1869-1890

Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898

Header Record

Title: [Collection of letters of the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate] [Decimalized .001- .660]

Over 600 letters and documents received by the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate. Born into slavery, Bruce was elected by Mississippi and served from 1875 to 1881. Includes over 100 letters seeking appointments, political favors, etc.; several House Bills regarding the Mississippi River Improvement Commission; a broadside by James Redpath outlining "A Policy For the Blacks-Letter to a Colored Mississippian-The Present Policy Discussed;" and letters regarding crimes and incidents of a racial nature.

GLC09400

4 October 1863

Boham, Milledge L., 1813-1890

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James A. Seddon

To James A. Seddon, Confederate Secretary of War, sending "a copy of the Report of the Provost Marshall's Court to whom the Negros--slaves and free--captured on James and Morris Island on the 11th and 18th of July last were committed for trial."

GLC09402

21 July 1863

Echols, William H., fl. 1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to M.L. Bonham

Chief engineer of the Confederacy to SC Governor Bonham. "The matter of Mr. Maxwell's Negroes having appeared in the City was through neglect but is excusable when the facts are known. They were, at the time of the assault on Battery Wagner, on Morris Island (last Saturday) when the steamer landed the troops." The troops were sent to repel those of the 54th Mass. Vols. under Colonel Robert Shaw. Includes W.J. Maxwell's written statement.

GLC09403

29 July 1863

Echols, William H., fl. 1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to M.L. Bonham

Medical treatment for slaves impressed by the Confederate Army, from the chief engineer in charge of the fortifications for the defense of Charleston, to SC Governor Bonham. "I have just received your letter concerning the medical attendance of the Negroes. There have been several complaints of the inattention of the physicians within the last 2 weeks…"

GLC09404

31 March 1864

Fleetwood, Christian, fl. 1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary Gibbs

Civil War letter of one of first African-American soldiers to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and the first honored by the Smithsonian, to "Mother Gibbs." "…the expedition brought in altogether 502 contrabands. I had the good fortune of being instrumental in freeing fifty or more of them…I had the pleasure of depriving our southern brethren of over fifty contrabands, four or five horses with carts, wagons etc [?], five or six teams with carts and a considerable part of their good temper. For all of which I am truly thankful."

GLC09405

August 30, 1864

King, Robert M., fl. 1863-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joshua King

King, an African-American soldier who served as Color Sergeant of Company K, 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment writes from Folly Island, SC to his father Joshua King in Ohio. "Father I want you to try & write little oftener then you doe write every week it is all the Consolation A Soldier has is to get letters from his Parriants & friends and loveers." King was killed at the Battle of Honey Hill on November 30, 1864.

GLC09406

1940s

Photograph

Title: [Collection of photographs of African American soldiers]

10 panoramic photographs of various WWII black units of the armed forces, including that of General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.; Company "G" 11th QM Training Regiment, Camp Lee, Virginia; and others.

GLC09407

1852

Thompson, George, fl. 1852

Book

Title: Thompson in Africa: Or, an Account of the Missionary Labors, Sufferings, Travels, and Observations of George Thompson in Western Africa, at the Mendi Mission.

Thompson in Africa: Or, an Account of the Missionary Labors, Sufferings, Travels, and Observations of George Thompson in Western Africa, at the Mendi Mission. Abolitionist's diary of his African trip. Includes several eye witness accounts of the slave trade, an engraving of the decks of a slave ship, and a foldout map. "In this condition, naked, they are stowed in close to one another. Frequently they are also shackled and handcuffed together, two and two (right leg of one to the left leg of the next and also the arms) to prevent their rising on the captors."

GLC09408

1864

Stokes, George, fl. 1864

Manuscript document

Title: [Report on evacuating contrabands]

Union chaplain's report on evacuating contrabands. "I cannot help wonder at the management of the evacuation of Huntsville-a memorable event in the history of this wicked rebellion. The gov't property destroyed and the apparent determination that the colored people should be left in the hands of the fiends in human shape and when they had resolved to accompany the Federal troops that no guard should be left to protect them…Fifty or one hundred good cavalry men might have saved much property and many men women and children from rebel hands…I am still satisfied that the colored population can…

GLC09409

1857-1864 ca.

Photograph signed

Title: [Carte de visite of Owen Lovejoy]

Signed carte-de-visite of Radical Republican congressman Owen Lovejoy from Illinois. Lovejoy's Princeton, Ill. homestead was an important Underground Railroad station.

GLC09410

21 August 1865

Bryan, L.W., fl. 1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: [Letter about avoiding conscription...]

Leon County, Texas man writes about avoiding conscription and slaves being told of their freedom. "When I reached Palestine [Texas] last July a year ago, the conscript officer of that place notified me to take my place in the army or he should instantly conscript me…Hundreds of white men here are continually talking to negroes about there being free and fools to work for their former owners...the negro will never work for pay as he would through fear of the lash…"

GLC09411

17 September 1811

Ogden, T.L., fl. 1811

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Insurance for Spanish slave ship]

Insurance for Spanish slave ship Schooner Victoria. "Insured at New York against all Risks for a voyage round from the Havana, to, at, and from, the coast of Angola, to Havana, with Slaves..."

GLC09412

1865

Hammond, Cyrena, fl. 1865

Diary

Title: [Journal]

One hundred and thirty three pages of diary entries and handwritten notes. Fourteen pages with preprinted text, including a title page and printed calendars. Previous research indicated that this is a "journal of Western New York teenager;" the title page cites "North Bergen" as Hammond's location. Discusses school and her friends: "Danced all the morn, & at recess we went out on the meeting house steps and danced for sharp to fiddle" (6 January 1865). On 9 January 1865, mentions attending a temperance meeting. In a note at the end of the diary, Hammond writes: "The 29 of this month,…

GLC09413

1867

Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874

Pamphlet signed

Title: 50th Annual Report of the American Colonization Society

Fillmore's copy of the 50th Annual Report of the American Colonization Society, Washington. The Society supported returning former slaves to the newly established colony of Monrovia in Liberia.

GLC09287

circa 1862-1865

Gordon, George Washington, 1836-1911

Autograph album

Title: [Prisoner of war autograph book]

Prisoner of war autograph book of Capt. George Washington Gordon of the 48th Tennessee Regt. of Volunteers, from Union prison at Johnson's Island, in Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie. Over 650 autographs of Confederate soldiers and sailors, most listing their names, ranks, units, where and when captured, and hometown.

GLC09309

12 December 1864

Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard, 1809-1870

Autograph document signed

Title: to Gideon Welles

Telegram as commander of the South-Atlantic Squadron, to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, providing the first news from Sherman's army that the march to the sea had been successful: "I have just received a communication from Gen. Sherman's Army. It is a few miles from Savannah and in fine spirits. A dispatch is forwarded with this…. I shall bring all my available force into connection with the Army." Dahlgren learned the news by courier from Gen. O.O. Howard and immediately forwarded the crucial information to the government in Washington.

GLC09330

27 August 1782

Eustis, William, 1753-1825

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph Vose

Hospital surgeon to Vose, requesting an orderly to attend to some wounded men from his regiment. On the verso of the Eustis letter is glued an invitation from General Washington, dated Aug. 12, to bring six officers of his regiment to dinner.

GLC09338.06

May 1863-April 1865

Clapp, George, fl. 1839-1892

Header Record

Title: [Collection of George C. Clapp] [word processed inventory available] [Decimalized .001- .124]

This collection is a series of letters and other items from Private George C. Clapp. Private Clapp was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was mustered into G Company of the 37th Massachusetts Infantry on July 15, 1862 when he was a 23-year-old bookbinder. The regiment then journeyed to Washington D.C. and became part of the Army of the Potomac. As part of the Army of the Potomac, Clapp saw battle at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania. On September 19, 1864, Clapp was severely wounded in the shoulder in Winchester, Virginia. He was officially discharged for his wounds on April…

GLC09355

1861-1863

Dunn, Thomas, fl. 1861-1863

Diary

Title: [Diary of Thomas Dunn]

Diary of a soldier in the 25th Ohio Regiment, with wonderful content on the campaigns and battles of the eastern theater, such as Second Bull Run (1862): "August the 31st. the roads was just lined with ambulances and coaches from Washington city they came after the wounded." Dunn's diary ends on April 20, 1863, just before the Battle of Chancellorsville. He sent it home to his mother with instructions, "please mother to keep this Book for me until I get home." He died a little over two months later at the Battle of Gettysburg.

GLC09356

3 January 1863

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his friends

Writes to friends from Camp Douglas. Discusses a terrible storm and the cold weather. Comments he does not believe he has seen colder weather. Writes the soldiers are freezing and the prisoners are suffering, and many of them have died. Reports it is the coldest weather that the West has seen. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner.

GLC03523.52.03

8 April 1848

Wheeler, Frank, fl. 1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his mother

Lt. of 2nd Illinois Volunteers, re dining with former Mexican president General Santa Anna in Puebla: "His opinion of the war is this, he said he thought that the Mexican people would send for him again and as to peace there would be none."

GLC09283

2 May 1846

Hunter, Nathaniel Wyche, fl. 1846

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah R. Golding

Capt. of 2nd U.S. Dragoons, Galveston, Texas writes about the opening of the Mexican War: "There will be ten thousand troops on the Rio Grande in two weeks....I shall go directly to Point Isabel and if not in the hands of the enemy shall land and join my company. We can keep to sea until our fuel is exhausted if we cannot get ashore."

GLC09284

December 1860

Jones, William E., 1824-1864

Autograph letter

Title: to newspaper editor

Letter to newspaper editor, intended for publication, calling to prepare for coming Civil War: "With the old and the young, rifle practice should be the order of the day for we may have to meet the enemy abroad and at home.…the devil in the shape of an abolitionist might well be defied."

GLC09285

25 October 1815

Burr, Aaron, 1756-1836

Autograph letter signed

Title: To Jacob Gurby

Counsels a client on the best way to recover a slave: "If a Slave be brought from another state to the state of N York & there sold, such slave is by the laws of N York declared free. It is therefore of Moment to establish that the sale was made at New London or at least, not in N York." 1 p. With ALS of Joseph Skinner forwarding on Burr's instructions regarding a suit against the Manumission Society to Jacob Gurby.

GLC09286

25 March 1832

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Autograph letter signed

Title: to L. Jones

Cancelling a purchase of four young slaves on behalf of his adopted son, Andrew (Donelson) Jackson, Jr.: "If the negroes have not been bought and sent on…give yourself no further trouble on the subject.… I wish him now to attend to & manage his own business."

GLC09288