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The collection includes Edith Ellison Williams family papers, mostly of the World War II letters of her father, Max Ellison, to his wife (Edith's mother), Florence. Also included are Civil War letters of Chauncey J. Bunyea, his friends and relatives who mostly served in Michigan units, and family history materials.

The collection consists of family information of Edith Williams, 1859, 2018, 1.75 Cubic Feet (in 4 boxes). The collection is organized into three series: Civil War, World War II, and Family Materials, and within each series by size and format, chronologically, and then alphabetically. General family history information includes: a family tree, affidavits, ledgers, letters, biographical information, ancestry information, naturalization records, and death certificates.

Civil War correspondence includes accounts from Chauncy Bunyea, Daniel Chapin, Edward Trembley, and some Union soldiers who were friends or neighbors (see Miscellaneous Correspondence folders). This series includes letters and war accounts spanning the entirety of the Civil War. There are accounts of Gettysburg, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Siege of Petersburg-Richmond, fighting in eastern Tennessee, and letters talking about home life in Michigan. Topics mentioned include enlistment, witnesses of a court-martial and execution, life as a Union soldier, troop movements, generals McClellan, Butterfield, and Pope, and the occupation of forts and camps.

World War II correspondence includes accounts from Max M. Ellison, a soldier in the 1st Cavalry Division of the Michigan Seventh Cavalry, about his experience fighting in the Pacific Theatre of war. This portion of the collection includes letters to Ellison’s wife (Florence), daughter (Edith), and Nortons (in-laws). The main themes of the letters are about the life of a soldier, fighting on the front line, and the liberation of the Philippines, Admiralty Islands, and New Guinea. The letters also contain experiences about interacting with the local population, cutting hair for soldiers, the cigar trade between soldiers, entertainment, local wildlife, and the local food. Furthermore, Ellison writes about President Franklin Roosevelt, dead Japanese soldiers, and prizes of war. The tone of his letters are more serious after October 20, 1944, following the invasion of the Philippines. He sees combat until March 6, 1945, after he is wounded and placed in the hospital. Additionally, Ellison writes extensively about his Michigan hometown of Bellaire, training horses, and building a future home and life. Some of the letters include church service pamphlets, hospital pamphlets, newspaper clippings, and drawings.

Processing Note: During processing .25 cubic feet of peripheral materials and envelopes were removed from the collection and returned to the donor as per the donor agreement. Acidic materials were photocopied and the originals were withdrawn from the collection.

The Henry Grimes Marshall papers consist of letters written by Marshall to his family while serving with the Union Army, including time spent as an officer in the 29th Connecticut Infantry Regiment (Colored). Marshall's letters describe the events taking place around him as well as his thoughts about African American regiments, women's roles in war, and his reactions to the war.

Henry Marshall is among those writers whose letters provide insight into the workings of the mind, but also the workings of the heart. As a result, his surviving correspondence ranks among the outstanding collections in the Schoff Civil War Collections, providing a sensitive and deeply introspective view into the experience of a white officer in a "colored" regiment. An exquisite writer, Marshall was also among the most punctual of correspondents, rarely allowing a week to pass without sending something to his family at home. As a result of this fidelity and his meticulous eye for detail, it is possible to reconstruct nearly every day of Marshall's life under arms, the swings in his emotions, and the sudden changes in fortune that marked his career.

The high point of the collection is a remarkable series of letters written while Marshall was captain of Co. E, 29th Connecticut Infantry (Colored). Unlike the vast majority of white Americans, Marshall saw African-Americans as capable soldiers, brave and willing, and though afflicted with an unrelenting paternalism and sense of his own racial superiority, he generally refrained from swinging to the romantic extremes of many white abolitionists or the vicious extremes of his more racist compatriots. Marshall provides good accounts of daily life in camp, the inevitable rumors circulating among the soldiers, and opinions of officers. Of particular value are the ruminations on African American troops and their officers, living conditions while on duty guarding plantations in South Carolina or in the trenches before Petersburg, and the heavy labor while working at construction of the Dutch Gap Canal.

Among the military engagements described by Marshall are Fredericksburg, the sieges of Suffolk and Petersburg (particularly the battles of New Market, Darbytown Road and the Darbytown and New Market Roads), and the capture of Richmond. Furthermore, Marshall was involved in a number of minor skirmishes, many of which are exceptionally well documented. Overall, the best accounts are those for New Market Heights, where African American troops again distinguished themselves, and for a smaller, but significant skirmish during the Petersburg Campaign on October 12 and 13, 1864.

Marshall's letters are made more valuable in that his observational scope extends beyond the military, to report on such things as contraband children's schools (April 30, 1863), "shouts" and religious services (1864 July 5), and the local civilianry. An educated man with a keen interest in botany, he frequently sent home lengthy descriptions of southern flowers, often enclosing samples and seeds, and he left a rare record of the reading material available to a soldier. Marshall was also a keen observer of the religious life in his regiment, writing scathing attacks on his regiment's chaplain, whom Marshall felt was suspect of character.

This collection consists of letters written by James K. Hale sent to his brother George Hale while serving in the 106th New York Volunteers during the Civil War. The letters document the movements and viewpoints of a soldier in this regiment.

This collection consists of 28 letters written by James K. Hale, which he sent to his brother George Hale while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. The letters cover the entire existence of the 106th New York Volunteers and document the movements and viewpoints of a soldier in this regiment. Little personal information was offered outside of discussions of health and comments that he had received letters from Rosina.

In the letters, Hale openly discussed his superior officers, his interactions with other regiments, daily troop movements and battles, army life, and life in a field hospital. In a letter from October 1862, he mentioned that "Mulligan’s regiment are a hard lot of men." In December 1862, he described secondhand reports of a skirmish at Winchester, resulting in 7 prisoners and 12 Union deaths. In a particularly interesting letter from February 2, 1863, Hale expressed a bleak outlook for the outcome of the war, based on the Union's failures in the major battles thus far. Another item from August 1863 contains a vivid description of skirmishing at Manassas in late July 1863.

Hale wrote letters from November 22, 1863, and after from the Central Park Hospital in New York City, after he was shot with a musket ball in the ankle. He remained, however, in good spirits and health: "It is nothing but a flesh wound." While letters from this period record typical life in an army hospital, Hale noted some interesting details. For instance, in a December 28, 1863, letter, he described surgeons "putting on an artificial jaw on a man which is a great thing if they can make it work." He returned to his regiment in late March 1864. In his letter of June 19, 1863, Hale briefly commented on the siege of Petersburg happening in the background and ruminated on the merits of McClellan versus those of Grant. He praised the new Union leadership:

"…the men have great confidence in both Grant and Mead[.] They both keep close along in the front. I do not think Gen Butler has shown himself to be the greatest Gen. that ever was[.] I think he will do better for military Gov than he will for Gen. We have had three Brigade commanders wounded in our Brigade and our corps commander was killed[.] there has been a great many officers killed and wounded which is done by the sharpshooters in trees and other places" (June 19, 1864).

Hale wrote about other Union generals and discussed the merits and drawbacks of their battle strategies. In later letters, he described the progress of the 106th New York toward Richmond and looked forward to the end of the war. The last dated letter of May 21 [1865], briefly describes the reactions of soldiers to Lincoln’s assassination. "Even a greater portion of the South consider it an act beneath the dignity of any true man..."