Draper Manuscript Collection

Record Description
Coverage. This collection also known as the Draper manuscripts, and as the Draper Collection, consists of nearly 500 volumes of manuscripts, papers, and books collected by Lyman Copeland Draper about the history of the trans-Allegheny West in the United States, a region including the western areas of the Carolinas and Virginia, all the Ohio River Valley, and part of the upper Mississippi Valley from the 1740s to 1830. This includes New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Arrangement. The collection is divided into 50 series. Some series are titled by geographic area, some by the names of prominent frontier leaders, and some by topic. For further details about the 50 series titles and arrangement see also:


 * Draper Manuscript Series Coverage Table
 * Descriptive list  table of contents
 * the FamilySearch Catalog title description.

Content. The bulk of the collection consists of notes from interviews, questionnaires, and letters gathered during Draper’s extensive travels and research to learn about frontier history.

Additional Information About Record Availability
Original images can be viewed or ordered through the following:


 * Wisconsin Historical Society
 * Pickler Memorial Library

Microfilm access. For contents of this collection by microfilm number, see the Draper Manuscript Series Coverage Table.


 * Microfilms are available for viewing at a FamilySearch Center.
 * For information on ordering films see: Ordering Microfilm or Microfiche

Record Content
Key facts found in this collection vary from record to record. They may include:


 * Names
 * Birth, marriage, or death dates and places
 * Names of parents or other family members
 * Residences
 * Life sketches
 * Names of neighbors
 * Notes of involvement in historical events

Additional Information About This Collection
The following books have been published about this collection:

Overall Descriptive List and General Index


 * Reuben Gold Thwaites, Descriptive list of manuscript collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin together with reports on other collections of manuscript material for American history in adjacent states (Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1906) Digital copy online; ; . Includes general index.

Partial Indexes


 * Reuben Gold Thwaites, Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio, 1776-1778 (Madison, Wisconsin : Wisconsin Historical Society, c1912) Digital copy online; ; . Includes index.


 * series 1A. Craig L. Heath, The George M. Bedinger papers : volume 1A of the Draper Manuscript Collection (Bowie, Maryland : Heritage Books, 2002) ; . Includes index.
 * series 1Z. Craig L. Heath, The Illinois manuscripts : volume 1Z of the Draper manuscript collection (Bowie, Maryland : Heritage Books, 2003) ; . Includes index.
 * series J and K. James Alton James, George Rogers Clark Papers, 1771-1784, 2 vols. (Springfield, Ill.: Illinois State Historical Library, 1912-1924) Digital copy online; ; . Includes indexes.
 * series S. Bayless E. Hardin, Index to volume 6S, Draper manuscripts (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1983) ; . Indexes vol. 6S (series S) entitled Draper's notes made June 1851. Microreproduction of a photocopy of the original index at the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort, Kentucky.
 * series CC. Mabel Clare Weaks, Calendar of the Kentucky Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts (Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1925) Indexed on Ancestry.com; Digital copy online; ; . Includes index.
 * series DD and XX. Edward Earl Bennett, Calendar of the Tennessee and King's Mountain Papers of the Draper Collections of Manuscripts, Vol. 3 (Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1929) Indexed on Ancestry.com; Digital copy online; ; . Includes index.
 * series NN. Karen Mauer Green, Index to the Draper manuscripts, series NN: the Pittsburgh and northwest Virginia papers (Cooperstown, New York : Frontier Press, 2003) ; . This is an index to films 889179 and 889180 of the Draper manuscript collection.
 * series QQ and ZZ. Mabel Clare Weaks, The Preston and Virginia Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts (Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1915) Digital copy online; ; . Includes index.
 * series VV. Calendar of the Thomas Sumter papers of the Draper collection of manuscripts / Wisconsin. State Historical Society


 * series DD and XX. Edward Earl Bennett, Calendar of the Tennessee and King's Mountain Papers of the Draper Collections of Manuscripts, Vol. 3 (Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1929) Indexed on Ancestry.com; Digital copy online; ; . Includes index.
 * series QQ and ZZ. Mabel Clare Weaks, The Preston and Virginia Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts (Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1915) Digital copy online; ; . Includes index.

Related Websites

 * Wisconsin Historical Society
 * Draper Manuscripts: King's Mountain Papers, 1756-1887
 * Pickler Memorial Library

Related Wiki Articles

 * Illinois History
 * Indiana History
 * Kentucky History
 * New York History
 * North Carolina History
 * Tennessee History
 * Virginia History
 * Wisconsin History