The Bachelder family collection contains 71 letters that cover nearly a century and offer glimpses of life beyond one family's history to provide a record of local, regional, and national trends. Members of the family participated in westward expansion, migrating from northern New England through New York to Michigan, venturing as far west as Colorado. Many of the letters contain more than family news, they are full of economic conditions, political opinions, and descriptions of the countryside. The collection is arranged in 3 series. The 1st series, Sylvanus Bachelder letters (1846-1872), are letters from Sylvanus Bachelder to his brother, James M., and include Sylvanus' impressions of the Civil War in the service of the Michigan 14th Infantry Regiment. The 2nd series, John C. Bachelder letters (1891), are letters from Sylvanus's nephew, who set out westward to find work on the railroad in the mining areas of Colorado. The 3rd series, miscellaneous family letters (1835-1908), contains letters on miscellaneous topics from a variety of family members.
