Charles Hutchinson Thompson Papers
00024

Summary Information

Repository
Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections
Creator
Thompson, Charles Hutchinson, 1838-
Title
Charles Hutchinson Thompson papers
ID
00024
Date [inclusive]
1843-1916
Extent
0.67 Cubic feet
Language
English

Preferred Citation note

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: "Item title, Collection title, Collection Identifier, Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan."

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Scope and Contents note

The collection contains diaries (1891-1916), journals (1858-1869), and an account book (1859-1861) of Charles Hutchinson Thompson (1838-1916), a clerk in the State offices in Lansing, Michigan. Born in LeRoy, New York, he visited Michigan in 1845-1847 and returned to Orleans County, New York, where he attended school and held various jobs. Thompson moved to Michigan in 1856 and worked on a farm in Van Buren County until December 1857, when he was appointed porter in the State offices. He worked on the United States Census of 1860 in the office of the Secretary of State. In 1863 he engaged in mercantile business for a short time and in October was appointed clerk in the Auditor General's office, where he was later placed in charge of the work of extra clerks in the Tax Department. He was made the Assistant Chief Clerk in 1889. Thompson joined Central M.E. Church in 1856, where he then held various positions including Steward, Treasurer, and Chorister.

The diaries and journals describe Thompson's daily activities in detail, and include comments on his work, and the political, economic, and social affairs of his time. Especially valuable are his many personal observations concerning political personalities and governmental activities at Lansing.

Also in the collection are minutes of a newly formed literary society known as the Capital Senate, of which Thompson was Secretary for a time; and, an unbound published genealogy, which he wrote, of the descendants of John Thompson of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Included also are a book containing bread accounts (1843-1851) of Alden D. Sutton of Poughkeepsie, New York; recipes and a diary (1856-1860) of Elizabeth Giles Sutton, who married Thompson in March, 1862; a diary (1879) of Winfield S. Plumb of Kalamazoo County, an enrolling clerk in the Michigan House of Representatives; part of a diary (1900-1901) probably also Plumb's, written about life in Florida; an unidentified diary (1852-1853) containing notes relating to a coal dealer in Poughkeepsie (?), New York; and a letter (1869) from Mrs. Mary W. Hugo (?) describing domestic and social life on the frontier in Todd County, Dakota Territory.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections September 1968

Conrad Hall
888 Wilson Road, Room 101
East Lansing , MI, 48824
517-355-2330
archives@msu.edu

Revision Description

  December 2000

Conditions Governing Access note

Collection is open for research.

Legal Status

Copyright: Michigan State University. Property Rights: Michigan State University.

Conditions Governing Use note

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Custodial History

Gift of Miss Ellen Thompson, transferred by the MSU Museum.

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Controlled Access Headings

Family Name(s)

  • Thompson family, (John Thompson, 1616-1696)

Genre(s)

  • Account books
  • Diaries
  • Journals (accounts)

Geographic Name(s)

  • Dakota Territory
  • Florida
  • Lansing (Mich.)
  • Michigan -- Politics and government
  • Poughkeepsie (N.Y.)

Personal Name(s)

  • Plumb, Winfield S.
  • Sutton, Alden D.
  • Sutton, Libbie

Subject(s)

  • Coal trade -- New York (State)
  • Cooking
  • Finance, Personal -- Michigan
  • Frontier and pioneer life -- Dakota Territory
  • Genealogy
  • Literature -- Societies, etc.
  • Manners and customs

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Collection Inventory

Papers 
Box Volume

Diaries, Charles Hutchinson Thompson 1891-1916 

 1 1-24

Bread accounts, Alden D. Sutton; recipes, diary, Elizabeth Giles Sutton 1843-1851, 1856-1860 

 1 25

Diary, coal dealer 1852-1853 

 1 26

Account book, Charles Hutchinson Thompson 1859-1861 

 1 27

Diary, Winfield S. Plumb 

 1 28

Minutes of the Capital Senate; Journal, Charles Hutchinson Thompson 1860, 1862-1869 

 1 29

A Genealogy of the Descendants of John Thompson of Plymouth, Mass., by Charles Hutchinson Thompson 1890 

 1 30
Box Folder

 January-February 1858 

 2 1

 March-April 1858 

 2 2

 May-June 1858 

 2 3

 July-August 1858 

 2 4

 September-October 1858 

 2 5

 November-December 1858 

 2 6

 January-February 1859 

 2 7

 March-April 1859 

 2 8

 May-June 1859 

 2 9

 July-August 1859 

 2 10

 September-October 1859 

 2 11

 November-December 1859 

 2 12

 January-February 1860 

 2 13

 March-April 1860 

 2 14

 May-June 1860 

 2 15

 July-August 1860 

 2 16

 September-October 1860 

 2 17

 November-December 1860 

 2 18

 January-February 1861 

 2 19

 March-April 1861 

 2 20

 May-July 1861 

 2 21

 August-October 1861; January-May 1862 

 2 22

List of correspondence, Charles Hutchinson Thompson 1858-1864 

 2 23

Letter, Mrs. Mary W. Hugo(?); Paper from diary, Charles Hutchinson Thompson; Florida diary 1869, 1897, 1900-1901 

 2 24

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