Collections

The Asian Scrolls collection is comprised of 56 facsimile handscrolls and books of Japanese and Chinese origin. The scrolls depict landscapes and animals, as well as scenes from famous works and stories. Among the scrolls are also examples of the calligraphy of famous artists, such as Kobo-Daishi. The originals were created throughout the Tang, Sung, and Ming dynasties.

The Asian Scrolls collection is composed of 56 facsimile handscrolls and books of Japanese and Chinese origin. The scrolls depict landscapes, animals, and scenes from famous works and stories. Among the scrolls are examples of the calligraphy of famous artists, such as Kobo-Daishi. The original scrolls were created throughout the Tang, Sung, and Ming dynasties. This collection contains copies of the Japanese work “Ippen Shomin Ekotoba” and “Letter to Saicho” and the Chinese work “Admonitions of the Instructress of the Ladies in the Palace." As these scrolls are reproductions, the originals are housed in other institutions such as the British Museum, Beijing’s Palace Museum, and Honolulu’s Academy of Arts. Four of the scrolls are of Chinese artwork but have been reproduced by the Japanese, and therefore, the artist’s names have been translated differently.

Mixed within the collection is a series of approximately five books. The leaves of the books are connected in an alternating format, creating an accordion style book. While many of the books contain artwork depicting scenes of natures and scenes from famous works, one book contains photographs of bronze Chinese objects. The photographs have titles but the book is untitled.

The Atlantic City photograph album contains approximately 90 photographs related to an unidentified couple and their daughter, Jane, during a trip to Atlantic City in April and May of 1914.

The Atlantic City photograph album contains approximately 90 photographs related to an unidentified couple and their daughter, Jane, during a trip to Atlantic City in April and May of 1914. The album (18.5 x 27 cm) is bound in hand-painted varnished leather on paper boards with wood overlay. Images of particular interest include views of horseback riding on the beach, strolling on the boardwalk, and riding in rolling chairs and a pony-drawn cart. Atlantic City is seen largely as a backdrop to family activities. Additional photographs show the young girl sledding and with toys and friends at home. Also includes a photograph of Eleanor R. and Frederick D. Countiss and their daughter, Henrietta, in a studio portrait.

The At Peace Street photograph album contains 14 photographs of upper middle class home and family in Providence, R.I. Possibly the home of Linwood O. Towne, who inscribed the volume to the Prescotts in 1900. Several images of family members reading and photographs featuring the family cat.

The At Peace Street photograph album (16 x 23 cm) contains 14 photographs of upper middle class home and family in Providence, R.I. Possibly the home of Linwood O. Towne, who inscribed the volume to the Prescotts in 1900. Several images of family members reading and photographs featuring the family cat.

The album has brown burlap covers with inscribed title "At Peace Street," bound with string, and is housed in a gray wrapper with dark brown cloth spine.

The August F. W. Partz letters pertain to Partz's experiences while living and traveling in New York, Ohio, and western Illinois during the Civil War. Partz, a mining engineer, discussed a business opportunity in Santa Fe, guerilla warfare and attacks on trains traveling through the Midwest, and military news from Missouri.

This collection contains 16 letters that mining engineer August F. W. Partz wrote to his business partner, C. Elton Buck, between May 16, 1864, and October 31, 1864. Partz wrote from the Mamakating Mine in New York (3 items); Cleveland, Ohio (2 items); and Quincy, Illinois (11 items). The letters are drafts or writer-retained copies; some pages have more than one letter written on them.

Some of Partz's letters pertain to his business interests, particularly regarding a mining opportunity in Santa Fe, New Mexico; he also mentioned the possibility of bringing German laborers to the United States to work with nickel (October 3, 1864). Most of Partz's correspondence concerns his attempts to travel from New York to Santa Fe via Cleveland, Ohio, and Missouri. He spent October 1864 in Quincy, Illinois, waiting for an opportune moment to continue his journey, which had been rendered dangerous by guerilla attacks on trains in Missouri. Partz discussed the opinions of Missouri and Kansas residents and refugees, attacks on passenger trains, and military developments in Missouri, especially those related to General Sterling Price. For a time, Partz considered traveling to the Southwest by way of California. In one letter, he mentioned his fear of Native American hostility (October 1, 1864).

The papers include Augustus Gansser's biographical materials, speeches, correspondence, American Expeditionary Field materials, Michigan National Guard scrapbooks, Prohibition articles, and United Spartans of America materials. Also included are papers of his brother, Emil B. Gansser, and photographs of World War I, National Guard, and Spanish-American War veterans.

The collection richly documents Gansser’s experiences in the Michigan National Guard and veterans associations, as well as lists of Michigan soldiers killed in actions and troop rosters. The collection has a wide variety of photographs of encampments, officers, and units (group) photographs.

Michigan National Guard troops documented in this collection include: the 63rd Infantry; 125th Infantry; 32nd Division; 1st Battalion, 33rd Infantry, Company B; 119th and 120th Field Artillery, 32nd Division Band; and the 3rd Battalion, 125th Infantry. Camp MacArthur; Waco, Texas; the Division Headquarters for the 125th-128th infantries is also documented, as well as some general orders and circulars.

Gansser’s political career is documented in his Political Correspondence, 1905-1915, Correspondence and “Letters to the Editor,” 1911, and Correspondence from his Constituents, 1929. There is also Correspondence from Michigan Governor Fred M. Warner and Michigan Representative George A. Loud. A few drafts of his political Addresses (Speeches), 1911-1915, are also included in the collection.

Gansser’s activities in veterans groups, his non-political business interests, family correspondence, and two scrapbooks that belonged to his brother, Emil B. Gansser, complete the collection.

This collection is made up of 12 letters that Private Aulder M. Watt received and 1 letter that he wrote while serving with Company H of the 10th Regiment, Illinois National Guard, at Camp Lincoln, Illinois, in 1917. Olive Stone, his fiancée, wrote 11 of the letters from her home in Clinton, Illinois, about their separation, and an aunt composed 1 letter concerning family news. Watt's letter to Olive pertains to his wages and recent labor strikes.

This collection is made up of 12 letters that Private Aulder M. Watt received and 1 letter that he wrote while serving with Company H of the 10th Regiment, Illinois National Guard, at Camp Lincoln, Illinois, in 1917. Olive Stone, his fiancée, wrote 11 of the letters from her home in Clinton, Illinois, about their separation, and an aunt composed 1 letter concerning family news. Watt's letter to Olive pertains to his wages and recent labor strikes.

Olive's often lengthy letters focus on local news, her love for Aulder, and her loneliness. She discussed the possibility of meeting him, either while visiting the Illinois State Fair or when he returned home on furlough. She occasionally reacted to news of his life in the military camp, and expressed her fear that he would be injured in the line of duty. Aulder received 1 letter from an unidentified aunt (September 28, 1917), and wrote 1 letter to his fiancée, in which he discussed recent labor strikes and his upcoming payment schedule.

A Week Among the Mosquitoes photograph album (16 x 10.5 cm) contains snapshots from a July 1896 camping trip on the White River near Mt. Carmel, Indiana.

A Week Among the Mosquitoes photograph album (16 x 10.5 cm) contains 26 snapshots on 52 pages, with humorous inscriptions on many images. Six are landscapes, four are snapshots of the campsite, and sixteen are of the men camping, hunting, and fishing. The cover bears the names of the five men, plus two late joiners with more trip information on the inside cover. The back cover bears the maker’s mark of Verne E. Joy.

University of Michigan faculty dining club. Collection includes membership lists, club history, biographical material, schedules of meetings, photographs of members, and photo negetives.

History, membership lists, biographical material, schedules of meetings, and photographs of members.

Law firm records include legal records of estates, divorces, chancery cases, and debt collection, correspondence, and numerous land records. McKee family records are also included.

The collection includes many types of legal records, including: Estates, Divorces, Chancery Cases, and debt collection papers. Correspondence is from clients, lawyers, legal firms, banks, and various land offices. Some of the larger case files include those of the Bank of Lansingburgh (New York) and the Indian Mill Creek Salt Company (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Numerous land records include: State Tax Deeds, Indentures, Mortgages, Bounty Lands for Veterans and their widows, Deeds, Plat Maps, and Receipts for land. The firm had many clients in Michigan and New York (State).

McKee family records include family correspondence, 1840s-1874, undated; legal cases, and Aaron McKee’s (father of James McKee) inheritance case, 1856-1864. Also included is the 1862 license for Ball and McKee and a letter of protest over the removal of the soldiers’ memorial in Grand Rapids, 1908.

Processing Note: Personal materials of John Ball were apparently removed when this collection first came to the Clarke and became the John Ball Family Papers.

Thomas J. Bandfield, a native of England, compiled carte-de-visite photographs of friends and family members in this album before moving to the United States in 1870.

The inscription on page one indicates that Jane Rugg Bandfield of Chard, England, gave this photograph album to her son, Thomas John Bandfield, in London, England, in April 1870, before his departure for the United States. The volume (16cm x 14cm) contains 42 carte-de-visite portraits of Bandfield family members and acquaintances, both men and women. A later photographic print with a picture of an unidentified man, possibly Thomas J. Bandfield, is laid into the volume, as is an envelope addressed to Edna Bandfield of Portland, Michigan, Thomas Bandfield's daughter. The envelope has captions for most of the album's cartes-de-visite. A few individuals posed with children. One carte-de-visite has a photograph of a painted silhouette, and another shows "Four old Englishmen," otherwise unidentified. The subjects were photographed in studios in England. Some subjects may appear more than once.