Papers, 1823-1946.

ArchivalResource

Papers, 1823-1946.

The collection, 1823-1946, and undated, is organized in to the following series: Wells Business Records, Wells Family Correspondence, Diaries, Genealogy Notes, Photographs, and Oversized Materials. The Wells Business Records (2 cubic feet in 5 boxes) are divided into Eclipse Motor Car Company Vouchers, 1906-1911 (3 boxes), and Traverse City Iron Works Estimates, 1931-1942, except for 1940. The car company was operated by the Smith family and later purchased by General Motors Company. It ordered iron supplies from Traverse City. Also included is a folder of Brady Cooperage Machinery Company, which had stores located in Manistee and Traverse City (Mich.), 1911-1916, and made wooden spoke wheels for the Eclipse Motor Car Company. The Wells Family Correspondence, 1823-1947 (Scattered), and undated (5 cubic feet in 10 boxes) is between various members of the Wells family and their extended relatives the Binghams, Cochranes, Smiths, and Wadhams, their friends, and business associates. Additional miscellaneous materials, such as locks of hair, report cards, and sketches are filed with the correspondence. Most of the correspondence demonstrates affection and good will and contains news of births, deaths, marriages, illnesses, and social events. Letters of particular interest to researchers are: a letter sent to Mrs. Wallis Craig Smith from Mrs. Jefferson Davis in 1905 with the signature of Jefferson Davis; Civil War letters of C. W. Wells to his parents, siblings, and friends, 1861-1865 and a letter discussing a battle with Confederate General James Longstreet's troops, April 23, 1863; letters from Wells and Wadhams in California noting earthquakes, business, and gold mining, 1853-1886; letters to Mollie and C. W. Wells on the occasion of the death of their daughter, Mattie, of Scarlet Fever, June 3 and 14, 1876; a letter from Mollie Wells to Mr. Paxson regarding women's temperance, Nov. 11, 1870; a letter from C. W. Wells to his daughter, Jean W. Wells, Oct. 10, 1893 while he was attending the World's Fair in Chicago; and letters from John Cochrane to relatives while in Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1849, San Francisco, 1850, and Panama, 1851. The Diaries (.5 cubic ft. in 1 box) include those of Mrs. Eliza J. (W. V. K.) McLean, 1854, 1971, and 1867, her husband W. V. K. McLean, 1855-1875 (Scattered, 5 v.), among others. Genealogy Notes, 1894-1945 (Scattered), and undated (1 cubic ft. in 2 boxes) were generated by Jean Craig Smith for admittance into the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Photographs, 1860s-1915, and undated (1 cubic ft. in 2 boxes) of various sizes and formats, mostly identified. Of particular interest to researchers will be the Civil War cabinet card portraits by Brady, including some of C. W. Wells and one of Maj. Gen. Joe Hooker (39 total), and two stereoscopic views of the Civil War. Oversized materials include some Legal Documents, 1872-1901 (Scattered), mainly related to the Last WIll and Testament of C. W. Wells and related documents (.5 cubic ft. in 2 boxes), Oversized Photographs, 1910-1916, and undated (.25 cubic ft. in 1 box), and Oversized Miscellaneous, including notes, obituaries, undated (.25 cubic ft. in 1 box). Oversized Folders include: blueprints, drawings and proposals related to the Battle Creek Pump Station 8, 1941, Battle Creek Sewage Plant, 1938, the Midland Chemical Warfare Plant, 1942, and the Traverse City Pump/Lift Station, 1941, and an undated partial map of Essex County (N.Y.). Lastly, the Oversized Volumes are account ledgers of Jean Wells Smith, 1893-1901, and 1898-1906.

11 cubic ft. (in 23 boxes, 4 Ov. folders, 2 Ov. v.) : ill.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7159507

Related Entities

There are 12 Entities related to this resource.

Century of Progress International Exhibition (1933-34 : Chicago, Ill.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6912wmj (corporateBody)

The Century of Progress Exposition, the World's Fair, was held in Chicago, 1933-1934. From the description of Records, 1933-1934 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232007613 A Century of Progress International Exposition was held in Chicago during the summers of 1933 and 1934. The fair celebrated the scientific and technological advances made in the century since the founding of Chicago in 1833. The main features of the fair included exhibits depicting th...

Longstreet, James, 1821-1904

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64c3rsd (person)

U.S. railroad commissioner, army officer, and diplomat. From the description of James Longstreet papers, 1858-circa 1877. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70980713 James Longstreet, military man, businessman, diplomat, and railway commissioner, was born 8 January 1821, in Edgefield District, South Carolina, and died 2 January 1904, in Gainesville, Georgia. He was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy (1842) and served in the Mexican War before he resigned from the U.S. Army ...

Hooker, Joseph, 1814-1879

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fg4gnh (person)

Hooker was born in Hadley, Massachusetts, the grandson of a captain in the American Revolutionary War. He was of entirely English ancestry, all of which had been in New England since the early 1600s. His initial schooling was at the local Hopkins Academy. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1837, ranked 29th out of a class of 50, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery. His initial assignment was in Florida fighting in the second of the Seminole War...

Eclipse Motor Car Company (Saginaw, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66n18zg (corporateBody)

Bingham family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m13jrc (family)

Traverse City Iron Works (Traverse City, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sj9nq5 (corporateBody)

Cochrane family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6523bjh (family)

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xk8d2z (person)

Mary Ann Lamar Cobb (1818-1889), wife of Gen. Howell Cobb (1815-1868). From the description of Letter to Mary Ann Lamar Cobb, 1888 Oct. 2. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 38476494 Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) was born in Kentucky. He attended Transylvania University for a short time before enrolling at West Point in 1824, at the age of 16. He graduated in 1828 and immediately joined the First Infantry. His regiment was engaged in the Blackhawk War of 1831. In 1833, he became a...

United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 118th (1862-1865) Company K.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65j5jds (corporateBody)

Smith family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vv15gx (family)

Wells family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63p1grp (family)

C. W. [Charles William] Wells (1841-1893) was the son of G. L. B. "Benjamin" and Jane Ann (Wadhams) Wells. Benajmin Wells (1802-1889) moved his family to the AuSable River in Essex County (N.Y.) where he served as a deacon of the Congregational Church and Post Master. Jane, C. W.'s mother, (1804-1885) was from Vermont. She married Benjamin in 1826 and together they had at least six children. C. W. grew up his parents' farm and attended school locally and in Rutland (Vt.). He worked as a clerk be...

Wadhams family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hb8jjr (family)