Scope and Contents This collection contains Civil War letters from Albert W. Barber to his family while serving with Company F, 18th Michigan Infantry, in Kentucky and Tennessee. In the letters, primarily written to his mother, he talks about camp life, his friends, officers of the regiment, and particularly about the weather.In addition, Albert talks about town life, particularly in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee, and about the prices of perishable goods.The...

Scope and Contents The Brownson family papers consist of correspondence between members of the Brownson, Johnson, and Allured families, as well as essays, poetry, and a sermon.Many of the letters are to Oscar Brownson of Pontiac and Evart, Michigan. Brownson entered Oberlin College in 1843, but a year later he returned to Pontiac to teach school. Several letters from a cousin, Franklin Barber, urged him to join the United States Navy, where he could get a free medical training. Brownson received...