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This collection contains a diary and a volume of reminiscences by Gilbert Edwin Dunbar, who served with the 13th Michigan Infantry Regiment from 1862 to 1865. The diary relates to his service as assistant quartermaster in Chattanooga, Tennessee, between January and August 1864. The reminiscences cover his experiences between late 1861 and March 1862, including copied diary entries originally made between February 13, 1862, and March 6, 1862.

This collection contains a diary and a volume of reminiscences by Gilbert Edwin Dunbar, who served with the 13th Michigan Infantry Regiment from 1862 to 1865.

The Diary (about 86 pages) commences on January 1, 1864, and chronicles Dunbar's time as an assistant quartermaster at Chattanooga, Tennessee. In brief daily entries, he wrote about loading and unloading supply ships and trains that stopped in the city, and mentioned other regiments passing through Chattanooga. He also commented on his social life, which included a visit from his father and social calls with local women. After April, he occasionally mentioned news of the war, including developments around Atlanta and related battles; he also shared his favorable opinion of General Ulysses S. Grant. Dunbar mentioned seeing a parade of African American troops on May 1, and on June 30 described a dispute with Colonel Easton, who had charged Dunbar with disobedience and neglect of duty. The final entry is dated August 31, 1864.

The Reminiscences (49 pages), written after the war, begin with a brief introduction indicating Dunbar's intent to publish his memoirs, followed by "Chapter II," which recounts the 13th Michigan Infantry Regiment's training at Camp Douglas in Kalamazoo. Dunbar described his experiences in camp and included a list of the regiment's officers (pp.5-8); after mentioning the unit's departure for Tennessee (p. 12), he copied entries from his diary, commencing on February 13, 1862, as the unit boarded railroad cars bound south through Indiana. Dunbar wrote about the rainy weather and its effect on the soldiers' marches and described the scenery in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. He sought out a battlefield near Munfordville, Kentucky, where he saw the bodies of horses that had been shot during the action (p. 26). The regiment stayed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, between March 2 and 11 (pp. 29-34), and arrived in Nashville on March 13 (p. 37). The volume concludes with an entry dated April 6, 1862, as Dunbar's regiment headed toward Savannah, Tennessee.

Businessman, of Washtenaw County, Michigan, publisher of Ann Arbor Courier, and chairman of Executive Committee, Michigan Republican Party. Correspondence, account books, business records, receipts, deeds, and other financial records.

The Rice Aner Beal collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Political and Legal papers; and Financial records. Among Rice Beal's correspondents were such personages as James B. Angell, Henry P. Baldwin, Zachariah Chandler, Isaac P. Christiancy, Omar D. Conger, Thomas M. Cooley, Charles M. Croswell, Byron M. Cutcheon, Thomas W. Ferry, James F. Joy, James McMillan, Thomas W. Palmer, John T. Rich, Moses C. Tyler, Henry Waldron, Edwin Willits, and Alexander Winchell. Within the Political and Legal papers series there are materials relating to litigation with Alvin W. Chase and Silas Douglas. His political career is partially documented in ledger volumes that he maintained while attending the Republican State conventions in 1878 and 1880. In these volumes, Beal listed the names of delegates with comments on their candidate preferences and abilities.

Papers of a U.S. Civil War Paymaster, consisting mostly of account books, correspondence, vouchers, disbursement accounts, returns, pay records for numerous Michigan, U.S., and U.S. Colored regiments.

The collection is organized alphabetically by format and size, and then chronologically, 1861-1865. It consists of Hunt’s Pay Master records, a wide variety, for a large number of troops including Michigan, U.S. Colored Troops, and non-Michigan troops. Michigan units documented in the collection include: Michigan Engineers and Mechanics Regiment, 1st , Michigan Infantry Regiment, 7th, Michigan Infantry Regiment, 13th, 1863-1865, Michigan Infantry Regiment, 21st, Michigan Infantry Regiment, 22nd, 1864-1865. U.S. Colored Troops including: 1st U.S. Infantry, U.S. Colored Infantry, 14th Regiment; U.S. Colored Infantry, 18th Regiment; and the U.S. Colored Infantry, 44th Regiment are documented in the collection. Non-Michigan units documented in the collection include some from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Iowa, New York (state), Wisconsin, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Connecticut. Materials for different units are sorted by year, not by month and day.

The Peterson papers consist of 14 letters addressed to Simon Peterson of Oakfield, Mich., written by acquaintances in Civil War service.Although war-related content is comparatively sparse, there are reports of the battle of Shiloh and the advance on Corinth, references to daily routine, marches, the pros and cons (mainly cons) of post-war service, and slaves in Alabama.

The Peterson papers consist of 14 letters addressed to Simon Peterson of Oakfield, Mich., written by acquaintances in Civil War service, including soldiers in Co. C, 13th Michigan Infantry (William N. Barnard, Bradley McArthur, Isaac Lewis Tower, and R.L. Wells) and Co. L, 1st Michigan Cavalry (H.A. Rowley). One letter was written by Peterson's cousins, Nellie and E. C. Schumeshorn, of Clifton Park, N.Y. Most of these letters are brief and relatively breezy, and their most notable feature may be the wide assortment of stationery and envelopes emblazoned with patriotic scenes, figures, and mottoes.

Although war-related content is comparatively sparse, there are reports of the battle of Shiloh and the advance on Corinth, references to daily routine, marches, the pros and cons (mainly cons) of post-war service, and slaves in Alabama. H.A. Rowley's letters are particularly interesting in that he actively discouraged thought of Peterson's (or anyone else's) enlistment. After the war, one of Peterson's friends, R.L. Wells, became a successful photographer in Cleveland, and one of his letters encloses some excellent, unmounted samples of his work.