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James Doty letterbooks

Manuscripts

James Doty letterbooks

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Description: HM 312 is an autograph manuscript containing details about the Northwestern Expedition under General Cass in 1820. There is also a report from Doty to Michigan territorial governor Lewis Cass, written on November 5, 1820. The report was published as "Northern Wisconsin in 1820" in the Wisconsin State Historical Society Collections, 7 (1873-76). Extracts of the report, with an introduction contained herein, were published as "Notes on the North-Western Part of the Territory of Michigan, 1820-1822" in an 1822 issue of the Detroit Gazette. Also contains a narrative headed "On the Manners and Customs of the Northern Indians" and a letter to the editor of the Gazette. HM 313 is the Commonplace Book of James Duane Doty. This autograph manuscript contains Indian words, summaries of Indian speeches, topographical details of Wisconsin, lyrics and anecdotes. HM 314 is a letterbook contained in two volumes. HM 315 is an autograph manuscript unofficially titled, "Words and Sentences Used in a Canoe Voyage and Journey by Land." This volume contains vocabulary and grammar of the Sauk, Fox, Winnebago, and other Northern tribes and extracts from various writings on European rights to Indian land. HM 316 contains notes on the history of Wisonsin. There are mostly extracts from Alexander Henry, Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories...1760-1776 (New York: I. Riley, 1809). Also extracts from the Pierre F.X. de Charlevoix, Journal of a Voyage to North-America (London, 1761). Collection has a folder with a map of the Southwester borders of Lake Superior, 1820 November 5.

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Type

Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)

Call number

mssHM 312-316

Creator

Doty, James Duane (1799-1865)(Opens in new tab)

Provenance

In library.

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Geoffrey Parsons papers
Manuscripts
The collection primarily consists of Geoffrey Parsons' correspondence with Allan Nevins, Frank C. Dodd, Tyler Dennett, and others regarding his work on a biography of William McKinley. Also included are a few personal papers, excerpts from a diary of Charles G. Dawes regarding McKinley's assassination, and extracts from State Department dispatches concerning the Spanish-American War. In addition, the collection contains a William McKinley typescript letter signed to A. Wakeman, 1900 November 19 (HM 39628) and a typescript report of William McKinley's speech on Rutherford B. Hayes to the Hayes Club in 1876 (HM 39625).
mssHM 39625-39685
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James Clarke letters to his family
Manuscripts
This series of letters were written by James Clarke to his family in Maine, mostly his brother and his wife, from California between 1854 and 1856. The letters will be described chronologically. HM 21248, written 1854, May 16, and addressed to "Dear Brother," writes of acquiring room and board in San Francisco. HM 21310, dated 1854, September 3, sees Clarke moving to Los Angeles in search of more money. He wishes to eventually purchase a lot of land outside the city and build on it. HM 21353 (dated 1854, May 31; the letter is incomplete, being the middle four pages only) describes his journey to San Francisco. HM 21244 (1854, October 7) is partly written from Santa Barbara, and is also addressed "Dear Brother." Clarke writes of his profits from farming, but he thinks he may have to relocate. The second part of the letter finds Clarke in a boarding house 130 miles outside of Santa Barbara, where he has found work as a carpenter. The next letter is dated 1854, October 7 and 12, and is written in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles (HM 21245). The first part, written in pencil, is addressed to "Mrs. James Clarke", and Clarke is leaving Santa Barbara for Los Angeles, where he hopes to find better fortune. In the second part, Clarke writes he has arrived in Los Angeles after a fifty-day overland journey, and that he hopes to remain there for the rest of the five years of his stay in the West. HM 21247, dated 1854, November 3 and addressed once again to "Mrs. James Clarke," Clarke writes he has sent "some half dozzen letters" home but has gotten nothing in response. The following letter (HM 21246) was written November 1854, and is addressed "Dear Family." Clarke is now also working in a vineyard, and describes the Los Angeles orange groves in detail, and speaks in glowing terms of California produce. HM 21351 is written to Clarke's brother, and dated 1854, December 6. In it, Clarke describes the produce of Los Angeles, as well as the "exceeding agreeableness" of the area's climate. HM 21352 is dated 1855, March 1, and is also addressed to Clarke's brother, and discusses his work in a vineyard. HM 21242 is addressed to "Mrs. James Clarke" and is dated 1855, July 22. He is concerned that the letters and money he is sending home is not making it there, as "every thing is unsettled in Cal. now." He would like to make more money, but says "there is no money to be had." He remains confident that his stay will be financially productive. HM 21243, written to his family on 1856, March 7, contains Clarke's report that after a year's hard work, he now has a house and lot in El Monte, which he calls "the Egypt of California." He is excited about the prospect of farming on his land.
mssHM 21242-21248, 21310, & 21351-21353
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Geoffrey Parsons papers
Manuscripts
The collection primarily consists of Geoffrey Parsons' correspondence with Allan Nevins, Frank C. Dodd, Tyler Dennett, and others regarding his work on a biography of William McKinley. Also included are a few personal papers, excerpts from a diary of Charles G. Dawes regarding McKinley's assassination, and extracts from State Department dispatches concerning the Spanish-American War. In addition, the collection contains a William McKinley typescript letter signed to A. Wakeman, 1900 November 19 (HM 39628) and a typescript report of William McKinley's speech on Rutherford B. Hayes to the Hayes Club in 1876 (HM 39625).
mssHM 39625-39685
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Sir James Houblon's notebooks regarding international trade
Manuscripts
HM 83393 : "A Relation of my voyage made with Sr Juan Esquerdo to Medina & ca." A manuscript account of a 1683 trip through Spain from Chicana to Medina, including the towns of Beheal and Coneal. This was a business trip for Houblon as he describes the harvest and markets for grapes and olives, but he also comments on capital punishment, medical care, religious houses, architecture, marriage and inheritance customs. The 17 page manuscript was removed from a volume and there are remnants of the spine remaining on the pages; there is a strong possibility this manuscript and HM 83394 were once part of the same volume.
mssHM 83393-83394
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Mary Austin manuscripts and letters to Louis Untermeyer
Manuscripts
This collection contains five letters to Louis Untermeyer from Mary Austin and typewritten carbon copies of "Hymns of the Penitentes," an essay about the Indian Penitente group of New Mexico and their chants and hymns (HM 41060), and "Rimas Infantiles of New Mexico," an essay on the cradle songs of New Mexico (HM 41061), with corrections in ink by the author. The letters, dated June 24, 1930 (HM 41062); July 18, 1930 (HM 41063); September 10, 1930 (HM 41064); October 19, 1930 (HM 41065); and November 12, 1930 (HM 41066), primarily discuss Native American and Southwest poetry and songs, prompted by Untermeyer's work on a projected anthology of Indian verse.
mssHM 41060-41066
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James Trott to "Dear Sisters,"
Manuscripts
HM 80827: Autograph letter by James Trott from Galena, Illinois to Miss C.S. Trott, on January 22, 1844. Trott begins the letter with a brief report on the number of lawyers, doctors, ministers, and teachers present in Galena. He continues with his thoughts on public opinion concerning New England. He mentions that Yankees should "...be grounded in the principles of morality than that they sh'd have only good habits." He also writes about religion. "True Christians sh'd feel sorrow for their own and others sins but they sh'd not waste time in such sorrow... nor sh'd they make their burden any heavier than it is..." In one incident, he unintentionally accuses a preacher of hypocrisy. He further elaborates on the making of a good sermon, which should be based on principles. Family details are also discussed. He stresses the importance of health and advises "U.A.", aunt, and Caro to "fat up." However, Margt' S. is on the heavier side, and he states that she should eat more vegetables and limit her consumption of meat. He briefly touches on the fashion in Galena, "The short pants do beautifully out here-people dress as they choose here." In the second half of the letter, Trott and his friend, Wynkoop, decides to walk approximately 16 miles to Dubuque, Iowa. Along the way, they meet a couple with twin boys, a French Canadian miner, and a wicked dog. They also meet two African Americans, one was named General William Wallace and the other was a member of Frank Johnson's band. They stop halfway while crossing the Mississippi river to see a famous cave, the Washington house kept by "Gen.'s Harrison and W", and slept on some miserable feather beds. He concludes the letter with a promise of a description of the caves in the next letter. Note: A description of the caves is not in HM 80828.
mssHM 80827-80828