The Chaney Family Papers include correspondence, notebooks, legal documents, essays, and photos, which are arranged alphabetically by topic. The correspondence spans almost 120 years and consists of correspondence between family and friends. A letter from L. W. Caryl to Henry Chaney, dated 29 July 1832, describes a method for early diagnosis and cure of cholera. Between May 1837 and January 1838, Isabella Caryl (then living in New York) received letters from several of her former school mates (who called themselves “The Hill Girls”) who had moved to Detroit. Among the notebooks is one of Willard Chaney’s medical notebooks. Of the seventeen photos in the collection, only one, Marjorie Chaney Bow (Henry’s granddaughter), is identified.
Biography:
Henry Chaney, born in 1808, moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1858, after living and teaching in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York. Instrumental in founding the first high school in Detroit, Henry served as its first principal until 1871 and as superintendent of the related library until 1878. Henry was married twice, first to Elizabeth A. Caryl; then to Isabella J. Caryl. He had two children, a daughter, Elizabeth Mason, and a son, Willard. (This information is from the collection.)
