December 20, 1901

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Typed letter signed

Title: to F. Marion Crawford

Theodore Roosevelt declines to intervene in pardon application. He writes that he does not ask for pardons unless he is personally familiar with the case and would not want to impose on NY Governor Odell due to awkwardness.

GLC00629

19 October 1861

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Notice of suspension of habeas corpus in Boston to Justin Dimick].

Scott quotes an Abraham Lincoln document suspending the writ of habeas corpus, countersigned by William H. Seward. Scott empowers Brevet Colonel Dimick to do the same in Boston. Also signed by Assistant Adjutant General E.D. Townsend.

GLC00638

March 3, 1837

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: To the Inhabitants of the 12th Congressional District of Massachusetts

Discusses the attempts to censure Adams' conduct through the "Gag Rule," the machinations of House Speaker Polk, and attempts to expel Adams.

GLC00639.05

January 15,1862

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document signed

Title: [Presidential pardon of William L. King Jr., charged with arson, who had been admitted to bail in D.C. in March 1861, and who had failed to appear].

William L. King Jr was pardoned by Abraham Lincoln because he currently was "in military service of the United States in a distant part of the country and cannot be produced," because enforcement of the bond would impoverish his aged parents, and because this had been petitioned by citizens. Countersigned by Secretary of State William H. Seward.

GLC00589

December 24, 1806

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Letter signed

Title: to unknown

Discusses the plans and legislative process related to the construction of the Cumberland Road, from Maryland to Ohio. Fearing that his correspondent's state legislature may be out of session before approving the project, Jefferson sends a partial report from the commissioners of the National Road and the related act of Congress (neither included). Asks that the matter be put before the state legislature for approval in order to avoid a delay in construction. Probably addressed to a governor, possibly Pennsylvania Governor Thomas McKean (Pennsylvania lobbied for a different route than the one…

GLC00594

August 11, 1799

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James McHenry

McHenry served as Secretary of War. Mentions appointment of ambassadors to France during Quasi-war and newspaper accusations by William Duane against federalist officials (in a July editorial) for supposedly accepting bribes. Humorous letter (on bribery) with hinted approval of Sedition Act. Marked "Confidential" in the text.

GLC00604.01

29 March 1861

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document signed

Title: [Authorization to the Secretary of State to affix the seal of the United States to the pardon of Milo Thornton for counterfeiting coins].

In Ohio, Thornton had been convicted in 1859 and sentenced to the Ohio State Penitentiary for ten years. According to D. R. Kinsell, his physician, his health was quickly failing and he would soon become a lunatic if not released. The release was supported by Ohio representative John Hutchins, Marshall of the United States for the Northern District of Ohio Mathew Johnson, R. P. Rammey (the district attorney who had prosecuted him), and others.

GLC00613

December 26, 1866

Buchanan, James, 1791-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James W. Wall

In the letter, James Buchanan is attacking Radical Republicans, whom he sees as self-destructive. Also discusses strengthening the Democrats in New Jersey, and Johnson's failed veto on the Civil Rights Act.

GLC00576

November 11, 1840

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Roger S. Baldwin

Former United States President Adams writes to Baldwin, a lawyer and abolitionist. He acknowledges the receipt of Baldwin's narrative of the Amistad case, to be tried before the Supreme Court. He writes "I consented with extreme reluctance at the urgent request of Mr. Lewis Tappan and Mr. Ellis Gray Loring, to appear before the Court as one of the Counsel for these unfortunate men. My reluctance was founded entirely and exclusively upon the consciousness of my own incompetence to do justice to their cause. In every other point of view there is in my estimation no higher object upon earth of…

GLC00582

July 27, 1855

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Anson L. Brewer

Abraham Lincoln writes to fellow attorney Brewer about the status of James Kelly v. Jesse D. Blackledge in the Logan County Circuit Court. He describes how the judge delayed the suit by taking the case under advisement. He questions the trial, "if it could be called a trial," and is astounded by the judge's eventual ruling against him. At the time this letter was written Lincoln and his partner Herdon were appealing the ruling, and they later won.

GLC00606

14 April 1857

Brown, John, 1800-1859

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Appointment of trustees]

Appoints George L. Stearns, Samuel Cabot Jr. and William H. Russell as "trustees to hold all funds and other personal property now in my hands...in my behalf for the aid of the free state cause in Kansas." This is to take effect only if Brown becomes unable to administer these funds himself. Written, witnessed and signed by Thomas Russell. Russell was a judge, and while he supported Brown, he was not as prominent as some of Brown's other supporters, which is why his house was chosen as a hiding place. Written while Brown was hiding in Russell's house. Having heard that a United States…

GLC00502

January 13, 1875

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Document signed

Title: [Presidential authority to the Secretary of State to affix the seal to the pardon of James Smith and Timothy Hixon].

GLC00685

January 11, 1865

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Autograph endorsement signed

Title: [Note allowing John Swisher to take the oath of 8 December 1863]

Lincoln autograph endorsement signed on a letter from Edward McPherson to President Lincoln requesting clemency for a man, dated 10 January 1865. Lincoln's endorsement reads, "Let this man, John Swisher take the oath of Dec. 8, 1863 & be discharged." McPherson was Clerk of the House of Representatives.

GLC00693.03

March 14, 1861

Van Valkenburgh, Gerrit S., 1835-1885

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mollie Van Valkenburgh

Written by Gerrit to his sister Mollie. Attempts to justify his decision, as a transplanted Northerner, to side with the South. Mixes support for his adopted home with love for the family he left in the North. He references her letter of from February 12 and says he will answer it now even though she takes six months to respond to him. Says he is at Warren, Arkansas attending court and collecting money. He reports that people in Warren are getting over the political excitement which has been the absorbing topic of conversation. He claims they are ending the talk and preparing for war. He says…

GLC00686.05

June 3, 1865

Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary B. Van Valkenburgh

On stationery headed: "Waldo, Ody & Van, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law." Letter written by Frank to his mother Mary. Frank says he has not neglected her, but has been busy moving, house cleaning, attending fairs and courts, as well as dealing with visitors. He updates her on what he knows of family news, and says Gerrit, his twin brother, is well at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Frank hopes to visit his brother soon.

GLC00686.17

June 10, 1865

Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his wife

Date written in pencil at the top of recto as "June 10 1865?" Content of GLC00686.22 and GLC00686.24 suggest this date might be accurate. Signed twice by Frank, once in pen and once in pencil. Written aboard a ship on his way to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to assist his twin brother Gerrit, who was in trouble with the law. Mailed letter from Memphis. Says he has not stopped thinking about her and their son. Says "Our Crew of say 50 men are mostly negroes, and such a crowd you never saw." Mentions that the former enslaved people are toting their plunder onboard. Describes ship, passengers, and…

GLC00686.19

June 11, 1865

Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his wife

Written part in pen, part in pencil. Reports on conditions in the South after the Civil War. Frank was travelling to Arkansas to help his twin brother Gerrit who was in trouble with the law. Says he knows he wrote recently, but since he is stuck in "this God forsaken hole" he is going to write another. He mentions meeting a Confederate soldier who thought he was his twin brother Gerrit. The former soldier was released from prison the week before and Frank relates his story. He reports that many people know his twin brother, Gerrit. He says "they say Warren [Arkansas] never saw so exciting a…

GLC00686.20

July 1, 1865

Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary B. Van Valkenburgh

Unsigned letter. Letter is apparently missing the ending and incomplete. Letter written on Waldo, Ody & Van law firm stationery. Written by Frank to his mother. Says he just arrived back from assisting his twin brother Gerrit. It was a two-day stay with 20 days of travelling. Says he was assured by the commanding officer of the district in Arkansas where his brother was being held that the "charge was entirely false & unfounded - He has taken the Oath of Allegiance & is gain a Citizen &c - He has done what he could for the South under the full conviction that they were right…

GLC00686.21

01 March 1793

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Document signed

Title: An act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes

Printed document signed by Jefferson as Secretary of State. With an unusual free frank for the printer, Childs and Swain of New York.

GLC00696

17 September 1807

Harrison, William Henry, 1773-1841

Manuscript

Title: An Act concerning the introduction of Negroes & Mulattoes into this Territory

One clerical copy of a document entitled, "An Act concerning the introduction of negroes and Mulattoes into this Territory," dated September 17, 1807. Pertains to Black enslaved people over the age of 15, in the Indiana Territory which the government had split into 14 sections. Relays the territories mandates for fees and requirements to enslave Black people in Indiana. Notes that if a person is enslaved under the age of 15, it is lawful for a Black man to remain enslaved until the age of 35 and a Black woman to remain enslaved until the age of 32. Black children born from the aforementioned…

GLC00697

23 October 1872

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Document signed

Title: Pardon of J.A. de Abora, convicted of violating the "Passenger Act."

Convicted of violating the "Passenger Act." Pardoned by recommendation of Senator W.H. Corbett, District Attorney Gibbs, the Collector of Customs at Portland, and other prominent citizens of Oregon, and since he was ignorant of the law. (c/s Hamilton Fish)

GLC00706

05 November 1862

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document signed

Title: [Presidential authority to the Secretary of State to affix the seal to the pardon of John Woodcock].

GLC00710

January 23, 1879

Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893

Document signed

Title: [Presidential authority to the Secretary of State to affix the seal to the pardon of Robert A. Adams].

GLC00711

April 1865

Stanton, Edwin M. (Edwin McMasters), 1814-1869

Header Record

Title: [Deposition of Edwin M. Stanton and related legal documents] [decimalized]

Six documents relating to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton's deposition as a defense witness in the case of John Benjamin (plaintiff) vs. Robert Murray and Jacob H. Perkins (defendants), being heard before the New York Supreme Court. The case, and Stanton's deposition, concerned Lincoln's 1862 call for a draft and Stanton's order to arrest anyone discouraging enlistment. At the top left of each page is the identifier "761-A" (the number is stamped; "-A" is handwritten), followed by a stamped page number (beginning with 86 and ending with 108). Documents (decimalized .01-.06) held together…

GLC00720

April 14, 1857

Toucey, Isaac, 1796-1869

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

Sailing orders from the Navy Department, placing McBlair in charge of the sloop of war "Dale," and commanding him to sail to the African coast to combat illegal slave trading. McBlair is ordered to join the "United States African Squadron" and to stop ships transporting illegal cargo or falsely flying the American flag. Letter written from the "Navy Department." Pages bound with a green ribbon. Isaac Toucey was the U.S. Secretary of the Navy. He also served as a Congressman and Senator from Connecticut, United States Attorney General, and…

GLC00722.01