11 May 1863

Vance, Zebulon B., 1830-1894

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Colonel [Mores?]

Vance, Governor of North Carolina, asks Mores: "Why do you detain Smith's salt? If it is going to any point in N.C, we have no right to seize it." Inquires if General Daniel Harvey Hill, commander of the District of North Carolina, needs the salt for the army. Writes, "If so I have nothing to say, except he must seize it for himself if he wants it. Of course my officers have no right to stop anything unless it is going out contrary to the proclamation" (possibly referring to Vance's refusal to allow supplies smuggled into North Carolina by blockade runners to be given to other states until…

GLC02469.29

9 September 1861

Walker, Leroy Pope, 1817-1884

Letter

Title: to William S. Morris

Walker, Confederate Secretary of War, writes to Morris, President of the Southern Telegraph Company. Includes a copied version of a dispatch Walker recently received from General Felix Kirk Zollicoffer, commander of the District of East Tennessee, Department Number 2. Zollicoffer writes from Knoxville, Tennessee, stating that it is necessary for Morris to immediately "connect the Knoxville Depot of East Tennessee & Va. R. R., by telegraph, with Bristol- and also establish a telegraph office at Mossy Creek, in East Tennessee." Walker asks Morris to estimate the cost of Zollicoffer's…

GLC02469.30

1 April 1865

Watts, Thomas Hill, 1819-1892

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Cabell Breckinridge

Watts, Governor of Alabama, discusses salt production in Alabama with John C. Breckinridge, Confederate Secretary of War. Writes, "I desire authority from the War Department permitting the bonded agriculturists to sell to the State salt commissioner... supplies necessary to operate successfully the salines of Clarke County:- or authority to purchase from major J. J. Walker commissary General in this State, such surplus produce, as may be necessary to carry on this enterprise so important to the citizens of Ala..." Mentions B. M. Woolsey, the state salt commissioner. Written on Executive…

GLC02469.31

February 5, 1863

Wise, Henry A., 1806-1876

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Arnold Elzey

General Wise replies to previous correspondence from Elzey, commanding forces at Richmond, Virginia. Writes "Your communication of 3rd inst instructing me to watch the mouth of the James & Elizabeth Rivers & report the approach of any transports or landing of any Troops has just been received. I respectfully beg to say in reply that I cannot picket the South side of the James." Possibly referring to Roger Atkinson Pryor, states "Genl Pryor ought to watch that, & I will do all I can to watch this side. I have already two Scouts in Mathews & Gloucester- one at New Point the…

GLC02469.32

8 April 1849

Yancey, William L., 1814-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to P. Hamilton, Esq.

Yancey informs Hamilton, of Mobile, Alabama, that he has been absent from the circuit, and upon his return found several letters from Hamilton. Discusses a case involving E. Hanrick, Esq. (possibly Edward Hanrick), Hurlbut, and the settlement of a large estate.

GLC02469.33

23 October 1847

Yulee, David L., 1810-1886

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert John Walker

Written from the Steamer Augusta. Yulee, a U.S. Senator from Florida, writes to Walker, Secretary of the United States Treasury. Encloses a proposal (not included) from a firm in Cincinnati. Requests that Walker inform the firm of his views on an unspecified topic. Instructs Walker to handle two cases, and to send information regarding the cases to him at St. Augustine (possibly Florida).

GLC02469.34

1768-1822

The Constitution of the United States

Header Record

Title: Members of the Constitutional Convention: 38 letters & docs [decimalized]

GLC02470

5 December 1816

Adams, Abigail, 1744-1818

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Richard Rush

A friendly letter of introduction, revealing the intimacy between the Adams and Rush families. Adams was introducing Reverend Coleman, who was going to Washington to carry the presidential electoral votes from Massachusetts and to vacation as well. She believes they will get along well. Quotes William Cowper to describe him. Writes that her husband's hands hurt from the cold and from previous letter writing and that he sends his greetings. In GLC02852, John Adams uses "Colman" instead of "Coleman."

GLC02515

9 December 1863

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Pamphlet

Title: Amnesty proclamation and third annual message of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States ...

Title continues, " ... read in Congress, December 9, 1863." Early printing of the Amnesty Oath of December 8, 1863 which offered pardons to Confederates who would take a loyalty oath to the Constitution and to the Union of States. His third annual message presented a program for Reconstruction for the first time. With bookplate and deaccession stamp of Minnesota Historical Society on front cover.

GLC02536

20 September 1800

Marshall, John, 1755-1835

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Rufus King

Marshall, Secretary of State, writes to King, Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States in England. Discusses violations of Jay's Treaty (concluded in 1794 between the United States and Great Britain), including impressment, debts, and seizure of goods during the Napoleonic Wars. States that "the aggressions, sometimes of one, & sometimes of another belligerent power, have forced us to contemplate, & to prepare for war, as a probably event." Declares that "The impressment of our seamen is an injury of very serious magnitude, which deeply affects the feelings & the honor…

GLC02539

27 November 1776

Schuyler, Philip John, 1733-1804

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Duane

Written by Major General Schuyler to Duane as a New York delegate to the Continental Congress. References Duane's letter that was delivered 26 November. Says he had to abandon the fortress on York Island because the enemy's strength was overwhelming. Defends his actions as the best he could have done in the situation confronting him. Compares himself favorably to Washington's defeat in New York in August 1776 saying "I wish Gen: Washington had adhered to his own opinion and rejected the Intemporate advice of people of more prowess than Wisdom. In such a situation of ours It is now Eligible…

GLC02544

7 March 1857

Daniel, Peter Vivian, 1784-1860

Autograph manuscript

Title: The opinion of Justice Peter V. Daniel of the United States Supreme Court in the famous Dred Scott case.

Daniel's original manuscript of his opinion on the Dred Scott case, bound into a book. Daniels, a passionate slavery advocate, argues that slavery had more protection under the Constitution than any other form of property. He supports the majority opinion of Justice Taney, but goes farther, asserting the unconstitutionality of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Contains pencil notes, and numerous insertions and deletions in Daniel's hand, including slips of paper. With a later title page in another hand. This copy was used by the printers for the official printing of Daniel's opinion.

GLC02546.01

6 October 1862

Wheeler, William A., 1819-1887

Autograph letter signed

Title: [To the Adjutant General of the State of New York]

Possibly to John Titcomb Sprague, who served as Adjutant General for the State of New York during the Civil War. Wheeler recommends Lieutenant Henry Clark of the 106th Regiment, New York Volunteers, to the position of Adjutant. Writes, "He is a young man if high character and capacity & I earnestly hope he may be appointed."

GLC02512.14

13 May 1805

Webster, Noah, 1758-1843

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Benjamin Silliman

Webster mentions books he has received from Messrs. Bull & Co., and so no longer requires from Silliman. Asks Silliman to look for other specific books. Webster also mentions the majority by which Jonathan Trumbull had won the recent Connecticut gubernatorial election. Addressed to Silliman in England. Address leaf contains the note that this is a duplicate letter sent by the ship Polly. These books helped Webster in compiling his 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. Two black and white bust engravings of Webster included.

GLC02513

5 March 1862

Wirz, Henry, 1823-1865

Autograph document signed

Title: [Special order: Arrest warrant from a Confederate state military prison]

Orders that John Thomas be brought to the prison "dead or alive." Signed by Wirz as Sergeant of Post, at the Confederate Military Prison at Tuscaloosa, before he was promoted to Commandant of Andersonville Prison, where he gained notoriety. Accompanied by a seller's undated manuscript note describing Wirz as "The Demon of Andersonville." One black and white bust engraving of Wirz included.

GLC02514

17 October 1799

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Printed document signed

Title: [Appointment of William North as an Adjutant General with the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Army]

Partially printed engraved document signed by John Adams as President and countersigned by Secretary of War James McHenry. Engraved by Thackara & Vallance of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Features two detailed patriotic images. Docket signed by John Caldwell of the War Department.

GLC02516

12 December 1798

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Document signed

Title: [Privateer's commission for "the Concord"]

Signed by John Adams as President and countersigned by Secretary of State Timothy Pickering. Allows Ebenezer Sage and Benjamin Williams to outfit a privateer, the "Concord," to attack French shipping under a Congressional law passed on July 9, 1798. The 8 gun, 20 man crew will be captained by William Vandeursin. Allows the Concord to capture French ships on the high seas as well as recapture American ships seized by France. The American government sanctioned these actions at a time of heightened tension with France known as the Quasi War. Large embossed paper Seal of the United States at…

GLC02517.01

6 March 1801

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Document signed

Title: [Papers granting the ship "Hunter" voyage permission in four languages]

Countersigned by Secretary of State John Marshall, New York Port Collector Joshua Sands, and Notary Public John Wilkes. Partly printed document in four languages (French, Spanish, English, and Dutch). Papers give permission to Captain William Van Duerson, the commander of the ship "Hunter," to carry non-contraband goods to Demerara in British Guiana (present day Guyana). Written before Adams left the presidency on 4 March 1801, but countersigned in New York on 6 March 1804. Sands added a note that the new president, Thomas Jefferson, had approved the papers and allowed them to continue in…

GLC02517.02

16 April 1857

Brown, John, 1800-1859

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary Ann Brown

Has "been more prospered within a very few days than I had before been," thanks to a $7,000 loan from George L. Stearns to be used towards a free Kansas. Hears "that one of 'Uncle Sam's Hounds was at Cleavland on my track;' and I have been hiding a little so as to let my track get cold." However has "no great fear of being caught" and says "I trust that God will send me back with Irons in rather than uppon my hands." Hopes to return home soon. Brown hid for a week in Boston to avoid the rumored United States Marshall.

GLC02519

7 October 1787

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Clinton

Franklin, writing as president of the executive council of Pennsylvania, asks New York's Governor Clinton to aid in gathering evidence against conspirators in the Yankee-Pennamite war. The Pennamite Wars were organized (but not state-sponsored) battles between settlers from Pennsylvania and Connecticut who claimed land in the Wyoming Valley in northeast Pennsylvania. The day this letter was written, John Franklin, one of the Yankee leaders was sentenced by the Council of Pennsylvania to be kept in irons. The letter's verso and integral leaf show evidence that this is the original used in…

GLC02521

1 July 1863

Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872

Manuscript document

Title: [Standing orders for the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg]

Clerical copy of the circular order for the Army of the Potomac for Gettysburg. Written before the battle took shape while Meade thought the major engagement would be fought at Harrisburg; orders a defensive stance. Explains the details this defensive position would take and provides specific orders for the movements of troops commanded by General Henry W. Slocum and General John F. Reynolds. Reprinted in Official Records Series I v. 27 pt. 3:458.

GLC02522

2 April 1799

Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William North

Written by General Hamilton as commander of the Provisional Army to Brigadier General North. Says he has enclosed a letter from the Secretary of War that explains itself (the letter is not included here). Says he wishes to see North as soon he arrives in New York. Says if any measure is necessary for his temporary accommodation, in terms of a substitute, he will work with him. Says there is an immense need for someone to perform the duties of Adjutant General.

GLC02523

10 May 1777

Hancock, John, 1737-1793

Document signed

Title: [Captain's commission for William North]

Partly printed document signed by Hancock as President of Continental Congress and co-signed by Charles Thomson as Secretary of Congress. This commission gives William North the rank of captain. A later note at the top of the document, by North's son, says "This Commission went with my father in his bosom through the War of the Revolution." The condition of the document attests to this note. It's been folded many times and has been repaired. The docket on verso is faded and hard to read.

GLC02524

6 August 1777

Hancock, John, 1737-1793

Document signed

Title: [Resolve of Congress on General Gates's call for militia]

Written in the hand of William Churchill Houston as deputy secretary of the Continental Congress. Signed by Continental Congress President Hancock. It is noted that this is a copy from the Journals of Congress. Resolve issued in the aftermath of the fall of Fort Ticonderoga to the British. On 2 August 1777 Gates was given the permission of Congress to requisition from each state's militia the number of men he felt was necessary to defend against General John Burgoyne's advance. This resolve was sent to help Gates in his recruitment saying it is "impossible, in the present Circumstances of…

GLC02525

4 May 1798

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William North

Written by Jay as Governor of New York, offering a U.S. Senate seat to North. He was being offered the seat vacated by Judge John S. Hobart who had accepted a judgeship for the District of New York. Is very pleased to be able to offer this honor to North saying it is "a proper Mark of Respect to the opinion of the many members of both Houses, whose Votes would have assigned that place to you last winter, had not Judge Hobart been a Candidate." Would like an answer with the return of the express.

GLC02528.01