Jesse Wells Church papers

The Jesse Wells Church Collection contains a journal maintained for the Church family shipbuilding business on Sugar Island, Michigan from 1853 to 1895. Church resided in Church's Landing on Sugar Island and in left by the Church family give details and specifications for boats that generally were skiffs or other small sailing vessels under fifty feet in length. Many of the Mackinaw boats were built by the Church family.

The collection frequently records sail rig plans, vessel sketches, account statements for projects, and notes on whether a boat was patterned after an earlier design. For example, on page 150 it is noted that hull no. 28 was built on the same frames as hull no. 10. Use of hull or boat histories can be complicated in that some boats were built from parts salvaged from other vessels. Sails and planking were frequently transferred from one Mackinaw boat to another.

Appearing with the vessel materials are sketches of the buildings at Church's Landing and related floor plans. Photographs of the Sugar Island structures dating from the early twentieth century are available in the HCGL's photograph collection. A few houses at Harbor Island and Traverse City were also sketched in the collection.

The journal has been microfilmed and was disbound for the procedure. The pages have been separated into leaves with four pages per leaf. Each leaf has been encapsulated for conservation purposes. The leaves are stored in a one-half cubic foot container.