The manuscript materials of the H.H. Bennett Papers document the professional and personal life, as well as the legacy, of photographer Henry Hamilton Bennett from 1856 to 1998, the business operations of the Bennett Studio from the late 1860s to the 1990s, and the lives of various members of Bennett's extended family, primarily the Marshalls and the Crandalls. Secondarily, the papers trace the evolution of Wisconsin Dells from a small frontier settlement to a major Midwest tourist attraction, the Civil War service of Henry and Edmund Bennett in the 12th Wisconsin; the business and inventions of George M. Marshall; Native American tribes in the Dells area, particularly the Ho Chunk; song writing and publishing in the mid-twentieth century; and model railroading. The photographs taken by H.H. Bennett and his successors are described separately in the H.H. Bennett Studio Collection (PH 6062).

The papers are divided into four series: the HENRY HAMILTON BENNETT PAPERS, BENNETT STUDIO RECORDS, BENNETT FAMILY PAPERS, and AUDIO RECORDINGS. Because Bennett's descendants continued to actively honor his photographic legacy, information on him and the Wisconsin Dells area can be found in all three series. In general, the artistic aspects of photography are covered best in the H.H. Bennett years, while the twentieth-century studio records contain more information on the business aspects of photography and tourist promotion than on the careers of individual studio photographers. The FAMILY PAPERS document three interlocking families: the Bennetts, the Marshalls, and the Crandall-Musson family. These papers not only provide context for Bennett's professional and personal life, but they also contain rich documentation on several important members of his extended family: primarily his second wife Evaline Marshall Bennett, his father-in-law George M. Marshall, his daughter Miriam E. Bennett, his son-in law George Crandall, and his granddaughter Lois Crandall Musson.

Most of the materials created by or collected by H.H. Bennett are found in the first series, the HENRY HAMILTON BENNETT PAPERS. Included are correspondence, diaries, exposure books, and memorabilia. This series also contains printed materials that discuss Bennett's professional legacy and personal life or that contained Bennett images. For additional information about the financial history of Bennett's photography business and for examples of the guidebooks he created in the 1890s and 1900s, see the “Financial Records” and “Studio Publications” sections of the BENNETT STUDIO RECORDS.

The correspondence in the first series is arranged in four parts. The General Correspondence, 1856-1907, consists of incoming and outgoing letters documenting Bennett's arrival in Kilbourn, his service in the Civil War, his struggle to establish a successful photography business, his opposition to the Kilbourn Dam, and other professional and personal concerns. After 1882, the majority of the outgoing correspondence is contained in letterpress volumes, some of which are only available on microfilm, rather than in General Correspondence. Additional materials on Bennett's arrival in Wisconsin and on his Civil War service can be found in the George H. and Harriet A. Bennett Correspondence in the FAMILY PAPERS series. Bennett's Civil War-era diaries (1863-1864) contain information on the 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and its service at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and in Tennessee and Mississippi.

Correspondence with William H. Metcalf comprises the second subdivision of Bennett's correspondence. Metcalf was Bennett's patron and friend, and their letters are full of detail about photographic techniques and the ups and downs of the photography business. The correspondence documents the 1875 studio building, which Metcalf underwrote, Bennett's innovative printing house; prices for supplies; photographic techniques including both wet and dry plate processes; alterations to and construction of cameras and other photographic equipment; lantern slide shows; and the fatal illness of Bennett's first wife, Frances Douty Bennett. Bennett's letters to Metcalf are located in the “Letterpress Correspondence” section although there are few letters from Bennett to Metcalf prior to 1882.

The third correspondence section consists of exchanges with Evaline Marshall Bennett, 1889-1906. It documents their rocky courtship, their life together, and Evaline's involvement in the photography business. Additional information about the courtship can be found in Evaline's correspondence with her parents and siblings in the FAMILY PAPERS and in the 1889 and 1890 diaries of her brother Frank Marshall.

The final correspondence section consists of letterpress volumes of Bennett's outgoing correspondence from 1882 until his death in 1908. The letterpress volumes are arranged by chronological period and alphabetically thereunder. Because of their fragile condition the volumes from 1892 until 1908 are available only on microfilm.

While a great deal of information about H.H. Bennett's photography can be gleaned from the correspondence, the exposure books, 1887-1899, provide especially valuable documentation on his photographic techniques and shot selections. The content of these books varies, with some describing subjects, weather conditions, exposure, and processes and others listing only some of these variables. The exposure books however do not cover Bennett's entire photographic career.

Among the alphabetically-arranged memorabilia are records on Bennett's involvement in two local organizations. When Bennett first arrived in Kilbourn, he worked for the Wisconsin River Hydraulic Company, and three financial volumes pertaining to this company are included in the papers, although it is not known why they were in Bennett's possession. In the late nineteenth century, Bennett organized and directed two drill teams for young people in Kilbourn: a female broom brigade and a group for young men known as the Kilbourn High School Cadets. The collection contains a little information on the founding and financial operation of the cadet corps.

The final group of materials in the HENRY HAMILTON BENNETT PAPERS series consists of magazine articles, exhibit catalogues, and other printed products that document Bennett's career and his legacy. Some of this material is presented in the form of clipping scrapbooks. Over the years, the family expanded the coverage of these scrapbooks to include not only references to Bennett and the Bennett Studio, but also general news of the Dells area. All of the scrapbooks are available on microfilm but only the “Dells vs. the Dam, 1905-1921” and the 1878-1938 volumes have been retained in their original form.

The BENNETT STUDIO RECORDS series consists of materials generated by Bennett enterprises after H.H. Bennett's death. Exceptions are the Studio Publications section from the 1870s to 1996, and the Financial Records section from 1869 to 1998. The studio records consist of correspondence and subject files, studio publications, individual photographers' materials, reference files, and financial records.

The studio correspondence is arranged in two overlapping sections: General Files and Subject Files. At various times in the twentieth century, studio employees maintained chronological correspondence files while at other times, they created alphabetical subject files for business correspondence. These original filing systems have been maintained. The General Files document studio business as broadly defined and cover many of the same subjects reflected in the Subject Files. In general, few subjects are covered uniformly for the entire period from 1908 to 1998. The guidebook and postcard operations are extensively documented, as is the Bennett-run “Minirama” tourist attraction (1959-1970) that featured a miniature model of the Dells area and an extensive model railroad. Also well documented are the ongoing relationship between the Studio and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the interactions between Jean and Oliver Reese and various authors working on H.H. Bennett projects including Dave Hanson, Sara Rath, and Rick Smith. The subject file “Publication Permissions” also contains information on the studio's control of Bennett's images. Taken as a whole, the General Files and the Subject Files document both the business operations of a photography studio during the twentieth century and the evolution of tourism in the Dells as seen through the various Bennett enterprises.

The remaining subseries of the BENNETT STUDIO RECORDS supplement information found in the General and Subject Files. For example, the Studio Publications subseries contains a run of the guidebooks and stereo catalogs, as well as some items published by their competitors. Information on the conception and marketing of some of these guidebooks is found in the “Guidebooks” files.

The changing nature of the studio business can be tracked through the extensive financial records. The nineteenth-century ledgers, sales book, and daybooks record daily transactions at the studio gallery and provide information about the type and prices of stereo views and prints. For the twentieth century, employees tracked customer orders in a variety of ways; these include order books, index cards, and forms arranged together as “Customer Orders.” Some of these files contain correspondence with patrons. The financial records also document the wholesale operations of the studio and the expansion of Bennett operations into crafts, gifts, and other non-photographic souvenirs. The “Orders” files contain information on crafts sold in the Bennett stores while the “Sales” files contain information on the wholesale postcard and guidebook operations. Finally, the account books provide brief glimpses of various Bennett businesses or trading lines including the studio itself, the post card shop, and the Stand Rock Trading Post.

Unfortunately, the Bennett Studio Records contain little information about the actual practice of photography by studio employees. Evaline Marshall Bennett and Miriam E. Bennett were significant in the continuing operation of the studio after H.H. Bennett's death, but the collection contains little information about their professional careers. There is some information about the photography of Evaline's other daughter, Ruth Bennett Dyer, and Ruth's son-in-law, Oliver Reese. This material is grouped together in the Individual Photographers' Materials section and includes exposure books from the 1940s and 1950s and correspondence documenting Oliver Reese's career as a freelance magazine photographer in the 1950s.

The FAMILY PAPERS series is arranged by family name: Bennett, Marshall, and Crandall-Musson families; with each section arranged thereunder alphabetically by name. The Bennett Family material documents four generations of Bennetts in Vermont and Wisconsin. The correspondence of George H. and Harriet Bennett, H.H. Bennett's parents, includes their courtship letters from the early 1840s, information on the early settlement of Kilbourn, and a rare home-front perspective on the Civil War in their letters to Henry and Edmund. Additional information on the Bennett family during the Civil War can be found in the correspondence of Henry's siblings, Edmund, George, and Sarah. The long run of correspondence to another sibling, John Bennett, consists primarily of letters from Edmund and Sarah. John was still living in Kilbourn with his parents so most of these letters touch on Bennett family matters in Wisconsin. The letters from Edmund document his mining enterprises in Colorado and New Mexico, and the letters from Sarah Bennett McVey discuss her life in McVey, Minnesota.

The Evaline Marshall Bennett materials in this series consist of personal letters that were neither to nor from H.H. Bennett. (Those letters are filed in the Henry Hamilton Bennett Series, and Evaline's correspondence concerning studio business is located in the General and Subject Files of the Bennett Studio Records.) Letters from 1888 to 1890 primarily concern their courtship. Sympathy letters represent the bulk of the correspondence received by Evaline after Bennett's death in 1908. The mining claims files consist primarily of letters from Henry's brother Don. It documents Bennett holdings in the southwest.

The materials of Bennett's daughter Miriam document her friendships, travels, and other personal activities. Most significant are the writings on her father and the early history of the Dells area. These essays are a good source for biographical information about H.H. Bennett and his family, and they provide insight into the handling of the Bennett legacy by the studio. Miriam, Ruth, and other studio employees drew heavily on Miriam's research and writing to create studio publicity.

The Marshall Family papers document the long career of George M. Marshall, father of Evaline Marshall Bennett, and his other children, Frank and Ruth. George Marshall was a prolific inventor of machines and implements, and he worked in or ran machine shops throughout his life in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. Beginning in 1854 and ending with his death in 1915, Marshall kept a series of diaries that document his business and personal activities. These diaries contain information on the machine and mill industries in Shelbourne Falls, Vermont, and in Adams County and Kilbourn City, Wisconsin. Also documented are his 1854 trip to Kansas, his speculation in western lands during the 1860s, and his move to Big Spring, Wisconsin, in 1865. The diaries also contain information on Marshall's service in the Wisconsin State Assembly in the mid-1870s and his interest in steam-powered automobiles and other new machines. The George Marshall correspondence, business records, and financial records supplement the information found in the diaries, particularly his commercial enterprises in the Kilbourn area. The “Lifeline of G. M. Marshall” and the scrapbooks contain summary information about his life and work.

The papers of Frank and Ruth Marshall are more sparse than those of their father. Most of the Frank Marshall correspondence concerns business enterprises with his father, and the personal letters and diaries document the courtship between Evaline and H.H. Bennett. A few items from the journal of accounts contain information on Frank Marshall's campaign for mayor of Wisconsin Dells in the 1930s. Although Ruth Marshall became a prominent professor of biology at Rockford College and an expert on water mites, her papers primarily concern personal matters.

The Crandall-Musson Family papers document the professional and personal lives of George H. Crandall, H.H. Bennett's son-in-law, and his two daughters, Lois Crandall Musson and Phyllis Crandall Connor. There is also some memorabilia of Nellie Bennett Crandall, George Crandall's wife and H.H. Bennett's daughter. The George Crandall materials provide spotty information on his business dealings in the Dells, particularly his boat operations and property holdings.

Additional information on these operations are contained in the files about Phyllis Crandall Connor and Lois Crandall Musson. In 1929 Phyllis Crandall Connor developed the Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial into a major tourist attraction, taking it to the 1933 Century of Progress in Chicago. The papers include correspondence of both sisters about their activities at the fair. Phyllis, Lois, and their husbands, continued to oversee and expand the family's business operations in and around the Dells, and their papers contain summary financial information about these operations from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. However, the papers are by no means the complete record of Crandall-Musson operations. In addition, Lois Musson was a prolific songwriter and poet, and her papers document a longstanding collaboration with composer Hank Patterson that produced several published songs on Wisconsin Dells and Indian themes.

The AUDIO RECORDINGS mostly document Minirama, the model train attraction owned by the Bennett family in the Dells, and railroads in general. Also included are recordings of Indian Ceremonials including one at Standing Rock.