Draper Manuscripts

Location: Microfilm F 586 D7 1980

Scope

Works and papers collected by Lyman Draper on the history of the trans-Allegheny West, an area that includes portions of the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, the entire Ohio Valley and the Mississippi Valley. Most materials cover the time period from the 1740’s through the 1810’s. There are nearly 500 volumes in this collection. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, for which Draper served as corresponding secretary from 1854-1886, now owns the collection of original 18th and 19th century papers.

This collection includes letters, miscellaneous legal documents, transcripts of interviews, family and personal records, land deeds, muster rolls, military discharges and business records collected by Draper.

Calendars of eight series are on microfiches as are printed volumes on the Ohio River valley: Pioneer’s mission, the story of Lyman Copeland Draper / W. B. Hesseltine — Frontier advance on the upper Ohio, 1778-1779 / L. P. Kellogg — Frontier retreat on the upper Ohio, 1779-1781 / L. P. Kellogg — Documentary history of Dunmore’s War, 1774 / R. G. Thwaites — Frontier defense on the upper Ohio, 1777-1778 / R. G. Thwaites — Revolution on the upper Ohio, 1775-1777 / R. G. Thwaites.

How to search the collection

Each collection of papers has been given a letter or letters that designates that collection. See the list below for these letter designations. The collection has been divided into volumes and each page with the volume has been numbered. To determine the location of a document, take the document number:

21CC50

This number is from the Kentucky Papers (CC). It is the 50th page in volume 21. The Kentucky Papers are on reels 74-80. On one side of each box you will find the volume numbers contained in that box. This document is on reel 78, which includes volumes 20-28 of the Kentucky Papers.

Collections:

Reel 1: Bedinger Papers (A)

Reel 2: Draper’s Life of Boone (B)

Reel 3-9: Boone Papers (C)

Reel 10: Border Forays (D)

Reel 11-13: Brady and Wetzel Papers (E)

Reel 14-19: Brant Papers (F)

Reel 20: Brant Miscellanies (G)

Reel 21: Daniel Broadhead Papers (H)

Reel 22-36: George Rogers Clark Papers (J)

Reel 37: George Rogers Clark Miscellanies (K)

Reel 38: Jonathan Clark Papers (L)

Reel 39: William Clark Papers (M)

Reel 40: William Croghan Papers (N)

Reel 41: Daniel Drake Papers (O)

Reel 42: Draper’s Biographical Sketches (P)

Reel 43-45: Draper’s Historical Miscellanies (Q)

Reel 46: Draper’s Memoranda Books (R)

Reel 47-52: Draper’s Notes (S)

Reel 53: Forsyth Papers (T)

Reel 54-59: Frontier War Papers (U)

Reel 60: Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina Papers (V)

Reel 61: Harmar Papers (W)

Reel 62: William Henry Harrison Papers (X)

Reel 63-68: Thomas S. Hinde Papers (Y)

Reel 69: Illinois Papers (Z)

Reel 70: Irvine Papers (AA)

Reel 71-73: Simon Kenton Papers (BB)

Reel 74-80: Kentucky Papers (CC)

Reel 81-86: King’s Mountain Papers (DD)

Reel 87: London Documents at Albany (EE)

Reel 88: Mecklenburg Declaration by Draper (FF)

Reel 89: Mecklenburg Declaration Papers (GG)

Reel 90: Mecklenburg Declaration Miscellanies (HH)

Reel 91-92: Newspaper Extracts (JJ)

Reel 93: North Carolina Papers (KK)

Reel 94: Paris Documents at Albany (LL)

Reel 95: Robert Patterson Papers (MM)

Reel 96-97: Pittsburgh and Northwest Virginia Papers (NN)

Reel 98: Pension Statements (OO)

Reel 99: Potter Family Papers (PP)

Reel 100-101: Preston Papers (QQ)

Reel 102-104: Rudolph-Ney Papers (RR)

Reel 105: Shepherd Papers (SS)

Reel 106: South Carolina Papers (TT)

Reel 107: South Carolina in the Revolution Miscellanies (UU)

Reel 108-114: Sumter Papers (VV)

Reel 115: John Cleves Symmes Papers (WW)

Reel 116: Tennessee Papers (XX)

Reel 117-120: Tecumseh Papers (YY)

Reel 121-123: Virginia Papers (ZZ)

Guides

Guide to the Draper Manuscripts (Microfilm F 586 .D7 1980 Guide) This guide contains an index to the Draper Manuscripts. Each set of papers within the collection is described and there are several useful appendices, such as a list of maps contained in the collection.