The collection contains many business cards and postcards and a catalog for Flint Wagon Works. The postcards were physically separated and placed into the postcard cabinet. Many records are from outside of Genesee County.

The collection is composed to numerous account booklets from Union Trust & Savings Bank. Other unlabeled booklets document accounts as well. The account booklets document financial transactions between the 1880s and 1890s. There are other booklets detailing checks issued to various entities and persons. These booklets document activities from the late 1890s to the early 1900s. Other records include newspaper clippings, invoices, receipts, and financial statements.

The records, while extensively documenting financial transactions, do not reveal much in the way of who H.J. Bachtel was and little about his business. That business involved customers renting sheds for ten cents for their horses in the 1880s to early 1900. Feed could be bought for an additional charge of five cents. This information is found only on one document detailing the charges.

The collection consists of a ledger of mortgage abstracts and a framed bill of sale. The ledger contains abstracts for lots along the Swayze-Kelly Mackin Road addition to the city of Flint. Names of entities and individuals reflect exchanges in property. There are numerous mentions of the Jacob Smith and his family and of the Chippewa Nation.

The framed bill of sale documents the sale of lumber to M.E. Houran in 1909, a dealer in all kinds of lumber, and an itemized list of how much the sale cost.

The collection consists of occupancy maps of businesses along Saginaw Street in 1931 and 1937. Both maps were digitized due to perceived research interest. Digitized copies are stored in Sloan Museum Digital Collections.

The collection consists of four ledgers that document financial activities and sales of Willy and Cumings, who operated wholesale store in the 1860s and 1870s. Both men appear to have kept meticulous track of purchases by them and their customers. Double entry booking was used to track the amount of money available to the store on a daily basis. Most sales are listed as “Cash for Merchandise.” Some sales occurred on credit and entries to record payments done in installments. Occasionally some sales involve the names of products or individuals. The store also prepared prescriptions on the orders of doctors.

Single image of two wild birds. Baldwin Studio of Flint, Michigan developed the photograph.

The collection, like others donated from the Genesee County Historical Society, covers a wide range of topics. It appears that staff and volunteers of GCHS combined many unrelated records into a single accession. Of the more significant are business ledgers used by George W. Hill throughout the 1840s to 1870s, several diaries and maps, including a map of the Crapo farm, election pamphlets from the 1860s to 1930s, correspondence of the Wesson family, personal records of Harry C. Hill, and court records from dozens of cases and suits. Records exist from the Ladies’ Library Associations from Flint and Atlas Township, though more from the latter. Publications include several issued by Durant Motors.

The collection is composed of records and manuscripts from a variety of backgrounds. If there is one theme, it is that all are related to the history of Genesee County. Documents reflect the founding of Genesee County in the 1830s to early developments in infrastructure in the 1840s and 1850s, contributions of county residents in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the First World War, ledgers and other documents detailing business activity, and organizational records from GCHS.

Those documents that detail the early history of Genesee County include oaths sworn and signed by initial officers of the county: sheriff, public notary, justice of the peace, and county surveyor. Other documents show the impetus and funding passed for a bridge over the Flint River.

Contributions county residents in various wars are reflected in clippings about Corydon Foote, a veteran of the Civil War and letters written by Herman Crites, a decorated veteran of the First World War. The letters of Crites reveal another side of a soldier who received the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery. His letters made light of daily life in the Army from before American entry into the war to preparing family members that he might die while serving in France.

Business records reflect activities undertaken by farms and stores in Flint and in the wider county. A member of the Crapo family, or an employee of the Crapo farm, kept a diary of daily activities on the farm for several months in 1895. Related to the business records are those from various civic and social organizations, such as ladies’ library associations in Flint and in Atlas Township.

The organizational records from GCHS reflect many activities taken by it and its members. Visitors logs from the old museum, informally known as the Flint Museum, list names and addresses of visitors. Curators’ reports document activities of GCHS, including collecting policies and exhibitions. Many letters are addressed to Charles M. Barber, who served as curator for GCHS for many years. Included also are many manuscripts written by Barber.

Portions of the collection were digitized for preservation concerns and for research purposes. These portions include oaths from early county officials, a contract for a bridge in 1848, a record of stockings sewn by county women during the Civil War, and a speech by Levi Walker to the Genesee County Agricultural Society.

The collection is a short, handwritten autobiography by Harrison Conger. Conger was born in Bangor, Franklin County, New York, but emigrated from there to Michigan in 1836. He wrote it in 1892. His autobiography recounts his travel across several waterways to reach Michigan and work done under several men before he settled down after marrying Deniza Ann Seeley in 1839. Conger offered few details regarding the work he did prior to and after he married Deniza. The marriage occurred at the intersection of where Kearsley Creek met the Flint River. Both later settled in Davison Township.

The collection reflects contributions of Corydon Foote during the Civil War and activities of Grand Army of the Republic Post No. 145, sometimes better known as Governor Crapo Post No. 145. Correspondence reveals some activities undertaken by Foote during the war, including marching through Confederate territory past plantations and cotton fields. Foote made no mention of slaves. It is possible he marched through territory liberated by the Union or chose not to mention having seen slaves for reasons unknown. He may have assisted in the looting of civilian homes and farms, though the details in a letter are too spare to know for sure. He wrote a lengthy letter to family about witnessing the execution of a three-time deserter from the Union Army. The letter suggests witnessing death left a deep impression on him. He wrote descriptively of how the deserter’s body acted once shot and of how uncomfortable he felt looking at the ground under which the deserter had been buried. Other records of Foote’s service including papers for a furlough, discharge from the Army, and pension receipts.

Records of Post No. 145 document meetings and finances of the post from the late 1870s to 1936 when the post disbanded for lack of members. Minutes document meetings of the post. Members were frequently referred to as comrades. Reports were read concerning correspondence with individuals and organizations, including other posts, death notices of deceased members, and lectures on various topics, including the war. Records of rosters from the 1870s and 1890s are present. Cash books show how the post received funds, largely in the form of dues, and spent them. Spending them included paying bills or dispensing financial support to members or families of deceased members.

Unconnected to the war is a brief untitled and unauthored history of interurban rail in Flint. The history focuses on the rise and decline of interurban rail. The role of labor factors in it, how much workers were paid and times they went on strike. Financial struggles of many rail lines are detailed as well.