3 December 1807

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Voigt

Commissions Voight to make him a gold watch for his granddaughter.

GLC03941

1925

Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933

Book signed

Title: Message of the President.

Signed State of the Union Address.

GLC03945

10 May 1864

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document signed

Title: Authority to affix the seal to pardon of James Brady, for theft of mail

Brady had been convicted of stealing from the mail and sentenced for two years imprisonment. After serving nearly two-thirds of his sentence, he was pardoned by Lincoln for penitent and exemplary nammer.

GLC03966

13 April 1792

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Document signed

Title: [Act of Congress altering times for holding circuit courts]

Printed document signed by Jefferson as Secretary of State. Signed in type by Jonathan Trumbull as Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Adams as Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate, and approved by George Washington as President. Details an act approved at the first session of the second Congress held at Philadelphia, 27 October 1791, regarding the date that the district circuit courts will hold session. Docket marks the document as duplicate. A penciled note states it is docketed by Samuel Huntington.

GLC03968

17 July 1860

Buchanan, James, 1791-1868

Document signed

Title: [Pardon of Jacob Smith for mail tampering].

Pardon is countersigned by Acting Secretary of State William Henry Trescot. After serving his sentence, Jacob Smith continued to be imprisoned in Philadelphia for nonpayment of his $500 fine. He was pardoned by Buchanan after this was petitioned by citizens of Dauphin County (where the offenses took place) and by Pennsylvania Senator William Bigler.

GLC03984

28 May 1782

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Arthur Lee

Reports on intelligence received from the arrival of USS Alliance and a French cutter ship, commenting on British attempts to weaken the American-French alliance. Discusses the diplomatic efforts of John Adams, Francis Dana, Robert Livingston, and John Jay in Europe. Mentions the capitulation of Yorktown and the good acquired. Comments on conflicting reports of activities in the West Indies. Ventures the opinion that "every triumph of enemy on the ocean is rather a new argument to all of Europe in favor of our independence." Closes with comments about the need for greater representation…

GLC03930

1859

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Photograph

Title: Tintype photograph taken by Cole in 1858, in later case; campaign image

Tintype, apparently based on Ostendorf 14 (the tintype reverses the image). Hamilton & Ostendorf, Lincoln in Photographs, p. 28 suggests that Roderick M. Cole of Peoria made the image about 1858. (See GLC 590.)

GLC03950

1861-1865

Scurry, John G., fl. 1861-1871

Header Record

Title: [Collection of John G. Scurry, A company, 11th regiment, Virginia, infantry][Decimalized .01-.81]

Collection of letters belonging to John G. Scurry dated 1861-1865. Consists of 81 letters sent to various recipients, two of which are incomplete. The letters describe the battles of Chickahominy, McClellan's claim of victory in the Penninsula campaign, being wounded and captured at Gettysburg, service in North Carolina in 1864, and prospects for McClellan's election as president in 1864. Also includes 14 letters by other soldiers.

GLC03957

7 October 1796

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Commissioners of the City of Washington

Notifies the commissioners that Washington sent the wrong enclosure in a recent letter to them, requests its return, and indicates that the correct one has been sent. The commission was superintending the construction of the city of Washington and the United States capitol building.

GLC04103

16 August 1793

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Letter signed

Title: to John Hancock

Knox, Secretary of War, discusses President George Washington's orders regarding captured naval prizes. Requests that Hancock, Governor of Massachusetts, restore any naval prizes brought into the harbors and ports of Massachusetts to the master or owner at the time of capture. Orders that if it is impossible to discern the identity of the vessel's former master, it should be delivered to the person "to which the prize belonged at the time of its capture."

GLC04109

6 January 1818

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph Cabell

Concerns difficulties in getting the Virginia legislature to approve the establishment of the University of Virginia and its general educational system. Asks Cabell to sign a report regarding the college's finances (GLC04108.02), then deliver it to Governor of Virginia James Preston. Mentions hope that a published report of their views will spur subscriptions, and provide for more professorships. They hope to hire Thomas Cooper to teach law. Much of the legislative opposition to the University of Virginia came from the House of Delegates and supporters of the College of William and Mary…

GLC04108.01

6 January 1818

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph manuscript

Title: Estimate of the objects of application.

Lists itemized costs and subscriptions relating to the establishment of the University of Virginia. Enclosed with his letter to Cabell (GLC 4108.01).

GLC04108.02

22 April 1865

McCleas, fl. 1865

Photograph

Title: [Lincoln's Funeral Train]

One image of a Philadelphia railyard with President Lincoln's Funeral Train dated April 22, 1865. The image was taken by McCleas. The engine bears four U.S. flags and black funeral drapings. Two men sit atop the tender that has the inscription, "PENN. R.R." Small crowds are also photographed at the front and back of the train.

GLC04111

1822

Morse, Jedediah, 1761-1826

Book

Title: A report to the Secretary of War of the United States, on Indian Affairs, comprising a narrative of a tour performed in the summer of 1820 , under a commission from the President of the United States, for the purpose of ascertaining, for the use of the government, the actual state of the Indian tribes in our country: Illustrated by a map of the United States; ornamented by a correct portrait of a Pawnee Indian

Printed by S. Converse, published by Howe & Spalding. Signed by M. H. White on the title page. Reverend Morse presents a detailed study on Native American Tribes to John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War. Information in this work is based on Morse's own observations and on the reports of army officers, government agents, and missionaries who had frequent contact with Native Americans.

GLC04135

1821

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Book signed

Title: Report upon weights and measures.

An attempt to synthesize history, philosophy and physics into a coherent whole that illuminates the nature of human relations. Recommends the adoption of the metric system, as a blessing that will lead to "the improvement of the physical, moral and intellectual condition of man upon earth," by making stronger the "links of sympathy between the inhabitants of the most distant regions." Points to international suppression of the slave trade as a precedent for an international effort to standardize weights and measures. First edition. Inscribed by Adams to diplomat and politician Jonathan…

GLC04045

15 April 1829

Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862

Letter signed

Title: to Francisco Pacon

Written by Van Buren as Secretary of State. Acknowledges Pacon's letter of 11 April 1829 which provided "a List of all the Grants of Land, purporting to have been made in the Floridas, by the Government of His Catholic Majesty." This diplomatic letter deals with the messy entanglements and complications of territorial land issues between the United States and Spain in Florida. Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1819, but the transition was messy because the King of Spain always exercised the right of granting lands to whomever he pleased. The American plan was to sell the land in…

GLC04058

11 April 1806

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Mason

Asks General Mason to serve as one of three disinterested commissioners for the Cumberland Road, two of which should come from "this quarter." A post script indicates he was also asking Thomas Moore, who accepted. Mason apparently declined, since Eli Williams of Maryland became the second eastern commissioner (Joseph Kerr, the other commissioner, was from Ohio).

GLC04076

2 January 1832

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas L. McKenney

Adams offers advice on McKenney's work on American Indian tribes, "History of the Indian Tribes of North America." Adams, who had read the book's proofs, suggests defining terms like prairie for the European audience. Expresses his hopes that the book had gone into detail on the Shawnee prophet.

GLC04077

January 16, 1904

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Typed letter signed

Title: to Paul H. Lacey

Discusses his desire for a Square Deal for all Americans. Severely faded. Typed on White House letterhead.

GLC04078

July 20, 1861

Page, Charles A., 1838-1873

Free frank

Title: to John H. Hawes

Page, writing from the Treasury Department, Fifth Auditor's Office, comments on personal matters and mutual acquaintances, mentions attending "the Inauguration," says he.intends to watch the Battle of First Bull Run, and weighs in on Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Writes, "By the way, I take it for granted that you are heart & soul for the war- that you have enough of the spirit of Gen Jackson for that- I take it for granted that you conced Lincoln makes a good President, as I admit in similar circumstances Douglas would- peace to his ashes." Letter measures 20.6 x 26.8 cm. Comes with…

GLC04088

1921

Edmonston, fl. 1921

Photograph signed

Title: [Signed photograph of President Warren G. Harding and his cabinet]

Signed by President Harding and Vice President Calvin Coolidge. Also signed by his cabinet: Herbert Hoover, Charles E. Hughes, Andrew W. Mellon, John W. Weeks, Harry M. Daugherty, Will H. Hays, Edwin Denby, Albert B. Fall, Henry C. Wallace, and James J. Davis. Date inferred from the presence of Postmaster General Hays.

GLC04097

1832-1870s

Indian Treaties

Header Record

Title: Collection of 84 printed treaties between the U.S. & Indian Nations [Decimalized .01- .83]

Official Treaties signed in type by presidents Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, U.S. Grant. Pamphlets. Copies of titlepages on-file.

GLC04099

30 August 1861

Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Wallace J. Ford

Camp Chase was located in Columbus, Ohio. Lieutenant Colonel Garfield replies to a letter from Ford, apparently serving as his personal secretary. Discusses buying a horse, stating "From what I have seen since I came into camp I am satisfied that I must have a much better horse than I at first intended- to be up front with the times- From what you say of the old horse he is just what I want... I know enough of the service to know that I must have a no 1 horse at whatever cost- So reckon the old horse mine." Instructs Ford regarding sale of a carriage and "Billy," perhaps another horse.…

GLC04069

1864

Wenderoth, & Taylor, fl. 1861-1864

Photograph

Title: [Carte de visite of Abraham Lincoln]

With three-cent cancelled tax stamp on the back. Possibly a contemporary copy?

GLC04091

20 April 1865

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

Broadside

Title: [Lincoln assassination reward poster]

Contains a message from the War Department advertising a $100,000 total reward for the capture of John Surrat, John Wilkes Booth and David Herold. Specifies amount rewarded for each capture: Booth ($50,000), Surrat ( $25,000), and Herold ($25,000). Gives a brief physical description of Booth and his accomplices.

GLC04092