Collections

This collection consists of three letters Samuel Batchelder of East Kingston, New Hampshire, wrote to his wife Mary during his visit to Chicago for the final days of the 1893 World's Fair. He briefly shared his impressions of the exposition and of the city.

This collection consists of three letters written by Samuel Batchelder to his wife Mary during his visit to Chicago for the final days of the 1893 World's Fair. Batchelder wrote on the Hotel Trenton’s stationery, and composed the letters on three consecutive days: October 29, 30, and 31, 1893.

Batchelder briefly shared his impressions of the exhibition, though he believed it impossible to fully describe his experiences within the scope of a short letter. He focused primarily on news from the fair, which officially closed during his stay, and twice mentioned the assassination of Chicago mayor, Carter Henry Harrison, Jr. He also described a ride on "the big Wheel," a visit to the New Hampshire pavilion, and his belief that Chicago was the "wickedest City in the U. S." (October 30, 1893).

This collection contains correspondence, documents, and a poem related to Philadelphia merchant Samuel Coates, including Coates's recounting of Mayhew Folger's discovery of the HMS Bounty mutineers' colony on Pitcairn Island, correspondence concerning nautical travel in 18th-century New York and contemporary opinions on the American Revolution. Four items relate to the late Doctor Samuel Cooper, for whom Coates served as estate executor.

This collection contains correspondence, documents, and a poem related to Philadelphia merchant Samuel Coates. Most of the material consists of incoming personal letters addressed to Coates, including three letters by Richard Dimsdale, who recounted his recent nautical travels around New York City and throughout the state of New York (June 29, 1773) and provided his opinion on recent social unrest in the colonies (September 9, 1775). Another acquaintance, Joseph Pemberton, inquired about food prices in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War, and shared his desire for Washington to surround General Howe and secure victory (January 23, 1777). Additional incoming items include a letter from Ezekiel Edwards (October 25, 1772), a shipping receipt (December 18, 1772), and a letter from William Jones concerning the estate of the late Samuel Cooper (February 4, 1799). The collection also holds three items written by Samuel Coates: a letter to Moses Brown describing a recent epidemic and conditions in the Pennsylvania Hospital (October 30, 1798); a letter about Samuel Cooper's estate (December 6, 1806); and a letter from Samuel Coates to Henry Clifton (ca. 1809) containg whaling captain Mayhew Folger's account of his discovery of a colony on Pitcairn Island consisting of the widows, children, and last survivor of the HMS Bounty mutineers. Additional material includes an indenture apprenticing Samuel Cooper to Samuel Clark, Bartholomew Wistar, and Samuel Coates, managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital (January 1, 1793), and a poem written by Enoch Lewis in memory of Samuel Cooper (September 6, [1798]).

From about 1860 through at least the end of the Civil War, Samuel C. Taylor worked as a salesman for the Philadelphia clothing firm of Charles Stokes & Co. The 1863 portion of his journal contains almost daily entries between February and May, vividly describing his travels from Philadelphia to Memphis and social life in Memphis during the Civil War. The 1890 portion of the journal consists of seven humorous essays, which are highly stereotypical, possibly semi-fictional, depictions of life in the south.

The Taylor journal is a single, 3/4 leather-bound volume in two sequential parts, the first dated 1863, the second, 1890. The journal is probably a transcript made in 1890 or 1891 from the original, based on the style of binding and paper, and the continuity in handwriting and pen between the two dated parts. The 1863 portion, 260 pages long, takes the form of almost daily journal entries from the time of Taylor's departure from Philadelphia on February 16th, through his stay in Memphis, until his return to Philadelphia on May 16th, and is uniformly well written and interesting. It is a far more polished piece of writing than many journals, and may have been corrected or embellished at the time of its transcription. At its best, Taylor's prose has the feeling of Mark Twain's exuberant descriptions of life on the Mississippi, leavened with the cynical undercurrents of Melville's Confidence Man., and though it is brief, covering only a four months' residence, the journal is a valuable social record of life in wartime Memphis as seen by a person come to take advantage of the quick money to be made. Taylor has a preference for the "colorful" aspects of life in Memphis, and includes vivid descriptions of the shoddy accommodations, the venality and corruption, rampant violence and crime, and of soldiers, prostitutes, rebels, drunks and rowdies. Throughout, he displays an eye for the telling detail, a good sense of humor, and an unerring flair for making a good story out of difficult circumstances.

Among the several highlights in the journal is an excellent description of the steamboat trip to Memphis, during which a "Jewish" swindler/gambler managed to con his way out of several tight spots by his using his wits and his finesse with cards. Once in Memphis, Taylor provides memorable descriptions of the city in all its war-time depravity, and vivid accounts of long lines of ragged, worn-out soldiers marching in to town, of murder, robbery and charlatanism, of prostitutes and drunks shouting and shooting in the streets, and of the characters, like himself, who have descended on the city to turn a quick profit, legally or illegally. Taylor was somewhat less accomplished in his poetry, though his poem about life in Memphis during the war is an amusing, sarcastic look at the closet secessionists of the city, Memphis' cheerless, malattired women, crime, and the amusement he occasionally found, including listening to the "darkies" singing. One quatrain summarizes his attitudes well: "What an awfull place to live in / Now I'll stop or freighten you (sic) / Yet upon my word of honor / What I've written you is true" (p. 106).

Taylor's attitude toward Jews, synonymous with swindling merchants in his mind, and African-Americans is highly stereotyped. He is, however, somewhat sympathetic toward slaves and freedmen even as he is willing to have a laugh at their expense. In Memphis, he attended a religious service for freedmen delivered by a mulatto preacher named Revels. Taylor was genuinely moved by the sermon, and seems to have agreed with its message. He is also somewhat sympathetic with the "contrabands" he sees being trampled by Union soldiers, or boating up river, half-dressed and hungry to a mission in Missouri. In general, though, Taylor is inclined toward a cynical view of strangers, and is always on his guard for the cons and crooks that were abundant in Memphis.

The 1890 portion of the Taylor journal consists of seven humorous essays, which are highly stereotypical, possibly semi-fictional, depictions of life in the south. They include:

1. "Sketches from the South," (Chattanooga, April 3, 1890: p. 263-268)
2. "A Kentucky Wheelman," (Louisville, Ky., April 20, 1890: p. 269-271)
3. "A Hodoo Doctor" (Birmingham, Ala., April 30, 1890: p. 272-275)
4. "The Negro Drill Workers" (Memphis, Tenn., May 2, 1890: p. 276-279)
5. "The Georgia Cracker, The Alabama Razor Back" (Atlanta, Ga., May 10, 1890: p. 280-284)
6. "New Orleans, La." (May 20, 1890, New Orleans: p. 285-293)
7. "Pensacola, Florida" (September 20, 1890, Pensacola: p. 293-295)

These essays are the interesting products of a talented writer, who, though sympathetic observer of southern society, is nevertheless mired in the ingrained attitudes and prejudices of his day. In the first essay, Taylor discusses the phenotype of African-Americans and the several "clases or sets" that comprise the African-American community in the South, from the rich, to the merchants, mechanics, drill men, tramps and the "poor old uncle." "The hoodoo doctor" and "The Negro drill workers" are somewhat longer essays along the same lines, and are written as first hand experiences. In "A Kentucky wheelman" and "The Georgia cracker, the Alabama razorback," Taylor turns his eye to the poor white community in the deep South, and paints a dismal view of the state of their culture. Essays 3, 4, and 5 also include crude, pen and ink illustrations of the subjects of the essay.

The Samuel Finley, Field Notes for Bouquet's Expedition (60 pages) contains detailed descriptions of the topography of Bouquet's route though Pennsylvania and Ohio during his march against the Ohio Indians (October 2-25, 1864). Finley, a field engineer, recorded minute descriptions of physical and environmental features of the landscape, such as the direction and speed of rivers and streams, characteristics of the terrain, soil, and timber quality, and tree and undergrowth density.

The Samuel Finley, Field Notes for Bouquet's Expedition (60 pages) contains detailed descriptions of the topography of Bouquet's route though Pennsylvania and Ohio during his march against the Ohio Indians (October 2-25, 1764). Finley, a field engineer, recorded minute descriptions of physical and environmental features of the landscape, such as the direction and speed of rivers and streams, characteristics of the terrain, soil and timber quality, and tree and undergrowth density. Finley recorded these notes to serve as permanent records of the journey that the army could use for future map-making.

The volume begins: "The following Courses & Distances are the Roads that the Honourable Col. Henry Bouquet Marches the Army under His Honours, Command To wards the Lower Shannees Towns Down the Ohio River." He began to survey and measure the road on October 2, and kept distance totals for each page of notes. He also totaled the distance from the last camp and from Fort Pitt each morning (written under the date). He numbered each change of course and added 1-2 sentence remarks for each entry. The group traveled along numerous rivers, including the Allegheny River, Big Beaver River, Monongahela River, Muskingum River, and the Walhonding River (then called White Woman's Creek).

In addition to the survey, the volume also contains a short (incomplete) narrative of John Palmer's escape from the Indians on October 6, 1764 (page 76). Also, an unknown person later recorded payroll notes and food accounts on empty pages of the journal. These records, written on the inside of the front and back covers and on pages 50-51 and pages 73-76 (the 20 pages between these two sections were ripped out), are dated between 1846 and 1849. The entries include records of payments for wheat, oats, corn, rye, and hogs, and concern Michele Kruck, Michele Fogle, Cyrus Hower, and M. Marshall.

The Samuel G. Drake Additions and Corrections manuscript is comprised of 121 pages of corrections, revisions, and notes Drake compiled around 1866 while he edited a new edition of Francis Baylies's 1830 book An Historical Memoir of the Colony of New Plymouth.

This manuscript is broken up into chapters one through nine (excluding chapter five), totaling 91 items (121 manuscript pages). Each chapter title page contains lists of the sources Drake referenced in that chapter. In chapter one, Drake gave his justifications for editing Baylies's work and explained the extent of his contributions; he was primarily concerned with Baylies's lack of citations and the need to update the book with new information that arose since its initial publication.

In this manuscript, Drake synthesized new secondary sources alongside his own analysis of primary sources. He kept his own notes, including family trees and short biographies of individuals. For example, on page eight Drake sketched Elizabeth Poole's family tree, and on page seven he described his difficulty finding information for her short biography. At the end of chapter one, he listed all the towns of New Plymouth and gave brief histories of them. Drake also kept detailed footnotes throughout the manuscript to keep track of his sources, add commentary, and provide clarification. In some chapters, Drake dedicated two or three pages to copies of long excerpts from other sources. For example, in chapter four, he copied primary source letters from men who lived in Plymouth in the seventeenth century, like John Cotton and Josiah Minslow.

The collection consists mainly of photographic images of railroad related topics, mostly in Michigan, and related subject files.

This collection consists mainly of film negatives, photographs, some copy prints, and subject files collected and generated by Sam Breck, mostly of railroads, locomotives, depots, towns, historic buildings, both public and private, bridges, freighters or barges, railroad logos, and waterfront scenes in Michigan, but also including Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York (state), Ontario, Canada, and some 1942 images of the mountains and wilderness of Colorado. There are a few images of people, including members of a band, and a downtown art show. The collection is organized by format and topic as much as possible. Several folders of negatives are unidentified and undated. The collection is in good physical condition.

Published materials donated with the collection were separately cataloged.

A photograph collection of Samuel L. Breck, 1960s-1980s, is housed at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

Samuel Powel's notes on metaphysics and logic are a collection of several philosophical treatises that Powell composed while attending the College of Philadelphia in 1756. The volume has six essays in Latin (3 essays) and English (3 essays) about the definition of philosophy, aspects of human nature, and logical reasoning.

Samuel Powel's notes on metaphysics and logic are a collection of several philosophical treatises that Powell composed while attending the College of Philadelphia in 1756. The essays (in Latin and English) concern the definition of philosophy, aspects of human nature, and local reasoning.

"De Logica" (in Latin) is divided into three parts: "De Logica de perception" (pp. 1-5), "De Logica de judicus" (pp. 9-41), and "Logica, Pars Tertia" (pp. 42-84). The third of these relates to logical reasoning and the art of syllogism. The first two English essays pertain to "Metaphysics and the Human Soul" (pp. 85-115) and the "Metaphysics of Ontology" (pp. 116-149). The first opens with a broad definition of philosophy as "the knowledge of all things Divine and Human," and divides this knowledge into several constituent categories that Powel then explores, paying particular attention to intangible aspects of human nature. The essay on ontology presents an abstract overview of "the Science of Being," and relates to topics such as the idea of moral truth. The final entry is an 10-page article, "A Compend of Logick," about the basic principles of logical reasoning.

These letter books contain the business correspondence of Boston merchant Samuel Sanford from 1814-1818 and 1825-1853. Sanford discussed shipments of cloth, foodstuffs, manufactured items, and other goods between ports in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Some later letters pertain to Sanford's personal finances and his relationship with the Union Bank.

These letter books (2 volumes) contain the business correspondence of Boston merchant Samuel Sanford from March 1, 1814-June 20, 1818, and December 5, 1825-December 23, 1853. Sanford discussed shipments of cloth, foodstuffs, manufactured items, and other goods between ports in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Some later letters pertain to Sanford's personal finances and his relationship with the Union Bank. The first volume is numbered fifth in a series.

Sanford's letters mainly pertain to his business interests, often concerning shipments of goods such as tea, coffee, cotton, "nankins," calico, indigo, and timber from the United States to countries including England, Russia, and India. Many letters pertain to aspects of international shipping during and after the War of 1812, such as duties and piracy; some include copied invoices or other financial statements. Many letters from the early 1830s are addressed to or mention the firm Cheever & Fales, and Samuel Fales co-signed some of Sanford's letters from this period. Several letters from the mid- to late 1840s relate to Sanford's dispute with the Union Bank. Sanford occasionally mentioned his ownership of railroad stock. William H. Sanford co-signed letters in the early 1850s. A few loose items (ca. late 1840s) are pasted into the second letter book.

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.