Collections : [Central Michigan University Clarke Historical Library]

The collection includes school district record books, teachers' daily attendance and scholarship record books, financial records, and related materials.

The school record books, 1884-1964, and undated document the history of the schools, students, and teachers in Ocqueoc Township, Presque Isle County, Michigan, with school district record books, Teachers’ Daily Attendance and Scholarship Record books, financial records, and student report and health related cards, and related materials. Specific schools documented in the collection include, Crow Dam, Glawe, Godin, Gordon, Hammonds Bay, Moltke Township, Union District, Vilburn, Silver Creek, Ocqueoc Unit and Ocqueoc Township schools. Also included are financial records of Ocqueoc Township, 1905-1964, which relate to schools.

Processing Note: Volumes are not in strict chronological order, they are organized by township and then by decade. Volumes were fumigated, ph-balanced, and perfumed in September 1999. Some are now in oversized folders or in boxes.

Papers include his accounts, business and personal correspondence, and an essay on slavery.

The collection includes his account books, 1938 and undated; a ledger, undated; transport mileage ration cards, 1943; materials concerning the administration of the estate of E. St. Johns, 1895; business and personal correspondence, 1891, 1918-1938; charges against a member of the Grange, 1886-1887; and an essay on slavery, undated.

Papers document Poe's military schooling and Civil War engineering work mostly with correspondence, military orders, reports, maps, and sketches.

Poe’s papers document his military schooling and Civil War work. Correspondence, orders, reports, muster rolls, and maps document both his engineering work and that of the engineers and mechanics he commanded. Correspondence and reports from November and December1864 and early 1865 detail the work of Poe’s engineers in the destruction of Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, which they razed and destroyed on General William T. Sherman’s orders. Poe invented a battering ram on a chain attached to a large sawhorse with which the army destroyed brick buildings. Poe’s engineers were also responsible for the wholesale destruction of local railroads and buildings, which were used by Confederates to fight Union forces. His men also built fortifications. There are numerous correspondence (reports) and morning reports from the First Regiment Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, and muster rolls of the Engineer Battalion Twenty-third Army Corps. An 1851 receipt is signed by U.S. Grant. Undated materials found originally within dated correspondence and report folders were retained within those folders. The collection is organized by size, alphabetically by topic, and chronologically. The physical state of items in the collection varies widely from good to bad. Many items are faded, fragile, soiled, acidic, and the majority of the oversized materials are in multiple pieces with edge damage, extremely acidic, and brittle.

Researchers may be interested in knowing that the collection has a set of item-level index cards. Also, part of the Correspondence, March-December 1863, has been microfilmed (See Micro Accession # 429). The bulk of Poe’s papers are housed in the Library of Congress, see finding aid at http://rs5.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss.old/eadpdfmss/uploaded_pdf/ead_pdf_batch_17_July_2009/ms008037.pdf. Also, the University of Louisville Kentucky Special Collections has Poe images and maps, see https://archivescatalog.library.louisville.edu/repositories/2/accessions/6224.

The collection documents the history, committees, activities, building renovations, 125th anniversary, and people of the church in registers, meeting minutes, photographs, newsletters, bulletins, sermons, and other materials. The collection is ongoing. Allergy Alert: Researchers with allergies should use Boxes 16-17 with caution.

The organizational records of the church are filed alphabetically and then chronologically in the following major series: The Evangel (the church’s monthly newsletter), 1966-1968, 1972-1985, 1987-current, and undated; Parish Registers, 1875-1958, which document the baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials of parishioners; Vestry meeting minutes, 1947-current, which record the business of the church officers and committees; Registers of Services, 1913-1975, which list the day, time, and the number of attendees and communicants at each service; and the St. John’s, later called the Ladies’ or Women’s, Guild meeting minutes, which include bylaws, member lists, accounts, and related materials of the Guild, 1886-1974 and undated; and, lastly, a variety of blueprints, notes, meeting minutes, bids, photographs, and other materials documenting Renovations of the church building and grounds, 1978-1982, 1992-1996, and undated. Other records, such as programs for special services, Lenten Prayer Booklets, and materials documenting the Boy Choir are included in the collection.

Early records of the Rt. Rev. J. N. Rippey, who served as acting rector of several churches including St. John’s from 1887 through 1910, include: a journal and parish registry book with baptisms, confirmations, burials, and marriages, 1887-1911, and three scrapbooks, 1874-1935 and undated, which document Rippey’s life and work, as well as the news of other Episcopalian clergy and parishes in Michigan with newspaper clippings, service programs, and newsletters from various Episcopal churches. Two handwritten sermons of Rev. Rippey dated June 28 and July 29, 1908 are also included.

Materials related to the illness, death, contract, and sermons of Rev. John H. Goodrow, are also included. Goodrow served as rector at St. John’s from 1962 until his sudden death in 1985. The Goodrow Fund at St. John’s was established and named in his honor. Materials documenting the Goodrow Fund are also in the collection.

The older materials, particularly the scrapbooks are highly acidic and fragile and should be handled with care by researchers.

Numerous materials documenting the events of the 125th anniversary are included, as is documentation on the development and workshops of the Center for Christian Spirituality.

Also included are sermons of Rev. Wayne Nicholson, a beloved, gentle priest at St. John’s from 2007 to present, who was blessed with the gift of writing and presenting wonderful sermons. His coming to St. John’s encouraged the 125th anniversary events and made the establishment and success of the Center for Christian Spirituality possible.

Ground Breaking for the joining of the existing buildings and remodeling of them began with a special Pentecost service with music created by one of St. John’s organists, Dr. Moonyeen Albrecht, and our Deacon Nancy Casey Fulton, on May 15, 2016 (See Box 15: Building Remodel/Ground Breaking Materials, 2015- folder).

Vestry Meeting Minutes, 1947-current are in the collection. Vestry Minutes, 1957-1982 (1 cubic ft. in Boxes 16-17) were added to the collection in 2016. They were previously housed in the basement and have a strong mildew smell. Allergy Alert: Researchers with allergies should use Boxes 16-17 with caution.

Boxes 19-20 include more information on Rev. Wayne Nicholson, who died unexpectedly in 2019, shortly after he retired. Early deeds, significant mortgages on church property, and information on the creation and purchase of the pipe organ created by Gabriel Kney, and the stained-glass windows and tabernacle, created by Conrad Schmitt Studios, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are included. Other materials document a new phase of the Center for Christian Spirituality, historical materials of the Boys Choir, and recordings of services and music.

Organizational records include: annual president and chairperson reports, treasurer reports, meeting minutes, officer guidelines, photographs (black and white and color), scrapbooks and correspondence documenting the Division's activities, history, Annual International Tea and national and council meetings.

The collection, 1926-2014, and undated, approximately 12 cubic feet (in 21 boxes, 1 legal-size folder, 4 Oversized Volumes) documents the organizational records and history of the Michigan Division of the Woman’s National Farm and Garden Association (WNFGA). Organizational records include: annual president and chairperson reports, treasurer reports, meeting minutes, and officer guidelines. Photographs (black and white and color), scrapbooks and correspondence illuminate the Division's activities and provide additional insight into its history. Photographs provide images of Annual International Tea and national and council meetings.

Included in the collection are Cranbrook Branch of WNFGA scrapbooks, 1963-1968 and 1983-1988 (Box 6 and Oversized scrapbooks). The scrapbooks and related newsletters and miscellaneous were created by Barbara Van Buren. The Cranbrook Branch no longer exists.

The Annual International Tea records, 1996-2008, were originally composed annually in binders. Due to materials becoming loose, the contents were transferred into archival folders. However, their original order was maintained. These reports include correspondence, photographs and newspaper clippings.

The organizational records generated during the tenures of two presidents, Louise Shoksnyder (Boxes 18-19 and Oversized scrapbook, 2007-2008) and Ila Leonard Wermuth (Box 21), were separately identified as such, and this original order was maintained during processing.

Several fairly complete newsletters and historical publications were separately cataloged during processing.

The collection is in good physical condition and is organized by size and alphabetically by series. The Cranbrook Scrapbooks have weak or damaged binding. Scotch tape was also found in scrapbooks and the Annual International Tea folders. In both cases, materials in these series may become loose over time. Acidic materials have been replaced with copies. All of the boxes are .5 cubic foot boxes except Box 21, which is .25 cubic foot.

Researchers may also be interested in the collection of Mrs. (Francis) Louisa King, 1902-2000, and other Woman’s garden club collections which are also housed at the Clarke.

Processing Notes: During processing .75 cubic foot of material, consisting of duplicates, miscellaneous financial records, and generic correspondence, were removed from the collection.

The collection includes newsletters, minutes, certificates, programs, reports, etc.

The collection consists of newsletters, meeting minutes, certificates, programs, reports, a brief chapter history, photographs, and bylaws, 1959-2002. Also included are six PDK pins and a PDK seal press.

The collection includes financial records, photographs, and reports of the Ormsby dairy farm.

The collection includes mostly financial reports, such as: expense and income reports, 1957-1964; comparison of annual farm business reports, 1930-1938; inventory reports, 1964-1975; and farm account books, 1930-1948, undated. Two aerial photographs of the farms are also included. Many of the financial records and forms are from Michigan State University’s Cooperative Extension Services or Main-In program.

The papers consists of correspondence, photographs, publications, notes, and miscellaneous relating to Lathrop's experience with CCC camps in Michigan.

The collection includes materials relating to Lathrop’s experience with the CCC camps, particularly at Hoxeyville, Wellston, Camp Axin, Cadillac, Camp Sable River, Peacock, Camp Luzerne, Luzerne, Camp Hartwick Pines, Grayling, Camp Wolverine, Clarion, Camp Eldorado, Roscommon, Camp Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt, Camp Sturgeon River, Foster City, Camp Black Lake, Rogers City, and at Camp Custer, Michigan.

The collection contains financial ledgers, accounts books, minutes, reports, legal materials, founding documents, and related materials.

The collection consists mostly of financial ledgers and account books, 1906-1961, undated (scattered), and also includes: meeting minutes, 1906-1957; reports, 1936-1961 (scattered); hearing transcripts and legal materials, 1938-1963 (scattered); founding documents, 1939 and undated; and related materials.

The collection is organized alphabetically and chronologically

Glass-plate negatives (76) include views of Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, businesses, steamboats, the Soo Locks, school children, parades, including a circus, and miscellaneous images, 1894, 1938, and undated.

The collection is organized by size first and then numerical order. There are 17 glass-plate negatives, each measuring approximately 8 inches by 10 inches, 24 glass-plate negatives, each measuring approximately 6.5 inches by 8.5 inches, and 35 glass-plate negatives, each measuring 5.5 inches x 7.5 inches.

The collection documents businesses (often two businesses are photographed on one plate), various steamers, the Soo Locks, notably Weitzel Lock, lock construction, school children, parades (6 images), of which one is a circus parade with elephants and camels, and a few miscellaneous topics, in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, 1894-1900s. Some of the images are dated with two dates, the later being 1938, when they were owned by Gordon Daun. Other images are undated, but they clearly date from the 1894-1900s period.

The descriptions of the negatives are from the original sleeves. Further notation, in square brackets, has been made by the Archivist when there was no original description, when the original description is insufficient to understand what the image is, or when negative is damaged. Abbreviations in the original descriptions are spelled out for ease of use by researchers.

Fifteen of the plates were badly crushed, broken into numerous pieces, or had emulsions that were severely damaged, in several cases peeling off so badly that it looked like a cat had shredded the image. Pat Thelen, Clarke digitizer, had a Herculean task to piece the images back together again and clean up as many problem spots as possible. The badly damaged negatives were withdrawn from the collection. The scanned copies are on a disc and printouts of the images are filed in the rear of Box 3 according to the size of the original plate, and then numerically. These printed images are the best images that could be created from the pitiful remains of the negatives.