Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Beeson family papers consist of genealogical notes, travel journals, business documents, and correspondence relating to several generations of the Beeson family, who settled in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in the 18th century, and later migrated to Michigan and Wisconsin.

This collection consists of 137 items, including: 55 items relating to financial matters -- receipts, bank and stock records, subscription lists, etc.; 39 items relating to Beeson family history and genealogy, including handwritten notes, and a 33-page typed transcription; 11 letters written by members of the Beeson and Lukens family (related to the Beeson family by marriage); 2 travel journals; 1 daily diary; 1 oversized journal, containing entries on family history, genealogy, and travel; 6 maps, including one pasted onto the flyleaf of the oversized journal; 9 newspaper clippings; 6 legal documents; 7 miscellaneous items; and one unidentified photograph.

The majority of the financial documents consist of lists of stockholders and subscriptions for the Union Bank of Pennsylvania. One document, a receipt for glassware dated 9 August 1827, is written on the illustrated letterhead of the glass manufacturer Bakewell, Page & Bakewell, of Pittsburgh.

The history and genealogy notes concern the branch of the Beeson family that was instrumental in the founding and settling of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Two descendants of this branch, Edward Beeson and Jacob Beeson (b. 1807), contribute diaries and journals to the collection.

Jacob Beeson's 1829-1830 travel journal (with occasional notes in shorthand) relates, in brief but lively entries, a journey from Uniontown to New Orleans, to help an uncle in the mercantile business. While traveling by steamer down the Mississippi, Jacob Beeson gives colorful descriptions of his fellow passengers and shipboard events. "We had scarce went 500 yds. when we were rous'd by the cry of ‘a man overboard'--drop the Stern Boat, etc. I rais'd my eyes from the book & they were immediately fix'd on the face & arm of a Slave who had pitch'd himself from the Bow of the Boat. He was between the Steamer & her boat when I saw him. By the time he got to where I saw him, he appear'd tired of his sport. He gave a piercing scream & sunk amid the Billows. The Boat was dropped awhile for him but twas to no purpose." (27 March 1829) Jacob describes going to the theater in New Orleans (13 May 1829); the landscape and climate of the area east of New Orleans (8 September 1829); a visit to "Crabtown", at Bayou St. John, where Spaniards subsisted solely by fishing for crabs (23 May 1829); battling a forest fire (14 February 1829); and the inadequacy of his boarding house fare: "For dinner, we have the standby dish of bacon, venison, cornbreads and sour milk served in tea cups, handed round on a waiter that for aught I know to the contrary performed the same service prior to the Revolution. For Supper we have the remains of dinner with the addition of coffee that would be better off than on the table." (16 June 1829) He takes several business trips by boat along the gulf coast. The journal ends with a trip North up the Mississippi in early 1830. A later diary kept by Jacob Beeson in 1873 records the business and personal affairs of a now-settled business and family man living in Detroit Michigan.

Edward Beeson provides much of the family history and genealogy in the collection. His handwritten notes, both loose and in a large bound journal, chronicle Beeson family history and lore, and contain names, dates, and narratives of his direct ancestors, and sketchier details of the wider Beeson clan.

Edward Beeson is also the author of two interesting travelogues. The first is included in the journal he kept in an oversized volume, originally intended for shipping manifests for the shipping agent Monson Lockwood, each page headed with an illustration of ships and a lighthouse. In this journal, Edward recounts a trip he takes from Wisconsin west to Kansas in 1866. He describes the towns he visits on the way, and reflects on the scars left by the Civil War. In Aubry, on the Kansas/Missouri border, his Quaker sense of outrage at the violence perpetrated by both sides is aroused by the abandoned and burnt-out homesteads:

"At this place a cavalry camp was maintained during the greater part of the war. From here the lawless Jayhawkers often started on their thieving raids into Missouri and this was also made a place to be retaliated on by the equally desperate and thievish bushwackers and guerillas of Mo. …Here a voice raised for humanity, honor, mercy, justice or freedom of speech was made the occasion for suspicion, persecution, and defamation, often ending in the murder or robbery of the luckless men who dared to think or speak. These scenes of violence, and the always present danger of life and property, had the effect of almost depopulating the country. The graves of the victims of violence are scattered over the country. The bare chimneys of burned houses loom up on the prairie, monuments of vandalism and violence such as the world has seldom seen. They stand there in the desolate silence pointing upward to heaven -- upward ever -- as if to remind the victims of war who sleep in graves nearby, that mercy and justice alone is to be found above." (9 September 1866, p. 78).

Edward Beeson's second travel journal is an account of a trip to Italy, taken by Edward Beeson and his family in 1877-1878. While his daughter, Abbie Beeson Carrington, takes voice lessons, Edward observes Italian life and customs, largely in and around Milan, and is particularly struck by the overall poverty of the region. Edward reports on the Italian diet, domestic arrangements, attitudes toward religion, and local funeral customs. He is present in Rome for the funeral of King Victor Emmanuel II, and attends celebrations commemorating the 1848 Italian Revolution against Austrian rule.

Five of the maps in the collection are hand-drawn survey maps, likely of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, dated from 1830-1850, with one undated. The sixth map, an undated, hand-drawn map of Uniontown, labeling buildings of significance to the Beeson family, is pasted onto the flyleaf of Edward Beeson's oversized journal.

This collection is made up of incoming and outgoing correspondence pertaining to Mary Flavin and her grandson, Charles A. Robertson of Albany and Berkeley, California, who served with the United States Army in Europe during World War II. Robertson wrote letters to Flavin about his experiences in Western Europe and received letters from Flavin and his fiancée, Naomi Watson ("Dee"), who wrote about her life in Oakland, California, during the war. Later letters pertain to Robertson's compensation from the Veterans Administration and to romantic relationships between soldiers. The collection also contains ephemera.

This collection (1.5 linear feet) mainly consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence pertaining to Mary Flavin and her grandson, Charles A. Robertson, who served with the United States Army in Europe during World War II. Robertson wrote letters to Flavin about his experiences in Western Europe and received letters from Flavin and his fiancée, Naomi Watson ("Dee"), who wrote about her life in Oakland, California, during the war. Later letters pertain to Robertson's compensation from the Veterans Administration and to romantic relationships between male soldiers. The collection also contains ephemera.

The Correspondence series, which comprises the bulk of the collection, is primarily made up of Robertson's incoming and outgoing correspondence, particularly during his military service. The earliest items are family letters and greeting cards to Robertson's grandmother, Mary Flavin ("Mother May"). From September 1943-March 1946, Robertson wrote letters to his grandmother and received letters from his fiancée, the Veterans Administration, and acquaintances. Between September 1943 and July 1944, he discussed his army training at the Presidio of Monterey; Camp Lee, Virginia; Fort Washington, Maryland; and Fort Omaha, Nebraska. From August 1944-April 1946, he wrote about his experiences in England, France, Germany, and Belgium with the 48th Machine Records Unit (Mobile), 29th Machine Records Unit (Mobile), and 65th Machine Records Unit (Fixed). He occasionally mentioned attending mass and communion and responded to family news, such as the death of his Aunt Lizzie. His letter of December 9, 1944, has diagrams of his quarters in a building formerly held by German troops and a cabinet, and his letter of April 10, 1945, encloses several German monetary bills. Some of Robertson's later letters are written on stationery with printed cartoons about military life. Flavin received many greeting cards for Mother's Day, her birthday, and other holidays throughout the World War II era. The collection also has a small number of letters from Flavin to her grandson.

Much of the series is comprised of letters and greeting cards to Charles A. Robertson from his sweetheart and fiancée, Naomi M. Watson ("Dee") of Oakland, California. She regularly wrote to Robertson about her work, social activities, and life in Oakland, particularly after he was sent to Europe. She reported news of her family and his, whom she occasionally visited or with whom she corresponded, and discussed their relationships and her hopes for their future. A few of her letters enclose newspaper clippings, often with cartoons about military life or photographs of herself and friends. In the spring of 1945, she celebrated the one-year anniversary of their engagement and V-E Day, which she hoped would lead to Robertson's quick return home. Her letter of October 29, 1945, has drawings of cartoon mice representing Watson and Robertson. Watson's mother sometimes wrote personal letters to Robertson, whom she referred to as a "son." One large group of newspaper clippings is enclosed with correspondence dated July 1945, and other enclosures include advertisements, telegrams, a program, and an invitation. Watson stopped writing to Robertson after February 1946, and later correspondence indicates that their relationship eventually ended.

Charles A. Robertson occasionally received letters from fellow soldiers and other acquaintances after the war. A group of letters from the Veterans Administration, including some drafts of Robertson's responses, pertains to financial compensation and to Robertson's health in the late 1940s. Charles F. Foley ("Chuck") wrote a series of letters to Robertson while stationed in Tokushima, Japan, with the United States Army in July and August 1948. He frankly discussed his reluctance to visit prostitutes, despite the threat of derogatory epithets from fellow soldiers, and mentioned the possible effects of giving up the "gay life" (August 7, 1948). Foley's later letters apparently went unanswered, and he ceased to write after August 25, 1948. Later items, dated as late as 1951, concern Robertson's financial compensation from the Veterans Administration.

Dee Watson compiled 2 Scrapbooks entitled "Army Life of Charles A. Robertson 1943-1946." The volumes have picture postcards, train timetables, travel ephemera (including guides and visitors' maps), souvenir folders, performance and church service programs, and newspaper clippings. Additionally, several items relate to a trip taken on a United Air Lines "Mainliner" aircraft. The postcards have images with humorous mottos, paintings of army bases and other locales, and photographs of army bases where Robertson was stationed. The clippings and other materials pertain to his service in the United States and Europe.

Most items in the Ephemera series pertain directly to Charles A. Robertson's military service, such as his service record and military documents. Among the printed items are a French/English dictionary, a religious pamphlet, newspaper clippings, and pocket guides to Paris and Birmingham. Other items include, but are not limited to, a record with a message for Mary Flavin from Robertson, name cards, and photographs.

This collection contains correspondence, documents, newspaper clippings, and other items pertaining to the personal and financial affairs of actor Edwin Forrest, his close friend James Lawson, and members of the Lawson family.

This collection (1 linear foot) contains correspondence, documents, newspaper clippings, and other items pertaining to the personal and financial affairs of actor Edwin Forrest, his close friend James Lawson, and members of the Lawson family.

The Correspondence series (268 items) largely consists of personal correspondence between Edwin Forrest and James Lawson. Forrest discussed his theatrical career and his travels in the United States, England, and Ireland; Lawson provided financial and personal advice, sometimes regarding Forrest's marital difficulties. Few of the letters from the Civil War period mention the conflict; in one letter to Lawson, Forrest commented on the possibility of reconciliation between the North and South. After 1865, Forrest's letters focus primarily on his declining health, though he continued to travel into the 1870s. Catherine Forrest also wrote occasionally to James Lawson about finances.

The series also contains letters that James Lawson wrote to his daughter Nellie after Edwin Forrest's death, as well as other Lawson family correspondence. James Lawson's letter of August 10, 1885, describes a funeral procession honoring Ulysses S. Grant. Others wrote about family news and deaths.

An undated Speech (21 pages), unsigned and delivered to an unidentified audience, concerns the history of Yonkers, [New York].

The Legal and Financial Documents series (33 items) contains accounts, an account book, receipts, insurance records, legal documents, and legislative resolutions related to the financial affairs of Edwin Forrest and James Lawson. Some items pertain to real estate transactions between Edwin Forrest and a religious group, and others concern the establishment of the Edwin Forrest Home. A series of legislative resolutions and a group of court records document disputes over Forrest's estate, sometimes involving his ex-wife, Catherine Norton Sinclair. An undated copy of James Lawson's will is also present.

The Photographs series (13 items) contains card photographs and cartes-de-visite of members of the Forrest and Lawson families. One item provides details about items present in Cornelia B. Lawson's home in Yonkers, New York.

Newspaper Clippings (44 items) include obituaries for members of the Lawson and Sandford families, articles about Edwin Forrest's theatrical career, and articles about disputes over Forrest's estate.

The Ephemera series (9 items) contains name cards, advertisements, the back part of a notepad with postage rates printed on it, a blank coloring page, and a printed map of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, marking several lots within the Blackwell estate.

Fragments (8 items) include manuscript notes about Lawson family genealogy and other subjects.

This collection contains correspondence, photographs, and printed items pertaining to Lillian G. Ostrand, who was a United States Army nurse with the 123rd General Hospital in England from 1944-1945. In letters to her parents and brother, she described many aspects of life in wartime England. Other items are an early-20th century diary kept by her father Andrew and a memoir by Thomas J. Glennon, who also served with the 123rd General Hospital.

This collection (0.5 linear feet) contains correspondence, photographs, and printed items pertaining to Lillian G. Ostrand, who was a United States Army nurse with the 123rd General Hospital in England from 1944-1945. Other items pertain to her father, Andrew Ostrand, and to a fellow member of the 123rd General Hospital, Thomas J. Glennon.

The Correspondence series (87 items) is divided into two subseries, each arranged chronologically: Manuscript Letters (July 16, 1944-July 29, 1945) and V-Mail Letters (July 30, 1944-August 1, 1945). Lillian G. Ostrand regularly wrote to her parents and brother in Crystal Falls, Michigan, about her service in England with the 123rd General Hospital. After writing about her transatlantic journey, she described many aspects of wartime life in England, such as high prices, blackouts, and travel by bicycle and rail. At the same time, she kept up-to-date with events in the U.S. and wrote about issues such as the 1944 presidential election (October 29, 1944, and November 9, 1944), war bonds (December 11, 1944), and President Roosevelt's death (April 14 and 16, 1945). While in Britain, Ostrand traveled to towns in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. She visited Stratford-upon-Avon multiple times to watch Shakespeare plays and frequently mentioned seeing films and other musical and theatrical performances. Additionally, she commented on changing personnel at the 123rd General Hospital, particularly after V-E Day, and remarked about some of her patients and acquaintances, such as a British intelligence officer who had shown her confiscated letters by Adolf Hitler (July 12, 1945). By August 1945, Ostrand anticipated returning home.

Andrew Ostrand, Lillian's father, kept a Swedish-language Diary (159 pages) about his life in Chicago, Illinois, and in Michigan's Upper Peninsula from April 1, 1906-October 16, 1914. Most entries are from 1906 and 1907.

• A panoramic group photograph of the personnel of the 123rd General Hospital, taken at Camp Ellis, Illinois, in July 1944
• 2 black-and-white photographs of buildings from the 156th General Hospital
• A formal portrait of Lillian G. Ostrand in uniform
• A black-and-white photograph of Hereford Cathedral, pasted onto a cardboard frame
• A color photograph of a plaque commemorating the 123rd General Hospital

Printed Items and Ephemera (6 items) include a document with "Information for Members of the Army Nurse Corps Preparing for Foreign Duty"; menus for the 123rd General Hospital's Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in 1944; newspaper clippings about V-E Day and about Major Marion S. Clift, who served with Lillian G. Ostrand in England; and a copy of the Yank army weekly (May 18, 1945).

The Thomas J. Glennon Memoir (91 pages) concerns Glennon's military experiences during World War II. He served with the 123rd General Hospital at Camp Ellis, Illinois, and in England, and his memoir provides detailed information about the hospital's work and life in wartime England.

Perspectives on World War II is a 74-page bound collection of reminiscences about World War II. These stories were collected for a series of lectures for the "Living in Retirement" program at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, held on May 8, 1995. Lillian G. Ostrand contributed a brief personal narrative about her wartime experiences.

This collection is made up of correspondence related to Stephen M. Klima and his wife, Mary Samut Klima. Stephen Klima reported on his experiences with the United States Army's 16th Infantry Regiment at various camps in the United States and in North Africa. Mary Klima continued to write letters to her husband after he was reported killed in action in April 1943, and many items pertain to her bereavement and widow's allowances.

This collection is made up of the World War II-era correspondence of Stephen M. Klima and his wife, Mary Samut Klima. Stephen Klima reported on his experiences with the United States Army's 16th Infantry Regiment at camps in the United States and in North Africa. Mary Klima continued to write letters to her husband after he was reported killed in action in April 1943, and many items pertain to her bereavement and widow's allowances.

The Personal Correspondence series (approximately 1.75 linear feet) comprises the bulk of the collection. The majority is personal letters to and between Mary Samut and Stephen Klima (January 26, 1939-January 7, 1952). Items include manuscript and typed letters, telegrams, V-mail, and picture postcards.

The earliest letters are incoming correspondence to Mary Samut from several acquaintances and, after July 1940, from Stephen Klima, her friend, fiancé, and husband. He wrote about his work with the Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon until January 1941, when he enlisted in the United States Army. Klima, who served with Company F of the 16th Infantry Regiment for his entire military career, described his experiences at Fort Wadsworth, New York; Fort Devens, Massachusetts; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Camp Blanding, Florida; Fort Benning, Georgia; Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania; and in England and North Africa. He commented on their romantic relationship, his feelings about being separated from his wife and young son, training and military life, travel, and local people (particularly in England). He repeatedly encouraged Mary not to worry about him. His final letter is dated March 15, 1943; he was reported missing in action a short time later.

From March 3, 1943-February 12, 1944, Mary Klima continued to write to her husband. Though she acknowledged that he had been formally reported dead, she believed that he would one day receive her letters and write back. She provided updates about their son, discussed her religious and social activities, and shared her hope for her husband's return. The envelopes from this period have stamps from military post offices indicating that Klima had been reported as killed in action.

Mary Samut Klima received letters from friends and family members throughout and after the war. Joan O'Hara (later Nelson), one of Mary's most frequent and consistent correspondents, wrote about her life in New York, California, and Pennsylvania. Her letters from the late 1940s and early 1950s largely pertain to her family life and her daughter Linda. Klima's other correspondents included military personnel, such as John C. Kulman (Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines), Michael Desko (Company B, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment), and Donald J. Crocker (Naval Air Technical Training Center, Chicago, Illinois). These men reported on their experiences in the military and usually signed their letters affectionately; Desko wished her luck in her romantic endeavors. Mary's brother Edward ("Eddie") wrote about his training with Company B of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (82nd Airborne Division) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1946. Enclosures include photographs and a matchbook (July 26, 1944).

The Military Correspondence series (approximately 0.25 linear feet) consists of typed and manuscript letters that Mary Klima received from organizations including the United States War Department, United States Army Finance Office, American Red Cross, American Legion, and Army Relief Society. Many items are responses to Mary's repeated requests for information about her husband, who was reported missing in action in late March 1943 and killed in action in April 1943. Other materials concern her pension and her husband's medals.

The Ephemera and Printed Items series (approximately 0.25 linear feet) is primarily comprised of greeting cards for Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and other occasions. Other items include a newspaper clipping with a humorous essay about World War I army service, Mary's manuscript notes begging for censors to let it pass through the mail, an advertisement and order form for a history of the United States Army's 1st Division, and a humorous permit allowing Stephen Klima to associate freely with both men and women.