Collection Search

[Poetic tribute to Charles Sumner]

Titled "Sumner." Reads, "If to the master's plea he gave The vast contempt he felt, He saw a brother in the slave, with man as equal man he dealt."

GLC04726

to James L. Kemper

Written on "Office of John S. Mosby, Attorney at Law" letterhead. Writes to Kemper, Governor-elect of Virginia, about Reconstruction and Southern rights: "Of course I never designed to advise an unconditional alliance between Grant & the Southern...

GLC04734

to Isaac J. Carol

Discusses the Confederate home front, military worries, and crops. "When the present army is wasted none other can be raised... What then! Military dictation? Then emancipation; what then is left to us." Written at Castle Hill.

GLC04738

to George Besore

Schneck asks for $300 to send a slave's wife and three children to Africa. The husband must also purchase his freedom for $1,500, but the Society is trying to raise money to assist in the transport itself. Written on behalf of the Colonization...

GLC04743

to unknown

Printed circular letter noting a court case decision, decreeing that an estate tax must still be paid on slaves who are manumitted as part of a last will and testament: "The bequests of freedom to the slaves, are legacies, and the executor liable for...

GLC04748

to James Winchester

Discussing appropriate division of compensation among sailors who salvaged the French ship "Blaireau." Chase discusses the situation and offers his advice. On subject of a black sailor who helped during the salvage, says if he is free he deserves a...

GLC04765

to Benjamin Rush re: coming glories of Constitution, future end of slavery & rum

Also concerns his hopes that slavery and alcohol would be abolished (prohibition), and the debate on the power to remove officials from office. He expects that the excise tax on rum will help defend people "against the poison." Concerning New...

GLC04769

to Wiliam Wilberforce [in French]

Lafayette inquiries on the slave trade in France & America. He alludes to Wilberforce's attempts to have Lafayette freed from prison. Docket is in English, in Wilberforce's hand. Letter has been transcribed in English. Wilberforce as the recipient is...

GLC04802

Receipt for 50 pounds

Partially printed. Provided by South Carolina as legal compensation for an executed slave belonging to Lynch's father, Thomas Sr.

GLC04815

to Lyman Hall

Asks Hall to resolve a debate over ownership of a slave. Mr. Melvin purchased a slave that had belonged to Middleton but had been captured by the British. When Middleton encountered the slave he claimed it as his own, since it had been wrongfully...

GLC04821

to James William Denver

Writing as President of the United States, Buchanan congratulates Denver, Governor of the Kansas Territory, on his excellent standing with the Territory's citizens. States that the issue of admitting Kansas to the Union will be addressed the...

GLC04695

to unknown

Cobb suggests that the proposed legal code sent to him by the recipient is too complicated, and should be simplified, while emphasizing remedies rather than general principles. Does not want the code, apparently for the state of Georgia, to become...

GLC04646

Facsimile of the Emancipation Proclamation

Large format facsimile of Lincoln's handwritten Emancipation Proclamation draft in the Confederacy. Includes blind stamp of authenticity, "Emancipation Proclamation," in lower left corner. Printed by Edward Mendel, Chicago. Prints Lincoln's letter...

GLC04654

Collection of Charles E. Walbridge, US volunteers quartermaster's department [Decimalized .001-.126]

The collection contains 125 letters of Charles E. Walbridge, of Buffalo, New York, to his mother. Two stray items are at the end of the inventory: an undated letter to his mother and a letter to Minnie Walbridge, his sister (#126). The letters...

GLC04662

American Colonization Society membership certificate, signed blank

Printed membership certificate signed by Madison as President and R. R. Gurley as Secretary. The American Colonization Society resettled Black freedpeople in Liberia. D.B. Mattern letter 6/14/96, Madison accepted the presidency per his 19 February...

GLC04675.02

[Taunton Selectmen request the Selectmen of Middleborough, Massachusetts to remove a Middleborough citizen from Taunton]

Partially printed document accomplished by hand. Dean, Ichabod Leonard, Thomas Lincoln, Samuel Stapels, and Abrathor Williams sign as Overseers of the Poor, also called the Selectmen, for Taunton. State that Alvina Traveller, "a black woman an...

GLC04693

Black woman, half-length portrait with oval brass protector [tintype]

The woman wears a skirt and blouse with a rope belt, earrings and a broach. The jewelry has been painted gold.

GLC05111.01.0493

Winter camps, Brandy Station, [April-May 1864 ca.]

Image of a young contraband leaning against a chimney standing in the middle of Federal army camp shortly before Grant's Wilderness offensive of May 1864.

GLC05111.01.0510

Six Federal officers leisurely sharing a drink and smoking pipes. [1861-1865 ca.]

Four men gathered in front of a tent around a fitfth who is seated, holding a book and smoking a pipe. A black servant is pouring the leftmost officer a drink. The image has been torn and both parts attached to a white backing. Inscription on...

GLC05111.01.0520

Black soldiers with artillery guns behind fortifications. [1861-1865 ca.]

Seven black infantrymen stand with cannons behind fortifications. An eighth man is just visible on the left side of the image. In both the far righ and left background are camps with tents. Stamp of the Century company on verso. Numeric notation...

GLC05111.01.0525

Three Federal officers, a civilian and two black men in front of small house. [1861-1865 ca.]

Two officers seated in front of house, both facing to the left. A white man and a black man stand just behind on the porch. Another officer stands to the left of the house and a black man sits on the ground to his left. Inscription on verso:...

GLC05111.01.0528

Chapel of the 50 Engineers NY Vols in front of Petersburg, Va. [Poplar Grove] 1865.

Title taken from inscription on verso. The well constructed chapel, with a ornamental Engineers Castle insignia mounted above the door, is on the left side of the image. Black men, women and children stand in front of nearby smaller wooden...

GLC05111.01.0529

Black men and women assembled outside large house. [1860's ca.]

The image shows a large house with a fence leading off from either side. Most of the men seem to be on the left, while the women are in a group on the right. Two men stand in the foreground, one on each side, facing each other. The man on the right...

GLC05111.01.0550

Headquarters of General Mott, 2nd Div., 3rd Corps. [1861-1865 ca.]

Nine officers and enlistedmen stand in front of a log cabin with a chimney made from barrels. Behind them, two men hold the [2nd Division] 3rd Corps flag, a triangular flag with a white diamond in the center. There are five contraband men in the...

GLC05111.01.0558

Two-story white house with flagpole in front. [1861-1865 ca.]

Several people stand on the porch of a two story white house that shows sign of battle damage. A black man stands just in front of it, holding the reins of a horse. There is a flagpole in the center of the image and the United States flag is raised...

GLC05111.01.0579

Two Federal officers and two young black servants in front of open tent. [1861-1865 ca.]

The officers, one a lieutenant and the other a captain, are seated opposite each other in front of the tent. The tent is open and two beds, on each side, are visible. Two young contrabands stand on either side of the tent . Inscription on verso:...

GLC05111.01.0601

Group of five Federal officers at table in front of tent, served by black servant. [1862-1865 ca.]

The men face the camera. The table has been set with white dishes. The tent is in the woods. A second tent is located to the rear and left of the main scene. Inscription on verso: "Genl. Ordway Gardner Coll." Numeric notation: "140 XI" (or IX).

GLC05111.01.0413

Group of five Federal officers at table in front of tent, served by black servant [variant]. [1862-1865 ca.]

The men are looking at their plates. The table has been set with white dishes and the servant holds a white pitcher. The tent is in the woods. A second tent is located to the rear and left of the main scene. Inscription on verso: "Genl. Ordway...

GLC05111.01.0414

Black troops of Ferrero's division, on the eastern front at Petersburg

Inscription on verso "Bombproof quarters in Federal camp. 21 black soldiers and one white soldier posed in camp. Numeric notation: "XI - III 802."

GLC05111.01.0419

Execution of a colored soldier

Black deserter named Johnson hanging on gallows. Title from inscription on verso. Numeric notation: "59."

GLC05111.01.0441

Scouts and guides of the Army of the Potomac, Brandy Station, VA. March 1864.

This large group includes two black contraband wearing white aprons in the center-left of the image and a third young black contraband squatting on the far right. Some of the soldiers wear cavalry jackets. Others in the group appear to be civilians...

GLC05111.01.0372

Steven's House in Centreville, Virginia.

Inscription on verso: "Mrs Stevens' House Centreville, Va." Numerical Notation on verso: "155." One black boy stands with a black man looking away from the camera in front of the house. Another black man stands on the porch.
See GLC 5111.01.0721

GLC05111.01.0720

Oblique view of Mrs [Alexander ?] Steven's House in Centreville, Virginia.

Inscription on verso: "Mrs Stevens' House Centreville, Va." Numerical Notation on verso: "36."
See GLC 5111.01.0720

GLC05111.01.0721

Slaves quarters on plantation, Port Royal Island, S.C.

Inscription on verso: "On Port Royal Island, S.C." Numeric Notation on verso: "139." Five small, white shanties in a row with a group of black men and women out front. There are also some large piles of what appears to be woodchips.

GLC05111.01.0731

to James Madison

Dates letter Thursday. Discusses President John Quincy Adams' State of the Union Address before Congress on 4 December 1827 and comments that it did not move her either negatively or positively. Observes that some may be critical of it because he...

GLC01812

to William Gibbons

Written by Carroll in retirement to Gibbons as Carroll's property agent. Carroll was formerly a Continental Congressman, Maryland State Senator, U.S. Senator, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. References the sale of 1455 barrels of flour...

GLC01811

to J. S. Cunningham

Floyd offers his views on John C. Fremont, Republican candidate for President in 1856. Writes that he never interviewed Fremont, and Fremont never expressed any censure for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Of Fremont, writes, "I never had...

GLC01818

to William T. Sherman

General Meade writes from Headquarters, Army of the Potomac. A previous assessment indicates this letter, directed to "Genl Cmd'g," is written to General William T. Sherman. Marked "Personal" on docket. Meade declines to send the 3rd Cavalry...

GLC01918

to Thomas Hill Watts

Seddon, Confederate Secretary of War, writes to Watts, Confederate Attorney General. Seddon states, "You are respectfully informed in reply to the applications of D H Parker submitted by you, that the Exemption Act has not embraced overseers of...

GLC01925

to William Davenport

Brevet Brigadier General Taylor directs this letter to Colonel Davenport or the officer commanding at Fort Lawson, Florida. Replies to recent correspondence from Davenport related to "the Negro captured near Fort Andrews...The Negroes statement is...

GLC01829

Read and ponder the Fugitive Slave Law!

A large anti-Whig broadside, attacking Samuel A. Elliott of Boston, and re-printing the Fugitive Slave law. Emphasis added with capital letters in some sections. Declares that the law is against the Constitution, habeas corpus and Christianity...

GLC01862

The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King-Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Reg.

Engraving of the Boston Massacre, hand-colored, first edition. Crispus Attucks is colored in, indicating that he was an African American. The depiction of the event and a poem printed below the engraving vilifies the British Army. The casualties...

GLC01868

to Edward Ortho Cresap Ord

Serving as senior aide-de-camp to General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant, Comstock authorizes General Ord to move soldiers from Little Rock to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Referring to reconstruction policies, informs Ord that "It is impossible for the General...

GLC01951

to Thomas B. Pugh

Douglass refuses to speak at the Philadelphia Academy of Music because of its discriminatory policies towards African Americans. The letter escalates into a barrage of criticism against the Academy and Philadelphia the "City of Brotherly Love", which...

GLC01954

[An Act more effectually to provide for the National Defense by establishing an Uniform Militia throughout the United States].

Countersigned in type by Speaker of the House Jonathan Trumbull, President pro tempore of the Senate Richard Henry Lee, and President Washington. The act requires the enrollment in the militia of all able-bodied white men between the ages of...

GLC01959

The letters of President Lincoln on questions of national policy.

Reprint of six letters by Lincoln: June 13, 1863, to an Albany, New York Committee, discussing his interpretation of the writ of habeas corpus in the Vallandigham case; February 3, 1862 and October 13, 1862, to General George McClellan on the...

GLC01969

Executive documents. Convention. Session 1865. Constitution of North-Carolina, with amendments, and ordinances and resolutions passed by the convention session, 1865.

Prints reconstruction constitution of North Carolina. Index includes: Messages of Provisional Governor Holden to the convention, Report of public treasurer to the convention, Report of superintendent of insane asylum, Report of superintendent of...

GLC01973

[Military voucher for the payment of General Garfield and three servants]

Partially printed. Signed by Garfield as Brigadier General of Volunteers and Chief of Staff, Department of the Cumberland. Garfield acknowledges receipt of $304 from Major William Smith, Paymaster in Washington, D.C. Pertains to pay for the month...

GLC01762.01

[Military voucher for the payment of General Garfield and three servants]

Partially printed. Signed by Garfield as Brigadier General of Volunteers and Chief of Staff, Department of the Cumberland. Garfield acknowledges receipt of $304 from Major William Smith, Paymaster in Washington, D.C. Pertains to pay for the month...

GLC01762.02

[Military voucher for the payment of General Garfield and three servants]

Partially printed. Signed by Garfield as Brigadier General of Volunteers and Chief of Staff, Department of the Cumberland. Garfield acknowledges receipt of $299.50 from Major William Smith, Paymaster of the United States Army. Pertains to pay for...

GLC01762.03