Navarre-Williams Family Papers, MSS-042

The Ward M. Canaday Center

for Special Collections

The University of Toledo

Finding Aid

Navarre-Williams Family Papers, 1815-1980s

MSS-042

Size: 1.5 lin. feet

Provenance: Helen Williams Lang inherited the material in this collection from her father and mother and, probably in a few cases, from her father’s first cousin Gabrielle Navarre Houk. She donated part of this collection to The Ward M. Canaday Center of The University of Toledo Libraries in 1983. In 1989, Helen Lang’s daughter, Judy Lang, donated the remainder of the collection to The Canaday Center.

Access: open

Related Collections:

Copyright: As copies of Federal records, copyright probably does not apply to entries in this volume. The original application files are part of Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans Administration, in the National Archives. Researchers bear full legal responsiblity for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code. The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

Completed by: Processed by Paul M. Gifford April 1986, and Nola Skousen, September 1989

Reformatted by: Arjun Sabharwal, September 2009

Introduction

This collection consists of material relating to the family of Alexis (Alexander) Navarre (1800-1868) and his descendents. The Navarre family was among the earliest settlers of Oregon Township, and was prominent in the history of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. The collection includes deeds, other land and property documents, marriage and religious records, tax receipts, school memorabilia, a few Civil War and Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) documents and letters, newspaper clippings, and photographs.

These papers would be useful to the researcher interested in the early settlement of Oregon Township and Toledo, in land tenure among the early French-Canadian settlers, and in 19th century life in and around Presque Isle.

There are no restrictions on access to, or use of, this collection.

Scope and Content Note

Toledo has long held Peter Navarre (1788-1874) in esteem as a symbol of the city’s beginnings and as a hero of the War of 1812. Members of the large Navarre family also were among the original settlers of Monroe and Detroit, Michigan. This collection is significant as documentary evidence of one of the best-known families in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio.

Original copies of warranty deeds comprise a large part of the collection. Although the chain is broken in some cases, the deeds (and mortgages) document the transfer of title between owners. The deeds concern three nearby tracts, all in the northwest corner of what is now the City of Oregon. The first is a sixty acre parcel, originally part of the Navarre Tract, sold by Alexis (Alexander) Navarre, brother of Peter, to his brother James in 1840. The second is a twenty-eight acre parcel, originally part of a tract granted to an Ottawa woman, Pe-tau. This parcel has remained in the hands of descendants of Mary Elizabeth (Navarre) Williams, daughter of Alexis Navarre, ever since. The third tract is a five acre parcel owned by Peter Momany, great-grandfather of the collection’s donor.

Although the deeds themselves are duplicated in the records of the Lucas County Recorder, other documents sometimes accompanying the deeds -- loans and receipts -- are not. These additional documents are valuable as evidence for methods of selling land in 19th century Lucas County.

Other documents are legal and financial records, including 19th century tax receipts. One document, the marriage certificate of James (Jacques) Navarre to Catherine Couture, deserves special notice. Signed by Father Gabriel Richard, early religious and intellectual leader of territorial Detroit, it was probably printed on Richard’s press, the second one in the frontier city.

Another significant part of the collection are the photographs. Many of these were taken by Cleo Keller, a friend and neighbor of the Navarre and Williams families; they provide good informal views of late 19th century life. There are also tintypes and ambrotypes dating from the Civil War.

Also of interest are a few Civil War letters that describe events in camp, mention the capture of a Colonel, and discuss the practice of paying for a substitute to serve in the army.

Box-Folder Inventory

Box Folder Description

1 Marriage and Religious Records

1 Marriage Certificate: Jacques Navarre-Catherine Couture,

20 Feb. 1815

Marriage Announcement: Guy K. Houk-Gabrielle Navarre,

30 Jun. 1897

Confirmation Certificate: Elmer Lang, 23 Apr. 1916 (with

photographs of Lang and Pastor Schuh)

OVERSIZE #1 Marriage License: Exivia Navarre-Anna McCarty,

22 Jan. 1871

OVERSIZE #1 Baptismal Certificate: Elmer Lang, 30 Mar. 1902

2 Estate Records

Will: James Navarre, 1855

Quitclaim: James Navarre, 1858

Will: Catherine Navarre, 1858

Land Records

3 1830s

Pe-tau (Indian woman) to Marquis Baldwin,

23 Feb. 1836 (1896 copy)

OVERSIZE* Stephen G. Austin et al. to James Navarre,

7 Nov. 1837

4 1840s

Alexander and Mary Ann Navarre to James Navarre,

27 Jul. 1840

(Bill of Sale) Alexander Navarre to James Navarre,

27 Jul. 1840

(Property) Francis Navarre to Exivier Navarre,

9 Sep. 1841

Lucas County to Daniel F. Cook, 11 Jan. 1848

OVERSIZE* Marquis Baldwin and wife to John Fitch, 18 Oct. 1844

5 1850s

(Lease) James Myers to Antoine Berdioux,

18 Mar. 1853

John Fitch to Warren Salsbury, 13 Jul. 1853

Alexander Navarre to James Navarre, 17 Jun. 1854

Sheriff, Lucas County, to Alexander J. Navarre,

25 Mar. 1859

Stephen and Harriett Arquett to Peter Momany,

23 Apr. 1859

Navarre-Williams Family Papers

Box Folder

1 (Land Records)

6 1860s

Alexander J. Navarre to Exivia Navarre, 24 Aug. 1860

Jonathan Wynn et al. to Cadwalader M. Williams,

4 Sep. 1865

7 1870s/80s

Exivia D. and Anna Williams to Cadwalader M. Williams, 23 Aug 1871

(Quitclaim) C. M. and Elizabeth Williams to Exivia D. Navarre, 28 Mar. 1874

(Mortgage) Cadwalader M. and Elizabeth Williams to

James Dupont, 3 Sep. 1880

8 1900s

(Mortgage) Peter Momany to Peter B. Bogart,

8 Oct. 1900

Cadwalader M. and Elizabeth Williams to Thaddeus

Williams, 2 Jan. 1912 (with copy)

(Life lease) Thaddeus and Rena Williams to

Cadwalader M. and Elizabeth Williams, 2 Jan. 1912

(Receipt) Nora Smith to Thaddeus Williams,

23 Jan 1912

(Receipt) Alta Liedel to Thaddeus Williams,

23 Jan 1912

(Real estate option) Cad M. and Elizabeth Williams to

Thaddeus Williams, 4 Mar. 1919

(Real estate option) Thaddeus and Rena Williams to

Walker Montgomery, 4 Mar. 1919

9 1930s/40s

Thaddeus Williams to Rena A. Williams, 12 May 1930

C. Archie Williams to Helen W. Lang, 16 Aug. 1948

10 Other Legal Records

Summons, to Alexander Navarre et al., Lucas County

District Court, 10 Apr. 1857

Citation, Alexander Navarre et al, next of kin to Catherine

Navarre, Lucas County Probate Court, 19 Jun. 1858

Chattel mortgage, Exivia Navarre to Arbuckle & Ryan,

28 Dec. 1879

Louis Dupont, Peter Momany et al. vs. Mary E. Rhodes et al.

Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, 8 Jun. 1897

Financial Records

11 Bills and receipts, 1832-1893

Tax receipts

12 James Navarre, 1838-1855

13 Alexander Navarre, 1842-1868

Navarre-Williams Family Papers

Box Folder

1 (Financial Records)

(Tax Receipts)

14 Alexander J., Exivia, and David Navarre, 1856-1916

15 Miscellaneous, 1851-1857

Civil War/Grand Army of the Republic

16 Certificate of Muster (1981) and GAR memorabilia

OVERSIZE #1 Discharge, Cawallader (sic) M. Williams, 21 Jul 1865

17 Letters, 1856-1898

18 School related items

19 Biographies

“Autobiography (sic) Cadwell A. Williams”

Drafts of autobiography, Helen W. Lang

20 Research and Speech Notes

21 Newspaper clippings

22 Miscellaneous

Inventory of “Relics”

Postcards

Peter Navarre’s portrait

Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876

Boody house menu, Washington’s Birthday, 1912

Calling cards

Robert C. Navarre, U.S. Lighthouse Keeper

Mrs. C. M. Houk

Programs (2) for dedication of the Navarre Monument,

4 July 1914

Essay: “A Body That Cannot Contain Itself”

Obituary (handwritten speech) for Mrs. Elizabeth Kenan

Houk, 1903

Photographs

23 C. Archie Williams and Helen Williams Lang

24 Elmer Lang

Individuals and Small Groups

25 (1 of 2)

26 (2 of 2)

27 Groups

28 Places

29 Tintypes

30 35mm Slides (copies of Cleo Keller photographs)

see Oversize listing in Appendix

Navarre-Williams Family Papers

Box Item

Photograph Albums and Scrapbooks

31 Photograph Album/Music Box, ca. 1860s/70s

32 Scrapbook: “The Girl Graduate,” Helen Williams, 1920-23

33 Scrapbook: Greeting Cards and Postcards, ca.1910s/20s

Folder

34 Scrapbook: Picture Cards, 1884-early 1900s

see Oversize listing in Appendix

Navarre-Williams Family Papers

APPENDIX: OVERSIZE ITEMS

OVERSIZE#1

Marriage and Religious Records

Marriage License: Exivia Navarre-Anna McCarty, 22 Jan. 1871

Baptismal Certificate: Elmer Lang, 30 Mar. 1902

Civil War

Discharge, Cawallader (sic) M. Williams, 21 Jul 1865

Photographs

Boody House Barber Shop, ca. 1910s

Boody House Office, ca. 1910s

Dinner Party [ca. 1920s?]

Military group

Homer Ramey

woman, 1934

house

Cased ambrotypes and tintypes, 1850s-70s

OVERSIZE#2

Photographs

taken by Cleo Keller

Individuals (one section)

Groups (three sections)

Buildings

Places

Events

Military

numbered (see 35mm slides; folder 29)

Tintypes

Miscellaneous

Photograph Album, 1860s/70s

OVERSIZE#3

Photographs: Individuals (4 ea)

OVERSIZE #4

Photograph Album, 1860s/70s