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

The John Hendrickson Yale class album contains numerous engraved and lithographed portraits of members of the Yale College Class of 1852, professors, and administrators.

The John Hendrickson Yale class album contains numerous engraved and lithographed portraits of members of the Yale College Class of 1852, professors, and administrators.

The album (25.5 x 19.75 cm) has green leather covers with “John B. Hendrickson’” stamped on the front in gold. Contents begin with four engraved views of New Haven, Connecticut, before progressing to engraved portraits of Yale College professors and administrators. Subsequent images are primarily lithographic portraits of members of the class of 1852, many of which are inscribed with sentimental notes, birthdays, and hometowns. Numerous signatures belong to men who went on to fight in the Civil War. Other signatures of note include those of Daniel Colt Gilman, William Preston Johnston, and Homer Baxter Sprague. The portraits of the students were produced by F. Michelin and George E. Leefe of New York City.

The John Louis Ligonier letter books (containing 842 letters) are made up of the outgoing letters of the field marshal, master general of the ordnance, and commander-in-chief of the British army during the Seven Years' War. In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a recipient index, which may be accessed here: John Louis Ligonier Letter Books Recipient Index.

The John Louis Ligonier letter books (1758-1760, 237 pages; and 1760-1761, 279 pages) contain outgoing letters of the field marshal, master general of the ordnance, and commander-in-chief of the British army during the Seven Years War.

The 1758-1760 volume contains copies of 298 letters, most of which are outgoing items signed by Ligonier with 30 signed by his secretary Richard Cox. Ligonier communicated frequently with various officers and officials in the British military, including Secretary of War William Barrington, Major General Jeffery Amherst, Lord George Beauclerk, Judge Advocate Charles Gould Morgan, Marquis of Granby, Major General Napier, William Pitt, Duke of Richmond, Lord George Sackville, Earl of Shaftesbury, Prince Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, and James Wolfe. Ligonier's letters deal primarily with personnel and regimental matters, including troop provisioning and payment of troops, problems with recruitment, appointments and promotions, troop movements, troop health, desertions and mutinies, prisoners of war, and orders for officers. While his focus was on the war in America, Ligonier also commanded armies in Scotland and England, and British invasions into France. In addition to the letters, this volume also contains a report on the court martial of George Sackville for failure to follow orders (April 23, 1760), and a document concerning ordnance management, containing instructions for military recordkeeping (pages 85-90). See additional descriptive data for a complete list of the letters.

The second letter book, 1760-1761, contains 544 outgoing letters from John Louis Ligonier (442 items) and his secretary Richard Cox (102 items). Ligonier communicated most frequently with Secretary of War William Barrington, Lord George Beauclerk, the Marquis of Granby, Marquis Townshend, the Mayor of Bath Ralph Allen, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Napier, Lieutenant General Alexander Duroure, and Major General Studholme Hodgson. Ligonier discussed financial matters, recruitment issues, troop movements, the succession of officers, and the selling and purchasing of commissions. The most pressing matters that Ligonier wrote about were depleted financial resources, inadequate numbers of soldiers, and the lack of new recruits. The volume also includes congratulatory letters to officers returning from campaigns and correspondence pertinent to William Barrington's transfer to become Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ligonier's letters to Jeffery Amherst contain remarks on the Siege of Quebec (July 25, 1760) and the capture of Belle Isle (October 28, 1761).

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a recipient index, which may be accessed here: John Louis Ligonier Letter Books Recipient Index.

• March 17, 1752: A bill for accounts of land and sea services, spanning 1746-1752, addressed to Mr. Gashry
• July 12, 1758: A copied letter from Ligonier to Louis de Brunswick (in French)
• November 25, 1758: A copied letter from Ligonier to Monsieur La Houliere at Bath, England (in French)
• Undated: A copied letter from Ligonier (in French)

The John P. Cook photograph collection contains 9 photographs associated with U.S. Army officer John Pope Cook, including 7 images given to Cook by Dakota Territory-based Indian trader Charles Philander Jordan.

The John P. Cook photograph collection contains 9 photographs associated with U.S. Army officer John Pope Cook, including 7 images given to Cook by Dakota Territory-based Indian trader Charles Philander Jordan.

Among the photographs that were given to Cook by Jordan are a heavily retouched cabinet card studio portrait of Sitting Bull and a stereograph view on a cabinet card-sized mount captioned "No. 45 Spotted Tail's Tepee," both taken by photographer W. R. Cross; a studio group portrait of Red Cloud and Charles P. Jordan on a mount of Washington, D.C.-based photographer John Nephew bearing the verso inscription "To my most esteemed friend Gen. John Cook. C. P. Jordan July 9/89"; and five studio portrait photographs taken by John Alvin Anderson of six of Jordan's children born to his Lakota wife Julia Walks First Jordan (1859-1913; a niece of Red Cloud's, also known as Winyan Hoaka, True Woman, Weah-Wash-Tay, The Beautiful One), identified through verso inscriptions as "Mary J. Jordan," "Everard Cady Jordan," "Collins Custer Jordan," "Edwin E. & Wm Ward Jordan," and "Ella Adaline Jordan." The date and location of the portrait of Red Cloud and Jordan may point to the possibility of that image having been produced while the subjects were in Washington, D.C., during the 1889 Sioux Land Commission negotiations.

Also present are two photomechanically-illustrated postcards that date to the early 20th-century. One postcard bearing an advertisement for the Northern Pacific Railway was postmarked June 11, 1915 and addressed to John P. Cook's daughter Nina Cook in Frontier, Michigan, with the message "Dear Nina: I am on my way wish you were with me love Fred." The second postcard bears a profile view of the U.S.S. Nebraska and appears to have been postmarked August 1, 1910 and was addressed to Cook at his residence in Ransom, Michigan, with the message "Dear cousin sorry to make you all wait so long for ans (sic) to your kind letters but can't be helped this is a photo of one of the ships with the Atlantic fleet."

The John Vaughan papers document British activities in the West Indies during the American Revolution. Covered are Vaughan's incoming letters, dispatches, bills, reports, and memoranda during his command of the Leeward Islands from November of 1779 to March 1781, as well as several postwar manuscripts pertinent to the British Colonial West Indies. Due to its physical condition, this collection is currently unavailable for use except via digital facsimiles. Please contact the library for more information.

The John Vaughan papers (3 volumes and three loose items) document Vaughan's first two years as commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands, from November of 1779 to March 1781. The papers comprise approximately 470 items, almost all of which are incoming letters, dispatches, bills, reports, and memoranda from naval commanders and subordinates, officials in England and North America, and friends and relatives in England. Due to its physical condition, this collection is currently unavailable for use except via digital facsimiles.

The papers primarily relate to the conduct of the Revolutionary War in the West Indies, and reveal a close coordination between the army and navy in the region. Topics documented include the capture of St. Eustatius, the capture of transports by the French, the treatment of prisoners of war, and the provisioning and paying of troops. Also covered are promotions, discipline, and reports on hardships, such as endemic sickness, supply shortages (food, candles, rum, and money), poor barracks, a lack of doctors and medicine, and bad weather. Of note are the letters from William Mathew Burt, governor of Antigua and St. Christopher's; Gabriel Christie, commander at Antigua; Lucius Ferdinand Cary, commander at Tobago; George Ferguson, governor of Tobago; Commodore William Hotham; Admiral Hyde Parker; Admiral Samuel Hood; George Brydges Rodney, commander of the Leeward Island Station; Anthony St. Leger, brigadier general at St. Lucia; Major Henry Fitzroy Stanhope; and Loftus Anthony Tottenham, brigadier general at Barbados.

• Volume 1, item 23: After March 19, 1780: Memoranda for an answer to Christie's letter of March 18-19
• Folder 1: May 11, 1784: Vaughan's deposition sent to Isaac Howell, for a property dispute involving Edward Foord, Samuel Delprat, Richard Clark, and Simon Nathan, over a lawsuit in Jamaica
• Folder 1: September 29, 1789: Vaughan to an unknown property owner (partnered to a Mr. Alexander Ellis) concerning purchasing land on the Mohawk River
• Folder 1: September 17, 1794: John Vaughan to William Wyndham, reporting on specifics of British troop strengths throughout the Caribbean. Mention of surrender of Belville Camp, Guadeloupe, by capitulation in October, and lost companies in that affair. Martinique is the most important island from a military perspective. St. Lucia. Enemy strength at Guadeloupe, specifying around 400-500 "whites" and 4,000 or 5,000 "Blacks" armed with muskets and bayonets. Guadeloupe would require a Garrison of troops, with the number of men needed to attack. Believes that they should raise the siege of Basse-Terre and keep the enemy in check. Royalists can't be relied on. Strength at Antigua, St. Christopher's, and Dominica. Sir Charles Grey, Admiral Jarvis, and islands of St. Bartholomew and St. Thomas. Current assessment of privateers. British and French reinforcements. Capt. Hare's 10th Light Dragoons: when they came from America, they had "hardly a sound horse amongst them"--consider discontinuing this expensive Corps.

Volume 1 contains 246 items; Volume 2 contains 276 pages; and Volume 3 contains 207 pages.

John Williams kept this account book in 1843 to record brief accounts of expenses related to the construction of houses, barns, or other construction projects, likely near Hartford, Connecticut.

John Williams kept this account book in 1843 to record brief accounts of expenses related to the construction of houses, barns, or other construction projects, likely near Hartford, Connecticut.

The accounts reflect labor costs for framing, painting, oiling, scoring timber, carting, carpentry, and masonry. Purchase costs for various goods are also represented, such as lumber, doors, nails, glass, shingles, flooring, brick, lime, clapboards, stairway railings, and more. There are very brief notes regarding the sale of peaches and apples.

Josephine Augustus kept this journal between 1899 and 1904, writing record and diary-like entries of her experiences running a boarding house and farm near Columbus, Ohio.

Josephine Augustus recorded her work repairing and cutting dresses, cutting carpet rags, making clothing, quilting, creating a scrapbook, and washing. She also noted how many persons were present for dinners and work done by her assistants. Augustus also made notes on the weather, illnesses, and the travel and activities of other persons (such as who attended a funeral). On February 25, 1900, "Jose Ruth Mag Katie & Bina Martin" went to M-P church to hear a woman from Japan lecture.

Josephine Augustus produced fewer entries between 1901-1902 and afterward her writing becomes more internally focused and personal, detailing her struggles with difficult nights and grief for her mother. The last entry is dated January 5, 1904; the rest of the notebook is blank save for two brief pages of expenses, possibly written by Augustus.

This collection is mostly made up of letters that Josephine Dyer Varnum ("Josie") and John P. Varnum, natives of Massachusetts, wrote to each other and family members while living in Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida, in the 1880s. They commented on daily life, their young children, John's involvement in the newspaper trade, and his political work. Two letters relate to his work to ensure fair elections in the face of racial violence targeting the African American community of Madison and Greenville, Florida, in 1880.

This collection (76 items) is mostly made up of letters that Josephine Dyer Varnum ("Josie") and John P. Varnum, natives of Massachusetts, wrote to each other and family members while living in Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida, in the 1880s. They commented on daily life in Florida, their young children, John's involvement in the newspaper trade, and his political work. Two letters relate to his efforts in 1880 to ensure fair elections in the face of racial violence targeting the African American community of Madison and Greenville, Florida.

Letters from Josephine Dyer Varnum ("Josie") mostly consist of those she wrote to her mother and other family members while living in Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida, in the 1880s. The first two items are letters from Josephine L. Dyer to John P. Varnum ("Johnnie"), her future husband, written in October 1872. The remaining correspondence largely consists of Josephine's letters to her family in Massachusetts, in which she discussed many aspects of her life in Florida, such as food, weather, and her daily activities. She commented on a new sewing machine (April 1, 1884) and described some of her living quarters. Her letters include news of her husband John, who worked in the newspaper industry. Several letters are written on newspaper letterhead, and she commented on people wanting to work with John to start up a new paper, its sale, and its impact on his health. She writes about John's unsuccessful political campaing in 1877, and how he attended to visiting senators in 1884. Josephine also wrote about her children Charles ("Archie"), Grace ("Gracie"), and Edith ("Edie"). She wrote about the children's development, schooling, their feelings about their grandparents, and other subjects. She also sent a letter to an absent child about Christmas celebrations and gifts (December 30, 1883).

Josephine's letters provide a view of the family's social dynamics and racial beliefs. Several of her letters refer to her "Northern standpoint" or desire for a "Northern home." She notes at least two toys their children were using connected to racial stereotypes, an Uncle Remus book and an automaton bank of an African American man. She used racial epithets at least once (September 25, 1882), when she accused a domestic servant of causing her to burn her pies, suggesting at least some of the household workers were African Americans. Several other letters reflect a degree of prejudice, including disparaging Florida as "fit" only for African Americans (September 30, 1883), a preference for a white servant (February 11, 1885), and discomfort with integrated schools (September 28, 1885).

Correspondence to and from John P. Varnum comprises the rest of the collection, with many addressed to Josephine. He wrote about newspapers and politics. In a letter dated June 19, 1880, he scoffs at the Boston Globe, and recommends in addition to choosing a better paper that the recipient reads Albion W. Tourgée's A Fool's Errand, identifying some of the figures the characters represent and calling it "the most truthful novel ever penned." In his letters to his wife he wrote frankly about his frustration with politics and the stance of Northerners, the 1880 presidential election, the death of President James Garfield (September 20, 1881), and more.

In a 31-page letter to his wife dated November 6, 1880, he wrote in detail about the 1880 election in Madison and Greenville, Florida, and the racial violence and attempts at voter suppression targeting African American voters. He described threats and attempted violence against marshalls and himself as they worked to supervise the polls, noting attempts of fraud, the vigilance and protective efforts by members of the Black community, how they worked to evade being caught by white mobs, and the suggested presence of the Ku Klux Klan. He described his narrow escape as he was shot in the arm as he attempted to leave by train. In a subsequent letter dated February 9, 1881, John noted efforts to secure testimony about the contested election in Madison, leading to a verbal assault against an African American man, a retaliatory shooting that resulted in death, and subsequent imprisonment, threats of murder, and fleeing into the swamp.

Two letters are addressed to John P. Varnum from his father. Another correspondent wrote to Mr. Dyer from the Office of the Adjutant General at Tallahassee, Florida, on February 5, 1873, and reflected disparagingly on Florida's "second 'reconstruction' administration," comparing Governor Ossian Bingley Hart's wife, Catherine Hart, to Lucy Stone and referencing Josiah Walls' removal from office. Two items refer to John's military involvement, including his election as an active member of the 1st Florida Light Artillery (November 12, 1884) and his interest in applying for a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the army (December 10, [no year]).

The collection contains three undated documents: a manuscript map of properties along the Indian River; a printed list of letters of recommendation; and a partial manuscript addressed to the "republicans of Alachua county" opposing the National Party.

The Joseph Shipley, Jr., collection is made up of business and personal correspondence related to the Shipley and Bringhurst families of Wilmington, Delaware. Most items are letters to Joseph Shipley, Jr., a native of Wilmington who was involved in shipping and banking in Liverpool, England, in the early to mid-19th century.

The Joseph Shipley, Jr., collection (1 linear foot) contains business and personal correspondence related to the Shipley and Bringhurst families of Wilmington, Delaware. The earliest items include letters to Joseph Bringhurst from correspondents in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who commented on the cotton trade and finances from 1813-1817. The bulk of the collection is made up of business and personal letters to Joseph Shipley, Jr., from 1819 to the mid-1850s. Shipley, who lived and worked in Liverpool, England, regularly heard from merchants and family in Philadelphia and Wilmington and sometimes in New York and Manchester. The collection also includes some letters that Shipley wrote to his brothers. The Shipley correspondence often pertains to the shipment of cotton and other goods between the United States and Europe, to banking, and to family news from "Brandywine Mills."

Writers sometimes commented on current events or political affairs, such as elections, the advent of the "Native American" (Know Nothing) party and tensions between nativists and Irish Catholics in Philadelphia (May 14, 1844, and July 14, 1844), the "Oregon question," and the Mexican-American War. A letter from August 15, 1832, informs Shipley about the alarm over the cholera epidemic in Philadelphia. Several letters from the early 1840s mention the decline of the Bank of the United States, such as Richard Price's letter of October 30, 1840, which includes financial figures related to the bank. Shipley's later correspondence concerns personal and family matters, and he often received letters from his nieces and nephews in Delaware and Pennsylvania. The last items are letters written among members of the Bringhurst family. In one letter, Edward Bringhurst wrote to his wife Sarah about attending a religious service at the Sistine Chapel, presided over by the Pope (April 9, 1851). The collection also includes bills of lading, receipts, and indentures.

This collection consists of four items relating to the career of Kate M. Young, a teacher in Port Huron, Michigan, between 1860 and 1870.

This collection consists of four items relating to the career of Kate M. Young, a teacher in Port Huron, Michigan, between 1860 and 1870. One item is a letter by H. Fish, superintendent of the district, informing Young that she's been approved as a teacher in the Primary Department. The remaining three items are certificates, including Young's certificate of promotion to the high school department dated June 28, 1866.

Katherine Minor wrote most of the letters in this collection between 1859 and 1869 to Leverich & Co. in New York regarding her attempts to keep her plantation near Natchez, Mississippi solvent during Reconstruction. Between 1913 and 1917 Minor wrote 9 letters to Will J. Davis of Chicago, Illinois, and included several references to the World War and at least one reminiscence about likely enslaved African American laborers.

The bulk of the letters in the collection were written by Katherine S. Minor between 1859 and 1869 from Oakland plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, as she struggled to keep her plantations in operation during Reconstruction. These letters are addressed to Charles P. Leverich & Co. of New York, or to his nephew Edward Leverich, a principal of the firm. There are three brief letters from her husband John to the same company, written while the family was summering in Newport during the antebellum years. There are also two later letters that he wrote when Kate herself was unable to, due to illness. Although the letters contain many specifics about the crops, this is not simply a business correspondence; the Minors and Leveriches were probably related (Kate referred to Edward as John's cousin), and Kate wrote quite personal letters to the company. She openly expressed her frustrations and fears, not only for her family, but for the Leveriches, who would certainly have shared in the suffering if the Minors had not been able to struggle through the bleakest years of 1866 and 1867.

Kate's letters make it clear that she was an active partner in the running of the family's cotton plantations near Natchez, one or both of which might have come from her family. In the division of labor, John apparently spent much of his time making the rounds from plantation to plantation, keeping a close eye on crops and workers. In the meantime, Kate handled the plantation's finances: she kept track of invoices, wrote checks against their account with Leverich & Co., paid the freedmen's wages, and ordered quantities of supplies from the north. There were enough mouths to feed on the plantations that she ordered one hundred barrels of pork at a time. She arranged for the shipment of cotton, dealt with her manager, A. B. Kirby, and hired and fired as needed. Naturally, as financial manager, Kate also was the one to correspond with Leverich & Co. In all these matters she appears to have been an attentive and shrewd businesswoman.

Managing the financial affairs of the plantations did not free Kate from her duties as wife and mother. Her husband and her two children, Duncan and Tassie, were often sick, and Kate nursed them through all sorts of ailments. Caring for them caused her to be late in writing to the Leveriches on several occasions, and took a toll on her own state of well being: "My mind is much perplexed for four long weeks I have been the victim of distress and torturing anxiety -- what with Tassie with dysentery & Duncan with a fractured arm you can readily surmise my cares added to my own enfeebled health" (1867 July 18). When John was ill or away, she had to take over his responsibilities as well: "My cares are multiplied . . . [since I am] in charge of so many places" (1866 September 18).

One of the most challenging aspects of Kate's work was arriving at mutually satisfactory labor arrangements with formerly enslaved laborers. In 1866 she reported to Leverich that "the Freed Man work well" although it had been necessary to dismiss "some ten or twelve disagreeable characters." In October of that year, she wrote that the "fields in P[alo] A[lto] are still white - We have made many abortive efforts to employ transient hands - Also sent 15 Carthage hands to pick but it will not answer." Soon, however, the workers were demanding higher wages. By 1869 Kate had each "squad" of laborers keep an account book recording the goods provided to them, "and we enter each item therin with the hopes of preventing trouble on settling-up day." Other freed slaves simply left her. Kate parted reluctantly with her "most accomplished servants. My father's old butler & his son -- they have gone to St. Louis to seek their fortune" (1867 November 16). Kate was fair enough to provide them with letters of introduction and expressed the hope "that they may someday succeed."

When the butler and his son left, Kate lamented, "we could not afford to hire them" anyway. This was a startling change for Kate and John. "It is terrible to be so poor," she wrote. Her husband John, she wrote to Leverich, was "working with his chickens -- feeding our pigs & cows so you see -- we realize our necessity" (1867 November 16). At least one plantation, Palo Alto, was mortgaged a second time in order to secure a $5,000 advance from Leverich & Co. Spending the summer in the more salubrious climate of the North, as they were accustomed to, was impossible. She hoped John could get to the White Mountains, since his health was so poor, but she insisted that she "must devote myself to the improvement of our financial affairs" (1866 March 26).

Nature conspired against the Minors, and many others, in 1866 and 1867, making it impossible to forecast if there would even be a crop to harvest. Rain was a constant problem in 1867. Kate described the fields as looking "like sheets of snow" and worried that "if a hard storm comes, we are ruined." A crisis occurred in March, 1867, when the levee at Palo Alto threatened to break. "Palo Alto is in imminent danger.. .how disheartening is the prospect today," she wrote (1867 March 27). Four hundred hands were reinforcing the levee, battling the crevasses, "all hard at work Sundays & at nights," (1867 March 30). "Does not the planting interest seem to have one evil after another to contend against?," she mused (1867 April 27).

Her question was a valid one, for soon yellow fever threatened, and in July 1867, a worm infestation. "The planters and lessees are panic stricken," she wrote (1867 July 10). The situation was so dire that the Minors decided to plant corn, peas, and pumpkins "as far as we can procure seed" all along the cotton "to overcome the impending evil -- starvation" (1867 July 10). To make 1867 a complete disaster, a storm wrecked the cotton press and destroyed much of their cotton in November. "Does it not seem as if we poor people of the South are suffering from the blight of God's most direful wrath?" Kate asked (1867 November 16).

The collection also includes nine letters Katherine S. Minor wrote between 1913 and 1917 to Will J. Davis of Chicago, Illinois. She wrote about family news, health concerns, dogs and horses, magazines, and complaints about the Natchez Bank, among other topics. In her letter of December 18, 1913, she copied an article about Indian mounds originally printed on July 31, 1857, in the Concordia Intelligence. In these later letters, Minor occassionaly referenced World War I, including an incident where the local baker exclaimed, "I expect you know something what war means" (June 21, 1916). In at least one of these later letters, Minor includes reflections on her earlier experiences, referencing African American laborers and "the many vicissitudes of Life through which I have survived" (September 25, no year).