Slavery, Abolition, & The Civil War
Aldrich, Robert D.
- Robert D. Aldrich papers, 1783-1983.
- 17 linear ft., 28 v. [outsize], and 1 outsize folder.
- Photographs 4 linear ft. and 1 outsize folder.
Papers and photographs collected by Robert D. Aldrich relating to the history, people and institutions of Concord village in Jackson County, Michigan; include correspondence, diaries, account books and other papers of Concord residents; records of Concord social organizations, businesses, schools, and church and governmental bodies.
Beckley, Guy
- Guy Beckley letters, 1839 and 1847.
- 2 items.
Guy Beckley, Methodist minister and abolitionist in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Letter, Nov. 7, 1839, to his brother-in-law Ralph Walker of Weathersfield, Vt., describing his journey to Michigan, conditions in Ann Arbor, and his thoughts on the death of his wife and abolitionism. Letter, Nov. 20, 1847, also to Ralph Walker, describing family affairs; letter completed after Beckley's death by his wife and children. Transcriptions of letters in collection.
Boyd Family
- Boyd family papers, 1761-1945.
- 1 linear ft.
Papers of the William H. Boyd family of Monroe, Michigan.
Correspondence, diaries, addresses, photograph, and miscellaneous papers concerning family and business affairs, temperance, slavery and the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, Michigan. Correspondents include: Isaac P. Christiancy and Alpheus Felch.
Brown, Martha
- Martha A. Brown letter, 1856.
- 1 item.
Kansas settler.
Account of the death of her husband at the hands of a pro-slavery mob in Kansas in 1856.
Chandler, Elizabeth Margaret
- Elizabeth Margaret Chandler papers, 1793-1854.
- 0.6 linear ft. (2 boxes).
Papers of Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, Abolitionist poet, and the Chandler family of Adrian, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, including Elizabeth's parents Thomas and Margaret Evans Chandler; Margaret's sisters Ruth Evans and Jane Howell; Elizabeth's brothers Thomas and William, and William's wife Sarah Taylor Chandler.
Correspondence of Elizabeth and Thomas Chandler and Ruth Evans with family members in the East, Benjamin Lundy, and others, describing early settlement, agricultural conditions, and local and national anti-slavery movements; also family correspondence of Thomas and Margaret Chandler in Pennsylvania. Correspondents include: William Bliss, Thomas Chandler, Darius Comstock, Isaac Crary, Abi Evans, Jane Howell, Darius C. Jackson, Benjamin Lundy, William M. Sullivan and Matthew F. Whittier.
Clark, George W.
- George W. Clark scrapbook, 1839-1887.
- 1 oversize vol. (ca. 200 p.) and 0.2 linear ft.
Resident of Jackson, Michigan.
Volume used both as a subscription list to the Michigan Temperance Herald published by Clark and as a scrapbook of clippings detailing his temperance and anti-slavery activities; and loose clippings from volume.
DeLand Family
- DeLand family papers, 1811-1943.
- 0.8 linear ft. (2 boxes).
DeLand-Crary family of Jackson, Michigan.
Personal correspondence, 1842-1941; Civil War letters, 1862-1865, of C. V. DeLand of Co. C, Ninth Michigan Infantry, later Colonel of the First Sharpshooters during the Civil War; correspondence concerning early Jackson history, indentures, school records, temperance and abolition material and other records pertaining to family affairs and the town of Jackson, Michigan; and photographs.
Article on the Anti-Slavery movement.
From Box 1 of the Dwight L. Dumond
papers.
Dumond, Dwight L.
- Dwight L. Dumond papers, 1928-1970.
- 2 linear ft.
Professor of history at the University of Michigan.
Correspondence and other papers concerning his research and writings on the anti-slavery movement in America; include letters received, ca. 1961-1970, reflecting prevailing attitudes towards race relations and the historiography of the American Civil War; and photographs relating to his career.
Dunn, Ransom
- Ransom Dunn papers, 1796-1900.
- 10 linear ft.
Free Will Baptist minister and president of Hillsdale College.
Correspondence and other materials concerning the Free Will Baptists, Hillsdale College and its predecessor, Michigan Central College at Spring Arbor, with mention of Dunn's anti-slavery and Republican party activities; also Civil War letters from his sons, Francis Wayland, soldier in the 64th Illinois Infantry, and Newell Ransom, student at Oberlin and Hillsdale College; letter, Feb. 23, 1853, from Austin Blair discussing the legality of an injunction on Michigan Central College, Spring Arbor; and photographs.
Ellison, W. James
- Denison et al. v. Tucker: judicial abolition of slavery in the territory of Michigan, 1976.
- 1 item (40 p).
Law student at the University of Michigan.
Research paper prepared for the law course entitled, "Race and the American legal process."
Foster, Theodore
- Theodore Foster papers, 1835-1862.
- 1 linear ft. (3 boxes).
Co-editor of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Signal of Liberty; Superintendent of State Industrial School for Boys, and editor of Lansing State Republican.
Scrapbook and anti-slavery papers of Foster including manuscripts on the Liberty Party, the Colonization Society, the slave trade and other aspects of slavery; also account books which include subscription lists for the Signal of Liberty; additional papers on philosophical, sociological and religious topics.
Gregg, William C.
- William C. Gregg papers, undated
- 2 volumes
Resident of Cass County, Michigan.
"Reminiscences of Calvin Township, Cass County, Michigan," a semifictional account of the Saunders colony of freed slaves, and "Abdallah, the Yankee Arab," a semifictional account of Abdallah, an Algerian Arab, and his life in Algeria, France, and French and British Guiana before immigrating to Youngstown, Ohio, some time in the nineteenth century.
Halliday, E.W.
- E. W. Halliday account book, 1865.
- 1 volume.
Major and commissary officer in the Confederate army during the Civil War.
Account book kept while stationed at Gainsville Junction, Mississippi, of supplies issued and work done; includes employment record of slaves hired as laborers; volume was later used as payroll record book of the Forty-sixth Illinois Infantry; and drawing.
Hampton, Oliver
- Oliver Hampton papers, 1827-1891.
- 0.3 linear ft.
Hickory Grove, Michigan, farmer.
Letters from relatives and friends in New York and Pennsylvania, concerning family and church (Society of Friends) matters and remarks about the Civil War; also diary and account book of Hampton, and genealogy of the Hampton and Good families.
Jones, Lucian H.
- Lucian H. Jones papers, 1836-1863.
- ca. 30 items.
Resident of Grass Lake, Michigan.
Correspondence between Jones, his relatives and business acquaintances, concerning family and business affairs, and mentioning politics and antislavery organizations; also manuscript by Cora Benster containing reminiscences of early days in Michigan; and correspondence, 1842, from Seymour B. Treadwell on the Liberty Party.
Kooker, Arthur R.
- Arthur R. Kooker papers, 1850-1882.
- 0.5 linear ft. and 1 oversize folder.
Papers collected by Arthur R. Kooker, professor of history at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, as part of dissertation research on the anti-slavery movement in Michigan.
Correspondence, notebooks, writings, and genealogical material of Nathan M. Thomas, Schoolcraft, Michigan, physician, anti-slavery spokesman and activist, agent for Signal of Liberty (abolitionist newspaper) and conductor on the underground railroad; include letter describing Kansas in 1856, letters discussing pre- and post-Civil War politics, especially as relates to anti-slavery, and letters from Gerrit Smith, 1858-1859.
Littlefield Family
- Littlefield family papers, 1834-1935.
- 0.5 linear ft.
Papers, of the Josiah Littlefield family of Monroe County and Farwell, Clare County, Michigan.
Correspondence, typescript of autobiography, and excerpted typescript of University of Michigan student diary, 1867-1871, of Josiah Littlefield, surveyor, lumberman, and conservationist; also letters of other members of the Littlefield and Hall families largely concerning social life and customs, Michigan agriculture and lumbering, medical practice, women's activities, and surveying and land speculation; include letters with comments on Oberlin College in the 1830's, the abolitionist movement and the U.S. Civil War, and early conservation and forestry practice, ca. 1910; and photographs.
Lowe, Berenice Bryant
- Berenice B. Lowe papers, 1880s-1980s.
- 0.8 linear ft. and 1 oversize folder.
Local historian and collector of historical manuscripts.
Materials concerning Sojourner Truth, Black abolitionist who settled in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1857; miscellaneous letters of John G. Whittier, George W. Cable; correspondence of Lowe with writer Gerald Carson; diaries of 1963 trip to Europe; and miscellanea and photographs.
Michigan Anti-Slavery Society
- Michigan Anti-Slavery Society fragment from account book, 1854.
- 1 item (photocopy).
Membership dues with list of names.
Mott, John
- John Mott papers, 1843-1850.
- 4 items.
Farmer in Jackson County, Michigan.
Two letters form Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that discuss anti-slavery activities, a genealogy of Mott family, and copy of a printed testimonial upon death of Mott.
Letter written by Mark Norris about the Dred
Scott case, March 31, 1852. From Box 1 of
the Norris Family papers.
Norris Family
- Norris family papers, 1815-1960.
- 3 linear ft. and 1 oversize folder.
Norris family of Ypsilanti and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Papers of Mark Norris, Ypsilanti businessman and postmaster, concerning banking, milling, and railroads, and including letters from his son, Lyman, concerning his studies in the 1840's at Marshall Academy, the University of Michigan, and Yale University, travels in Europe, and his participation in the Dred Scott slavery case; papers of his wife, Roccena Vaill Norris, local teacher and woman's rights advocate, relating in part to the Civil War, her interest in the cause of coeducation and suffrage for women and her involvement in the First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti; papers of their son, Lyman, attorney and regent of the University of Michigan, 1883-1884, concerning business matters, family matters, post-Civil War politics, especially his campaign for state supreme court justice in 1875, and his work on the board of regents, particularly as relates to the School of Dentistry; papers of Lyman's son, Mark Norris, Grand Rapids attorney and Grand Master of the Knights Templar in the United States largely concerning Freemasonry activities, but also including University of Michigan student notebook, 1877, of course taught by Charles K. Adams, and scrapbook, 1875-1876, of University life; papers of Lyman's daughter Maria Norris, Grand Rapids physician; papers of Mark's son, Abbott Norris, concerning his interest in political issues, 1936-1946, as reflected in correspondence with the state's congressional delegation.
Also includes related papers of other family members, notably the Whittelsey family of Connecticut, and photographs.
Osborn, Alice
- Alice Osborn letter, Jan. 26, 1967.
- 1 item.
Resident of Dowagiac, Michigan.
Letter concerning her husband's great grandfather, Charles Osborn, a Quaker abolitionist who lived in Cass COunty, Michigan from 1842-1847.
Osborn, Charles
- Charles Osborn letters, 1840, 1842, 1851 and undated.
- 4 items.
Quaker abolitionist, one time resident of Cassopolis, Cass County, Michigan.
Letters describing daily activities, church matters, and conflict within the church on the question of slavery.
Osborn, Jefferson
- Jefferson Osborn subscription list, 1851.
- 1 item (photostatic copy).
Resident of Calvin Township, Cass County, Michigan.
List of contributors of financial aid for court case to aid fugitive slaves, with description of facts of the case.
Pattengill Family
- Pattengill family papers, 1767-1963.
- 2 linear ft.
Residents of Lansing, and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Correspondence, newspaper clippings and other papers concerning the Pattengill, Sharpsteen and Woodward families; also papers relating to Ann Arbor anti-slavery leader Theodore Foster.
Perry (b. 1803)
- Perry autobiographical sketch, undated
- 1 item.
Free Black, son of Syrus Perry, who was enslaved, escaped from kidnappers, and settled in Cass County, Michigan.
Pierce, Nathan
- Nathan Pierce papers, 1842-1862.
- 0.2 linear ft. (2 v. and 2 folders).
Farmer and Whig State Representative from Washtenaw, and Calhoun Counties, Michigan.
Five letters from Daniel Arnold about panic of 1857, slavery question, and politics; miscellaneous business papers; two account books, 1842-1861 and 1848-1860, noting sales of farm products, wages paid and other expenditures.
Power, Nathan
- Nathan Power record, 1826-1873.
- 1 item (photostatic negative).
Quaker anti-slavery reformer from Farmington, Michigan.
Notations on visits, buildings built, land cleared, political activities, account of winters, Quaker meetings, anti-slavery activities, and travels, including a journey from New York to Michigan in 1826.
Reynolds, William Harvey
- William Harvey Reynolds papers, 1857-1863 and 1962.
- 1 vol. and 3 items. (Typewritten copy of Civil War diary).
Student at Hillsdale College in Michigan.
Diary, 1857, covering his student life, including mention of anti-slavery meetings, and his later experiences as a school teacher; extracts from his diary kept during the Civil War, and biographical sketch.
Stewart, Alvan
- Alvan Stewart letter, June 9, 1836.
- 1 item.
New York abolitionist and prohibitionist.
Letter to his wife commenting on widespread immigration into Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana, and the founding of a temperance society in Toledo, Ohio.
Swift Family
- Swift family papers, 1834-1921.
- 0.25 linear ft.
Swift-Lapham-Barker family of New York state and southeastern Michigan.
Papers, 1834-1845, of the Rev. Marcus Swift, Methodist circuit rider, including some letters concerning his anti-slavery convictions; papers, ca. 1840's, of his son, Orson Ross Swift, Wesleyan Methodist circuit rider, including notes on places preached, sermons on temperance and notes on other sermons; papers, 1836-1845, of William G. and A. S. Lapham, largely concerning the building of a bridge in New York, and Northville, Michigan, business affairs; papers, 1844-1852, of the Barker family of Manchester and Grand Rapids, Michigan, concerning politics, religion, problems of women, medicine, and farming, and including an account of trip to California in 1850; minute book, 1834-1921, of School District No. 7, Novi, Oakland County, Michigan; and miscellaneous newspapers; also photographs.
Also petition (1841) of Methodists in Nankin, Mich., withdrawing from the Methodist Episcopal Church in Michigan for failure of the denomination to condemn slavery.
Taylor, David B.
- David B. Taylor reminiscence, 1917.
- 1 item.
Student at University of Michigan.
Reminiscence of speech against slavery made by Wendell Phillips in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1862.
Taylor Family
- Taylor family papers, 1827-1908.
- 4 linear ft.
Albion, Michigan, family.
Papers of Barton Stout Taylor, Methodist clergyman, including correspondence relating primarily to family affairs and religious matters; sermons, articles, and addresses concerning slavery, temperance, the Prohibition Party, woman suffrage, and the Methodist Church; reminiscences and biographical material; diaries of his wife, Elizabeth Gurney Taylor, detailing her everyday activities; papers of Ralph Wendell Taylor, alumnus of University of Michigan and teacher in the Philippine Islands, 1901-1908, including correspondence with his family relating to his activities in the Philippines; legal record book, 1828-1942, of Philo Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan, Justice of the Peace; notebook of Wallace Taylor; and miscellaneous family school papers, autograph album, and personal account book.
Thomas, Nathan M.
- Nathan M. Thomas papers, 1818-1889.
- 2 linear ft. (3 boxes) and 1 outsize folder.
Quaker abolitionist and physician in Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, and Schoolcraft, Michigan.
Correspondence of Thomas, his wife Pamela S. Brown Thomas, his children Ella, Malcolm, and Stanton, and relatives, friends, public leaders, abolitionists, and publishers, dealing largely with family affairs, land transactions, medical discoveries, woman suffrage, the Liberty Party, and anti-slavery activities; letters of Stanton B. Thomas while a student at the University of Michigan (1859-1864); Civil War letters of S. B. Thayer, medical director of the Merrill Horse Regiment; also manuscript addresses, essays and other papers; a manuscript autobiography of Thomas; three account books, 1832-1879; and prospectus of American Freeman listing Schoolcraft area subscribers. Correspondents include: James G. Birney, Erastus Hussey, Lucius Lyon, S.B. Thayer, Jesse Thomas (father of Nathan), Jesse Thomas (brother of Nathan), Jonathan Thomas, Seymour B. Treadwell.
Letter from George Northrup, 1853.
In Box 1 of the Seymour Boughton
Treadwell papers.
Treadwell, Seymour Boughton
- Seymour Boughton Treadwell papers, 1818-1869 and undated
- 0.4 linear ft. and 1 outsize folder.
Editor of the Michigan Freeman.
Addresses, clippings, broadsides, land records, and correspondence of Treadwell, his son Jerome, and other members of the family; including correspondence, covering personal and business affairs, firsthand views of the South and slavery in 1859-1860, the anti-slavery movement in Michigan and elsewhere, Hamilton Institute of New York, temperance, and politics.
Correspondents include: John P. Cleaveland, George Dawson, George W. Eaton, Arthur L. Porter, Gerrit Smith, Alvan Stewart, Charles H. Stewart, Electa Maria Sheldon Stewart, Samuel N. Sweet, and Jerome Treadwell.