I am forwarding this from another list FYI. ListAdmin,
Danielle Brown, dtxn(a)yahoo.com
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Manuscripts
09/09/2004
-- Draper Manuscripts
The Draper Manuscripts (often referred to as the
�Draper Papers�) were compiled by Lyman Copeland
Draper.
Draper was born in Lockport, NY, on September 4,
1815. A small man in stature, he went to school,
worked on the farm and clerked in local stores. He was
not suited for heavy or physical labor, so sought
adventure in reading. His grandfather related tales of
his service in the American Revolution and his father
told stories of his captivity by the British during
the War of 1812.
These stories triggered his interest in the history
of his native country. He began writing letters to
seek reminiscences of Kentucky pioneers, delivered
college orations, and wrote articles on American
historical and archeological topics.
He had planned to do a book which he had named
"Sketches of the Lives of the Pioneers." He was
perhaps the greatest archivist of the 19th Century or
the greatest pack-rat!
To compile his book, Draper conducted on a lengthy
correspondence over 50-years with many individuals
about the formative years of the American Republic.
The book was never realized; however, his collection
of interviews and documents does exist.
The collection is a series of interviews, which he
conducted, many in person, some in letters, about the
old pioneers. The time frame is expansive - from the
1740s through the War of 1812. The territory covered
is just as impressive - 21 states east of the
Mississippi River, Iowa, Missouri and parts of Canada!
The papers also include documents, 575 early maps
and manuscripts. His interviews ranged from the heroes
of the time to the unknown little settler. And, bless
his historical heart, he sensed that we in later years
needed more than a list of their names. He included
their names, parents and grandparents; sometimes more.
In 1819, when Draper died, he had been working on
the manuscripts for over 50-years. Draper himself, a
New York man, was so intent on his research that he
caught the attention of his cousin's husband, Peter
Remen. Having the finances to help, Remen was a
strong supporter of Draper's quest.
Draper willed his personal collection of
manuscripts to the State Historical Society of
Wisconsin. There, Reuben G. Thwaites, supervised the
preparation of the collection for public use. It was
under his guidance that the collection was subdivided
into fifty series and titled. With two exceptions the
series were arranged alphabetically by title.
The original collection is housed at the State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. You are
allowed to see the originals there, but cannot
photocopy them. Some of the information contained is
absolutely a gold mine of information and includes
information such as color of hair and eyes, where the
individual was born, military service and much more.
How many manuscripts are there? � There are 491
volumes on 123 reels of microfilm which are divided
into 50 separate series.
The entire collection was microfilmed in 1949 and
re-filmed in the 1970s. More than 90 libraries across
the country have complete sets of the microfilm, and
many will send individual reels on interlibrary loan.
Many other libraries have portions of the microfilm.
The microfilm may be purchased from Chadwyck-Healey
Inc. (now part of ProQuest )<
http://www.chadwyck.com
The Clayton Library for Genealogical Research,
Houston Public Library at 5300 Caroline in Houston,
Texas has a complete set of the microfilm.
<
http://www.hpl.lib.tx.us/clayton/
The
Dallas Public Library - Genealogy Section at
1515 Young St. in Dallas, Texas has a complete set of
the microfilm.
<
http://dallaslibrary.org/CHS/cgc.htm
The
State Historical Society of Wisconsin will loan
their film out of state. Check their website:
<
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/
You
can also borrow any of the 147 reels of
microfilm from any LDS Family History Center. Check
their website:
<
http://www.familysearch.org/
Click on Library
Click on Catalog
Click on Subject Search
Type in search box: Draper
Click on Draper Manuscript Collection
Good luck with trekking down the path of the Draper
Collection. It can easily be classified as a labor of
love but if you find your family, it will be well
worth the effort!
- - - -
In this column, I will be glad to highlight and review
any family history, genealogy, county history, or
similar book, free of charge, if you donate a copy of
the book or item. After it has been highlighted and
reviewed, on a space available basis, it will be
donated to the genealogy section of a library. You
will receive an acknowledgment of the donation from
the library. Mail item or book to me at the below
address.
To read back issues of this column, go to
<
http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/COLUMN-001.htm
.
Regretfully, I cannot help with individual
genealogical research. However, you can submit queries
that will be published on a space available basis. If
you have any questions, comments, suggestions for
column topics, genealogy or historical society
announcements, please contact me at: P. O. Box 16604,
Houston, Texas 77222-6604 or e-mail:
<lksfriday(a)sbcglobal.net
.
Lynna Kay Shuffield - P. O. Box 16604 - Houston, Texas
77222 'Our Loose Ends' Genealogy Column
http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/COLUMN-001.htm
Milam County TXGenWeb -
http://www.geocities.com/milamco/
San Jacinto County TXGenWeb
http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/SANJAC-01.htm
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