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

The William and Isaac Perkins papers contain correspondence written between brothers William Lee Perkins and Isaac Perkins, 1784-1794, concerning politics, their careers, and family news.

The William and Isaac Perkins papers contain 18 letters written between brothers William Lee Perkins and Isaac Perkins, of Ashford, Connecticut, and Kingston upon Thames, England. Their correspondence, written from 1784 to1794, frequently touched on politics, including a fairly long account of Shays' Rebellion (January 25, 1787), mention of the Constitutional Convention (May 28, 1787), and speculation by William on the chances of a reunion between the United States and Great Britain (May 14, 1787).

Also present are comments on Loyalists, the national debt, and news concerning their families and careers. In his letter dated April 4, 1788, William Lee Perkins commented on his medical writing, including attempts at "arranging and distinguishing diseases, which I am contributing my poor Endeavours to introduce in this Country." He also gave medical advice in several letters.

The Seymour papers contain materials relating primarily to the Civil War service of Col. Isaac G. Seymour (6th Louisiana Infantry) and his son, William J., both residents of New Orleans.

The Seymour papers contain materials relating primarily to the Civil War service of Col. Isaac G. Seymour (6th Louisiana Infantry) and his son, William J., both residents of New Orleans. The most important items in the collection are the two journals kept by William Seymour describing his experiences in the defense of New Orleans, 1862, and as Assistant Adjutant General in the 1st Louisiana Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. The first of these "journals" was begun by Col. Isaac Seymour as a manuscript drill manual for his regiment (55 pp.), but it appears to have been taken up by William following Isaac's death. This volume is arranged in four sections and includes a record of William Seymour's experiences from March, 1862 through May, 1864. The second volume is organized in a similar manner, but covers the period from April, 1863 through October, 1864, terminating in the middle of a description of the Battle of Cedar Creek. Both of William's "journals" are post-war memoirs drawn extensively from original diaries and notes, with some polishing and embellishment.

William Seymour's "journals" contain outstanding descriptions of life in the Confederate Army and are one of the premier sources for the Confederate side of the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. His journals also contain very important accounts for Chancellorsville, 2nd Winchester, Gettysburg (Cemetery Hill), Mine Run, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania (the Bloody Angle), but almost as important are the descriptions of camp life, and the morale and emotions of the troops. Seymour is an observant, critical, and knowledgeable writer who was placed in a position where he had access to information on fairly high level command decisions. Yet while his journal is focused on the military aspects of the war, he includes a number of brief personal sketches of officers and soldiers, and vignettes of life in the army, ranging from accounts of Union soldiers bolstered in their courage by whiskey, to the courage of an officer's wife stopping a deserter and the Knights of the Golden Circle surfacing in Pennsylvania during the Confederate invasion.

The remainder of the collection includes three Civil War-date letters relating to Isaac Seymour, one written from Camp Bienville near Manassas, Va. (1861 September 2), one from the Shenandoah River (1862 May 2), and the third a letter relaying news of Seymour's death at Gaines Mills. The letter of May 1862 is a powerful, despairing one, and includes Isaac Seymour's thoughts on the Confederate loss of New Orleans and severe criticism for Jefferson Davis, a "man of small caliber, with mind perhaps enough, but without those qualities which go to make up the great and good man." At this moment, Seymour reported that he was disappointed in the quality of his officers, and regretted that he had not resigned his commission upon his son's enlistment, and further, he felt that the Confederacy was being held together only tenuously, due solely to the "the righteousness of our cause, and the innate, deep rooted mendicable hatred to the Yankee race." The remainder of the correspondence consists primarily of documents, but includes an interesting Seminole War letter of Isaac to Eulalia Whitlock and a letter from "Sister Régis" to Isaac, as editor of the New Orleans Bulletin, begging the aid of the press on behalf of the Female Orphan Asylum.

This collection is made up of financial records and correspondence related to William and Robert Thompson of Thompsontown, Pennsylvania. Most of the financial records pertain to the Thompsons' subscriptions to periodicals and to their purchases of goods from Philadelphia merchants.

This collection (51 items) is made up of financial records and correspondence related to merchants William and Robert Thompson of Thompsontown, Pennsylvania. The bulk of the collection is made up of receipts, invoices, and similar documents addressed to the Thompson brothers, particularly Robert, from 1815-1826. Most of these records pertain to purchases of various kinds of goods from merchants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; a smaller number of items relate to periodical subscriptions. Among the goods that the Thompsons bought were tobacco, oils, and shoes. The collection's early items largely consist of financial documents sent to William and Robert's father, also named William, as well as a newspaper clipping listing US exports between October 1800 and September 1801. A small group of correspondence includes personal letters to Robert Thompson; one correspondent wrote about the distribution of election tickets in Mexico, Pennsylvania (October 20, 1816).

This 111-page pocket notebook documents the studies and travels of William Anthony, a student at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1851 to 1855. The bulk of the entries are medical notes regarding patients Anthony encountered during his time at Jefferson.

The volume opens with the inscription "Wm. Anthony's Book October 17th 1851," followed by three pages of notes and questions regarding government and international relations. The next section of 12 pages respects Anthony's education and travels from 1852 to 1855. He studied medicine with Dr. Robert McChesney in Shelocta, Pennsylvania, until the fall of 1853, when he enrolled at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He traveled to Ohio with his father to visit relatives and to New York to visit the World's Fair. Included in the itinerary are costs and modes of transportation.

The majority of the notebook is made up of notes on patients, including symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment plans, from Anthony's first year of medical school. Named instructors are Drs. Dunglison, Mitchell, Pancoast, and Mütter. Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Dunglison oversaw internal medicine cases ranging from epilepsy to kidney disease from late 1853 to early 1854. Dr. Pancoast and Dr. Mütter demonstrated surgical cases covering tumor removal, amputations, and granular eyelid surgery. Dr. Pancoast's other operations include staphyloraphy and utilization of an apparatus to straighten the elbow (both performed February 4, 1854). Instructions for concocting certain medications and expenses for books and supplies are also included.

The journal of William Bell, a British army officer, contains his notes on Barbados and Gibraltar, observations on slavery in the West Indies, Spanish language exercises, and extracts from Alain-René Le Sage's Historia de Gil Blas de Santillana and Henri Jean Baptiste de Bousmard's Essai général de fortification et d'attaque et défense des places.

The journal of William Bell, a British army officer, contains his notes on Barbados and Gibraltar, observations on slavery in the West Indies, Spanish language exercises, and extracts from Alain-René Le Sage's Historia de Gil Blas de Santillana and Henri Jean Baptiste de Bousmard's Essai général de fortification et d'attaque et défense des places.

The first 51 pages of the journal date from January 1 to September 26, 1830, while Bell resided in Barbados. His descriptions of Barbados include thoughts on religion and religious officials, schools and education, agriculture and plant life, and various aspects of slaves' lives. He comments on the rights and privileges of slaves, interactions between the black (free and enslaved) and white populations, slavery and Christianity, and the sale of slaves. Pages 53-54 contain a brief description of Gibraltar, dated May 1831. Pages 55-56, June 1833, contain a quotation from the second volume of Henri Jean Baptiste de Bousmard's Essai général de fortification et d'attaque et défense des places. Pages 57-128 and 171-172 consist of Spanish language exercises, and pages 129 to 171 are excerpts from Alain-René Le Sage's Historia de Gil Blas de Santillana.

This collection consists of two manuscript notebooks kept by William Bentinck, a British naval officer, that document three voyages exploring the harbors, rivers, and settlements around Nova Scotia.

This collection consists of two manuscript notebooks kept by British Naval Officer William Bentinck. These notebooks document three voyages. The first was H.M.S. Atalanta from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Charlotte Town, Prince Edward Island, July-August, 1784; the second voyage was H.M.S. Felicity from Halifax to Cape Breton Island in 1784, conveying Lieutenant Governor Des Barres and his suite; the third was H.M.S. Temeraire and is a partial log with sailing instructions for a number of North American and West Indian harbors, February-July 1800. These logs chart days, courses, distances (in miles?), latitudes and longitudes, bearings (noting destination) and distances in leagues, and are accompanied by remarks on the journey. The Atalanta's log describes harbors, rivers, and settlements at Knowles Harbor, Pope's Harbor, Liscomb Harbor, Chedabucto Bay, and Pictou Harbor. Bentinck made several sketches throughout the volumes, including a simple pencil sketch of "Bald Island,” Nova Scotia, and two maps of the area. The maps have been individually cataloged and include:

• [Liscomb Harbour and the bason]
• [Liscomb Harbour and vicinity]

In addition to the journal content are seven correspondence entries of Sir James Hawkins Whitshed, 1799-1800. In the middle of the second volume are ten pages of copied transcriptions of contemporary literature, including several excepts from A Political Receipt Book, from An asylum for fugitive pieces, in prose and verse (Volume 2, 1785, edited by John Almon), and a copy of a poetic epitaph by Mr. Pulteney, Earl of Bath, among other entries. These entries are in a different hand from the Bentinck logs.

The William B. Franklin letter book is made up of approximately 500 copies of letters that Franklin wrote between 1857 and 1859. Many of the letters relate to Franklin's position as Secretary of the Lighthouse Board and concern the construction and maintenance of lighthouses.

The William B. Franklin letter book contains approximately 500 copies of letters that Franklin wrote while living in Washington, D.C., between November 21, 1857, and July 29, 1859. Several of the earliest letters concern his position as a superintending engineer for the construction of the customs house in Portland, Maine, including his approval for improvements, records of associated costs, and reports of payments he received from the Treasury Department. The majority of the letters pertain to Franklin's work as Army Secretary to the Lighthouse Board, discussing the establishment, protection, and maintenance of lighthouses, as well as related financial issues. Franklin often responded to inquiries about specific lighthouses and sometimes suggested improvements, occasionally accompanied by diagrams. He also discussed beacons, described the method of replacing lanterns (p. 269), and provided illustrated specifications for building a lantern room (pp. 491-494). The opening pages of the volume contain an index, in which Franklin noted the recipients and subjects of his letters.

This collection is made up of 8 letters related to journalist and U.S. Ambassador to Sardinia William B. Kinney. William B. Kinney wrote 6 of these letters to his son Thomas T. Kinney between 1867 and 1876. In them, he discussed his post-retirement financial affairs and a vacation at Lake George, New York.

This collection contains 6 letters that journalist and U.S. Ambassador to Sardinia William B. Kinney wrote to his son, Thomas T. Kinney, between 1867 and 1876; one letter that Kinney wrote to an unknown recipient; and one that Thomas T. Kinney wrote to William M. Olliffe.

William B. Kinney wrote 6 letters to his son Thomas between January 13, 1867, and October 9, 1876, mostly from Morristown, New Jersey. In them, Kinney discussed his financial affairs, requested his son's assistance, denied making negative comments about Senator George Thomas Cobb, described a vacation at Lake George, New York (August 17, 1867), and mentioned a theatrical performance (which included a French monologue). Kinney's undated letter concerns a cholera epidemic in Newark, New Jersey.

Thomas T. Kinney wrote 1 letter to William M. Olliffe, a neighbor, in which he explained his decision not to accept a recent land offer, and shared his wife's feelings about the proposal.

The William Boston diary is a bound typescript, which documents Mr. Boston's service in the 20th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. This volume, compiled by William's son, Orlan W. Boston, contains supplemental information and facsimiles of original documents related to William's service.

The diary consists of brief entries written almost daily during Boston's service. Early on in the war, Boston looked favorably upon the regiment's colonel, but was not as enamored of other officers, writing that "[t]he boys were glad to see him [Col. Williams] and cheered him lustily. Most of the officers looked sober" (1863 April 26). His comments on routine daily life tend to be very brief.

During his western service, Boston's diary is fairly thin, with perhaps longest and best description relating to a trip taken to some caverns in southern Kentucky (1863 May 27). The writing improves, however, following Boston's second tour in Virginia, and includes a good account of battles in the Petersburg Campaign from late August through November, 1864, as well as descriptions of life during the siege in the late fall 1864 through Spring, 1865. Boston's best description of an engagement is that for the desperate Confederate assault on Fort Stedman. His entries from the Appomattox Campaign are lengthier than average and provide a very good account of the regiment's activities.

The William Brunton journal contains an autobiographical sketch and diary notes that Brunton, a Unitarian minister from Boston, composed for his son, Herbert Rogers Brunton, about the boy's childhood. He described his son's temperament and daily activities during his first 10 years of life.

The William Brunton journal contains an autobiographical sketch and diary notes that Brunton, a Unitarian minister from Boston, composed for his son, Herbert Rogers Brunton ("Bertie"), about the boy's childhood. He described his son's temperament and daily activities during his first 10 years of life.

The volume, entitled "Remembrances of The Early Days of Herbert Rogers Brunton," is approximately 100 pages long. Its first 17 pages consist of William Brunton's autobiographical sketch about his childhood in England and first years in the United States. He described his schooling, his early entry into the work force, his alcoholic father, and his early religious training in Manchester, England. William moved on to an examination of Herbert's personality and kept semi-regular diary entries from April 4, 1880-December 31, 1885. The diary concerns Herbert's development, primarily through anecdotes. Herbert, described by his father as a "Mother's boy," frequently traveled to the family's farm near his grandparents' home in Braintree, Vermont (purchased in March 1880), and often voiced a dislike of schooling despite frequently excelling in his studies. The diary also recounts the family's health and activities, such as Nellie's many illnesses and annual Christmas celebrations. Several personal letters, written to Herbert and to Nellie by her parents, have been bound into the second half of the volume, along with a receipt for a suit and cap from a clothing company. A few poems are posted into the later pages. Additional material includes two children's sketches, sketches "done by Mamma when you had the scarlet fever 1885," and a manuscript poem, "For His Grave."