Print Collection

Ulysses Sumner Milburn was born in Black Lick, Ohio in 1865 and attended St. Lawrence University, graduating from the Theological School in 1891. He served 47 years in active Universalist ministry in Ohio, Maryland, New York, Missouri and Massachusetts. He married Alice Dinsmore Milburn in 1910 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from his Alma Mater in 1927. U.S. Milburn was most famous for his large collection of books, manuscripts, letters and other items of the 19th century American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, which was donated to the University in 1949.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist was born July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts and was educated at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He married Sophia Amelia Peabody in 1842 and settled in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1846 Hawthorne became surveyor of the Salem customhouse and in 1850 he moved to Lenox where he wrote House of the Seven Gables in 1851. In 1852 he became the consulate in Liverpool, England for four years and lived in Italy for a couple of years before returning to the United States.

The collection consists of materials from the U.S. Presidential Inaugurations of 1933 to 1985 (excluded are the inaugurations of 1945, 1953, 1965, and 1977). Among the items are: inaugural programs, some of which are signed, numbered and bound; invitations to inaugural events; badges of committee members; license plates, tickets to events, programs of events, inauguration guide books and assorted other items. The Presidents represented in the collection are: George W. Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Franklin D.

Writing in Hardboiled America: The Lurid Years of Paperbacks, Geoffrey O’Brien summarizes the rise of the modern American paperback book:

On April 12, 1843 Colton became the 27th town of St. Lawrence County. In 1842 Colton village was called Matildaville when Abel Brown and his son James moved from Parishville to the west side of the Racquette River. Colton is named for Jesse Colton Higley, a pioneer who settled on the east side of the Racquette River and was instrumental in the formation of the township, serving in every public office available. Colton was the site of many sawmills, a potato starch factory, and one of the largest tanneries in the state. 

A tintype photograph of a Native American in traditional dress about 1870.

The Thousand Islands are located on the St. Lawrence River between the United States and Canada, just east of Lake Ontario. The actual number of islands is actually closer to two thousand, with the official count standing at 1,793. The larger islands are inhabited throughout the year but a few are too small to be inhabited, most of the islands feature summer homes ranging from rustic cottages to mansions, and a couple of castles (Boldt and Jorstadt). This region has the longest undefended international boundary on earth.

Thomas Purves was born on September 28, 1785 in Whitebank, Scotland. He brought his family to the United States in 1819 hoping to work for the Parish family at the iron works in Rossie, NY. He received a cold reception from Parish's agent and instead went to work for Governor Ogden in Waddington, NY as a gardener. He died January 12, 1853 in Waddington.

Thomas John Carlisle was born October 11, 1913 in Plattsburgh, N.Y. and died August 17, 1992. He was educated at Williams College, Union Theological Seminary, and was ordained as a United Presbyterian minister in 1937. He was the author of a number of books of religious poetry, as well as a tutor and teacher various colleges. He wrote the lyrics to "Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One" and "Two Famous Men", and contributed more than 1500 articles and poems to newspapers, religious and literary publications and magazines.

Darwin W. and John R. Sunderland, brothers from Rensselaer Falls, NY, were the sons of Albert and Prudence Sunderland. Both served in the Union Army during the Civil War. 

Darwin, who was born in Addison, Vermont, was a private in Company C of the 106th infantry regiment of the New York State Volunteers. He served in the Union army from August 6, 1862 until he died in combat on May 12, 1864 near Brandy (Spottsylvania), Virginia at the age of 23.