Microfilmed Papers

Correspondence, 1797-1961
Scope and Content Note: Correspondence, 1797-1961, includes the Bird family letters, 1862-1865 and letters, 1943-1961, by or to Mr. Bridgman on historical and genealogical queries.

Genealogical and Biographical Notes
Scope and Content Note: These are notes gathered by Mr. Bridgman on early families in Waushara County. Most of the papers are arranged alphabetically by surname. A few pages of miscellaneous biographical sketches follow the surname Zinke. Surnames included are Alden-Wood, Barrett, Berray, Bird, Chaffee, Clark, Darling, Etheridge, Ferne, Holcomb, Jeffers, Jennings, Johnson, Kollock, Lane, Leigh, Melaney, Membrue, Miliard, Newby, Parker, Pierce, Porter, Potter, Pulcifer, Rowe, Searl, Smith, Sontag, Spees, Sung, Taplin, Thompson, Tract, Truesdale, Vannorman, Zinke.

Articles and Miscellany
Scope and Content Note: The papers in this group include reminiscences on farming, lumbering, the circus, and early roads and bridges, written by Mr. Bridgman; and other articles and notes on Waushara County history authored by others but collected by Mr. Bridgman. Among the latter are reminiscences of Jeffers Prairie by Harriet Jeffers Gilson; a brief history of Saxeville by A. J. Saxe; a collection of pioneer stories and anecdotes narrated by Charles Robinson; and notes and illustrations relating to the Christian Church in the Town of Rose, known as the “Stand Alone Church.”