Draper Manuscript Collection

Record Description
A 491-volume collection of partially indexed manuscripts and letters pertaining to the history of the old Northwest and Southwest Territories of the United States from the 1740s to 1830.

Coverage. This collection also known as the Draper manuscripts, and as the Draper Collection, consists of 491 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, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin. For a more detailed description, see Josephine L. Harper, Guide to the Draper Manuscripts (Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press ; London : Eurospan, 2004) Digital copy online; ;

Arrangement. The collection was organized by Wisconsin Historical Society staff into 491 volumes divided into 50 series  of varying lengths. Each series is titled by a geographic area, by a subject, or by the name of a prominent frontier leader. For further details about the 50 series titles and arrangement see also:


 * Draper Manuscript Series Coverage Table
 * Descriptive list  table of contents pages
 * 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.

Draper manuscript search strategy. A single, detailed, and comprehensive index to every individual name mentioned in the Draper Manuscript Collection does not yet exist. However, partial indexes to some  of the Draper series still can be useful:


 * 1) Search for an ancestor by name (including alternate spellings) in the indexes to:
 * 2) Josephine L. Harper's Guide  Index section (pp. 239-309)
 * 3) Josephine L. Harper's Guide  Pension applicants section (pp. 311-320)
 * 4) Josephine L. Harper's Guide  Additional personal data section (pp. 321-418)
 * 5) Reuben G. Thwaites' Descriptive list  Index (pp. 151-197; digital 165-211)
 * 6) Barbara E. Wolfe's Index to Lyman C. Draper Manuscripts
 * 7) Search for names of relatives, friends, and associates of your ancestor in the same indexes.
 * 8) Search (a) Harper's Guide  Index (pp. 239-309), and (b) Thwaites' Descriptive list  Index for the town, county, and state where the ancestor resided; also for a nearby river.
 * 9) Use Josephine L. Harper's Guide  (especially Appendix IV) to determine in which Draper manuscript series the ancestor would most likely appear.
 * 10) From the list of Related Publications below determine if any of the other titles cited serve as an additional partial index to the series where your ancestor may appear.
 * 11) Then search the partial index to the appropriate series for your ancestor's name, relatives, associates, and residences.
 * 12) If you find  an ancestor or residence in an index, look up the reference to that ancestor or residence in the manuscripts on the appropriate series microfilm.
 * 13) If you do not find  an ancestor or residence in any of the indexes, browse the appropriate series anyway because the indexes may be incomplete.

Availability
Original images can be viewed or ordered through the following:


 * Wisconsin Historical Society. See also their website: 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


 * For a pdf list of the many other libraries in the United States and Canada which have obtained copies of these Draper microfilms, click here.

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

Related Publications
The following works have been published about this collection and serve as partial indexes:

With general indexes

 * Josephine L. Harper, Guide to the Draper Manuscripts (Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press ; London : Eurospan, 2004) Digital copy online; ; . This is a descriptive survey of each series in the collection. Includes three indexes: (a) Index (pp. 239-309), (b) Pension applicants (pp. 311-320), and (c) Additional personal data (pp. 321-418). The first index combines personal names, places, and subjects.
 * 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, Wis.: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1906) Digital copy online; ; . Includes general index on pages 151-197 (digital 165-211)—many further index entries beyond Harper's Guide  above.
 * Barbara E. Wolfe, Index to Lyman C. Draper Manuscripts (Logansport, Ind. : B.E. Wolfe, [19--]) Digital copy online; ; . Some additional index entries not all duplicated in Harper and Thwaites above.

Specific series indexes

 * series J and L.  James Alton James, George Rogers Clark Papers, 1771-1784, 2 vols. (Springfield, Ill.: Illinois State Historical Library, 1912-1924) Digital copy online; ; . Includes indexes to parts of series J and L.

Indexes only


 * 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 every-name index to films 889179 and 889180 of the Draper manuscript collection.
 * 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.

Note 1:  The St. Louis County Library has photocopies of a set of Lyman C. Draper indexes in four big white binders. It is not clear if these are different from the list in Note 2 below. Presumably, the Wisconsin Historical Society has the originals of the St. Louis County Library indexes.

Note 2:  Lyman C. Draper himself indexed some, but not all, of his own series. The extent and detail of these indexes is uncertain. See:

Transcripts with every-name indexes


 * series A.  Craig L. Heath, The George M. Bedinger papers : volume 1A of the Draper Manuscript Collection (Bowie, Maryland : Heritage Books, 2002) ; . Transcript with every-name index.
 * series TT.  Craig L Heath, South Carolina papers : volume 1TT of the Draper manuscript collection (Westminster, Md. : Heritage Books, 2006) . Transcript with every-name index.
 * series V.  Craig L Heath, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina papers : volume 1V of the Draper manuscript collection (Westminster, Md. : Heritage Books, 2006) . Transcript with every-name index.
 * series Z.  Craig L. Heath, The Illinois manuscripts : volume 1Z of the Draper manuscript collection (Bowie, Maryland : Heritage Books, 2003) ; . Transcript with every-name index.
 * series ZZ.  Craig L Heath, The Virginia papers, 5 vols. (Bowie, Md. : Heritage Books, 2003- ) . Transcripts with every-name index. Contents: v. 1. Volume 1ZZ of the Draper Manuscript collection -- v. 2. Volume 2ZZ -- v. 3. Volume 3ZZ -- v. 4. Volume 4ZZ -- v. 5. Volume 5ZZ.

Calendars of papers (ONLY indexed by key names relative to each papers' creation--not by all the names listed in the papers)


 * series CC.  Mabel Clare Weaks, Calendar of the Kentucky Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts (Madison : 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 : Wisconsin Historical Society, 1929) Indexed on Ancestry.com; Digital copy online; ; . Includes index.
 * series J and K.  Sam McDowell, Calendar of the George Rogers Clark papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts (Utica, Ky. : McDowell Publications, 1985).
 * series QQ and ZZ. Mabel Clare Weaks, The Preston and Virginia Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts (Madison : Wisconsin Historical Society, 1915) Digital copy online; ; . Calendar includes index.
 * series SS.  Leroy Schlinkert, Calendar of the David Shepherd papers : series SS in the Draper manuscripts ([Madison] : Archives Division, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1979)
 * series TT.  State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Calendar of the South Carolina papers : series TT in the Draper manuscripts ([Madison] : Archives Division, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1979).
 * series U.  Samuel McDowell, Calendar of the frontier wars papers of the Draper collection of manuscripts (Utica, Ky. : McDowell Publications, 1991).
 * series UU.  State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Calendar of the South Carolina in the Revolution miscellanies : series UU in the Draper manuscripts ([Madison] : Archives Division, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1979).
 * series VV.  Sandra Howell, Calendar of the Thomas Sumter papers of the Draper collection of manuscripts (Utica, Kentucky : McDowell Publications, 1986) ; . 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 : 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 : Wisconsin Historical Society, 1915) Digital copy online; ; . Calendar includes index.

Documentary histories


 * Reuben Gold Thwaites, and Louise Phelps Kellogg, Documentary History of Dunmore's War, 1774 (Madison : Wisconsin Historical Society, 1905) ; . Includes index to parts of series C, D, J, JJ, NN, QQ, S, U, X, XX, and ZZ.
 * Reuben Gold Thwaites, and Louise Phelps Kellogg, The Revolution on the Upper Ohio, 1775-1777 (Reprint, 1992 of Madison : Wisconsin Historical Society, 1908) ; . Includes index to parts of series J, JJ, NN, QQ, S, SS, U, ZZ.
 * Reuben Gold Thwaites, and Louise Phelps Kellogg, Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio, 1776-1778 (Madison : Wisc. Hist. Soc., 1912) Digital copy online; ; . Includes index to parts of series CC, J, NN, QQ, S, SS, U, ZZ.
 * Louise Phelps Kellogg, Frontier Advance on the Upper Ohio, 1778-1779 (Reprint, 2008 of Madison : Wisconsin Historical Society, 1916) . Includes index.
 * Louise Phelps Kellogg, Frontier Retreat on the Upper Ohio, 1779-1781 (Reprint, 2008 of Madison : Wisconsin Historical Society, 1917) ; . Includes index to parts of series C, CC, D, DD, E, F, H, J, M, NN, QQ, S, SS, U, ZZ.

Related Websites

 * About the Draper Manuscript Collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society
 * St. Louis County Library, Guide to Finding Your Ancestors in the Draper Manuscript Collection. Excellent explanation.
 * 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