How to recover Mail and Mail Downloads when you can't use Migration Assistant

I have a MacBook 2.4gHz that had a 750GB HD that crashed yesterday. Disk Utility said "This Hard Drive has failed, recover or backup what you can, then reformat." So, I removed the 750GB HD and replaced the original 160GB HD and reinstalled OS 10.7 on that Drive. I put the 750GB HD in an external case and hooked it up by USB (only available hookup with my external case). I can see all my content and tried to use Migration Assistant, but it hangs up at "preparing content to transfer." So, I decided I would have to drag all the old content onto my new user on the internal HD. I moved Movies, Pictures, Desktop, Documents, Music, and Downloads. However, I can't move any of the parts of the hidden User Library, primarily because I can't find or see it.
My question is how to access the User Library in a non-bootable (although having OS 10.7 installed) External HD. I've tried the ~/Library/ in Go>Go to Folder, but it goes to the running HD User folder, not the external. Can anyone tell me how to crack into this folder? I'd like to retrieve preferences, mailboxes, address book, etc.
I realize it could be lost, but literally everything else is still present. FYI: I plan to hang onto the 750 until the replacement HD arrives, so I can be reminded what Applications I had installed. There isn't room for all of those on the smaller HD.
Thanks,
Ronda

Update: I managed to get Migration Assistant to move something, but it didn't work out as I expected. Because I've already installed the OS and some applications that I need, as well as copying over most of the user files except the library, there wasn't much room left on the smaller disk. I purchased the firewire 9pin to 6pin cable that would allow me to use the firewire port on the external drive and selected the main user. There wasn't enough room to move all of the user, so I selected only the "Other Files" folder (about 2 GB), not all the items I had already copied. I set that to install last night at 9:32pm. At 4:00am it said there was still 10 hrs and 29 minutes to go. My husband checked it at 6:45am and it said 19 more minutes. When he arrived home at 4:30pm, it was finished. When I arrived home and logged out of the administrator and in to the main user, immediately it showed my desktop with all the folders that I had placed in the sidebar of the Finder window and everything looked exactly like it had on Monday before the crash, then the beachball started spinning and when it finally came up for air, all those folders were gone, my dock appearance was gone and everything was back to the bland new user settings that Mac OS starts with.
My mail file did get moved over with its thousands of messages, but not mail uploads nor the desktop appearance settings and it doesn't appear that any other settings have migrated either. It's difficult to tell, since I can't install my applications on the smaller drive.
The replacement drive from WD arrived, but it is a 2TB "upgrade" and it doesn't even fit in my MacBook, so I have to send that back and wait longer.
I'm still trying to recover my appearance, and combine the various users into one. If anyone has suggestions on how to get the mail uploads folder, preferences, etc. I'd love to hear them.

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!! WARNING !!
about the September 2012
"Security Update 2012-004"
If you've got "Mail.app" in a folder OTHER THAN the root "Applications" folder,
MOVE "MAIL.APP" TO THE APPLICATIONS FOLDER
**BEFORE** INSTALLING THE "004" UPDATE!!
Because *IF* you use OSX's integrated Software Update app from the Apple menu to do the "004" updating, and *IF* your Mail.app is NOT in the Applications folder, then buddy, you've got some sitdown fixit time ahead of ya and/or some internet tie-up time downloading the "004" update file itself.
Been through it all, already. In fact, just got done getting my Mail back up & running. And I tried everything short of attempting to unpacking my "Mail.pkg" receipt file using... whatever... even Pacifist couldn't get it out. So that fixit "Plan D" died quick. And I'm not savvy enough to use Terminal commands to do "Plan E," so that SUDO stuff was my brick wall.
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Like a dummy who ignored knowing better, I had my Mail.app in a folder other than the Applications folder, with only an alias to that being in the Applications folder. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. The updater don't see that as nuthin special or useful.
So if you've got, like I've got, "old" icons for Mail.app (v4.5) in your Finder toolbar & in your Dock that all point to "Mail.app v4.5" in whatever folder you've got that in, other than in the Applications folder (where Apple apparently REQUIRES that it be located, and ONLY there, at least for OSX updating purposes), then after you download & autorun that "004" updater using Software Update, NONE of your pre-existing Mail icons will work. And MOST aggravatingly, **NOR** will your brand-new "Mail.app v4.6" work that came out of the "004" updating installation. So basically, your Mail.app's... all of 'em.... are hosed. But only if you run the "004" update without your "Mail.app v4.5" being located in your Applications folder and ONLY in your Applications folder. And duplicates of Mail.app, scattered around your HDD?? Always a problem with many Apple apps.... The Apple software engineers apparently like 'em to be in the Applications folder, and in ONLY there, and ONLY the latest version, and ONLY 1 single copy of each on your entire HDD. They just don't seem to stress that enough, it appears. Kind of an oversight for them to not emphasize that, IMO...
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If you run Software Update, and if you see the "Security Update 2012-004" listed as available for download, UNCHECKMARK IT. DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT USING SOFTWARE UPDATE ! Instead, download the actual update file itself.
Same thing, only a different way of doing it. Most importantly, you'll be skipping the auto-installation that Software Update performs.
AND you'll have that update file on your HDD for future fixits, should a nasty "unfixable" problem come up.
First, #1. Do a filename search for "Mail" (Option-Command-Spacebar). Scroll down to where the "Apps" are located in the list under the "Kind" column heading. First, find your Mail.app that's v4.5. Get that bugger into your Applications folder if it's not already there. Next, Trash all other "Mail.app" apps you see in that same list that you may have elsewhere on your HDD.
#2. Go here: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1586
And download the actual "004" DMG update file: "SecUpd2012-004.dmg"
And of course, it's a biggie.... 270MB... so watching grass grow may be involved here if you've got a slow connection (go to a MacDonalds & do it, like I shoulda done).
3. After downloading, I'd recommend closing down all apps, emptying the Trash, and restarting.
Then, after restarting, run Disk Utility's "Repair Disk Permissions."
Then, doublecheck that the Mail.app version 4.5 is in your Applications folder.
THEN fire up & install "SecUpd2012-004.dmg."
Reboot.
After the reboot, your Mail.app version 4.5 in the Applications folder will have become Mail.app version 4.6 in the Applications folder, and all will be well again.
And you can dump that zipped-up "Username -> Library -> Mail" folder then, too.
Happy Mac'in!
Kevin Kendall
Macbook 7,1
(Apple's very last all-white Macbook model)
2.4GHz - 256GB Crucial SSD - 8GB Crucial RAM
OS 10.6.8 Build 10K549 + Win 7 Ultimate thru VMWare Fusion v5.0.1

HT2518 After using Migrate Assistant, I made several accounts for every attempt to migrate files from PC to Mac. How can I put all accounts together into one? How can I transfer the files from the other accounts to my primary account?

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Problem is that I did it on seperate occasions and now I have several accounts.
If you had read carefully, Migration Assistant asks what you want to do in this event. That would have precluded the redundancy.
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