An 1860 Letter From Myron Conklin of Ypsilanti to His Nephew William in Lakeville, Connecticutn

Ypsilanti, Nov. 23, 1860

Respected Nephew,

I rec'd your letter this morning was very glad to hear once more from Salisbury. I think this is the first letter that I ever rec'd from you, it was very welcome. Now I am going to ask you some questions + wish you would answer them as soon as you can after you receive this. In regard to setting Edmund's Estate what has been done? has the property been appraised? Do you know what stocks + other property there was on the farm when Edmund took it the last time? If so please give me a list of it as near as you can. (think it over carefully) Who is now taking care of the property? = who is there of the family in all at home?

What stock + what other property had Edmund when he died? (Personal property I mean) - What is the price of produce? Pork. Beef. Flour. Corn. Oats. Potatoes. Buckwheat. Pork is worth here $5 1/2 per cup? Beef $3 + 3/4 per cup? Flour $?per bbl? Corn 20 cts per bush of ears Oats 20 cts Buckwheat 25 cts Common cows are from $12 to 20 each. I am fatting 2 hogs +3 spring pigs + have 3 pigs to keep over. have got about 200 bushels of corn + about the same of Oats on hand. I am feeding considerable corn every thing has a little corn every day. I have sold my 3 year old colts + one of my sorrel mares. so I have only 4 head left one sorrel mare 9 years old 1 Black mare 2 years old 1 Black mare 1 year old (look just alike) + one last springs Colt it is sorrel has got a white face + white fur

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A Dudley Randall Poem in Milestone 2

I bought this Milestone 2 poetry Magazine at a Livonia estate sale this week. Milestone was the literary publication of Wayne (State) University and this second issue dates to 1949. While I don't recognize most of the names, Dudley Randall was both a nationally known poet and the librarian for the Wayne County General Hospital at Eloise via the Wayne County Library System. The poem featured is The Southern Road which was a revised version of the completed poem from 1948 that h as a handful or two of word differences between the two. I don't know if Randall edited the poem for later collected works editions or earlier but this link features it in its likely final form in 2009. Neither version particularly enchants me but the block print in the magazine is an added bonus.

A Cabinet Card of a Dead Man Lying in Repose From Wayne Photographer Susan Doolittle

The City of Wayne, Michigan was not a large village at the turn of the 20th century so it stands to reason that there wasn't a glut of photographers practicing their trade there. As such, the 3 cabinet cards and carte de visites that I own represents roughly a quarter of the early ones. Considering that the wives of Frank Hickok and William Corlett, first Village President of Wayne, took over after Frank's death in 1892 the list grows smaller beyond those two families. Had I snagged the Doolittle dead man cabinet card I'd be even that much more Wayne-rich in photographs. Speaking of Susan Doolittle, of whom I have learned very little about, it is interesting to note that Wayne had three women photographers in an era oft dominated by men in that very field. This photograph of a corpse is a startling example of her work.

Frederick Soop: Not An Equal Opportunity Restraunteer

Detroit Free Press , March 28, 1890 If you don't want to hear a racist tale of a suburban namesake then close your eyes now. As early as 1876 Frederick Soop had left his Belleville farm once again, having done a stint at the Hawkins House in Ypsilanti during the Civil War and the City Hotel in Detroit thereafter, and ventured off to Chatham, Ontario to run the Rutley Hotel , which was conducted as a Temperance House. Detroit Free Press , August 17, 1879 In 1879 he was searching for a good restaurant or small hotel to operate. Eventually he ended up on Washington Avenue near State Street running a dining hall which he ran until around 1890. Detroit Free Press , April 16, 1890 It was in 1888 when the aforementioned racial incident occurred at his dining establishment. It was then that William H. Haynes, a black doctor, sat down with his former classmate S. W. Barkwell for dinner. The men ordered but when the food was served none was placed before Mr. Haynes who, ironically, ha...

The Nankin Township Historical Society

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