Draper Collection, 1735-1858 | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

The Draper Manuscripts, collected by Lyman C. Draper (1815-1891), constitute the largest early collection of the Wisconsin Historical Society. For an overview, see Josephine L. Harper's Guide to the Draper Manuscripts (1983) [016.97802 H232g]. The Draper collection was microfilmed in 1949 (133 reels, in most sets) and again in 1980 (123 reels).

The Library holds 64 original and 5 duplicate reels of the 1949 microfilm, including: the George Michael Bedinger Papers; the Daniel Brodhead Papers; the George Rogers Clark Papers; the George Rogers Clark Miscellanies; the Jonathan Clark Papers; the William Clark Papers; the William and George Croghan Papers; the Major Thomas Forsyth Papers; the Frontier Wars; the Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina Papers; the Josiah Harmar Papers; the William Henry Harrison Papers; the Thomas S. Hinde Papers; the Illinois Papers; the Kentucky Papers; the North Carolina Papers; the Robert Patterson Papers; the Pittsburgh and Northwest Virginia Papers; the Pension Statements; the John and James Potter Papers; the William Preston Papers; the David Shepherd Papers; the John Cleves Symmes Papers; the Tennessee Papers; and the Virginia Papers.

The collection also contains 80 photocopies or transcripts of documents in the Draper Manuscripts, including: Draper's Life of Boone, and selections from the George Rogers Clark Papers, the William Clark Papers, the Thomas Forsyth Papers (including his map of the Northwest and early correspondence with Gov. Ninian Edwards), the William Henry Harrison Papers, the Illinois Papers, the William Preston Papers, the David Shepherd Papers, and the Virginia Papers.

The Library purchased this microfilm from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1949.