Coombs-Learned Family Papers

The Coombs-Learned Family Papers consist of 19th and early 20th century family papers created by Palmer Coombs and his wife Genevieve (Learned) Coombs, as well as by their ancestors and extended families, who primarily lived in Michigan, California, and Ohio. The collection is arranged into six series with three subseries.

Series I, Business Records, consists of financial papers, business records, and deeds created by George Palmer, John C. Coombs, Jonas Learned, and the Letcher family, dated between 1840 and 1914.

Series II, Correspondence, the largest series in the collection, consists of correspondence received by family members from one another as well as from other individuals, dated between 1819 and 1957. This series also contains a few photographs, if those photographs were enclosed in a piece of correspondence. This series is divided into three sub-series: Sub-series IA: Coombs Family, Sub-series IIB: Learned Family, and Sub-series IIC: Envelopes.

Subseries IIA, Coombs Family Correspondence, consists of correspondence received by members of the Coombs family, dated between 1872 and 1957. Most of the letters are addressed to Genevieve Learned or to her grandparents Jonas and Louise Learned. Most notable in this series are letters written by future president James A. Garfield from 1855-1862. Garfield was a family friend of Charles G. and Maria Learned (Genevieve Learned's great-grandparents), and Louise Letcher, who married Charles and Maria's son Jonas Learned, was a relative of Garfield's. Correspondence is organized according to the correspondents involved, as well as chronologically.

Subseries IIB, Learned Family Correspondence, consists of correspondence received by members of the Learned family, dated between 1855 and 1949. Most of the letters are addressed to Palmer Coombs. Correspondence is organized according to the correspondents involved, as well as chronologically.

Subseries IIC, Envelopes, consists of the original envelopes from correspondence in both Sub-series IIA and Sub-series IIB. Materials in this sub-series are organized chronologically and date between 1819 and 1951.

Series III, Palmer Coombs World War I Materials, consists of three diaries and a handful of other miscellaneous papers written by Palmer B. Coombs during his World War I service, from 1917 to 1919. The diaries in this series have been digitized and can be viewed online in Wright State University's Campus Online Repository (CORE Scholar): http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms182/.

Series IV, Diaries, consists of 3 diaries with dates between 1861 and 1921. Two of the diaries were written by Louise (Letcher) Learned in 1861-1864 and 1903-1905. The third was written by Genevieve (Learned) Coombs from 1919-1921.

Series V, Miscellaneous Family Papers and Records, consists of various family papers pertaining to members of both the Coombs and Learned families, including a law license, art book, naturalization papers, military papers, essay books, a recipe book, and other materials.

Series VI, Photographs, consists of approximately 300 photographs. Most of the photographs are undated and unidentified. They appear to date from about 1870 to about 1950, with the bulk being from the early 20th century. A few of the photographs appear to depict soldiers overseas.