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Papers of Benjamin Douglass and his sons, Samuel T. Douglass, Detroit attorney and jurist, and Silas H. Douglas, professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan, and member of Douglass Houghton's Northern Michigan survey. Correspondence, scrapbooks, letter books, and miscellanea concerning family affairs, business and university activities; also contains records of the Douglass and Walker and Campbell Law Firm; and papers of individual members of Silas Douglas’ family, including his wife Helen Welles Douglas, their children Samuel T. Douglas, Marie Louise Douglas, and Catherine Hulbert Douglas, and other Douglas and Welles family members; and photographs.

The Douglass Family collection spans the period 1812-1911 and comprises eight linear feet of manuscripts, one linear ft. of photographs, three outsize volumes, and 1 folder of oversize materials. The collection include the papers of Benjamin Douglass and his two sons, Samuel T. (1814-98) a lawyer and Detroit judge, and Silas H. (1816-90), a professor at The University of Michigan. Although Silas came to use the family name of Douglas rather than Douglass, the paper indicate that there was little consistency.

The collection consists of personal and professional correspondence, letterpress books, business and legal papers, scrapbooks, photographs, and family materials. The collection, except for series of photographs and maps, is arranged by family member name.

Upper-class Michigan family in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with various business interests including lumbering, mining, and land transactions in Montana, Michigan, California, West Virginia, and British Columbia. The family was also active in the development of the Orchard lake area, especially during in the 1920s through the 1940s. The collection contains both business and personal materials including correspondence, subject files, legal records, maps, blueprints, and photographs.

The Palmer Family papers document the activities of an upper-class family in nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Michigan. The strength of the collection is its documentation of the growth of early business in Michigan. The Charles Henry Palmer (Senior) series contains the bulk of this information, with papers documenting his activities as an investor in mining and railroads in Michigan's Upper Peninsula from the 1850s through the 1880s. The balance of the collection contains both business and personal materials documenting the lives of various Palmer family members. Materials include correspondence, legal materials, business records, photographs, diaries and journals, and newspaper clippings.