The David Clark Everest Autograph and Manuscript Collections, 1696-1953, is divided into two sections: autographs of noteworthy American, British, and Wisconsin political and cultural personages; and a group of four small collections from Everest's collection of manuscripts. The AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION includes the signatures, or examples of the writing, of over eighty well-known people including the autographs of most of the presidents of the United States through Dwight David Eisenhower. The form of the autographs varies: some are original signed letters; others, officially signed documents, envelopes addressed by the individual, signatures alone, copies of a signature with or without an accompanying photograph, and a folder of facsimiles of multiple signatures. The autographs are arranged alphabetically, and an index to them, which notes the date of the autograph, is provided in the appendix below. There is also a folder of unidentified autographs dating from 1855 to 1953.
The MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS are four distinct small collections: an account book of the Pine Grove Mills; some Massachusetts military documents; records pertaining to the Morse and Wheelock families; and a group of miscellaneous manuscripts. (These are only a small part of the original total of Everest's manuscript collections.) The Pine Grove Mills Account Book is a detailed daily listing of the expenses of the mills from November 1853 through November 1860. (The town of Pine Grove, Van Buren County, Michigan, in which the mills are located, is also the birthplace of D. C. Everest.) The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Military Records, 1789-1830, include officer appointments, election-of-officers reports, voting affidavits, complaints, petitions, and official dismissal certificates.
The Records of the Morse and Wheelock Families, 1696-1863, consist of estate records and wills, land deeds, debt notices and payment records, election announcements, and sundry contracts or exchanges in which a Morse or Wheelock participated. Both families were residents of the town of Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, and the documents concern Medfield and Dover in Norfolk County, and the nearby county of Worcester. A chronological item listing, indicating the type of document and its date, has been prepared and is filed with the records of the Morse and Wheelock families (box 1, folder 10). The first item in the collection is a brief handwritten note naming the first Morse (Samuel) to settle in Medfield; and mentioning the capture by the French, and subsequent events in the life, of one of Samuel's descendants, during the reign of George II.
The Miscellaneous Manuscripts, 1695-1919, include affidavits, certificates, contracts and deeds of purchase, checks, receipts, and letters and announcements of appointments from England as well as most of the eastern states. Everest apparently collected these manuscripts as separate items, influenced by their early date or singular character. These have not been studied or analyzed in detail.
