Search

The David Bates Douglass Papers contain 1,191 letters, documents, and manuscripts relating to many aspects of Douglass's family and professional life between approximately 1812 and 1873. The collection is broad, encompassing incoming letters from scientific and military associates of Douglass, with drafts and retained copies of some his responses; long love letters to his future wife, Ann Ellicott (later Douglass); letters between Ann and Douglass; letters between Ann, Douglass, and the children; correspondence to and from a larger extended family; and several letters pertaining to the scandal at Kenyon College. Douglass's interests in internal improvements, natural history, systems and theories of academic scientific exchange, the education of his daughters and sons, the complex and numerous relationships and family connections through which early nineteenth-century American communities were built, and the Military Academy at West Point are very well-documented. In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created two other research aids: a Correspondent Inventory and a Chronological Inventory.

The David Bates Douglass Papers contain 1,191 letters, documents, and manuscripts relating to many aspects of Douglass's family and professional life between approximately 1812 and 1873. The collection is broad, encompassing incoming letters from scientific and military associates of Douglass, with drafts and retained copies of some his responses; long love letters to his future wife, Ann Ellicott (later Douglass); letters between Ann and Douglass; letters between Ann, Douglass, and the children; correspondence to and from a larger extended family; and several letters pertaining to the scandal at Kenyon College. Douglass's interests in internal improvements, natural history, systems and theories of academic scientific exchange, the education of his daughters and sons, the complex and numerous relationships and family connections through which early nineteenth-century American communities were built, and the Military Academy at West Point are very well-documented.

The David Bates Douglass Papers include materials pertinent to the War of 1812 and British-American relations in the New Nation period (1789-1830). Many of the early letters (1812-1814) include Douglass's own accounts of the Siege of Fort Erie, the Battle of Lundy's Lane, the daily experiences of soldiers as they marched, the lack of provisions so frequently a problem in the Napoleonic Era, and the efforts to fortify various parts of Fort Erie during and after the end of the war. Several copies of Douglass's drafts of a memorial of the War of 1812, written later in his life, provide additional context to his published account, The Campaign of 1814 (Wales: Cromlech Press, 1958). A particularly notable part of the collection is the volume, Reminiscences of the War of 1812 -- a set of Douglass's lectures, copied letters, and copied war orders [written in pen and ink in what appears to be Andrew Douglass's hand]. Despite Douglass's service in the war, his letters show the still-interconnected nature of British and American people in this period, both in matters such as creating borders, but also in religious and intellectual life. Charles, Douglass's eldest son, went to Seminary at Oxford, served in the Anglican Church, and wrote and published in England. Douglass himself worked with British engineers on the U. S. Canada boundary project and corresponded with other scientists and intellectuals from England, sharing information, specimens, and equipment.

Douglass's papers showcase relationships in the development of intellectual, religious, and scientific communities in New Nation America. Douglass and his associates were instrumental in the foundation and growth of several lyceums, thus playing a role in public scientific education, and they were particularly avid in promoting the field of mineralogy. Thirty-six letters (1820-1825) in the collection detail Douglass' participation in the Lewis Cass Expedition of 1820, including its planning, findings, and importance to larger political issues of the time. Twenty-four letters (1820 -1825) from Cass include observations on Native Americans and on the natural history of the region. Valuable letters from Torrey (1820-1823), Barnes (1821-1823), Schoolcraft (1824), and Silliman (1820-1821) relate to the planning of the expedition and to the research carried out by its participants. Along with the correspondence concerning the establishment of lyceums and the exchange of specimens, the letters help to highlight certain communities engaged in early nineteenth-century networks of scientific communication in the U.S. Douglass also corresponded with other intellectuals of the time, including the geologist Mary Griffith (1821-1825) and the mineralogist Parker Cleaveland (1828). The collection also includes notes and correspondence regarding Douglass's work on the U.S.-Canadian boundary in Lake Erie (1819), his survey and assessment of New England coastal defenses (1815-1820), the construction of the Pennsylvania Canal (1824), his work on the Morris Canal (1829), discussions of linking the Ohio River and the Chesapeake, and his much-celebrated work on the Greenwood Cemetery (1839).

The collection contains materials pertinent to scholars of family, gender, and/or class in nineteenth-century America. The majority of the collection is tied together through the correspondence of Douglass and his family. Roughly 40 early letters from Douglass to Ann (1813-1815) show common epistolary courtship practices, such as choosing pen names from popular romantic literature, poetry, or plays, copying poems or excerpts from books, and Douglass's own expressions of romantic love. Ann's letters (105 of them, ranging from 1826 to 1849) display the wide range of women's responsibilities to the ever-changing nineteenth-century household, showing especially women's role in connecting the family to various social communities. Glimpses into early childhood education can be seen throughout this collection, first under Ann's stewardship and Douglass's long distance instruction through letter-writing, and later in the children's letters about their experiences of girls' and boys' boarding schools in New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. In one example (February 28, 1831), Douglass wrote to Andrew, giving him advice on how to pursue an education, but also on how to behave in virtuous ways. In another example (March 4, 1831), Andrew told his father about mean boys who bullied him. Letters from Charles and Andrew chronicle as well some of their experiences of higher education at Kenyon College. The Douglass family's letters provide evidence for examinations into the gender expectations placed on girls and boys, women and men, and the ways that those expectations changed over time. Many letters also provide material for examining family economies, revealing a family striving for middle class comforts while living with indebtedness, the constantly changing financial states of early nineteenth-century American families, and the reliance upon extended kinship networks to avoid the perilous position of penury. For example, in a letter from Ann, Ellen, and Mary to Douglass (October 18, 1844) Ellen discussed her desire to have more schooling, which they cannot afford, while Ann worried over providing winter clothing for all of the smaller children.

The Douglass Papers also concern Native American life in different parts of the U. S. and Black life in northern communities. For example, John Bliss wrote several letters to Douglass (1820-1834) discussing negotiations with the Sioux and Chippewa in Missouri. In a few letters to Ann during his survey of Lake Erie, and in his bundles of notes (1819), Douglass gave descriptions of his interactions with Native American tribes in upper Michigan. In another, Douglass tried to obtain dictionaries of Native American languages so that he could better communicate with people from Native American tribes. Cass's letters (1820) also give information regarding his observations of Native American tribes in the Detroit area. Sarah Douglass described a Black traveling preacher who gave sermons to the girls at her boarding school in New York and Ann told Douglass about a Black medicine woman who used her nursing skills to heal a group of people in New York during an outbreak of severe disease, another frequent topic displayed throughout the collection. In many ways, the everyday nature of the David Bates Douglass papers, filled with clothing orders, professions of familial love, the financial troubles of a growing family, the religious experiences and affiliations of middle class men and women, and letters from children practicing their penmanship makes this collection invaluable to the study of early U. S. history.

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created two other research aids: a Correspondent Inventory and a Chronological Inventory.

The Green-Mitchell family papers are made up of correspondence, legal documents, receipts, and other financial records pertaining to the business and personal affairs of New York attorneys Timothy Green and John W. Mitchell (Timothy Green's son-in-law). Much of the collection pertains to mercantile affairs and land speculation in the South, Northeast and Western United States. A large portion of the collection pertains to South Carolina (Charleston), New York, and Massachusetts (Worcester). The Manuscripts Division has also created an inventory of the letter-writers in the collection: Green-Mitchell Family Papers Correspondent Inventory.

The Green-Mitchell family papers are made up of correspondence, legal documents, receipts, and other financial records pertaining to the business and personal affairs of New York attorneys Timothy Green and John W. Mitchell (Timothy Green's son-in-law). Much of the collection pertains to mercantile affairs and land speculation in the South, Northeast and Western United States. A large portion of the collection pertains to South Carolina (Charleston), New York, and Massachusetts (Worcester).

The Correspondence series contains 1,470 letters to and from members of the Green and Mitchell families between June 26, 1780 and October 1, 1880. Four hundred and sixteen incoming letters to Timothy Green date between 1780, and 1812. He received the bulk of them from family members, business partners, and clients in South Carolina, New York, and Worcester, Massachusetts. Timothy's brother, Samuel Green, a prominent merchant in Columbia, South Carolina, was among his most frequent correspondents. The collection includes 160 letters by Timothy Green, primarily sent from New York. Timothy Green's correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection's materials related to land speculation.

John W. Mitchell received 540 letters, approximately a third of the series, between 1806 and 1880. His primary correspondents wrote from Charleston, South Carolina; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and New York. The subject matter represented in these letters is diverse, pertaining to business and personal affairs, and the Episcopal Church. Other frequent writers include Timothy Ruggles Green, Clarence G. Mitchell, Samuel Green, and Judge Peter P. Bailey, founder of Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The Legal Documents series relates to estates administration and 48 legal suits in which the Green and Mitchell families were involved, either as attorneys or as parties to a suit. Materials for some of these cases are extensive and others include only a few pages. The cases comprising much of the series are Conklin v. Mitchell and Davis v. Duffie. Conklin v. Mitchell (New York, 1852-57) pertains to a land dispute between George Conklin and defendant John W. Mitchell. Davis v. Duffie (New York, 1825-1861) concerns charges brought against Smith Davis for fraud and a related mortgage taken out by Cornelius R. Duffie. John W. Mitchell and Clarence G. Mitchell defended Duffie.

Five certificates document commissions held by John W. Mitchell and Clarence G. Mitchell. Additional legal papers include insurance policies, powers of attorney, deeds, civil actions, summonses, depositions, agreements, and other items compiled by Timothy Green and John W. Mitchell in carrying out their work as attorneys.

The Financial Documents series contains 143 receipts, checks, bank notes, accounts, and other financial records dating from 1785-1874. Timothy Green compiled 11 summaries of accounts, representing a portion of his business transactions between 1787 and 1809.

Printed materials include a quarterly chronicle for the Mission to the Working Men of Paris (1877), two monthly bulletins for the Charity Organization Society in New York (1884), a notice of sale, and a cover page from the book One Day With Whistler.

Miscellaneous materials include two items: a partially-printed report card for Clarence G. Mitchell at the Episcopal Institute at Troy, New York, in 1837, and a genealogical document concerning the Boudinot family of Philadelphia.

The Manuscripts Division has also created an inventory of the letter-writers in the collection: Green-Mitchell Family Papers Correspondent Inventory.

The E. L. Diedrich Collection is a selection of manuscript items compiled by his son Duane Norman Diedrich and dedicated to his memory. The content of these letters, documents, and other manuscripts reflect the life and interests of E. L. "Bud" Diedrich (1904-1988), most prominently subjects pertinent to government, business, and patriotic music.

The E. L. Diedrich Collection is a selection of manuscript items compiled by his son Duane Norman Diedrich and dedicated to his memory. The content of these letters, documents, and other manuscripts reflect the life and interests of E. L. "Bud" Diedrich (1904-1988), most prominently subjects pertinent to government, business, and patriotic music. Items include correspondence from early United States politicians, discussing aspects of the developing Federal government and political parties; letters respecting the U.S. Presidency; holograph manuscripts and correspondence respecting patriotic music, such as the Battle Hymn of the Republic; and much more.

The collection is comprised of over 50 letters, documents, manuscript songs, and photographs, and other items. For a comprehensive inventory and details about each item in the collection, please see the box and folder listing below.