3.3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The collection is divided into three series: Journals, Farm records, and Other Family Members.
The Harley Harris Bartlett Papers series, 1744-1959 (27.25 linear feet), documents the career and research interests of Professor H. H. Bartlett, who served as the Director of the Botanical Gardens from 1922 to 1955 and as chairman of the University of Michigan Department of Botany from 1922 to 1947. This series contains seven subseries: Index, Bureau of Plant Industry Correspondence, Correspondence and Associated Materials, Family Correspondence, Personal Correspondence, Photographs, and Special Interest. The Correspondence and Associated Materials, Photographs, and Special Interest subseries were collected and curated by the Herbarium and are arranged to conserve the Herbarium's order as established in the index. Researchers should note that the Bentley Historical Library also has a separate collection of Bartlett's papers received from the Bartlett Estate (call no. Aa/2; 85701). Due to the distinct provenance of the two collections, and the Herbarium's curation of this Bartlett series, the two collections are maintained separately.
1 linear foot
The Boyd family collection includes correspondence, diaries of family members, addresses, photographs, and miscellaneous papers concerning family and business affairs, temperance, slavery and the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, Michigan. Correspondents include: Isaac P. Christiancy and Alpheus Felch.
6 linear feet (in 7 boxes)
The Burrows / Avery / Smith collection was brought together and preserved by Emeline Burrows (daughter of Lorenzo Burrows) and Julia Smith (granddaughter of the elder Roswell Burrows).
The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence and other papers of family members (arranged chronologically); Family records; Topical files; Visual Materials; and Financial materials.
1 linear foot (in 2 boxes)
The Edwin Franko Goldman Autograph Collection consists of two series: Background Materials and Autographed Photographs and Manuscripts. The collection contains autographs, letters, photographs, and musical scores of such notable musical celebrities as Antonin Dvorák, George Gershwin, Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Philip Sousa, Johann Strauss, and Igor Stravinsky.
23.5 linear feet (in 25 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes
The Ferry family papers document the rise to prominence of this family who first gained their fortune as seed merchants. The papers also reveal the workings of other Detroit businesses, the development of the Detroit Institute of Arts, turn-of-the-century Michigan politics, and the suburban development of Grosse Pointe. The papers span the years 1758 to 1989 with the bulk of the materials covering 1855 to 1959. The collection consists of: account books, ledgers, journals, and business reports; blue prints, deeds, titles, abstracts, and mortgages; correspondence (business and personal); appointment books, diaries, scrapbooks, and clippings; receipts and tax returns, photographs, and printed miscellanea. It is important to note that the Michigan Historical Collections does not house all extant Ferry materials. The donor, Dexter M. Ferry, III, retains possession of several early account books, ledgers, and journals related to D.M. Ferry & Co.; he also kept some family correspondence and virtually all photographs.
The Ferry family papers arrived at the Michigan Historical Collections in an order based on when the donor reviewed the materials. In the course of reprocessing, this order was altered, and an arrangement assigning primacy to the generation of Ferry who created the document was followed. This reprocessing has resulted in three series: Historical and Background, materials predating Dexter M. Ferry; Dexter M. Ferry; and Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. The few problems presented by overlap between generations are duly noted in the contents list. Within these generational series the materials are arrayed in business, personal, philanthropic, and political subseries. Given the natures of the family and the family business, the researcher should note that murkiness exists between subseries divisions. In general these dividing principles work well. They preserve Dexter M. Ferry, III's original order at the folder level while facilitating access by independent researchers.
The strengths of the Ferry collection are myriad. The family correspondence provide unique insight into a family which grew wealthy but remained close-knit. Especially interesting are the long runs of correspondence between Dexter M. Ferry and his mother, Lucy Ferry Crippen, and Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. and his mother, Addie Miller Ferry. The former run reveals much about the fluid society of late nineteenth-century Detroit, and the latter reflects the pressures of more rigidly defined social strictures. The correspondence between Ferry, Jr. and his sisters, Blanche Ferry Hooker and Queene Ferry Coonley, are illuminating on the handling of the family business in the changing economic climates of the twentieth century.
Some facets of the development of the Detroit business community are well documented as the family invested heavily in local real estate and business. The strengths of the present collection revolve around the Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. materials relating to business and finance in Detroit from 1920 to 1950, particularly the banking community's reaction to the crisis of the Depression. The links between automobile touring, the good roads movement, and the development of ancillary industries to support the burgeoning automotive industry are fairly well documented by Dexter M. Ferry, Jr.'s papers. Young Ferry's close association with the development of the Detroit Institute of Arts is extremely well documented and these papers provide a case study of twentieth century patronage.
A somewhat refracted view of Michigan politics at the turn of the twentieth century is provided through the scrapbooks and clippings on Dexter Ferry's failed campaign in 1900 for governor of the state. The papers are stronger in their documentation of Dexter Ferry, Jr.'s political involvement with the local governance of Grosse Pointe. Here the details of community control are thoroughly covered by correspondence, reports, and minutes.
4 linear feet
The Geddes and Randall families collection is arranged into four series: Geddes Family, 1771-1889; Randall Family, 1860-1950; Rash Family, 1832-1924; and Historical Material Collected by Russell E. Bidlack. The collection is very much a product of Mr. Bidlack's research and archival processing. Not only does the collection contain copious photocopies, both of materials originally in the collection and of supporting materials, it also includes transcriptions and notes created by Mr. Bidlack. Besides extensive material on the Geddes and Randall families and the history of Washtenaw County, the collection also may be useful for researchers studying Nineteenth century mills and related manufacturing in the midwest. The researcher should note that the library has a second portion of the papers of the Geddes and Randall families which came from a different donor. This collection has been separately cataloged.
The first series, Geddes Family, 1771-1889, is divided into sub-series of the correspondence between William and John Geddes, John Geddes' papers, and mixed Geddes family papers. This series, and specifically the first sub-series, is the highlight of the overall collection. These are letters between John and William Geddes, arranged chronologically, numbered, and largely transcribed by Russell E. Bidlack. (The only exception to his numbering scheme is the letter #30A from John Geddes to William Geddes. While the original was not in the series, Mr. Bidlack's transcription was among the other John Geddes transcriptions, so the letter was given number in the series by the processor.) According to Mr. Bidlack's notes, a couple of the original letters were sold; the collection includes photocopies and/or transcriptions of these pieces. The sub-series also contains a few other Geddes family letters--such as from Robert Geddes to William, or from John to their father--in the numbered sequence. Another notable piece of correspondence in John Geddes' papers is a letter from James T. Allen (brother of Ann Arbor founder John Allen) to John Geddes.
Other material in the series include the Geddes' land deeds and John Geddes' statements and collections reflecting his awareness of his role in Washtenaw County and Geddes family history. Many of the folders include photocopies in addition to original materials, and some include Russell E. Bidlack's notes and transcripts as well. It should be noted that the second folder of William Geddes' (in the Geddes Family sub-series) consists of material not originally in the Geddes family collection. This folder consists of photocopies of material that one of Russell Bidlack's correspondents, Hannah Wright, found in a trunk in her mother's house, which at one time belonged to William Geddes. These papers include correspondence to William Geddes from friends and relatives around the country and ancestral papers from the Geddes, Sawyer, and McCallen families.
This series Historical and Background files consists of 14 linear inches of materials arranged alphabetically by type of material: biographies, genealogies, histories, and materials related to the Ferry and Mason families. The biographical and historical materials focus on Dexter Mason Ferry's life and career. The genealogical materials were created to meet the demands of Dexter Mason Ferry, Jr. The bulk of the last subseries is comprised of the Darius Mason diaries, volumes which document the life of a farmer in upstate New York.
2.4 linear feet — 2 oversize folders — 1 oversize volume
The McDonald papers contain personal and business papers collected by James Henry McDonald and by his wife Christine Jewell McDonald. The collection includes correspondence, ledgers, genealogical material and family histories, business records and photographs. Topics and activities documented in the collection include James McDonald's education at the University of Michigan and law practice in Detroit; genealogy of the McDonald, Hallock, McLellan and Jewell families; business papers of William Jewell, including some relating to his founding of the Detroit Business University in 1864; correspondence of Emma Jewell's life as a Christian Scientist; Ogden Jewell's experience as a University of Michigan Student and his enlistment in the Spanish-American War; and correspondence of Christie Jewell concerning her activities in the Democratic party, including a term a vice-chair of the state Democratic Party Central Committee in 1937-1938.
The collection contains five series: McDonald Family, the Martha Wells McLellan Family, Christine Jewell Family, Miscellaneous Files, and Photographs.
