Collection Search

To his wife

Continued on Sept. 6. Promoted to first sergeant, regiment moves to Fort Powhattan. Expresses his views on blacks. "I think you must have been delightfully entertained by the "darkies" to form so favorable an opinion of them. I declare you are...

GLC04558.159

To his wife

Continued Sept. 10th. Cross written. Describes arrival at the Fort and Garrison duty. Fort is manned by "the 89th New York [GWT's regiment], one company of darkey cavalry, one company of heavy artillery, and a signal station." Relieved to hear...

GLC04558.160

To his wife

Relieved at Chapins Farm by a company of black soldiers; fought fierce battle near the old Fair Oaks battlefield. Written from Atkins Landing, in Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

GLC04558.169

To George Tillotson

Family news. Brother Nelson may have been captured in Tennessee. Nelson, a teamster, believed Negroes would be recruited to drive them teams so white men could fight.

GLC04558.185

Letter from the American Anti-Slavery Society

A letter issued by various members of the American Anti-Slavery Society asking for financial support from the "anti-slavery public."

GLC06143.01

to David P. Harmon

Letter asking Harmon to attend the upcoming American Anti-slavery Society convention in Lynn, Massachusetts.

GLC06143.02

[to David P. Harmon]

Informs Harmon that an Anti-Slavery Society meeting will be held in Harmon's town of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Writes that "the South are beginning [to] feel the effect of agitation and are alarmed for their Patirarchical [sic] institution."...

GLC06143.03

[to David P. Harmon]

Informs Harmon that Mr. and Mrs. Craft (escaped slaves William and Ellen Craft) will be attending his meeting in Haverhill, and sends him "a part of a bill which discribes these two interesting Slaves" (not included here). Mentions that he tried to...

GLC06143.04

[List of salaries for the War Department]

A total of 7 salaries for a total of $1,437. This was the pay for the quarter consisting of July, August, and September. Page two has the signatures of the department, noting they were paid on 3 October 1791. Only Knox's signature is absent....

GLC02437.05177

[War office salaries]

First page written on 31 December 1791 delineates the salaries of seven members of the War Department for the months of October, November, and December. An additional member, Caleb Swan, was added on 11 March (from the day he returned from Creek...

GLC02437.05280

to Lucy Knox

Discusses her recent recovery from an illness, her trip to Barbuda with the Commodore and some friends, and the local fauna. Comments that the Governor's situation there is not enviable. He only has "one other White Inhabitant on the Island to...

GLC02437.04573

Salaries of the Secretary of War and his gentlemen

Lists the salaries for the Secretary of War and his staff for the months of April, May and June. Second page includes signatures noting the receipt of the money. Noted as written at the War Office. Co-signed by Constant Freeman, William Knox...

GLC02437.04642

[Salaries for War Department employees]

Record of salaries owed and paid by the War office for the months of January, February, and March of 1791. Includes salaries for the Secretary of War (Henry Knox), John Stagg, Reiner John Van den Brock, Benjamin Bankson, Philip Audebert, and Caesar...

GLC02437.04895

[War Department accounts]

First page written on 30 June 1791 delineates the salaries of seven members of the War Department for the months of April, May, and June. Notes that Knox made $750 those three months and that his annual salary was $3,000. A total of $1,437.50 was...

GLC02437.05042

to his parents, [brother-in-law], and sister

Reports that Hiram Wright has been taken to the hospital with small pox and expects that he will come down with it pretty badly. Writes that he has been appointed cook for the week and discusses what he's had for dinner. He explains that the men in...

GLC07460.065

We the subscribers acknowledge to have received...

Written from the "War Office," likely in New York City. Document acknowledges receipt for one-half of their salaries from the war office, for the months April-June 1789. Signed by John Stagg, William Knox, Caleb Swan, and Ceasar Loyd (Caesar Lloyd...

GLC02437.04298

to his parents, [brother-in-law], and sister

Writes that some of the men returning from the front were exposed to small pox on the train. Those who were not vaccinated have been taken to the hospital and given vaccinations. He writes that a tent was built to house all the men that came down...

GLC07460.062

to his sister and family

Reports that one of the soldiers, [Zod] Howe, almost died from small pox and another man is thought to have come down with it. Remarks that the men in camp seem very nonchalant about the small pox outbreak. He writes that the hospital building and...

GLC07460.064

to Henry Knox

Tells Knox this letter will relate his "present embarrassed situation." The success of his lottery depends entirely on friends, family, and a "humane public." With a wife and children he must use all means at his disposal to save them. Reports "To...

GLC02437.05825

to Lucy Flucker Knox

Writes to Lucy Knox, daughter of Henry and Lucy Knox. Received no letter from Lucy and fears she is angry. References a letter from Mrs. Kerby from Antigua, and sends it to Lucy for her amusement (see GLC02437.05882). Asks Lucy to send some muslin...

GLC02437.05890

to Joseph M. Maitland

Writes to his cousin from camp near Louisville. Expects to go down the Tennessee River very soon but has been detained due to ice in the river. Informs him that six companies left yesterday. Comments his brother Joseph "has a great deal to say about...

GLC03523.10.157

[Deborah Sylvester's Journal]

Most entries are recorded in Scituate, Massachusetts. Records accounts and thoughts as well as biblical readings, sermons and family births and deaths. On 19 April 1775, states "the Regulars march out of Bouston and march to Lexington whare the...

GLC01144.01

to unknown

Directed to "Gentlemen." Agrees to deliver a lecture on slavery during the upcoming winter, noting, "I shall fail to say anything possessing either novelty or merit upon a topic which has been more profoundly and carefully discussed in Boston than...

GLC05603.01.25

A Few Scenes in the life of A "SOJER" in the Mass 44th

Illustrated Civil War diary by a soldier in the 44th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Written from camp at New Bern, North Carolina. Sketchbook illustrated with thirty-eight pencil editorial-type cartoon sketches satirizing the Northern press...

GLC08200

to unknown

Expresses his belief that reconstruction would not end if a short term Democrat is elected to the presidency, but that it would be disastrous for the Freedmen. Rutherford B. Hayes served as President 1877-1881.

GLC08201

[Certificate of amnesty]

Signed by Augustin as a United States Commissioner for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Also signed by Emmanuel Lebreton Deschapelles, who swears an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States following the Civil War. Deschapelles...

GLC02943.01

to T. P. Chandler

Writes about speaking in the Senate: "Had I made that speech, I would have taken a vacation of a week or more. Now I wait the Civil Appropriation Bill, when I shall move an Amendment, that nothing be paid [to] the execution of the Fug. Sl. Bill, but...

GLC02095.03

to [Edward W.] Kinsley

Marked private. Written from the Senate Chamber. Complains about the Boston press being hard on him, criticizes President Ulysses S. Grant's attempt to annex Santo Domingo, and rails against Grant's leadership in general: "I did not write to...

GLC02095.16

The barbarism of slavery. Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, on the Bill for the admission of Kansas as a free state.

Given in the Senate, 4 June 1860. Condemns slavery as barbaric and criticizes various pro-slavery arguments, including that slavery was not upheld by the United States Constitution. Published by Thaddeus Hyatt, Washington, D.C. Printed as the clergy...

GLC02095.21

[Senate resolution submitted by Charles Sumner]

Appeals to the people to manifest their loyalty by ceasing to fight or work for the rebels, and putting their resources into supporting the Union. States that the government will reciprocate. Writes, "...it is the further duty of the government of...

GLC02095.22

to Thomas L. Sprague

Thanks Sprague, a schoolboy, for his compliments: "Through my mother, who recently visited your friends in Hingham, I have learned your kind interest in me, & the manner in which you have spoken of me in one of your exercises at school. The words of...

GLC02095.04

to Epes Sargent

Sumner thanks Sargent for his sympathetic praise. Writes, "The verses on Shaw I had enjoyed before, & had sent to England," likely a reference to Sargent's poem, "Colonel Shaw: On Hearing that the Rebels Had Buried His Body Under a Pile of Twenty...

GLC02095.12

to Theseus Apoleon Cheney

Writes that he is glad Cheney is regaining his health. Comments on the upcoming presidential election and the Civil War: "The good news must stimulate you. Of the result, political or military I cannot doubt. Mr. Lincoln will be re-elected, &...

GLC02095.14

Mr. Sumner's Lecture on White Slavery in the Barbary States.

Sumner's lecture given before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, 17 February 1847. Published by William D. Ticknor and Company. Printed in Cambridge by Metcalf and Company, printers to the University. Inscribed on the original orange cover...

GLC02095.19

The Crime Against Kansas. Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts. In the Senate of the United States, May 19, 1856.

Sumner delivered this speech after the May 1856 debates on slavery in Kansas. Condemns Southern advocacy of the expansion of slavery. Published by Greeley and McElrath, New York. Advertised on cover page as being "for sale at the office of the New...

GLC02095.20

to Mr. Kennard

Saint-Gaudens, a noted Gilded Age sculptor, discusses an inscription with Kennard (possibly Martin P. Kennard, a Boston abolitionist and political reformer). States that the inscription, designated for a Boston monument honoring Robert Gould Shaw...

GLC02928.01

to Mr. Kennard

Saint-Gaudens discusses his upcoming visit to Boston, Massachusetts with Kennard (possibly Martin P. Kennard, a Boston abolitionist and political reformer). States that any message Kennard leaves for him at the office of McKim, Mead, and White will...

GLC02928.02

to Mr. Kennard

Saint-Gaudens discusses the inscription on a monument honoring Robert Gould Shaw with Kennard (possibly Martin P. Kennard, a Boston abolitionist and political reformer). Encloses a letter (not included) from Edward Atkinson, treasurer of the Shaw...

GLC02928.03

to the committee on the Shaw monument

Atkinson, treasurer of the Robert Gould Shaw monument committee, informs other members of the committee that he intends to depart for London, England, and St. Petersburg, Russia. States that he hopes to finish matters concerning the monument before...

GLC02928.04

[Draft of inscription intended for the Robert Gould Shaw monument]

Includes hand written corrections. Describes the Shaw monument as a tribute to the famous 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, organized in Boston and reviewed by Massachusetts Governor John Albion Andrew 18 May 1863. Includes extracts from Andrew...

GLC02928.05

[Draft of inscription intended for the Robert Gould Shaw monument]

Includes hand written corrections by an unknown writer. Honors Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the famous 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry during the Civil War. Features excerpts from a speech delivered by Massachusetts Governor John Albion...

GLC02928.06

to Patrick Henry

General Rochambeau transmits a copy of a letter (not included) he wrote to the Marquis de Choisy (possibly Claude Gabriel Marquis de Choisy). States that the letter discussed Choisy's confusion regarding differentiation between freedmen and enslaved...

GLC04837.01

to John Eaton

General Grant states "I should have liked to have seen you ... about ... utilizing the negroes down about Grand Junction, Tenn. In writing on that subject for my book I had to rely on memory." States that the first volume of his personal memoirs is...

GLC05485.02.01

[Description of a note from General Ulysses S. Grant]

General Eaton describes a note given to him by General Ulysses S. Grant (see GLC05485.02.01). States that Grant's note was written at Mt. McGregor, Wilton, New York. Asserts that General Grant handed him the note after they witnessed a sermon by D...

GLC05485.02.02

[Final statement of Philip G. Gains]

Signed by Moore as Captain of the 9th Cavalry. States that Gains, an African American Private in Company L of the 9th Cavalry, enlisted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1 November 1873, and is discharged by reason of special order no. 131. Reports...

GLC07334.02.01

[Pay voucher of Philip G. Gains]

States that Gains, an African American private in Company L, 9th Cavalry, received money from J. W. Nicholls, United States Paymaster. Signed by [Carrs?] as a witness. Contains an "x" signifying Gains' signature.

GLC07334.02.02

[Final statement of Martin Sterling, 24th Infantry]

Signed by Clous as Captain of the 24th Infantry. States that Sterling, an African American Private in Company E, 24th Infantry Regiment, enlisted at Fort Griffin, Texas 15 January 1870, and is now discharged by reason of an expired term of service....

GLC07334.03.01

[Pay voucher of Martin Sterling]

Signed by Chaplain Schultz as a witness. Lists the amount of pay received by Private Sterling, an African American serving in Company E, 24th Infantry Regiment. States that pay was received from J. W. Nicholls, United States Paymaster. An "x"...

GLC07334.03.02

to Jehu Glancy Jones

Chase, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, briefly discusses decisions made in recent court cases, suffrage, and the politics of reconstruction with Jones, a judge and former United States Representative from Pennsylvania.

GLC05677.02

to William Cabell Rives

Colonel Peyton discusses Virginia's recent secession from the Union, stating "I think Virginia would have acted more wisely ... if, with her prestige as the great head of the slave states, she had planted her foot upon the opening lid of this Pandora...

GLC05021.01