Collections

This collection is made up of letters that Jacob A. Riis sent to Elgin R. L. Gould and an unidentified female correspondent in the early 20th century. Riis commented on his health, politics, and tenement housing.

This collection is made up of outgoing letters that Jacob A. Riis wrote to Elgin R. L. Gould (6 items) and an unidentified female correspondent (1 item) in the early 20th century. In his letters to Gould, Riis discussed his health and requested that Gould help find employment for "Mrs. Heath," a former colleague. On several occasions, he referred directly or indirectly to tenement housing and political issues, such as the dominance of Tammany Hall. Riis enclosed a letter from Henry C. Wright of the Cincinnati Union Bethel in his letter of February 18, 1901. An undated letter from Riis to an anonymous woman contains his promise to forward her suggestions to the secretary of the Public Education Society and his agreement with her sentiments about the inclusion of children's playrooms in tenement apartments. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information about each item.

The Jacob Butler Varnum papers contain letters and documents related to Varnum's career as a factor at United States Indian trading posts in Sandusky, Ohio, and Fort Dearborn, Chicago; as a captain in the 40th Massachusetts Infantry during the War of 1812; and as a Washington D.C. merchant after he left government service. Included are letters and instructions from government officials concerning trade with Indians, as well as letters from Varnum to his father, Senator Joseph B. Varnum, concerning his activities as factor.

The Jacob Butler Varnum papers (79 items) contain letters and documents related to Varnum's career as a factor at United States Indian trading posts in Sandusky, Michilimackinac, and Fort Dearborn, Chicago; as a captain in the 40th Massachusetts Infantry during the War of 1812; and as a Washington D.C. merchant after he left government service. The collection is comprised of 59 letters, 1 diary, 13 documents and financial records, and 5 miscellaneous items. Included are letters and instructions from various government officials concerning trade with Indians in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, as well as five letters from Varnum to his father Senator Joseph B. Varnum (ca.1751-1821) concerning his activities as factor.

The Correspondence series (60 items) comprises the bulk of the collection. Forty-nine items document Varnum's governmental career spanning 1811 to 1826, during his service as Indian trade factor in Sandusky, Michilimackinac, and Chicago; and as captain of the 40th Massachusetts Infantry during the War of 1812. Varnum received instructions from various Indian agents and government officials concerning the regulation of trade with the Munsee, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Ottawa, Sioux, and Wyandot Indians, among others. Many letters came from the United States Office of Indian Trade at Georgetown, including four from Indian Officer John Mason (1812 and 1815), and 21 letters from Superintendent of Indian Trade Thomas Loraine McKenney (1816-1822). These contain discussions of trade operations, types of merchandise, questions arising about the sale of goods, and instructions for the reporting of financial accounts. Also of note are five letters from Varnum to his father, Joseph Bradley Varnum (1750-1821), in which he described his experiences at Sandusky and at Michilimackinac, as well as with the business of the trading house at Chicago (December 3, 1811; January 14, 1812; May 21, 1816; November 3, 1817; March 1, 1818).

• August 8, 1811: Joseph Bradley Varnum to John Mason, accepting the appointment of his son as agent of the United States Indian trading house at Sandusky, Ohio
• March 1, 1818: Varnum to his father predicting the outbreak of a great war with the Indians "from the Simenoles to the Sioux"
• February 8, 1820: Thomas L. McKenney letter to Jacob B. Varnum, giving instructions about the handling of money given to Varnum by Government Indian agents

Most of the 1823-1826 material concerns government reimbursements for military expenses at Fort Dearborn. The collection contains 11 letters documenting Varnum's post-governmental career as a merchant in Washington D.C. and Petersburg, Virginia (1826-1860).

• February 1827-August 1832: Five items regarding Varnum and John Biddle concerning mutual business interests in Detroit
• December 17, 1833: John H. Kinzie to Varnum concerning Chicago lands owned by Kinzie, a fur trader

The Diary series (1 item) contains a 26-page notebook with Varnum's description of his trip from Chicago to Dracut, Massachusetts, by way of Detroit and Buffalo (August 17-October 22, 1822), and from Detroit through New York and Philadelphia, to Washington D.C. (May 28-June 22, 1823). Varnum reported on his manner of travel (horse, ship, steamboat) and his travel route, describing stops at many of the major towns along the Erie Canal. He commented on the towns that he passed through including Rochester, New York, which had grown considerably since the opening of the Erie Canal (page 6). He also noted prices for room and board. The final five pages contain financial accounts for Varnum's military expenses incurred from 1813 to 1815.

The Documents and Financial Records series (13 items) contains material documenting Varnum's finances and his service in the War of 1812.

• June 8, 1813: Affidavits (and a fragment of the same item) documenting the capture of Joseph B. Varnum's trunks, taken by the British as they were being transported from Michilimackinac to Detroit
• 1814: Six military district orders related to promotions, responsibilities, and discipline in the 40th Massachusetts Infantry, in which Varnum was a captain under Acting Adjutant General George P. Peters
• August 22, 1815: Copy of a bond oath signed by Varnum as factor for Indian trade at Chicago, and a copy of his father, Jacob Butler Varnum's oath of office
• 1816-1827: Four financial records of debts and receipts for goods purchased by Varnum
• Undated [1808]: Deposition of Richard Smyth regarding the sale of a lot in Detroit owned by Varnum's father-in-law John Dodemead

The Miscellaneous series (5 items) contains 3 envelope covers, one of which includes a recipe for a "Lazy Daisy" cake (c.1930). Also present are a photograph of a man and two women outside of a tent next to a car (c.1930), and a typed 13-page biography of Joseph Bradley Varnum, undated and unattributed.

Grandville, Kent County, Michigan, physician and public health official. Family and professional correspondence and other materials relating to his medical career, especially his education at the Detroit College of Medicine, private practice in Kent County, and work with professional organizations, including the Michigan State Medical Society and the Michigan Public Health Association; also material relating to his interest in the Reformed Church of Grandville; miscellaneous papers of father, Dirk Broek, and sister, Christina S. Broek; and photographs.

The Jacob Daniel Brook Collection reflects the activities of a man whose life was committed to the cause of medicine and public health. The collection has been arranged into four series: Correspondence, Professional and personal materials, Broek Family, and Photographs.

The Jacob Ellsworth Reighard collection contains the papers and photographs of a noted professor of zoology, including his research, class lectures and correspondence. Jacob Reighard was responsible for the development of modern zoological teaching and research at the University of Michigan and a national leader in the field of zoology.

The Jacob Reighard collection consists of thirteen feet of correspondence, speeches, lectures, drafts of writings, University of Michigan lecture and course materials, and files of research materials and field notes. The collection covers the period of 1887 to 1942. The collection has been organized into four series; Correspondence, Writings and Speeches, University Lecture and Course Materials, and Research Materials and Field Notes. This finding aid also contains a selective inventory of correspondents found within the Reighard papers.

This ledger contains around 60 pages of financial accounts between Cadet Jacob Fordney Kreps and the treasurers of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, dated June 1879 to June 1883.

This ledger contains around 60 pages of monthly financial accounts between Cadet Jacob Fordney Kreps and the treasurers of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, dated June 1879-June 1883. A printed list of items that an incoming cadet should own when entering the academy is located on the volume's front endpaper. Kreps recorded his accounts on pre-printed pages with areas for recording monthly income, his expenses, and items he received from the academy's commissary. He received $90 pay each month, and was charged for various living expenses, including board and laundry service; articles of clothing, such as shoes and coats; and other items, such as soap and tobacco. One receipt is laid into the volume.

Pennsylvania resident Jacob Frantz compiled this volume of daily meteorological readings and related information between 1835 and 1855. An introduction also discusses weather patterns prior to the volume's commencement, as well as three major floods of Pequea Creek in Pennsylvania.

This 243-page volume, entitled "Range of Thermometer from 1835 to 1855," contains 241 pages of daily and monthly meteorological observations compiled by Pennsylvania resident Jacob Frantz between February 1, 1835, and February 28, 1855, as well as 2 additional pages of notes. The first two pages note the occurrence of floods in Pequea, Pennsylvania, on July 20, 1818, February 21, 1822, and January 26, 1839; general remarks on the weather during the winter of 1831; a brief record of a watch Frantz purchased from a man from Philadelphia in 1855; and Frantz's comments on the weather of May 12, 1834, and January 1835. The remaining 241 pages contain charts of daily meteorological observations. Each page covers an entire month of general observations on the weather in the morning and evening (February 1835-June 1835) or at noon (July 1835-February 1855), as well as high and low temperatures for each day and monthly averages. Frantz also recorded the phases of the moon after March 1835. For each month, Frantz composed a brief summary of the weather and its effect on local crops, most frequently flour, wheat, corn, oats, and clover seed. After July 1841, he often documented the prices of some of these goods as well.

The Bates papers chronicle the lives of a family during the Jacksonian era, of particular interest is the description of patterns of grief and mourning during the 1830s and 1840s.

The Bates papers chronicle the lives of a family afflicted by more than the usual rounds of illness and death during the Jacksonian era, and provides useful insight into the patterns of grief and mourning during the 1830s and 1840s. While the collection is too small to provide much detailed information on the family, it provides a concise record of their inordinate share of tragedy. One the earliest letters in the collection (1834 August 21) is an eloquent lament written by Horatio C. Meriam (Harvard, class of 1829) to his father-in-law, Jacob Bates, Sr., at the loss his young wife, Mary. Although Meriam fears that some will call him "unmanly" or that his letter might be seen to betray "a latent inferiority in [his] nature," he considers his loss to be "a loss this world cannot repair."

The death of Mary Bates Meriam in 1834, though, was not the only premature death sustained by the Bateses. The heart of the collection is a series of five letters written by Jacob Bates' other daughter, Elizabeth Palmer, during a trip to Florida, who may have been traveling to a warmer climate for health reasons. As the arduous journey progressed, Elizabeth's health failed -- as reflected in her increasingly unsteady handwriting -- and she died shortly after arriving in St. Augustine, Fla., in February, 1841. There are two additional letters relating to Elizabeth Palmer's death trip: one from her minister in Boston, advising her to prepare her soul as well as her body for death, the other from Elizabeth's husband, George, informing her family of her death, and noting that the body had been enclosed in an alcohol-filled tin drum for shipment back to Boston.

Several items that were included in this accession, including the four earliest items and the four postcards at the end, bear no obvious relationship to the remainder of the collection, but have been retained.

The Jacob H. Bechtel papers contain 20 letters written by Jacob H. Bechtel to his brother George that reflect the thoughts and experiences of a moderate in Virginia during the Civil War.

The Jacob H. Bechtel papers contains 20 letters written by Jacob H. Bechtel to his brother, George, and represents a microcosm of the civilian Civil War experience in Virginia. Not only was the man's family divided, but the man himself was as well.

The collection provides a detailed and emotionally-charged account of social and political events from the time of John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859 to the outbreak of war in 1861. In the earliest letters in this collection, Bechtel freely recorded his opinions on the rhetorical extremes of both those whom he regarded as radical secessionists or fanatical unionists. While he seemed to sympathize more with the Southern cause, Bechtel did not readily swing to either extreme. Instead, he considered the tragedy unfolding in front of him both unnecessary and avoidable, with both sides being led to ruin by the actions of extremists. After the Union blockade of Southern ports and the possibility of leaving for "home" (the North) was eliminated, Bechtel was left with no choice but to side with the Southern cause. The series of correspondence ends with a brief, sanitized note written during a cease fire, probably early in 1862, informing George that he and his family are well.

Among other important events discussed in the Bechtel letters are the John Brown raid on Harper's Ferry, the secession conventions of the various southern states, the intimidation tactics used by Virginia secessionists to generate support (and quell dissent), the Crittenden Compromise, and the federal blockade of Richmond and its effects on the people and economy. Bechtel's letters provide a strongly worded, personally-felt record of the swings in public opinion in Richmond as perceived by a somewhat atypical resident.

This collection consists of military, political, and family correspondence of Jacob Jennings Brown, an American general during and after the War of 1812.

The Jacob Jennings Brown papers (707 items) consist of military, political, and family correspondence of Jacob Jennings Brown, American general in the War of 1812. Of special note are several pre-war letters written to New York Governor Lewis Morris, concerning land along the Black River in 1806, and about lobbying for the financing of road-building operations in the Brownville area in 1804 and 1805. Also important is the substantial correspondence in 1814, between Brown and his subordinate, Winfield Scott, regarding plans and intelligence reports outlining the Niagara Campaign. Other notable correspondents are DeWitt Clinton, General James Miller, General John A. Dix, and John C. Calhoun. Many post-war letters comment on national and state politics between 1823 and 1827, including letters from New York Senator Ambrose Spencer, and an account of a quarrel between Colonel Joseph L. Smith of Green Bay and General Alexander Macomb of Detroit.

The bulk of the letters and documents from after Brown's death are the 169 letters from his son -in-law Edmund Kirby, who was one of Brown's executors. These letters deal with Kirby's business interests, particularly in the development of Dexter, New York; routine army matters in regard to his role as paymaster of the army; and letters concerning the settlement of Brown's estate. Fifty-five additional documents and business papers from 1830 to 1851 cover the same topics.

This collection contains 7 letters that Private Jacob Klein wrote to his cousin, Charles F. ("Carl") Meitzler of Strasburg, Ohio, while serving in the United States Army's 17th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines in 1901. Klein wrote about local customs, the scenery, and aspects of the Philippine-American War.

This collection contains 7 letters that Private Jacob Klein wrote to his cousin, Charles F. ("Carl") Meitzler of Strasburg, Ohio, while serving in the United States Army's 17th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines in 1901.

Klein's letters, each around 4 pages long, concern aspects of life in the Philippines during the Philippine-American War. In his second letter, he described his trip to the Philippines via the Atlantic Ocean, Suez Canal, and Indian Ocean (April 18, 1901). He often commented on local scenery and weather, particularly in his letter dated June 9, 1901. He wrote a detailed letter about Filipino customs and daily life in response to Meitzler's request that Klein's letters be published in an Ohio newspaper (July 7, 1901). In more personal letters, Klein sometimes provided his opinions about Filipinos. Though Klein often wrote of his everyday experiences, he also discussed the status of military operations, including news of recent engagements, updates on the progress of the war, and stories of Filipinos hanged for criminal activity.