Clarke Historical Library

In July 1863, Captain Orlando M. Poe of the US Army Corps of Engineers was at Camp Nelson in Kentucky preparing for his next orders, which would send him to Knoxville. He was amassing the equipment he and the other Engineers would need for their work.

On July 8, 1863, Capt. George Webster of the Regimental Quartermaster's Office wrote Poe a letter about a recent request for supplies. Unfortunately, Capt. Webster could not send Poe the 100 wheelbarrows Poe requested because Webster was "disappointed by the manufacturer."

Just another day in the life of a member of the armed forces in the Civil War.

Pictured is a portrait of Orlando Poe and the July 8, 1863 letter about the supplies, including the poor-quality wheelbarrows.

In 1775, at a time when the Patriots in the colonies were gearing up for the the first battles of the Revolutionary War, Gabriel St. Aubin sold a parcel of land in Detroit to Antoine Mora. The document, in French--the predominant language spoken in Detroit at the time--details the tract of land and the terms of the deal.

The land (tract 38 on Greeley's map of private land claims) had frontage along the Detroit River across from Hog Island (Belle Isle).