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1 volume
This manuscript is a 141-page biography of William W. Winters (1826-1895), a one-time medical student from Ohio, cabinetmaker, daguerreotypist, and Methodist Minister, among other professions. The biography and subsequent pasted-in documents draw heavily from Winters's own diary entries and trace the events of his life from 1826 to 1853.
Written largely from a third-person perspective, Winters's biography stylistically embodies nineteenth-century artistic and literary Romanticism. Here, a younger Winters is characterized as "schivalrous and full of gallant deeds in matters of Cupid, came off first best." Likewise, Winters is cast as "our hero" within the narrative. A later portion of the volume continues Winters's history, but from a first-person perspective, using "extracts [taken from] his journal in his own language."
Winters's employment experiences include tanning, cabinetmaking, operating a drug store, taking daguerreotypes, and serving in appointments as a deacon and then a reverend in the Methodist church. Descriptions of these occupations are conveyed with varying detail. Also noted are his experiences as a student, first at Oberlin College and, later, at Norwalk Seminary. Winters's courtship and marriage to Philenda Howard, as well as his divorce from her in 1853 on grounds of adultery, is richly detailed.
Laid into the front of the volume is a "Methodist Episcopal Church Quarterly Ticket" and the end of the journal is pasted in a fragment of Winters's 1844 wax-sealed appointment as a church deacon, and 12 fragments of a manuscript, four of which are photocopies.
Among many notable topics of interest are:
- Mormonism (pp. 12-13)
- Body snatching (pp. 66-67)
- Work as a daguerreotypist—Springfield, Ohio (p. 123)
- Divorce—Springfield, Ohio (pp. 131-32)
- Ordination as a Methodist deacon (pp. 88-91)
1 volume
The William Yardley Mathematics and Surveying Exercise Book contains solved geometric, trigonometric, and surveying exercises, including practical problems and illustrated examples that feature drawings of buildings, animals, and landscape elements. Calligraphic lettering appears throughout.
One letter written by Harry [Crockett?] to his mother, Mrs. L. F. Crockett, from Portland, Maine, on October 8, 1903, is laid into the volume. Written on John W. Perkins Company, Wholesale Druggists, illustrated stationery, the letter comments on family matters, business, and deaths of acquaintances, including one gentleman who was killed by an electric car.
50 pages
The William Young journal (51 pages) includes daily entries about sea voyages aboard HM Transports Zephyr, Lancaster, and Cornwall. The journal begins in late December, 1795, with Young aboard the Zephyr and under the command of Captain Bowen and General Whyte as they prepare ships for the transatlantic voyage from Great Britain to Barbados. He describes efforts to get various ships ready for sea travel, including the John & Sarah, the Canada, the Bellona, the George & Bridget, the Generous Planter, the Free Briton, the Lynx, and others. Young records information about the provisioning ships, wind and weather, orders, conflicts among crew members, efforts to combat illnesses as they prepared to depart, and the recurring damages incurred from squalls while waiting at the cove. His notes illustrate the complexity of preparing large-scale naval operations.
The ships departed on February 9, 1796, and Young kept a sea log with navigational details and bearings, weather, signals, illnesses, and difficulties with the crew. Young accounted for other ships encountered during the voyage.
The convoy anchored at Barbados on April 1, 1796, and Young worked to provision ships, inspect the division, shift troops, and land stores and baggage. Young transferred to the Lancaster and departed on April 19 amidst roughly 200 ships for Cape Nichola Mole, St. Domingue. Young harbored there from May 2, 1796, through the end of the journal. He worked to arrange the movement and inspection of troops and stores and recorded the movement of ships. Young transferred to the Cornwall on May 23.
2 linear feet
The William Young papers center on the lives of William Young and his son-in-law John McAllister, Jr., and through these lives document a wide scope of business, cultural, family and religious history both in America and Scotland. The strengths of the collection are its documentation of William Young's careers as printer, publisher, bookseller and paper maker; the Associate Presbyterian Church; John McAllister's antiquarian interests; and the personal lives of the Young and McAllister families.
The earliest papers in the collection date from William Young's days as a Scottish seminarian, and include valuable information on the Associate Presbytery of Scotland. A group of letters written after the Youngs' removal to America, 1784, documents European interest in the new nation: the immigrants received many letters from Scottish friends (and potential emigrants) inquiring into the details of America life. Young kept certain business concerns in Scotland; his brother Stephen and Agnes Young's brothers, William and John McLaws, were all active in the book trade, and their correspondence provides some insight into the burgeoning international book business.
The backbone of the collection is the correspondence relating to William Young's diverse business enterprises from the 1780s through 1820s. Among the later material, the correspondence between William Young McAllister and his thirty-year-old son, William Mitchell McAllister (7:54 and 56), stands out as illustration of a father's displeasure over his son's mismanagement of affairs during the disastrous panic of 1873. Also interesting is a plaintive letter written by the 52 year-old Thomas H. Young (7:59) in 1876, asking his aging father to bail out his business with a handout of $5,000.00. Box 8 contains a large quantity of receipts, accounts, and other business papers of Young's, along with information on the tangled settlement of Young's estate (8:30) and information on the settlement of other estates. Additional information on Young's estate is located with the oversized material (see Separation Record).
The Young Papers also contains rich resources for study of the history of the Associate Presbyterian Church in America. One of the smallest Presbyterian denominations, the Associate Presbyterians preserved few primary resources and little survives from their presence on the American scene; the Young Papers contain some of the earliest records known for that church (folder 8-37). Among other Associate Presbyterian ministers represented in the collection is Rev. Thomas Hamilton (1776-1818), William Young's son-in-law. Much of the work compiled by John McAllister Jr. in compiling the Associate Presbyterian volume of Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, is preserved in folder 8:10.
Yellow fever in Philadelphia (1793) and the nation's first major cholera epidemic (1832) are both well documented through letters containing medical information, largely confined to home remedies and professional advice on medicines. There is some discussion of Frances Stevenson's illness which cost her the use of a leg, resulting in her use of a prosthesis (6:88). In addition, there is a detailed report on the body of Dr. William R. Grant in 1852 (folder 7:6).
The photographs associated with the collection include valuable insights into family relations within both the Young and McAllister families (1:1 to 1:8), particularly when seen in conjunction with the large number of personal letters between family members. William Young's instructions to his housekeeper (3:54), John McAllister's consultations with his wife on business matters, race relations in Philadelphia (5:9, 6:11), relations with a mother-in-law (4:58), and the execution of Robert Morris's seldom-mentioned and ne'er-do-well son Charles (4:21) are among the topics discussed. Perhaps the wittiest correspondent is Mary Ann Hunter, a friend of Eliza Young McAllister, whose observations on Philadelphia society in the first decades of the 19th century are trenchant and insightful and read almost like a novel.
1 volume
This orderly book was kept by Lieutenant William Youse of the Second Regiment, First Rifle Brigade of the United States Army while he was stationed at Camp Springfield and Camp Hampstead in Baltimore, Maryland in 1814. Entries mostly consist of reports, general orders, and court martials.
13 items
This collection is made up of 13 letters that brothers George F. and Willie E. Stone wrote to their family in Fowlerville, Michigan, while living and working in Florida from January-March 1882. The Stow brothers addressed their letters to their father, William P. Stow, and to George's wife Nancy, and provided news of their health and their lives in Florida. Both Willie and George composed individual letters, and Willie occasionally contributed to George's correspondence. The brothers initially wrote from Sanford, Florida, where they discussed the impact of recent railroad construction. They later went to Rockledge, where they worked on boats traveling along the Indian River. The letters include their descriptions of the region, including the largely unsettled area along the state's eastern coast and their first encounter with the ocean. By March 1882, they were employed by a wealthy woman near Rockledge.
19.4 linear feet (in 24 boxes) — 2 oversize boxes (online) — 1 digital audio file
The Willis C. Patterson papers include some biographical material, but focuses mainly on his professional career, musical career, and collection of works by African American composers. The collection includes correspondence, publications and research material, photographic material, posters, student records, clippings, and topical files.
Willis C. Patterson papers, 1896-2019
19.4 linear feet (in 24 boxes) — 2 oversize boxes (online) — 1 digital audio file
96 items
The Willis family papers consist primarily of letters sent to Milton Willis from his father, stepmother, and siblings. Letters from Milton's sister Lydia describe her life in Battle Creek as well as news and gossip about acquaintances, she also frequently mentions her work keeping house, and various illnesses of her and her father. The letters from Henry Willis to his son also mention health and disease frequently, as well as Henry’s business plans, including trying to set up a water system for the city of Battle Creek. Henry’s letters reflect his Quaker background and he often uses the words “thee” and “thou.” The letters from the family in Washington also concern general family news and possible business prospects, though Phoebe occasionally writes about goings-on in town and the social engagements of the president.
The collection also contains a telegraph informing Milton of Phoebe’s death, Milton’s calling card, a few business letters, and a few letters written to Milton from friends in Battle Creek. Many of Henry Willis’s letters are on Chicago and Grand Truck Railroad stationary, the envelopes of which include a print of the Railroad line from New York to Chicago, through Michigan.
0.75 linear feet
This collection contains 110 letters that Ensign Willis V. Daugherty wrote to his mother, Louella Daugherty, while studying at Harvard University and serving as a United States Naval Air Corps pilot during the First World War. The collection also contains one additional letter that Louella Daugherty received from her friend "Emma" (June 4, 1918).
Willis Daugherty wrote 2 letters while traveling from his home in Wichita, Kansas, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in September 1917, and frequently told his mother about his life at Harvard, detailing his financial difficulties and campus activities. In one letter, he anticipated attending a speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 13, 1918). After receiving an application from the United States Signal Corps in early January 1918, he began to contemplate joining the military and became a member of an "aero club."
Daugherty was formally called to join the Navy on May 7, 1918; in June, he became a member of the naval air corps. Two months later, he was stationed at the naval air station in Key West, Florida, where he trained as a pilot. In his letters home, he discussed training exercises, camp life, and fellow trainees; on August 8, 1918, he diagrammed sample maneuvers. After transferring to Pensacola in September 1918, where he flew less often, Daugherty reflected on the station's more relaxed attitude, due in part to expectations of an armistice. Pilots were placed on quarantine in October to prevent the spread of influenza, and Daugherty concentrated more on his daily work and gunnery training than on flying. On December 22, 1918, despite reporting that he had been recently promoted to ensign, he anticipated being released from the service. During this period, he often discussed the future of the aviation industry, including the impossibility of selling used naval aircraft to civilians (January 30, 1919) and his expectation that the industry would grow similarly to the automobile industry (February 6, 1919).
On his return to Boston, Daugherty wrote of resuming his life at Harvard, describing his coursework and Harvard's 1919 Class Day, which featured opposition to Prohibition (June 18, 1919). Daugherty also wrote 2 letters in May 1920 about his plans for commencement and the financial success of former military pilots.
0.5 linear feet
This record group documents the development of the Willow Run Area Recreation Project with emphasis on several programs supported by the staff. Approximately half of the folders contain material that relate directly to the Project goals, staff, and finances. In addition, there are two files, the Detroit-Area Recreation Committee and the Civilian Defense Agency, that contain material relevant to the efforts of the Willow Run Project. Of particular note within the General Information file and Survey file are several summary reports. Each contains excellent overviews of the Project goals and accomplishments. There are also a number of statistical sheets concerning the population of the Ypsilanti community.
Within the remaining folders are documents from specific programs coordinated by the Willow Run Project staff. Several folders contain newsletters and support material for consumer cooperatives. Other folders outline recreational activities and social services such as daycare centers for children of working parents. There is also a small file of publicity photos.