The Baird Papers consist of correspondence, most of which is personal; business papers; personal financial records; writings; scrapbooks and clippings; miscellaneous volumes; and other miscellaneous materials.
The CORRESPONDENCE, 1798-1898, are mostly incoming letters, and contains both personal and business letters. While personal correspondence appears throughout the file, it predominates from 1798 into the 1820s. These early letters concern the families of Baird and his wife, Elizabeth T. Fisher, as well as other related families, including the Laframboise's. Many of these letters are in French and contain information on pioneer life in the Wisconsin area in the early 19th century. The correspondence file is arranged in chronological order, with the exception of undated letters, which are in alphabetical order at the end of the file.
The large quantity of personal family correspondence includes photostats of letters exchanged by Baird and his future wife during their courtship; about three dozen letters written by his father, Henry Baird, while he was living at Cleveland, Ohio, from 1822 to 1832, and in 1835-1836 when he was employed by the government to teach farming methods to the Indians at Neenah (Winnebago Rapids), Wisconsin, and letters written in 1836 by Henry S. Baird to his wife and to his father describing the sessions of the territorial legislature meeting at Belmont. There are also letters addressed to Mrs. Baird from the wives and sisters of officers who had been stationed at Fort Howard for brief periods. Mrs. Baird's own letters, frequently written in French, depict frontier living conditions in Green Bay and other Wisconsin communities, and family correspondence of later dates reflects the changes in social and political life which occurred as the state became more populated. Other correspondence of Mrs. Baird concerns relief for victims in the forest fires of 1871.
The increase in Baird's public activities in the 1830s is reflected in his business correspondence. Of note are Baird's letters to Lewis Cass (December 1833) asking for Cass' support in Baird's effort to gain the office of District Attorney in the proposed Wisconsin Territory; and his descriptions of Belmont, Wisconsin (October 1836), at that time temporary capital of the Wisconsin Territory. Other interesting business letters include those to Washington, D.C. in late 1849 to secure troops at Fort Howard in anticipation of trouble with the Menominee Indians. In late 1850, there are a few letters from Colonel Francis Lee to W.H. Bruce, the Indian agent at Green Bay. Baird's reluctant acceptance of the Whig nomination for governor can be found in a letter of September 21, 1853. During the 1860s when Baird was Draft Commissioner of Brown County, there are many requests for exemptions, letters protesting the draft, and similar items. Finally, in the early 1870s, there are many letters connected with the relief work of Mr. and Mrs. Baird after the Peshtigo Fire. While the correspondence file includes business correspondence, all other material dealing specifically with Baird's business interests will be found in the file of business papers. Those letters dated after Baird's death includes the correspondence of his wife, and Tenney family correspondence concerning the writing of a book on the Tenney genealogy.
Selected List of Prominent Correspondents
- John Quincy Adams
- August 26, 1846
- Orlando Brown, Commissioner of Indian Affairs
- August 28, 1849
- January 22, 1850
- George W. Crawford, Secretary of War
- August 28, 1849
- Ramsay Crooks
- November 15, 1839
- August 27, 1845
- August 24, 1858
- March 10, 1861
- July 31, 1861
- September 18, 1861
- October 24, 1861
- December 1, 1861
- December 15, 1861
- Henry Dodge
- June 8, 1837
- January 5, 1838
- November 21, 1838
- December 5, 1838
- James D. Doty
- December 29, 1849
- Jane F. Dousman
- October 13, 1868
- August 12, 1874
- T. Dousman
- June 17, 1818
- Lyman C. Draper
- November 13, 1882
- Lucius Fairchild
- December 2, 1871
- December 18, 1871
- Hamilton Fish, Governor of New York
- February 8, 1849
- Horace Rublee
- April 23, 1849
- October 18, 1852
- December 21, 1852
- April 1, 1873
- Eleazer Williams
- January 10, 1837
- December 29, 1847
The BUSINESS PAPERS, 1812-1875, include material pertaining to Baird's activities as Draft Commissioner during the Civil War; deeds; financial records; legal material; mortgages; and real estate notes. The material in each of the six categories is arranged in chronological order. More specifically, the papers concerning his activities as Draft Commissioner consist of non-correspondence materials such as lists of drafted men, railroad rate schedules for troops, soldiers' passes, military orders, attempts of draftees to prove non-citizenship, and similar materials. Also included are a few items relating to the Ladies' Aid Society and its wartime activities. Deeds include warranty deeds, land patents granting land to various people signed by President James Madison, a donation by Indians of land to “Madilon Lafrombois” [sic], and other materials. The financial records consist mainly of attorney's tax receipts, and records concerning the sale of property. The legal materials consist of indentures of servants, petitions, agreements, and other items. Of note are a statement concerning the trial of Chief Oshkosh for murder (November 5, 1830), and various legal agreements with Indians (March 1844). The mortgages include printed and hand-written documents. Finally, the real estate materials contain Baird's license to act as an agent, and miscellaneous notes.
The PERSONAL FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1820-1875, is comprised of household bills and other personal records. This material is arranged in chronological order.
The WRITINGS file, circa 1830s-1933, consists of the work of a variety of people. The Baird family writings include work by Henry S. Baird, Elizabeth T. Baird, Louise Baird Favill, and Therese S. Favill. Henry Baird's rather extensive writings contain addresses to his Masonic lodge, to the city council, and before the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and cover such topics as Indian responses to treaties, life of North American Indians and early Wisconsin history. In addition to addresses, there are other essays and articles covering subjects from eloquence to Indian relations. These writings are in chronological order, with undated manuscripts in alphabetical order by title. The writings of Elizabeth T. Baird include anecdotes on the Civil War, notes concerning the history of Michilimackinac, and observations on Indian customs. Louise Baird Favill wrote an essay entitled “Three Periods of Sculpture,” presented to the Madison Woman's Club, and an undated series of recollections of early Madison. Finally, Therese S. Favill's writings consist of a study on lace, and a translation of a novel by Anatole France. These groups are in chronological and/or alphabetical order. The writings of other authors consist of notes on the genealogies of the Grignon and Tenney families; and miscellaneous writings such as “The History of Alton Street,” by Anna Tenney, poems, eulogies, descriptions of Green Bay homes, and other topics. These latter two sections are in chronological order, with undated materials following each in alphabetical order.
The SCRAPBOOKS and CLIPPINGS, 1841-1937, contain three scrapbooks and two folders of loose clippings. Two scrapbooks of materials concern Appleton, Wisconsin, and its residents, Lawrence College, and Eleazer Williams. The third scrapbook is of clippings from a series of reminiscences of Mackinac Island and Wisconsin Territory written by Elizabeth T. Baird in 1886-1887 for the Green Bay State Gazette. The folders of loose clippings and memos concern Kaukauna, Wisconsin, and Eleazer Williams. The clippings are in chronological order.
The MISCELLANEOUS VOLUMES consist of five volumes: a French catechism; an Indian prayer book; and three copy books containing English and French poems, lists of daily activities, and other memoranda.
The MISCELLANEOUS file consists of various items such as lists of books, maps, menus, programs, minutes, word games, et cetera. Also includes muster rolls of companies of Menominee Indians in the Black Hawk War of 1832. These are arranged first in alphabetical order, and chronologically thereunder.
