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

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.

The Joseph Story papers contain the incoming letters of Joseph Story, a Massachusetts state representative, United States Supreme Court justice, and Harvard Law School professor. The papers deal with a wide range of political and legal issues concerning Massachusetts and the United States in the first half of the 19th century.

The Joseph Story papers (685 items) consist of the incoming letters of Joseph Story, a Massachusetts state representative, United States Supreme Court justice, and Harvard Law School professor. The collection contains 672 letters, 7 financial bills, and five printed items. Included are nine letters written by Story, and four by wife Mary Story. The rest were all addressed to Joseph Story, with the exception of two that were addressed to his daughter Sarah Wetmore Story and 15 written to his son William Wetmore Story. Forty-three items are undated. The papers deal with a wide range of national and state political issues and legal matters.

The collection covers the years 1794-1806, 1819-1825, and 1839-1843, with only a few items representing the remaining years. Included are letters from United States representatives related to congressional news; letters from prominent lawyers, judges, and jurors concerning legal matters and cases; and letters concerning Harvard Law School.

• October 1833: Antoine F. Picquet v. Charles P. Curtis, administrator of James Swan
• October 1843: Augustus H. Fiske v. Lyman Hunt
• October 1843: Bankruptcy case against B____.

The 1794-1806 letters document Story's early days as a Massachusetts lawyer and the beginning of his career as a state representative. Of particular interest are 10 letters from Samuel Sewall, a Massachusetts representative and later Supreme Court chief justice, under whom Story studied law. These mainly deal with Sewall's law office in Salem, Massachusetts, but also contain advice to Story on his reading of the law. Also of note are 14 letters from Jacob Crowninshield, a congress member and later secretary of the navy, concerning legislation affecting Massachusetts, policies regarding the fishing industry, and the presidential election of 1804. Prominent Boston lawyer James Sullivan contributed five letters related to various legal matters of the day.

The 1819-1825 letters document Story's activities as overseer of Harvard University and Supreme Court justice, during which time he split his residency between Salem and Washington D.C. Of special interest are 18 letters from Massachusetts congress member John Davis, in which he discussed international maritime law. Other notable contributors include Simon Greenlead (12 items), who discussed court decisions in Maine; Isaac Parker (6 items), who wrote about legal cases in Boston; Bushrod Washington (4 items), who reported on his legal cases before the Philadelphia circuit court; and Henry Wheaton (10 items), who shared judicial matters about New York. Also of note are letters from 1825 that relate to the need for altering instructional methods at Harvard, and a controversial election of members to the Corporation of Harvard College.

The Story papers contain only 27 items that date from 1826 to 1838. Of these, six are from French jurist Jean-Jacques Gaspard Foelix containing requests for Story to contribute to his journal Revue du droit français et étranger.

The 1839-1842 letters document the end of Story's career as an active justice, scholar, and law professor. Story received letters from prominent lawyers and judges from Portland, Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Story also received requests for speeches and was given honors from scholarly institutions throughout New England.

• John C. Calhoun (1 item)
• Henry A.S. Dearborn (9 items)
• William Fettyplace (7 items)
• Joseph Hopkinson (5 items)
• Susan Ledyard (12 items)
• Francis Lieber (10 items)
• Jeremiah Mason (10 items)
• Theron Metcalf (5 items)
• Richard Peters (15 items)
• John Pickering (8 items)
• John Pitman (20 items)
• William Prescott (5 items)
• Jared Sparks (5 items)
• Charles Sumner (8 items)
• George Ticknor (10 items)
• Bushrod Washington (4 items)
• Daniel Webster (3 items)
• Stephen White (16 items)
• Nathaniel Williams (15 items)

• September 12, 1796: Leonard Woods to Story concerning religion and containing maxims on happiness
• February 12, 1799: Samuel Sewall to Story concerning advice for reading law
• January 15, 1800: Samuel Sewall to Story concerning the death of George Washington
• April 3, 1800: Sewall to Story concerning advice for reading law
• February 13, 1804: Jacob Crowninshield to Story concerning the Louisiana Purchase
• February 26, 1804: Jacob Crowninshield to Story concerning the presidential and vice-presidential elections of 1804
• March 23, 1804: Jacob Crowninshield to Story concerning the sinking of the Ship Philadelphia off the coast of Tripoli and the Barbary conflict
• November 3, 1804: James Sullivan to Story concerning probate court decisions from 1776-1779
• January 28, 1806: Jacob Crowninshield to Story concerning Napoleon's victories in Europe
• April 13, 1819: Henry Wheaton to Story concerning an "Ann Act to protect Banks against embezzlement by their agents, Clerks, or servants, and for other purposes."
• January 15, 1821: Elizabeth H. Walker to Story concerning arguments against slavery in congress
• July 9, 1821: Henry Dearborn to Story concerning a military officer's trial before a Boston circuit court
• August 25, 1821: Theodore Lyman to Story concerning the constitutionality of new laws concerning slaves and abolition in Massachusetts
• December 10, 1821: Elijah Paine to Story concerning the selection of a president of Dartmouth College
• June 1, 1822: Benjamin Livingston to Story concerning William Johnson's Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathaniel Greene
• June 11, 1822: Francis Scott Keys to Story, concerning Ralph Randolph Gurley and the American Colonization Society
• August 15, 1822: Ralph Randolph Gurley to Story concerning American Colonization Society and the "African cause"
• February 23, 1823: Sarah Dunlap to Story requesting help with her son will soon disgrace her family by marrying a divorced wife and profligate actress
• August 22, 1823: William J. Spooner to Story concerning Phi Beta Kappa
• December 7, 1823: John Mason to Story concerning the national debt and the Monroe Doctrine
• June 5, 1825: Massachusetts Governor John Davis to Story concerning the Corporation of Harvard College
• July 7 and October 24, 1825: Justice Smith Thompson to Story providing legal summaries of important cases appearing before Story
• August 20, 1828: Joseph Hopkinson to Story regarding thoughts on the presidential election between Jackson and Adams and on becoming a federal judge
• March 18, 1839: Charles Sumner to Story concerning Lord Brougham gifting Sumner his wig
• August 26, 1839: Charles P. Curtis to Story, proposing the appointment of Edward G. Loring as a master in chancery of the United States Circuit Court.
• January 7, 1842: H.G.V. Colby to William Wetmore Story concerning Colby's remarks in the case of Sampson vs. Stoddard
• March 19 and May 13, 1842: Alexander Maxwell & Son of London to Story concerning a bill for books
• June 7, 1842: Artist Augustin Edouard to Story concerning making a "silhouette likeness" of Story
• December 31, 1845: Harriet Martineau to Sarah Wetmore Story, concerning Joseph Story's death

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).