The Martha E. Gunnison Papers consist mainly of diaries, 1879-1957, but also include a 1942 will, a Xerox copy of one 1868 letter from her mother in Wisconsin to her grandmother in New York, and a biographical sketch written in 1973 by her granddaughter, Mrs. Baruth. Between 1879 and 1906, the diaries are scattered, some of them incomplete. There is a complete record from 1906 to 1957. Mrs. Gunnison faithfully recorded the weather and deaths and funerals occurring in Waupun and Detroit during the later years. Otherwise, the diaries emphasize her personal life and daily activities.
