Thomas B. Buell family papers, 1840-2000 (majority within 1872-1942)

Summary

Creator:

Buell family.

Abstract:

Thomas B. Buell family of Branch County, Michigan. The family was engaged in farming, banking, real estate, and other business enterprises; family history and genealogy; correspondence and other papers of individual Buell family members; records of family banking operations in Union City and Elmira; and papers of Buells attending Olivet College.

Extent:

4 linear feet

Language:

English.

Call Number:

0075 Aa 2

Authors:

Finding aid prepared by: Stephanie Pryor

Background

Scope and Content:

The Buell family collection documents the lives and activities of Thomas Bingham Buell (TBB1) and successive generations of sons. The collection is composed mostly of correspondence and business records such as mortgages, contracts, stock certificates, receipts and deeds. The business records and much of the correspondence are valuable for their documentation of the running of a family farm and the operation of a privately-owned bank in 19th and early 20th century Michigan.

Another great value of the collection lies in the personal correspondence and writings of family members. The correspondence and journals of the wives, for example, are especially interesting as most were city bred with no farm experience until after their marriages. And the correspondence between sons and fathers reveals a great deal about the pressures of keeping up the family farm and bank.

The collection, consisting mainly of correspondence and other records of the Buell men, has been divided into nine series: Buell Family, Thomas Bingham Buell (1815-1899), Farmers National Bank, Darius David Buell (1852-1942), Thomas Bingham Buell (1880-1942), Dorr Darius Buell (1882-1920), Elmira Bank of Buell and Wickett, Darius David Buell (1907-1990), and Topical Files. The named series follow sequentially from father to son with the records of the two family banks placed after the papers of the Buell family member first associated with that bank. Because the family was involved so heavily in business dealings both with the farm and the banks, most of the collection in some ways relates to business activities. Thus, family correspondence is often a mixture of personal sentiment and business dealings. In the processing of the collection, files identified as "business" relate only to banking or real estate endeavors. Non-business papers might pertain to both personal and business affairs. Correspondence has generally been grouped by the family member who received it except in cases where it did not make sense to break up groups of related materials, as in the Olivet College subseries of the Darius David Buell (1852-1942) papers.

Biographical / Historical:

The Buells were a Branch County pioneer family with residences in Union City and Elmira. In addition to their family farm, members of the family also operated the Farmers National Bank of Union City and the Elmira Bank of Buell and Wickett.

In 1835, at the age of 20, Thomas Bingham Buell (TBB1) left western New York State with three older brothers to settle in southern Michigan. A founder of Union City, Thomas quickly settled down to Michigan pioneer life, working with others to build the Union City Congregational Church in 1838 and marrying Mary Blakeman in 1840. Thomas enlarged his real estate holdings in Union City, eventually coming to own approximately 2,000 acres of land. He was also a shrewd businessman spending his energies on land speculation and an 18-month California prospecting trip before founding the Farmers National Bank in Union City in 1877.

Thomas and Mary had three sons and two daughters. The fourth child, Darius David Buell (1852-1942), was slated to inherit the family farm, but dreamed of a more intellectual path. Compromising with his father, he attended Olivet College from 1873 to 1877. During this period he wrote many letters to his family and received an even greater number of letters from them as well as from his friends. He made many friends during this period and kept in touch with them throughout his life. After graduating, Darius looked for teaching jobs. Unsuccessful, he moved to Bavaria, Kansas where he worked briefly on a farm.

Darius returned to Union City in 1878. His older brother, John, had died a few years before and Thomas wanted Darius to run the farm. He was also drawn back for love of a local woman, Estelle (Stella) Strong, whom he wished to marry. In March 1879, Thomas and Darius reached a working agreement about the management of the farm. Thus assured of a livelihood, Darius and Stella were married in April 1879. Thomas by this time lived in town and was a prominent civic leader and businessman. Darius and Stella settled on the farm where they had two sons -- Thomas Bingham (TBB2) and Dorr Darius.

Darius soon became a civic leader in his own right. He was a member of the state Grange and also an elected member of the state House of Representatives serving two terms (1891-1894). Darius was also the member of many organizations such as the Masons, the Knights Templar and a local literary group, the Circle. Thomas (TBB1) died in 1899, leaving Darius the farm as well as the bank. Darius and Stella built a stone mansion in Union City in 1900 and moved into town, leaving a tenant to work and manage the farm. Darius was heavily involved in investing at this time, holding interests not only in stocks and bonds, but also in local companies.

Darius and Stella's oldest son, Thomas (TBB2), entered the University of Michigan where he studied languages and was a member of a fraternity, Delta Tau Delta. After graduation in 1902, and unsure what profession he wanted to pursue, Thomas traveled to campuses starting fraternities. During one of these trips he met Mabelle Stewart, a University of Michigan student majoring in mathematics. Mabelle was from a prominent and well-to-do family in Hillsdale -- her father was the president of a bank and they lived in a mansion with servants.

When Mabelle graduated in 1905, she and Thomas were engaged, but she was anxious to try something on her own before marriage. She took a one-year teaching position at a private girls' school in Walla Walla, Washington. She wrote many letters to Thomas while separated from her. These letters are touching and poignant and reveal the difficulties of being an independent woman at the turn of the century. Mabelle returned to marry Thomas in the fall of 1906. Thomas and Mabelle moved to the Union City farm. This was quite an adjustment for Mabelle, who was city-bred and used to servants. She made an admirable effort to adjust to life on the farm but it took its toll on her health.

The younger son of Darius and Stella, Dorr Darius, was less disciplined than his older brother. In 1899 he was sent to Culver Military Academy in Indiana for a year. He graduated from Union City High School in 1902, but did not go on to college like his brother and father. In 1906, just a few weeks after Thomas and Mabelle's wedding, he married his high school sweetheart, Pauline Hawley. Dorr and Pauline moved to Elmira to live on a farm Dorr's grandfather, TBB1, had acquired through his business dealings in that area. Pauline was also not suited to farm life, being raised in town as an only child. They were both extravagant spenders and soon ran in to financial difficulties. Dorr wrote many letters to his father apologizing for his money troubles and promising to improve.

In Union City, Darius (DDB1) and an older sister, Sarah Buell Case, sat on the Board of Directors of the Farmers National Bank. However, the day-to-day operations of the bank were carried out by H. T. Carpenter, a family friend and trusted business associate. Carpenter was often in trouble with federal bank auditors for poor recordkeeping and lending practices. In 1911, the bank was closed by federal examiners. Carpenter immediately resigned, but was investigated, charged and eventually imprisoned. After it became clear that the bank was in more trouble than anyone had realized, the Directors committed approximately $170,000 of their own assets to reimburse depositors. This respectable act of sacrificing personal fortune in order to save the depositors allowed the Buells to remain in good standing in the community.

Mabelle gave birth to a fourth child, Frances, in February 1916. For her first two children, she had given birth in Chicago where there were better medical facilities. After the failure of the bank, this expense was no longer possible for the Buell family. Mabelle developed complications after the birth and died soon after. The Stewart family blamed Thomas for the death of his wife, because of the harshness of the life he had placed her in and the fact they had children so close together. However, Mabelle's older brother Clifford and his wife Grace offered to adopt Frances. They were childless and felt that Thomas had enough to deal with, with his grief and three young children. Thomas accepted and Frances went with the Stewarts, taking their name and eventually moving with them to California.

Shortly after his wife's death, Thomas married Edith Waite. Edith, a divorcee, had come to the farm with her young daughter Elinor to help Mabelle nurse Doris, her third child. Edith had not gotten along well with Mabelle when she was alive and was not accepted by the family after Mabelle's death. Not making any money on the farm, in 1920 Thomas and Edith left the Union City farm in the hands of a tenant, Howard Thompson, and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan where Dorr found Thomas a job in the Michigan Farm Bureau.

Dorr had seemingly been doing very well in Elmira while the rest of his family suffered through the tragedies in Union City. While he still relied heavily on money from his father, he became a prominent spokesperson for the farmers in the region, organizing the Michigan Potato Growers Exchange in 1918. He was soon elected president of this marketing cooperative and spent much of his time traveling around the state, paying little attention to the farm and bank. Dorr had been ill most of his life and had never been involved with the heavy labor on the farm, leaving that to the hired hands. Like his father and brother, he left his bank's day-to-day operations to a trusted business associate, Glee Wickett. Dorr was given a new position as marketing director with the Michigan Farm Bureau and spent more and more time away from home. In 1920 his lifelong illness, endocarditis, became more severe and he died, leaving Pauline a pregnant widow with a young son, Thomas Bingham.

Dorr left no will and his brother Thomas (TBB2) went to Elmira to settle the estate. What he found was a bank in financial chaos. Dorr and Wickett had embezzled the bank, leaving a debt for the family to repay of $40,000. Thomas and his father communicated often during this time -- Darius guilty over his son's behavior and Thomas resolved to sort it out and take full responsibility. Thomas spent years trying to settle the accounts of the bank. Pauline, meanwhile, looked for financial support from her father-in-law, but found he blamed her for his son's spendthrift lifestyle and shunned her and the children. Family members and friends tried to change his mind, but he remained steadfast, giving them only token monetary gifts. Thomas tried to save the bank, writing a check to cover Dorr's "loans". But it was not enough, Thomas declared bankruptcy, and the bank was closed in May, 1924.

Thomas and Mabelle's oldest son, Darius (DBB2), attended Hillsdale College and the Detroit School of Law. He married Mary Chappell in 1931 and was divorced by 1935, leaving a daughter Marjorie. His second marriage was to Charlotte Leonhardt, a woman from Detroit who was used to hard work and struggling to make ends meet. The family lived in Dearborn with their son Thomas Bingham (the donor of the collection).

Estelle died in 1940 followed by Edith and Darius in the early part of 1942. Thomas was deeply depressed and ill himself with worsening arteriosclerosis. He had a heart attack in 1942, and when recovering at home, attempted suicide. His nurse, realizing water had been running in the bath for some time, found him with his throat and wrists slashed. He died a few days later.

Thomas' estate was in question due to the earlier bankruptcy and some problems with the farm. He had deeded the farm to his son, Darius (DDB2), a few years before and now the courts claimed it as a death gift. Following family tradition, Darius inherited both farms, with the liquid assets going to his sisters. Darius moved his family to the Elmira farm, to learn the business of farming from the tenant/manager there, Lyle Prebble. Howard Thompson continued at the Union City farm. Both farms were doing poorly and Darius soon became deep in debt. He sold the Union City farm in 1953, but still could not save the Elmira farm. Darius and Charlotte moved into Elmira where they had just enough cash to buy a few small lots. Darius found work as a laborer and both he and Charlotte were deeply involved with local politics and civic activities. Darius died in 1990, Charlotte in 1999. His son, Thomas (the donor), inherited the family papers upon his death. He meticulously went through the collection piece by piece, leaving explanatory notes throughout. The collection was donated to the Bentley Historical Library in 2000. Thomas wrote a manuscript entitled "Fathers and Sons" outlining the history of his family in Michigan, which can be found in the collection.

Acquisition Information:

This collection was donated by Thomas Bingham Buell in January 7, 2000. Donor no. 8919

Subjects

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Subjects:

Banks and banking -- Michigan -- Elmira.
Banks and banking -- Michigan -- Union City.
Farmhouses -- Michigan -- Elmira.
Farming -- Michigan -- Elmira.

Formats:

Photographs.

Names:

Olivet College -- Students.
Buell family.

Places:

Branch County (Mich.)
Union City (Mich.)
Elmira (Mich.)