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

This collection is mostly made up of letters written by United States politician Fisher Ames from the 1780s to early 1800s. He discussed political topics such as the first United States Congress, Congressional disagreements, sectarianism in Congress, the United States presidential election of 1796, and several prominent politicians. Two printed portraits of Ames are also included.

This collection (23 items) contains 21 letters by United States politician Fisher Ames, including 17 letters pertaining directly to United States politics. From March 4, 1789, to June 3, 1805, he wrote to multiple correspondents about his experiences in the United States House of Representatives. Ames commented in depth on issues such as poor attendance during the legislature's inaugural session, the location of the national capital, sectarian disagreements between congressmen from the North and South, the presidential election of 1796, the First Bank of the United States, and the role and members of the federal judiciary. He mentioned prominent politicians such as Benjamin Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, William Branch Giles, and James Madison. In one undated letter, Ames advised the recipient to avoid a political career and commented briefly on the Embargo and the possibility of war with England and France.

The collection's other manuscripts include a financial document between Ames and Eli Pond, regarding board for a colt (May 30, 1783), correspondence concerning the Episcopal Church in Boston, Massachusetts (August 14, 1797), an invitation to speak to a charitable organization (February 22, 1803), and the construction of a wall (October 22, 1804). Two portraits, housed in the Graphics Division, are engravings based on paintings by Gilbert Stuart and Alonzo Chappel.

The Flathead Indian Reservation photograph album contains 65 photographs of Native American men, women, and children on the Flathead Indian Reservation and in Missoula, Montana.

The Flathead Indian Reservation photograph album contains 65 photographs of Native American men, women, and children on the Flathead Indian Reservation and in Missoula, Montana.

The album (30 x 26 cm) is a modern three-ring binder with brown faux leather covers. All the album’s images are unmounted snapshots that have been arranged inside plastic album sleeves. The snapshots are mostly either 10 x 7 cm or 10.5 x 16 cm.

The album begins with portraits of Native American individuals taken in the Higgins Block of downtown Missoula, Montana, including two portraits of a Native American man posing with his infant child in a cradleboard as well as an unidentified white man, and four portraits taken outside of “Al Green’s Shaving Parlor.” Other images likely taken in and around Missoula show up elsewhere throughout the album, including several group portraits with a white fence in the background that may possibly have been taken outside the residence of the photographer, Dr. C. W. Lombard. Many photographs also appear to have been taken at the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Images of particular interest include photographs showing Native American individuals and groups (including many families) wearing western and/or traditional clothing, infants in cradleboards, encampment and reservation scenes, and landscape views. While many portraits appear to be quite casual and relatively unscripted, several clearly staged photographs are present including a man and older woman posing with sheep heads, two women (one holding a mirror) combing their hair by a river, and two men playing cards in front of a tipi.

While none of the subjects photographed in this album are identified by captions, an older man appearing in two photographs (one posing with a child on a hobby horse and another posing with a group in downtown Missoula with a child in a hand-pulled wagon) has been identified through research as Baptiste Kakashee, also known as Judge Phte and Kil-Ki-Chee.

This collection is made up of seven letters to Dr. Francis T. Stribling, in his capacity as director of the Western Lunatic Asylum in Staunton, Virginia. They include inquiries about patients at the institution, queries about admissions, and an 1855 printed circular request by the Commission on Lunacy, Massachusetts, for patient information to include in their census/report.

This collection is made up of seven letters to Dr. Francis T. Stribling, in his capacity as director of the Western Lunatic Asylum in Staunton, Virginia. They include inquiries about patients at the institution, queries about admissions, and an 1855 printed circular request by the Commission on Lunacy, Massachusetts, for patient information to include in their census/report.

See the box and folder listing in this document for more information about each item in this collection.

This collection contains correspondence, legal documents, financial records, and other material related to the family of Frederick Kislingbury, who died during Adolphus Greely's expedition to the Arctic in the early 1880s. The majority of the material pertains to disputes over Kislingbury's estate, the custody of his children, and his sons' later lives.

This collection contains correspondence, legal documents, financial records, and other material related to the family of Frederick Kislingbury, who died during Adolphus Greely's expedition to the Arctic in the early 1880s. The majority of the material pertains to disputes over his estate, the custody of his children, and his sons' later lives.

The Correspondence and Documents series (around 500 items) comprises the bulk of the collection. Before embarking on Adolphus Greely's Lady Franklin Bay Expedition in August 1881, Frederick Kislingbury signed several personal checks, received postcards from the Army Mutual Aid Association, and corresponded with acquaintances about his finances. On August 17, 1881, he wrote a letter to his sons about his upcoming voyage, and he marked the expedition's proposed landing point on a printed map of the Arctic regions. Soon after his father's departure, Harry H. G. Kislingbury received letters and legal documents regarding a package that his father had sent to him before leaving for the Arctic. Several other letters pertain directly to the expedition. In a letter to Kislingbury dated January 20, 1882, Adolphus Greeley criticized Greely's sleeping habits during his "enforced stay with this command" and discussed the circumstances that led to Kislingbury's initial dismissal for insubordination in 1881. A copied letter from Captain W. M. Beebe about the Neptune's attempted rescue mission (July 17, 1882) and a printed letter confirming the failure of the 1883 relief expedition (September 14, 1883) are also present.

The bulk of the series is made up of incoming letters, legal documents, and financial records to Charles Lamartine Clark, a Detroit resident who served as Kislingbury's estate executor. The material primarily concerns the estate's finances and the custody of Kislingbury's sons. Clark often corresponded with the Army Mutual Aid Association, and the collection has a copy of its 4th annual report (1883). John P. Kislingbury and William H. Kislingbury, Frederick Kislingbury's brothers, wrote to Clark from Rochester, New York. They argued over custody of the Kislingbury children, their brother's funeral and burial, and his financial affairs, though their later correspondence was more cordial toward Clark. Clark also owned an account book covering Kislingbury's relationship with Riggs & Co. from 1881-1884. Some items from 1885 concern a pension that the United States Congress awarded to his sons and related efforts to certify their ages.

After 1885, Harry H. G. Kislingbury wrote letters to Clark about his experiences at the Michigan Military Academy in Orchard Lake, Michigan. Clark also received letters about Harry's conduct from the school's superintendent. Harry later wrote about his life in San Francisco, California, and Flagstaff, Arizona, in the late 1880s.

Wheeler Kislingbury wrote several lengthy personal letters to Charles L. Clark in 1913 and 1914, mentioning his life in San Francisco, California, expressing regret over his uncles' actions following his father's death, and discussing the possibility of publishing his father's diary. Additionally, one letter describes an encounter with Adolphus Greely in which the officer refused to talk to Wheeler after discovering that he was Frederick Kislingbury's son (May 7, 1913). Douglas E. L. Kislingbury wrote a brief personal letter to Clark from Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1917, and Wheeler wrote 2 letters to Clark's wife from Winslow, Arizona, in 1919.

Henry H. G. Kislingbury kept a Diary (100 pages) while traveling from New York to San Francisco onboard the St. Mark between December 6, 1886, and April 22, 1887. Kislingbury wrote about the ship's crew, the weather, the scenery, and the captain's family, who were passengers on the voyage.

The Cass School (Detroit, Mich.) and Michigan Military Academy Papers pertain to the education of two of Frederick Kislingbury's sons. Two report cards from the Cass School in Detroit, Michigan, provide information on Walter Kislingbury's academic progress in 1883. The remaining 25 loose items are report cards and receipts concerning Harry H. G. Kislingbury's academic progress, conduct, and finances during his time at the Michigan Military Academy, 1884-1886. He also kept an account book while attending the school.

The Photographs series (5 items) contains portraits of Charles L. Clark, his wife Georgina Frazer Clark, and a group portrait of Clark with Walter Frederick Kislingbury and Wheeler Kislingbury. Frederick Kislingbury carried the carte-de-visite of Charles L. Clark during the Greely expedition.

A manuscript Menu lists the meals consumed by the Greely expedition on each day of the week.

The Printed Items series is comprised of 2 items: a copy of the Sunday Morning Herald with an article about Frederick Kislingbury's death (July 20, 1884) and Harry H. G. Kislingbury's copy of Emory Upton's Infantry Tactics Double and Single Rank. Adapted to American Topography and Improved Fire-Arms (Revised edition, 1884).

Frederick W. Whipple maintained this notebook while studying at the Classical Institute of Warren, Rhode Island and Brown University. It contains Whipple's essays, notes, practice letters, and other sections relating to his education between 1855 and 1862.

Frederick W. Whipple maintained this while studying at the Classical Institute of Warren, Rhode Island and Brown University. It contains Whipple's essays, notes, practice letters, and other sections relating to his education between 1855 and 1862.

Whipple began studying at the Classical Institute in 1855 and began studying at Brown University in 1862. A section relating to composition includes essays on education, woolen mills, California, nighttime, Native Americans, the American Revolution, intemperance, agriculture, and "What the result will be if Fremont or Buchanan are elected." Debate answers for whether war is justified or not are also included, as well as lists of etiquette rules for church and dining.

Whipple's Brown University lecture notes cover topics on essay writing, argumentation, persuasion, style and grammar, precision, completeness, and unequivocal words.

The Clements Library's collection of individual friendship and autograph albums (the ones that are not part of larger bodies of family papers) dates primarily from the second half of the 19th century. The creators of these albums sought out friends, family, schoolmates, public persons, and others to write signatures, sentiments, poetry, extracts from books and serials, personal sentiments, and more. Contributions often emphasize ties of friendship, exhortations to seek love, happiness, or Christian religious salvation. Most of the volumes in this collection were compiled in the Northeast United States and areas in the Midwest, with urban and rural areas represented. The greater number of the albums were kept by young women and the bulk of the signers were also female. Contributors occasionally illustrated pages with calligraphic designs, trompe l'oeil visiting cards, animals, flowers, and themes that had particular significance to their relationship with the keeper of the album. The volumes in this collection are largely decorative blank books adorned with tooled covers, sometimes containing interspersed engravings of religious, literary, historical, and landscape themes. Some include pasted-in photographs, die-cuts, or stickers.

The Clements Library's collection of individual friendship and autograph albums (the ones that are not part of larger bodies of family papers) dates primarily from the second half of the 19th century. The creators of these albums sought out friends, family, schoolmates, public persons, and others to write signatures, sentiments, poetry, extracts from books and serials, personal sentiments, and more. Contributions often emphasize ties of friendship, exhortations to seek love, happiness, or Christian religious salvation. Most of the volumes in this collection were compiled in the Northeast United States and areas in the Midwest, with urban and rural areas represented. The greater number of the albums were kept by young women and the bulk of the signers were also female. At least one volume was kept by an African American man, Lewis G. Mosebay. Contributors occasionally illustrated pages with calligraphic designs, trompe l'oeil visiting cards, animals, flowers, and themes that had particular significance to their relationship with the keeper of the album. The volumes in this collection are largely decorative blank books adorned with tooled covers, sometimes containing interspersed engravings of religious, literary, historical, and landscape themes. Some include pasted-in photographs, die-cuts, or stickers.