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11. Elmer Collection
- Description:
- This is a collection of the papers of Jackson K. Elmer and family. Elmer was born in New York in 1840, and moved to Michigan in 1853 after the death of his father. He spent most of his adult life in Mason. He was married to Mary E. Bond in 1866, and they had a daughter Dora D. Elmer. Both his wife and daughter's correspondence and other materials including schoolwork and text books are part of this collection. Elmer was initially involved in carpentry and construction after learning the trade following public school in Rome, Michigan. He operated a carpentry and building business in partnership with a half brother Lyman W. Baker. He also served for the Union in the Civil War, first enlisting as a sergeant and then receiving promotions to second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and adjutant. There is significant correspondence with military organizations and friends, and other paperwork related to his military service. There are several warranty deeds for a piece of land in Ingham County between Mason and Lansing along the "State Road" which may have been where the Elmer, Baker, & Co. construction business or his future endeavors in mercantile, coal, and grocery was located. Elmer also owned 80 acres in Section 6, Aurelius Township, which he managed but never farmed himself. The collection also includes a large number of calling cards, carte de visite photographs and other portraits and photographs, as well as small ledgers, travel diaries, and account books. One of the earliest account books is for the Primary School Interest Fund account that was kept at the Bank of Michigan for 1839-1841, which was probably not Elmer's personal record. He used blank pages later in the volume for his household and Elmer & Baker business accounting and drafts of correspondence. This reuse of items is common in the collection, especially in bound volumes.
- Date Created:
- [1839 TO 1929]
- Data Provider:
- Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
- Collection:
- Elmer Collection
12. Lansing Diary
- Description:
- A handwritten diary with covers missing, by an unidentified author. The diary dates from July 4, 1898, to August 18, 1899, and mentions its author's birth date as April 22, 1875. Library staff's best guess is that the author was Grace Robson, whose sister Bertha (Baker) and nephew Wendell are frequently referred to in the diary. A clipping noting the bankruptcy of the Robson Brothers mercantile business in 1899 is tucked in the diary; Grace's father Robert was one of the three brothers. The author wrote about her daily activities, including going to church, working on needlework, meeting with friends, the clothes she wore, riding "wheels" (bicycles), shopping in Lansing, and working in an office for a Mr. Davis and Mr. Page. A list of books she read in 1898 is inside the back cover. Highlights of the diary include a Phrenologist visit on December 19, 1898, and references to watching the Pilgrim Church fire and one of Lansing's early African-American families, the Dungeys, one of whom worked as a janitor in Mr. Davis' office. She mentions an Ernest Gibbs often; he may have been a suitor of hers. There are also frequent references to Lotie and Harlow (Newell). In the 1898 and 1900 Lansing City Directories, there were several businesses run by men with the last name Davis, as well as Davises who worked for several state agencies. There is only one Page, a John T. Page who was Superintendent of Public Works in 1898. No Davis was employed there in that year. The diary author did not specify the type of work she was engaged in other than writing bills, though in one instance she mentions a new German "sidewalk man" in the office. In both 1898 and 1900 directories, a Grace Robson, clerk at the Board of Public Works and resident of her parents' home at 107 N. Walnut St., is listed.
- Date Created:
- [1898 TO 1899]
- Data Provider:
- Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
- Collection:
- Diaries, Ledgers, and Albums