Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Dr. Corydon L. Ford was a professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Michigan Department of Medicine and Surgery (now the Medical School), He taught from 1854 to 1894. The collection contains reports on his faculty activities, scattered correspondence, lecture notes, syllabi, plates, and other papers relating largely to his work in the Medical School; also visual materials.

The Corydon L. Ford papers offer strong documentation of medical education and practice in the last half of the 19th century. The collection is arranged in three series: Teaching Records, Topical Files, and Miscellaneous.

Family diaries of the Cumings family of Apine Township, Michigan.

Diary of Philip Cumings describing farm life in New York and his settlement in Kent County, Michigan; also diary of his son Edwin recording farm and church activities, local affairs, and weather; and diary of his daughter Grace describing a trip by rail to Florida.

This collection consists of the record of Cyrus Beckwith's general store and other business activities, as well as portraits of Beckwith and his wife, Amarilla.

Diary and diploma belonging to Daniel Satterthwaite, University of Michigan Class of 1859. Caricature sketch of the full class of 1859, including Satterthwaite, by Stephen H. Webb.

This collection consists of material related to Daniel Satterthwaite, a University of Michigan graduate from the class of 1859. His diary, dated between 1855 and 1856, contains his personal thoughts on student life, religious activities, farming, and events current to the time. Excerpts from the diary were printed in volume 35 of The Michigan Alumnus, a publication run by the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan. The collection also includes his 1859 bachelor's degree diploma from the University of Michigan, as well as a caricature of the class of 1859 that was sketched by Stephen H. Webb.

David Wheeler Palmer was a Bridgewater, Michigan school teacher and farmer. His papers consist of diaries, 1846-1864, 1876-1882, and 1887-1892, concerning daily activities and farm life. There are also papers of other family members, including Emmett Newton Palmer, a Brooklyn, Michigan physician, Fred E. Palmer, a surgeon who served in the Spanish-American War, and Louisa Palmer, who was a teacher in Hawaii.

The David Wheeler Palmer collection consists mainly of his diaries and other papers. These diaries, dating from 1846 to 1892 with some gaps, comment in detail on his life, his family, the weather, financial transactions, and local politics. Other portions of the collection include materials of other family members: Palmer's wife Fidelia Randall Palmer; her brother Roswell Randall, Jr.; Emmett Palmer, the son of David and Fidelia; Fred Palmer, the son of Emmett; and Joseph Palmer, the father of David. Of interest are the photographs accumulated by Dr. Fred Palmer while he was serving in the Philippines. These include images of Hawaii on route to the Philippines and of the Santa Mesa facility in the Philippines. Another family member represented in the collection is Louisa Palmer who taught in Hawaii. She was an inveterate traveler who wrote extensive letters describing places visited for her students and family.