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The papers include correspondence, diaries, journals, accounts books, tintypes, prayerbooks, sermons, hymns in Ojibwa, a New Testament in English and Seneca, and photographic images.

Family papers, 1765-1964, and undated, include: correspondence relating to Rev. Bingham's associations with the Baptist Missionary Society, Boston, his ministry at the Tonawanda Indian Mission in New York State, the Baptist Indian Mission at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and his social activities in Grand Rapids, Michigan; diaries of Bingham and his wife, journals, account books, and tintypes. Also included are prayer books and hymns in Ojibwa, Bingham's sermons, in English, and a New Testament in both English and Seneca. Among his correspondents is John Claude Buchanan, his son-in-law, whose letters relate to Buchanan's service with the 8th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War, 1861-1864. Three boxes of photographic images complete the collection.

The collection includes correspondence relating to Bingham’s associations with the Baptist Missionary Society, Boston, his ministry at the Tonawanda Indian Mission in New York State, the Baptist Indian Mission at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and his social activities in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Correspondents include John Claude Buchanan, Bingham’s son-in-law, relating to his service with the 8th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War.

The collection is also available on 19 reels of positive microfilm Acc# 359 (Section 4, 1 reel) and 444 (18 reels). Some letters are available on 2 reels of positive microfilm Acc# 614 of the American Baptists Foreign Mission Society, 1800-1900, American Indians and 1814-1900, France.

Photocopies made from 2 reels of microfilm of company related materials including correspondence (copies), index card, and finding aids (copies) of other, related collections.

This is an artificial collection of related materials, pulled together by topic. Included in the records are correspondence to/from Samuel Abbott, who served as the Collector at Michilimackinac (1812-?) and as manager for the Company, 1812-1848 (and longer?). Some of the correspondence is from James Abbott, Samuel’s brother, who was also a manager for the Company in the Detroit, Michigan, area. (There is no further information available on the Abbotts.) Other records include expense accounts for transportation to the Council in the summer of 1825. The Shipping / Receiving book provides good information of prices paid per pelt, for everything from mink to rat skins. There is an Indenture of Mortgage signed by John Jacob Astor, 1827, in the Mortgage Records, and a Capital Stock certificate of the Mackinac, Lake Superior Copper Company, 1845, in the Correspondence. These materials are all photocopies made from 2 reels of microfilm.

Additionally, there are index cards to assist researchers using the records. The related American Fur Company business records of Mackinac Island, Michigan, to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1817-1834, are available on microfilm at the Clarke, as are books about the Company.

See also numerous related reels of microfilm on the American Fur Company, the Mackinac Island Collection, and the Abraham Wendell Collection.

On April 13, 2001, the paper collection, which had been on deposit at the Clarke, was returned to Mackinac State Historic Parks as part of the Sault Sainte Marie Collection. The microfilm of this American Fur Company Collection is at the Clarke, Reels 1-2, Microfilm MSS F-52.

This collection includes postcards nostly created by children and teens in various Michigan cities which competed in the Clarke Historical Library DigMichNews Contests, 2015-2019.

This collection includes postcards created by children and teens in Alpena, Milford, and Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, from the 2015 competition 1 cubic ft. (in 2 boxes). Milford won the competition in 2015. A folder of information about the 2015 competition is in the front of box 1.

The 2016 competition postcards 6.75 cubic feet (in 14 boxes) include those created by children and teens in pre-schools, and both public and private schools in Alpena, Clinton County (supporting DeWitt Public Library), Houghton Lake, L’Anse. In addition to children’s postcards there are several folders of homemade crafty postcards created by adults in the Houghton Lake Public Library Craft Group. All of the Polish News competition postcards were homemade by adults associated with the Polish News in Detroit. Alpena won the competition in 2016. Schools were identified whenever possible. When identification was not specific minors are identified as students. A folder of information about the 2016 competition is in the front of box 3.

The 2017 competition postcards, 4.25 cubic feet (in 9 boxes), include those created by children and adults in L’Anse, Leelanau, New Baltimore, Oceana, and Utica. Three-dimensional, art, reproduced art, and composite image postcards are included. Specific schools or institutions were not identified. L’Anse won the competition in 2017 with Utica a close second. A folder of information about the 2017 competition is in the front of Box 17.

The 2018 competition postcards, 2 cubic feet (in 4 boxes), include those created by children, and a couple of adults, in Albion, Detroit, East Grand Rapids, Pontiac, Saugatuck, and Utica. Art and reproduced art postcards are included. While no specific schools were identified as contributors, Saugatuck District Library was identified as an institution were children created children’s art postcards for the competition. Saugatuck won the competition in 2018 while Utica came in second. A folder of information about the 2018 competition is in the front of Box 25.

The 2019 competition postcards, 1.5 cubic feet (in 3 boxes), include postcards mostly created by children. Postcards created, or probably created, by adults include some in the Grandville folder, including five reproduced historical photographs, and postcards in the Sparta Retirement Community and Sparta adults folder. Identified Sparta schools or school districts include: Algoma Christian Schools, Appleview Elementary, Kent City Schools, Ridgeview schools, and Sparta Middle and High schools. Sparta won the competition over Grandville. A folder of information about the 2019 competition is in the front of Box 30, and a folder about the 2020 competition is in the back of Box 32. Only a few people people identified themselves by first names in the Algoma, Kent City, Ridgeview, Sparta schools, and Sparta Retirement Community folders.

The collection is organized alphabetically by year of competition, city, then by topic. The collection is ongoing.

Processing Note: Duplicate mass-produced postcards were sorted and withdrawn from the collection. This includes approximately 4 cubic feet (2015), 1 cubic foot (2016), 1.5 cubic (2017), 1 cubic foot (2018), and 1.5 cubic feet (2019). The remaining postcards were compared to the existing Michigan postcards in the Clarke. Non-duplicates were then filed into the Michigan postcards collection. None of the children’s postcards were duplicates.

Collection of research materials (mostly photocopies) of Dr. Charles E. Feltner. The collection’s focus is Great Lakes diving, maritime history (both American and Canadian), shipping history, and shipwrecks. Other major topics include 1905 and 1913 storms, insurance, marine casualties, merchant vessels, sailing, shipbuilding/construction, and underwater logging.

Dr. Charles E. and Jeri Baron Feltner Great Lakes Maritime History Collection, 1978, 2018 and undated, 17.5 cubic feet in 30 boxes and 3 oversized folders contains the research materials (mostly photocopies) of Dr. Charles E. Feltner. The collection’s focus is Great Lakes diving, maritime history (both American and Canadian), shipping history, and shipwrecks. Other major topics include 1905 and 1913 storms, insurance, marine casualties, merchant vessels, sailing, shipbuilding/construction, and underwater logging.

The photocopies are from numerous historical collections and/or research institutions housing the collections, almost always identified in detail by Dr. Feltner. If the source information was on or in the folder, it was retained during processing. Of particular note are copies from the Louden G. Williams collection, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University.

The contents includes: articles, bibliographies, copies of manuscripts, correspondence, essays, geological surveys, information on diving on shipwrecks, rigging and masting, marine vessel enrollments, insurance, legislation, maritime genealogy bibliographies (American and Canadian), newspaper clippings, Old Mariners’ Church, Detroit, photographs (some of which are originals), reports, ship salvage, shipwrecks, vessel inspections, underwater archaeological surveys, underwater heritage research, U.S. Lighthouse and Life-Saving services, and Dr. Feltner’s original notes, correspondence and essays. Boats of particular interest in this collection include the Calypso, the Challenge, the Chicora, the Daniel J. Morrell (built in 1906, sank in 1966), the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Huron Brave (a fictitious ship), and the Lady Elgin. Included are also materials concerning Dick Race, Jacques Cousteau, and Peter Elias Falcon. Materials from corporate authors include Association of Canadian Lake Underwriters, Board of Lake Underwriters, Bureau of Navigation, Inland Lloyds, Institute of Marine Engineers, Lake Underwriters (this is the American underwriters), U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Lake Surveys, U.S. National Archives, and U.S. War Department Corps of Engineers. Many locations are documented in this collection. Major, but not inclusive, locations include Buffalo, NY, Chicago, IL, Cleveland, OH, Detroit, MI, Mackinaw City, MI, Milwaukee, WI, Ontario, Canada, Port Huron, MI, Presque Isle, MI, Sandusky, OH, Sault Saint Marie, MI, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and Thunder Bay.

Of particular note, rare insurance materials are included in the collection. Also of special interest are diving educator’s materials, a single slide of an artist’s drawing of the Daniel J. Morrell breaking up in 1966 (See Box 28 Wreck files…), meteorological wreck charts and shipwreck locations, ship model plans/ building, and notes on how to conduct research.

This collection is likely one of the top ten marine history research collection in the United States, complied from research collections in national and international historical institutions. Original variant spellings were retained in the box and folder listing.

The Photographs folder includes one image each of a Northern Line vessel, the Edmund Fitzgerald, and Goderion.

All items in Oversize Folder 1 measure 11x17 inches. All items in Oversized Folder 2 measure 11x15 inches. The contents of Oversize Folder 3 have varying measurements as noted in the box and folder listing.

Arrangement: Collection materials are organized by size, then alphabetically and chronologically within original order.

Cataloging Note for Marine Historians: Please note that pre-existing Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) do not match normal maritime designations, especially for ship designations ex. Chicora of 1895 (Steamship). Also, Enrollments is not an official LCSH. The Archivist provided the most descriptive finding aid and best cataloging possible for this collection, in consultation with Professor Jay Martin.

Processing Note: Duplicate copies and peripheral non-Michigan materials, both primary and secondary sources, and miscellaneous notes were withdrawn from the collection during processing, a total of 1 cubic foot. Acidic materials and poor quality photocopies were photocopied and the originals were withdrawn. All withdrawn materials and duplicates were returned to the donor as per the donor agreement, amounting to 9.5 cubic feet. 70 titles were separately cataloged. 17 items were added to the Michigan Vertical Files.

Papers include biographical materials, correspondence, journals, writings, including essays and poems, and item-level index cards.

The collection includes Pitezel’s correspondence mostly to family and friends (with notes and related materials), journals, and writings (essays and a poem), many of which later became books.

Most of his letters are to his mother, brother, Joshua, and sisters, Caroline and Mary. They detail his religious activities, beliefs, the people and situations in which he traveled, preached, and lived, family news, the weather, and illnesses. He was strongly anti-Catholic and reported often on Catholic missionaries and their missionary efforts. The letters are pasted together with related documents, which makes organizing them a challenge.

His journals span September 1846 through September 1851 and detail his life and work in Adrian, Marshall, Sault Ste. Marie, and at Kewanenon Mission, Michigan, and note his visits to Indian chiefs, councils, and medicine men, as well as stories told to him by Indians.

The writings include six autobiographical and religious essays.

Item-level index cards are included at the end of the collection to assist researchers.