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What follows is a list of Early National and Antebellum personal and family papers from the North American manuscript holdings in the Department of Special Collections, University Libraries of Notre Dame. These collections, dating wholly or primarily from the years 1788 to 1860, may be broadly characterized as groups of manuscripts of various types originating from individuals or families, distinguished by unity of provenance.
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BROWNLEE FAMILY PAPERS. 1852-1898. 82 manuscripts; envelopes; 1 printed item. The majority of the items in this group are personal letters written to John E. Brownlee (1827-1900), in the years following his emigration from Killyleagh, County Down, Ireland to the United States. Brownlee arrived in New York in 1851. He worked as a ship's baker before purchasing a farm in Portage Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania, in the remote north-central part of the state (1856). By the 1870s Brownlee had established a successful lumber manufactory, John Brownlee & Sons, at North Wharton in Potter County. He was married in 1851, to Elizabeth Savage (1827-1883), also of County Down. Thirty-two of the manuscripts in the collection predate 1860; most of these are letters written to John and/or Elizabeth Brownlee by relatives or acquaintances who either preceded or followed the couple to America. Six of these letters were written from Ireland. As a persistent theme, these earlier letters treat the personal and vocational adaptations necessary in making the transition from the old world to the new. Among the most frequent correspondents are Brownlee's father, Robert Brownlee (1805-1885), a baker, who emigrated in 1854 (ten letters); and two stepbrothers, Thomas Lowry Young (1832-1888) and Hugh Young (1832-1912), natives of Killyleagh who emigrated in 1847 and 1850, respectively. Both the Youngs enjoyed successful public careers. After serving in the army for much of the 1850s, Thomas Young (eight letters) was admitted to the bar and became a prominent Cincinnati attorney and Republican politician, serving two terms as U.S. representative from Ohio. Hugh Young (six letters) farmed in Potter County and worked in journalism before becoming a successful Pittsburgh financier. Post-Civil War papers in the collection include a small number of business letters directed to John Brownlee, as well as a pair of Brownlee's account books (with content dating mostly from the 1870s); a group of personal letters to John and/or Elizabeth Brownlee from the early 1880s, whose prevailing topic is Elizabeth's failing health; and a number of letters written by and to the Brownlee children, six of whom appear to have survived to adulthood. The Brownlees and their extended family were Protestants, of Scots descent. MSN/EA 0504-1 to MSN/EA 0504-77.
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GEORGE W. CRAWFORD PAPERS. 1784-1853 (bulk 1843-1853). 36 manuscripts. George Walker Crawford (1798-1872) was a prominent Georgia Whig whose political career included terms as state representative (1837-42), U.S. representative (1843), and governor (1843-47). In 1849-50 he served in Zachary Taylor's cabinet as secretary of war. He is best remembered, perhaps, for his central role in the resolution of the Galphin Claim, a scandal that shook the Taylor administration and the Whig party in the spring of 1850. The papers include 28 letters written to Crawford, by almost as many different individuals; most of these date from his years as governor and cabinet member, and most are political in content. Several were written by Whig party members of some repute, including John M. Berrien of Georgia and Edward Carrington Cabell of Florida. There are in addition eight non-epistolary manuscripts, four of which pertain to the Galphin Claim. MSN/EA 0500-1-F1; MSN/EA 0500-2 to MSN/EA 0500-33.
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JOHN DINSMORE PAPERS. 1782-c.1920 (bulk 1782-1822). 716 manuscripts, many partly printed; 1 newspaper. The personal papers and court records of the Rockingham County, New Hampshire farmer, innkeeper, and justice of the peace John Dinsmore, Jr. (16 January 1759-15 April 1814). Dinsmore (or Dinsmoor) was born in Windham, Rockingham County, the son of John Dinsmore (1721-1793) and Martha McKeen (1723-1803). The elder Dinsmore was a man of local influence, serving Windham as clerk, town meeting moderator, and selectman; he was also a justice. The younger Dinsmore passed most of his life at Windham, on the original family estate, before removing (c.1807) to the village of Londonderry, Rockingham County, where he kept an inn. He was twice married, to Susannah Bell (1759-1807) and Mary Rogers. The greater part of the Dinsmore collection, some 550 items, consists of Rockingham County court records, retained by Dinsmore during his years as a member of the judiciary. These records range in date from January 1797 to November 1813. The majority are partly printed writs of execution issuing from minor civil suits, signed by Dinsmore in his capacity as justice. Most bear endorsements, and calculations of damages and court costs. There are also a small number of papers pertaining to criminal cases. Other, less extensive series in the collection include: land records (21 items, including 10 deeds to parcels of land acquired by John Dinsmore); financial records (50 items, mostly account sheets and receipts); records issuing from Dinsmore's position as a proprietor of the Londonderry Turnpike (42 items, mostly receipts, 1805 to 1810); and papers relating to the settlement of Dinsmore's estate (44 items, 1814 to 1822). These latter include inventories of Dinsmore's real and personal estate, and an estate ledger kept by the executor, Dinsmore's eldest son, James (1788-1872). MSN/EA 0503-1 to MSN/EA 0503-170.
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GRAHAM FAMILY PAPERS. 1797-1930s (bulk 1810-1879). About 110 manuscripts; 10-15 clippings, printed items, and photographs. A group of letters and legal and business records pertaining to several generations of the Graham family of southeastern North Carolina. The papers derive in large part from members of the family residing in Cumberland and Robeson counties. The earliest documents are land records of Alexander Graham (1756-1845), who had emigrated from Scotland to Cumberland County in 1766. The antebellum manuscripts in the collection derive mostly from Alexander Graham's many children, especially Nathaniel, Robert (1800-1884), and Duncan (1803-1878) Graham; these are mostly receipts, though there is a group of personal letters of Duncan Graham, who had moved west to Alabama in 1833. The Reconstruction era is well represented, especially by the papers (primarily business records) of William H. Graham of Red Banks in Robeson County. The collection as a whole lacks any substantial references to slavery. One personal letter, written by Catherine Caroline Graham of Cumberland County, contains an extended account of the hardships inflicted on local families by Sherman's troops in March 1865. MSN/EA 0501-1 to MSN/EA 0501-13.
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REVEREND LEVI BALLOU PAPERS. 1836-1865. 116 manuscripts. Rev. Levi Ballou (1806-1865) was a Universalist preacher who sermonized throughout north-central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire and Vermont in the decades before the Civil War. In 1843 he began a nineteen-year ministry at the First Universalist Parish of Orange, Massachusetts, in Franklin County. He was grandnephew of Rev. Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), pastor of the Second Universalist Society in Boston and the most important American Universalist theologian of the first half of the nineteenth century, and brother of Rev. Hosea Ballou 2d, another Universalist clergyman and the first president of Tufts College. The papers include around 70 sermons written by Levi Ballou, on sheets sewn into octavo-sized booklets; these average perhaps 30 pages in length, and appear to date from throughout Ballou's career. More than half are funeral sermons, including four written for members of the 36th Massachusetts Infantry killed in the Civil War. The papers also include a 224-page manuscript log kept by Ballou from 1836 until his death, in which he recorded the date, place, and scriptural premise of every sermon or lecture he delivered, often accompanied by payment received. There are also examples of various other kinds of writing, including prayers, lectures, and obituaries. Nothing Ballou wrote seems to have appeared in print; indeed, a "will and decree" dating to 1857 stipulates that "no Sermon I have, or written communication of mine, shall ever be published." There are also a small number of financial records, including a day book for 1842-45. MSN/EA 0502-1 to MSN/EA 0502-92; MSN/EA 0502-93-F1.
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