distances he traveled or noted the costs of transportation, and recorded the name of every hotel at which he boarded.

This cashbook contains accounts with various individuals from May-December 1818, as well as additional accounts dated January-August, year unknown.

This cashbook contains an anonymous author's accounts with various individuals from May-December 1818, as well as additional accounts that follow and are dated January-August, year unknown. The first few pages have been removed and some pages of accounts are partially torn or missing.

The financial accounts take up about 27 pages; they concern incoming shipments of a variety of merchandise (such as butter, oats, lumber, candles, fur, iron, beef, and spyglasses) as well as financial transactions with various persons. The author usually reconciled accounts of debits and credits at the end of each month. The "proprietors" of the city of Sandusky, Ohio, are occasionally mentioned, and one account pertains to a subscription for a road to Columbus, Ohio.

The later pages have brief pencil notes about historical topics in a different hand from the person who kept the accounts. One page has a list of North American wars from King William's War to the Civil War and a list of seven North American colleges.

The San Francisco earthquake and fire photograph album contains 29 photographs taken by photographer Arnold Genthe showing the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.

The San Francisco earthquake and fire photograph album contains 29 photographs taken by photographer Arnold Genthe showing the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. The album (24 x 32 cm) has pebbled black cloth covers. Images include scenes of billowing smoke over the city being watched by crowds of onlookers; survivors wandering among the ruins; tnets set up in Union Square and Portsmouth Square; the destruction in the city center, between Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill, and Market Street; and wagons removing rubble.

Inside the front cover there is a laid in program for a "Port of Oakland Day Luncheon" held on October 27, 1949, a newspaper clipping regarding Benjamin F. Steacy, and a typed note on "Steacy's Restaurants" stationery stating "This album dedicated to the earthquake and fire San Francisco, April 18 1906. The following pictures were taken by a friend of my dads. Ben F. Steacy April 21 1948."

This photograph album contains pictures of mountain scenery and street scenes in British Columbia and Alberta; of rubble and refugee camps taken in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake; of people relaxing near Long Beach, California; and pictures taken during a hunting trip near Oracle, Arizona.

This photograph album (18cm x 25cm) contains 99 photographic prints taken in British Columbia, Alberta, California, and Arizona in the early 20th century. The album's covers are brown pebbled leather, and the title "Photographs" is stamped in gold on the front cover. Most items have manuscript captions.

A majority of the photographs are scenic views of mountain ranges, lakes, forests, and glaciers in British Columbia and Alberta, including pictures taken in Banff, Alberta; in the Canadian Rockies; and in the Selkirk Mountains. This section of the album also contains views of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria, and street scenes in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; a large totem pole is visible in one of the pictures of Victoria. A second group of photographs shows scenes of rubble and refugee tent camps in San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake.

The third group of items consists of photographs taken in and near Long Beach and Los Angeles, California. Groups of tourists are evident in several of these pictures, and some focus on pairs of male travelers. Pictured locales include Eastlake Park in Los Angeles, an orange grove in Redlands, California, and "Follows Camp." These are followed by photographs of desert scenes near Oracle, Arizona, where a group of hunters, including at least one woman, occupied a semi-permanent tent. The photographer captured images of natural scenery such as large cacti, balance rocks, and a box canyon. The final items are a group portrait of young men, identified by a manuscript caption on a note laid into the album; an unidentified mountainous scene; and an outdoor portrait of a girl.

The San Francisco Earthquake photograph album contains 48 photographs showing the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Earthquake photograph album contains 48 photographs showing the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. The album (27 x 18 cm) has pebbled black cloth covers and includes a laid in handwritten table of contents. Images include views of ruins of City Hall, the Crosby Building, the Granada Hotel, and Grace Church; temporary tent and tin-shack housing; a tent camp in Golden Gate Park; people cooking on the street using makeshift stoves; views showing the devastation of Russian Hill, North Beach, Chinatown, and Telegraph Hill; a group of men playing checkers in the street; a hospital tent; a crowd lining up in front of a tent with the sign, "W.C.T.U. Free Reading Room"; a young African American girl sitting beside a tent with an infant in a box beside her; and an African American man sitting in a tin shack with the sign, "Show Maker."

This collection contains 3 letters (6 pages) that Sarah Butler Davis wrote to her sister, Eliza Eldredge, while studying under a private female tutor in Norwich, Connecticut, in the fall of 1815. Davis sent her regards to her family, who lived in Providence, Rhode Island, and discussed her life in Connecticut.

This collection contains 3 letters (6 pages) that Sarah Butler Davis wrote to her sister, Eliza Eldredge, while studying under a private female tutor in Norwich, Connecticut, in the fall of 1815.

On October 12, 1815, Davis reported that her trunks had been delayed, but that she had enjoyed her first days in Norwich, where she boarded and studied with a "Miss Hyde." Davis met the daughters of "General Huntington," one of whom, Nancy, also studied with Miss Hyde, and reported that a new local jewelry business, Coit & Mansfield, had been robbed. In her letter of October 25, 1815, she mentioned needing a new bonnet, as Miss Hyde's school moved from her home to a local meeting house. On November 11, 1815, she wrote that she had heard of her brother-in-law's return from a seafaring voyage, and inquired whether he had been caught up in a coastal storm. She mentioned that she was in the process of drawing maps of America and Europe, and had received a certificate from her instructor; she also reported that she had paid a "quarter of a dollar" to have a tooth extracted.

This collection is made up of four letters sent in response to Sarah Wright's inquiries about her missing husband Frank Wright, dated between April and June of 1900. Three letters are from J. M. Hawks, one of Frank's friends, and Dr. Lewis Van Gilder Guthrie, the superintendent of the Second Hospital for the Insane in West Virginia, where Frank died in 1896.

This collection comprises four letters sent in response to Sarah Wright's inquiries about her missing husband Frank Wright, dated between April and June of 1900. Three letters are from J. M. Hawks, one of Frank's friends, and Dr. Lewis Van Gilder Guthrie, the superintendent of the Second Hospital for the Insane in West Virginia, where Frank died in 1896.

For detailed information about each item in the collection, please see the box and folder listing.

This collection is made up of correspondence regarding prisoners of war during the American Revolution, particularly members of the Convention Army. The letters address topics such as prisoners' injuries, parole, and labor.

This collection (6 items) is made up of correspondence regarding prisoners of war during the American Revolution, particularly members of the "Convention Army," made up of prisoners from the Battle of Saratoga. Several items refer to Major General William Heath and British Major General William Phillips. The letters pertain to passes, prisoners' treatment, parole, and a road-building project in Pennsylvania. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information on each item.

These two albums contain photographs of scenery and railroads in Pennsylvania in the 1860s. Workers and buildings are visible in some of the pictures.

These two photograph albums (22cm x 17cm), entitled "Scenery of the Allegheny Mountains" and "Pennsylvania Railroad", are bound in green covers with "Alleghany Mountains Photographic Journal" [sic] stamped in gold on the spines. Volume 1 contains 39 items and Volume 2 contains 47 items, each 12cm x 9cm and mounted directly onto a cardstock page. Volume 1 has a black plate on the front cover with the title "Alleghany Mountains" [sic] and a decorative gold border. A plate pasted into the second volume indicates that photographer was John Moran of 806 Coates Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Many of the photographs show scenic views, railroad right-of-way, railroad tracks, telegraph poles, canals, mills, and small settlements. Several photographs of the sky capture clouds. Several images appear to be of the "Horseshoe Curve" on the Pennsylvania Railroad. A group of pictures of a foundry complex show laborers working with mule-driven railroad carts loading rails onto train cars, and one picture shows a group of boys near a track and a town. Other images of note include a photo of a locomotive at a tunnel portal; an elephant on a rural road, a waterfall; a large gravesite or memorial; and a group of monks outside of an unidentified building, possibly a school.