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Grand Rapids (Mich.) -- History -- 19th Century

 Subject
Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings

Found in 16 Collections and/or Records:

John W. Squier collection

 Collection
Identifier: Collection 189
Abstract John W. Squier (1799-1872) was a businessman and real estate investor in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He owned a flour mill and in 1859 he built the first opera house in the city, Squier's Opera House. The collection documents the affairs of this successful businessman in the growing, frontier village of Grand Rapids, Michigan during the mid 19th century. Included are various legal, financial and property documents. Also included are the Mackinac Agency payroll of 1849, data on building and...
Dates: 1817-1879

Lucius Lyon papers

 Collection
Identifier: Collection 279
Abstract Lucius Lyon (1800-1851) was a prominent U.S. citizen, Grand Rapids settler and leader in Michigan statehood. This is a devised collection containing books and other manuscript materials that appear to have once belonged to Lyon. The collection also includes a representative sample of original correspondence and documents from Lyon’s relationship with other important early Michigan and Grand Rapids figures. Thus is found here evidence of a financial transaction with the national political...
Dates: 1755-1935; Majority of material found within 1834 - 1848

Pathways and Clearings Manuscript Collection

 Collection
Identifier: Collection 431
Scope and Contents

The materials contained within the Pathways and Clearings Collection consist of the compiled research for the book. Contained within these materials is all of the correspondence between the writer and the various partners on the project. The materials also include all of the photos of the research, which eventually would become the illustrations within the book Pathways and Clearings. There are also several rough drafts of the work and the final draft before it went to publication.

Dates: 1979 - 1981

Reubey S.T. Ferris recollections of William Haldane

 Collection
Identifier: Collection 012
Abstract This collection primarily contains the 1937 reminiscences of the donor, Reubey S. Tomlinson Ferris of Baldwinsville, New York. Reubey was said to be the adopted daughter of William Haldane (1807-1898), a Grand Rapids, Michigan pioneer. In actuality she was Haldane’s niece by marriage. Deacon William Haldane is known as the father of the Grand Rapids furniture industry. In her remembrance, Mrs. Ferris describes living conditions in the Village and then Town of Grand Rapids circa...
Dates: 1837-1898

The Old Collection

 Collection
Identifier: Collection 371
Abstract The Old Collection is a collection holding various early Grand Rapids documents, ephemera, correspondence, journals, records, accounts, indentures deeds, etc. The items held in this collection are separated into several separate series by their Old Collection name (subject, organization, person, donor, etc.). This collection is a combination of materials collected before the Ryerson Library was built and in the 1920s. There are some materials collected after that. A large portion of the...
Dates: 1778-1967

Wright L. Coffinberry and Coffinberry family papers

 Collection
Identifier: Collection 061
Abstract Wright L. Coffinberry (1807-1889) was an early settler in Grand Rapids (Mich.) and a self-taught civil engineer and archaeologist. Moving to Grand Rapids from Ohio circa 1848, he was responsible for a large number of additions platted for the city as well as several state road projects, principally the road from Kent County to Northport.The collection includes his autobiography, maps from his work as a civil engineer and various documents on the excavations of the Norton Mounds....
Dates: 1808-1889