16 August 1857

Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William M. Lowry

Analyzes the current political situation in Tennessee and the state of the Democratic Party. Discusses West H. Humphreys, a federal judge in Tennessee with Confederate sympathies. Says Humphreys has "taken it into his head that [Gideon J.] Pillow [who wanted to run for senator] is the greatest man now living." Criticizes Pillow's qualifications and his use of their mutual friends for political gain. Also discusses Aaron V. Brown, Alfred Osbourne Pope Nicholson, Franklin Pierce, Washington C. Whitthorne, Landon Carter Haynes and William G. Brownlow.

GLC02848

22 July 1791

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Seeks an evaluation of Joseph Habersham, in order to find an appropriate federal appointment for him. Washington also asks advice on the law abilities of John Houstoun, for a possible appointment to Associate Judge for the Supreme Court. Marked confidential. Written as President to Secretary of War Knox.

GLC02857

7 September 1795

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Paine

President Washington thanks "Thos Paine - of Boston" (not the famous author of "Common Sense," who was in Paris until 1802) for a poem inscribed to him.

GLC02858

10 October 1821

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John C. Calhoun

Written by President Monroe to Calhoun as Secretary of War. Declares that the measures Calhoun have taken in regard to the Seminole Indians have been proper. Says that "Unprincipled settlers" should be driven away, and that "It was correct also to prohibit the sale of run away slaves, since it might and probably would, as you justly observe, have opened the door to fraud. Returns the papers relating to the demands of Governor John Clark of Georgia. Mentions that he is sending the proceedings of the court of inquiry and the court martial to him by mail. Hears with regret that many are still…

GLC02859

February 15, 1794

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Marked private. Washington as President to Knox as Secretary of War. John Jay, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Rufus King, a Senator from New York, wrote a newspaper article they uncharacteristically signed with their own names decrying the actions of Edmond Charles Genet, the French Minister to America. Genet was trying to outfit privateers to support the French revolutionary government, and Washington refused to support this breach of neutrality. Genet threatened to go over Washington's head to the American public, which had given Genet a warm welcome. Jay and King published…

GLC02862

1 October 1949

Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972

Document signed

Title: Pardon related: commuted sentence for Arthur R. McCleary (c/s Peyton Ford)

No conviction mentioned

GLC02866

15 April 1779- 17 October 1780

Brodhead, Daniel, 1736-1809

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: [Brodhead's Revolutionary War letterbook]

Includes various letters written by Colonel Brodhead, commander of the Western Department in Pittsburgh. Early entries in this book are created in Pittsburgh, while later entries are created at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania. This book begins with a list of recipients arranged alphabetically. Recipients of Brodhead's letters include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Timothy Pickering, and many others.

GLC02867.01

1912

Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964

Book signed

Title: Georgius Agricola De Re Metallica

Also authored by Lou Henry Hoover. Translated from the first Latin edition of 1556 and published by the Mining Magazine, Salisbury House, London, England. Inscribed by Hoover to Edwin A. Elsbach. De Re Metallica or "On the Nature of Metals" was the standard text on mining for two centuries. Agricola reviewed everything then known about mining, including equipment and machinery, means of finding ores, methods of surveying and digging, assaying ores, smelting, mine administration, and occupational diseases of miners. It also contains descriptions of ores and of strata. Pages uncut.

GLC02796

3 March 1842

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Engraving Signed

Title: [Signed engraving of John Quincy Adams]

Engraved by Nathaniel Dearborn, a Boston engraver. Depicts Adams late in life. With the following note on verso: "Mr. Adams' autograph by himself on the 3rd March 1842. Obtained at the request of Mr. Cross by Judge Underwood of Ky." Possibly Joseph Rogers Underwood, a pro-slavery Whig, Unionist, and congressman from Kentucky.

GLC02809

26 June 1857

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Broadsheet

Title: Speech of Hon. Abram Lincoln, in reply to Judge Douglas

Delivered in Representatives' Hall, Springfield, Illinois. Replies to Judge Stephen Douglas's speech two weeks earlier on the subject of Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, and Utah. Douglas had spoken in favor of the Dred Scott decision and Lincoln's response maintains that the decision was erroneous. This address would provide the logic (and language) Lincoln used again in many of the arguments in his famous "House Divided" speech a year later. Pages are uncut.

GLC02813

27 April 1870

Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893

Document signed

Title: [Pardon of Frank Hardy]

This document commutes the sentence of Frank Hardy, who was convicted of first degree murder. Frank Hardy was to be hanged on 6 May 1870, and on 27 April 1870 Rutherford B. Hayes altered his sentence to life imprisonment. Hayes signed as governor of Ohio. Sealed in mylar, dimensions of the document and the mylar are 45.5 x 37.1 cm.

GLC02843

1 April 1884

Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908

Document signed

Title: State of New York

Pardons commuting 30 Sing Sing convicts' prison sentences due to good conduct, signed by New York Governor Grover Cleveland.

GLC02846

January 14, 1814

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Reverend Colman

Adams in retirement to Colman (also called Coleman by Abigail Adams in GLC 2515), a minister in a neighboring Massachusetts town. References various works of literature and says Spencer's Fairy Queen is a work of genius. Jokingly says his life has become wrapped up in books, "I have the Vanity to claim a distant remote kindred to the Family of Searches ... But this drop of Searches blood has drawn up on me a flood of Volumes from all quarters." Says his granddaughter is reading to him from "Tuckers Vision," a book Colman loaned Adams.

GLC02852

21 June 1899

Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mrs. Wetmore

Schurz notes the "joy" of growth characteristically American, a movement towards socialism and Theodore Roosevelt's belief that the American people will perish in a "slothfull peace."

GLC02871

20 June 1844

Wilkins, William, 1779-1865

Printed document signed

Title: Presidential appointment

Appoints William E. Jones as a cadet. Signed by Secretary of War William Wilkins. Printed document with blanks filled in by hand.

GLC02711.11

December 31, 1792

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Document signed

Title: An act concerning the registering and recording of ships or vessels.

Signed by Jefferson as Secretary of State. Authorized by Jonathan Trumbull, Speaker of the House of Representatives and John Adams, Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate. Approved by President George Washington 31 December.

GLC02716

19 March 1791

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Document signed

Title: [Appointment of David Rittenhouse commissioner for subscriptions of the Bank of United States]

Signed by George Washington as President, countersigned by Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. Appoints Rittenhouse one of the commissioners to seek subscriptions for the first Bank of the United States. Seal on left side.

GLC02717

5 March 1860

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

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Buchanan

Writes to President Buchanan to forward an enclosed letter [not present] from Reverend William D. Howard, a Presbyterian clergyman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Howard's letter recommends his son, Robert R. Howard, for the position of District Attorney in Nebraska territory. Declares, "He read law under my direction, is a very industrious worthy young gentleman, of more than ordinary ability, a good lawyer and sound democrat, and would be an excellent appointment to the District Attorneyship." Note in pen on verso in different handwriting listing date, authorship of Stanton's letter, and…

GLC02735

14 November 1902

Walker, John Grimes, 1835-1907

Typed letter signed

Title: to Thomas Gibbons

Glad to receive a copy of the "Rainbow," a paper published aboard the U.S. Flagship Rainbow. Thanks him for box of cigars, though he says he does not smoke regularly, as well as for a photograph of himself and one of Gibbons taken in Hong Kong. Says, "Canal matters are waiting upon a treaty with Colombia for rights, privileges and concessions necessary before the Government can undertake the construction of a canal to connect the two oceans. How soon, if at all, a satisfactory treaty can be had no one can tell. If a suitable treaty is made and acted upon by the Senate, I have no doubt…

GLC02763.01

23 March 1903

Walker, John Grimes, 1835-1907

Typed letter signed

Title: to Thomas Gibbons

Thanks Gibbons for the beautiful walking stick he mailed from Manila; declares, "It reached me just before my birthday and I consider it one of my birthday presents." Happy to hear that Gibbons moved to the U.S.S. Helena and will be with Captain Staunton, his old friend. Declares, "The treaty with Colombia for the construction of a canal was finally, after a long delay caused by Senator Morgan, ratified by a vote of 73 to 5. It still has to be ratified by the Congress of Colombia which, I understand, will meet some time in April. I presume the treaty ought to be ratified there by the…

GLC02763.03

January 12, 1904

Walker, John Grimes, 1835-1907

Typed letter signed

Title: to Thomas Gibbons

Thanks Gibbons for his gift of a smoking jacket as a "New Year's remembrance." Describes his enjoyable visit to the Isthmus during November and December. Discusses the new republic of Panama, recently declared independent from Colombia, and proclaims it "fairly on its feet." Comments, "A good deal of opposition [to the canal treaty] has developed [in the Senate], all caused by a desire of the Democrats to make political points to be used in the next Presidential canvass against Mr. Roosevelt and the Republican party." Believes the treaty will ultimately be ratified, perhaps in early…

GLC02763.04

7 March 1809

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Appointment of William Eustis as Secretary of War]

Signed by President Madison and countersigned by Secretary of State Robert Smith. Accompanied by attached seal. William Eustis served from 7 March 1809 to 13 January 1813.

GLC02767

26 March 1819

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Appointment of Morris S. Miller to negotiate a treaty with the Seneca Indians of New York]

Countersigned by Calhoun as Secretary of War. Appointing Miller to make a treaty to obtain Seneca reservation land.

GLC02768

4 March 1792

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Don Jose de Viar and Don Joseph de Jaudenes

Jefferson, Secretary of State, requests that Spanish officials Viar and Jaudenes recognize reimbursement of funds from the Spanish Government to American Oliver Pollock. States that he has full confidence that Spain will "do full justice to Mr. Pollock, according to the truth of his case." Requests that Viar and Jaudenes interfere to have Pollock's case examined at the proper place.

GLC02709

7 December 1814

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander J. Dallas

Congratulates him on his nomination as Secretary of the Treasury. Comments that the post " ... is the most arduous now in our government, and is that on which every other depends for it's motion." Recommends the appointment of Peter Minor as assessor to collect land tax for Jefferson's district. Criticizes another contender, Mr. Armstead as "the weakest & laziest man that could be found."

GLC02718