Nellie May Davis Finley Family Papers, 1881-1978, and undated
Using These Materials
- Restrictions:
- Nellie May Davis Finley Family Papers are open for research.
Summary
- Creator:
- Finley, Nellie May Davis.
- Abstract:
- Papers of Nellie Finley, as a student and a teacher, and her family of Parma, Michigan.
- Extent:
- 25 cubic feet (in 25 boxes, 1 Oversized folder)
- Language:
-
English
German - Authors:
- Collection processed and finding aid created by unknown; Marian Matyn
Background
- Scope and Content:
-
Family Papers, 1881-1978, and undated, measures 25 cubic ft. (in 25 boxes, 1 Oversized folder). It consists of the papers of Nellie Finley and her family, including correspondence, teaching materials she used as a student and a teacher, notebooks, scrapbooks, published materials, photographs, and miscellaneous. The correspondence, in Boxes 1-21 and 25, includes letters, notes, telegrams, greeting cards, and postcards, and may include newspaper clippings and/or photographs, mostly exchanged between Nellie and her friends and relatives, 1881-1934, and undated. It is not always possible to determine the relationships between the correspondents, but this has been noted, when possible. The collection is mostly organized in alphabetical and chronological order with published and miscellaneous items after correspondence. There are also receipts, speeches, miscellaneous materials, certificates, recitation and student notebooks, and a few miscellaneous scrapbooks and recipes. Box 21 consists entirely of greeting cards organized by holiday or occassion. Published items in Boxes 22-24 include pages of partial directories of Michigan teachers, 1886-1903, and a directory of superintendents and principals, 1890-1891. Of note among the published volumes are Michigan poet Will Carleton's Everywhere, January-December 1911, Christoforo’s Method for Mandolin (Music Instruction Book, Copyright 1897 - John Church Co.), and the 77th Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan w/ Accompanying Documents for the Year 1913-1914.
Note: The abbreviations ND stands for Nellie May Davis and NDF for Nellie D. Finley.
Box 25 (Acc# 72943) includes family correspondence, some of Nellie’s early school materials she created as a child, and materials documenting Masonic organizations such as the Order of the Eastern Star, Michigan State Normal School, and Michigan insurance companies.
The Oversized folder includes Nellie and Theron’s marriage certificate, 1912, and Nellie’s Parma High School diploma, 1904. Also included is an oversized, undated, post-Civil gravure print of Orlando H. Moore holding a bugle and wearing a cape in civilian clothes. He does not appear to be related to the Finleys.
Processing Note: Prior to 1997, students and perhaps Clarke staff simply foldered this collection and likely maintained its loose original order. The original finding aid is no longer accessible on the computer due to software changes. Due to other priorities it was decided not to re-process the collection or individually cataloged published materials. Box 25 was a late addition in 2011 which was processed by the Archivist. A formal finding aid with biographical section and scope notes were not created until 2011 by Archivist Marian Matyn.
Processing Note: Eight oversized Masonic certificates of Edgar A. Guest were donated with Acc# 72943. These were added to the existing Guest papers.
- Biographical / Historical:
-
Biography:
Nellie Mae, or May, Davis Finley (1888-1940s), was born in Michigan, the daughter of Wilson H. and Martha J. Finley. Wilson was a farmer born in 1848 in New York State, the home state of his parents. Martha was born in Michigan in 1852, but her parents were from Pennsylvania. In 1907 Nellie graduated from Michigan State Normal School. In July 1912 Nellie married Theron S. Finley (1887-died before 1920), the son of Erwin J. Finley, a farmer in Parma, Jackson County, Michigan. In 1914-1915 Theron suffered from tuberculosis and was hospitalized. Theron died in early 1920. That year, Nellie Finley lived with her parents and her mother’s sister, Nellie McEntire, and Nellie’s two sons, Theron W., age six, and Harry C., age four, in Parma. The 1930 Federal Census for Michigan records that they were still all living together in Parma, except for Nellie McEntire who had probably died. In both the 1920 and 1930 Federal Censuses for Michigan Nellie is listed as a public school teacher. In the 1920 census Nellie was listed as a widow with her maiden name of Davis. She taught at Devereaux School (Jackson County, Michigan), 1926-1927. Nellie was still alive in the 1940s. (This information is from the collection and AncestryLibrary.com viewed in June 2011.)
From the collection we know the Nellie apparently collected historical information. In 1937 she was approached by the University of Michigan Archives to donate collections she might have of state historical value. There are several letters between her, Harry Brown, and L. G. Vandevelde concerning collections in 1937 and 1939. Also from the collection we know the Harry C. Finley was honorably discharged from the War Department in 1937 and was a Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.
An image of Orlando H. Moore, described on a note in the collection as Orlando de Moore, is included in the oversized materials. Moore enlisted at Schoolcraft as a Second Lieutenant in the Sixth U.S. Infantry on June 27, 1856. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on March 2, 1861, to Captain on May 26, 1861, and as Lieutenant Colonel of the Thirteenth Michigan Infantry when it was organized on December 28, 1861. The unit mustered on January 16, 1862. Moore was commissioned Colonel of the Twenty-fifth Infantry when it was organized on August 18, 1862. After commanding a brigade, he was mustered out on June 24, 1865. Moore was promoted to Major, Sixth U.S. Infantry on June 8, 1874, and Lieutenant Colonel, Seventeenth U.S. Infantry on April 11, 1882. For gallant and meritorious service in action at Tebb’s Bend, Kentucky Moore was prompted first to the rank of Brevet Major, on July 4, 1863, and was later to Lieutenant Colonel on March 13, 1865. Moore retired from the army on April 15, 1884 and died at Dearborn, Michigan, on October 31, 1890. (This information is from the regimental history of the 25th Michigan Infantry.)
- Acquisition Information:
- Acc# 72943
- Arrangement:
-
Boxes 1-24 are roughly foldered probably in original order which is somewhat alphabetical and somewhat chronological. Staff at the time, before 1997, simply put one letter in a folder and labeled it to X from Y with a date. There was no processing at that time. Box 25 was actually processed by the Archivist and is organized both alphabetically and chronologically.
Subjects
Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.
- Subjects:
-
Tuberculosis hospitals--Michigan--Wayne County--History.
Teachers--Michigan--Parma.
Teachers--Michigan--Jackson County.
Mandolin music.
Scrapbooks--Michigan.
Education--Directories--Michigan.
Freemasonry--Michigan.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865. - Names:
-
Michigan State University--Alumni and alumnae.
Parma High School (Parma, Mich.)
Devereaux School (Jackson County, Mich.)
United States.--Army.--Michigan Infantry Regiment 25th (1862-1865)--History.
Order of the Eastern Star.
Finley family.
Finley, Nellie May Davis.
Moore, Orlando Hurley, 1827-1890.
Carleton, Will, 1845-1912.
Contents
Using These Materials
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Nellie May Davis Finley Family Papers are open for research.
- USE & PERMISSIONS:
-
Copyright is unknown.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Nellie May Davis Finley Family Papers, Folder # , Box #, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University