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

20 September 1781

Bartlett, Josiah, 1729-1795

Autograph document signed

Title: [Announcement for reward for runaway "negro man servant" named Peter]

An announcement made by Bartlett, the second signer of the Declaration of Independence, regarding his runaway "Negro man servant Named Peter, aged about Twenty years, a short thick fellow, speaks good English, is pretty sensible and understands farming Business very well, had on when he went away a Brown homespun Coat a new pair of moose Leather Breeches & grey yarn Stockings." States that Peter ran away on 18 September 1781. Bartlett promises a reward for information or capture. He also notes that someone "for their own private advantage" has assisted Peter and that they will be…

GLC02816

circa 1802

Taney, Roger Brooke, 1777-1864

Autograph document signed

Title: [Paperwork for the case Richard Cromwell v. John Shotts]

One letter from Roger Brooke Taney representing an enslaver, Richard Cromwell who complained that John Shotts had assaulted Joe, a man enslaved by Taney, on October 28, 1802 in Frederick County, Maryland. Taney claimed that Shotts "with force of arms to wit swords[,] Knives, Cudgels, shovels[,] clubs and fists upon a certain Negro man named Joe the slave of him the said Richard Cromwell an assault did make ... and there beat wound and evilly treat [him]." Goes on to claim that Joe was unable to work for 20 days. Also claims that Shotts' actions damaged the peace, government, and dignity of…

GLC02844

24 July 1862

Sawtelle, Charles Greene, 1834-1913

Manuscript document signed

Title: to Perley P. Pitkin

General order instructs Pitkin to send "a competent person" to meet "five hundred contrabands" and bring them rations. "Contrabands" were freed enslaved people employed by the Union army. Written as Captain. Written at Harrison's Landing, Virginia.

GLC02849

February 14, 1826

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown [in French]

News from La Grange, from Fanny and Camilla Wright about Nashoba, sent to an unknown doctor. Year supplied by Robert Crout. Original owner claimed this letter mentioned the "slow freeing of the blacks."

GLC02874

circa 1866

Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878

Autograph manuscript

Title: to unknown [incomplete]

Welles, United States Secretary of the Navy, writes to an unknown recipient regarding the suffrage and governmental representation of freed enslaved people. States "But Slavery has been abolished ... not by the voluntary act of the States in which it existed, but by the events of the War, and it is now proposed by those who have overthrown 'the institution' in these states to deprive them their due ... representation according to population unless the blacks are enfranchised." Only page three of this document survives.

GLC02713

1864

Pierce, James W., fl. 1864

Diary

Title: [Diary of James W. Pierce]

Autograph manuscript. Mentions General Ulysses Grant's campaigning along the North Anna River.

GLC02741

1862-1892

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Header Record

Title: [Collection of Sereno A. Wright, B company, 24th regiment, Connecticut, infantry] [Decimalized .01- .49]

Collection of a soldier in the 24th Connecticut Volunteers who died in Louisiana. Includes 43 letters, 3 envelopes, 2 wedding announcements, 1 funeral annoucement and 1 calling card. 34 of the letters date from 1862-1863, and the balance are family papers.

GLC02751

January 22, 1865

Maury, Dabney Herndon, 1822-1900

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Pierre G. T. Beauregard

Confederate Major General Maury writes to General Beauregard requesting that he make known what work the engineers should focus on first. Asks if the work above the city should be put off until the work at Bay Shore is completed. Informs, "At present we have but few negroes - ...There are two or three hundred negroes on Eastern Shore who will be over here tomorrow." Written on stationary from Headquarters, District of the Gulf.

GLC02461.21

5 October 1861

Robertson, Beverly Holcombe, 1827-1910

Autograph endorsement signed

Title: to unknown "H.Q. 4th. Va. Cav."

Colonel Robertson forwards a report from Lt. Col. Wickham of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry (Confederate) regarding his reconnaissance of their front lines and placement of pickets. Reports "I have today made a full reconnaisance of the entire front of our position extending from Colchester to Springfield- The party that attacked our pickets in the morning retired immediately after the attack owards Alexandria ... it consisted of about four hundred infantry and seventy eight cavalry; It carried off one or two loyal citizens, and some horses, among them one belonging to a poor free negro... "…

GLC02461.34

February 25, 1836

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Document signed

Title: [Delay of execution of John Arthur Bowen].

Countersigned by Secretary of State John Forsyth. Bowen, an enslaved person, had been convicted of an unspecified felony in the District of Columbia in November 1835, and sentenced to be hung on 26 February 1836. Because of "divers good and sufficient reasons," the original date of death is postponed until the first Sunday in June next.

GLC02772

27 June 1836

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Document signed

Title: [Pardon of John Arthur Bowen for felony].

Countersigned by Secretary of State John Forsyth. Bowen, identified as a "Negro man Slave," had been convicted of felony and sentenced to hang. He had been given two respites by President Andrew Jackson, who here pardons him completely as a fit subject for executive clemency and "in consideration of divers other good and sufficient reasons."

GLC02773

19 July 1870

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

Document signed

Title: [Permission for John Lothrop Motley]

President Grant authorizes John Lothrop Motley "to exchange the ratifications of the [Addition] Convention to the Convention of April 7. 1862 between Great Britain & the U.S. for the suppression of the African Slave Trade." One engraving, "H.M. Gun-boat 'Teaser' Capturing the Slaver 'Abbot Devereaux,'" and one bust engraving of President Grant included.

GLC02781

1863

Currier & Ives

Print

Title: The gallant charge of the fifty fourth Massachusetts (colored) Regiment. On the rebel works at Fort Wagner, Morris Island, near Charleston, July 18th, 1863, and death of Colonel Robt. G. Shaw.

Portrays African American soldiers carrying a United States flag which reads "54th Mass" on the stripes section of the flag as they meet a battle line of Confederate troops. There are 2 prints of this image, with different colorization, both are listed as GLC02881.23. For another depiction of this event, refer to GLC00317.02.

GLC02881.23

27 December 1863

Birney, William, 1819-1907

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Angel James Creswell

General Birney discusses the recruitment of African American troops with Creswell, a United States Representative from Maryland. Expresses his hope to "enable the First District to meet its full quota in colored troops," with Creswell's support. Discusses slaveholders' conspiracies intended to prevent enslaved people from enlisting, including the mistreatment of enlisted enslaved people's wives and children. States that a Mr. Vickers, from Kent County, Maryland (possibly George Vickers), indicted a Mr. Gardner for encouraging his enslaved people to enlist. States that Vickers also…

GLC03428.02

1866

United States. Congress

Pamphlet

Title: Final report of the congressional committee upon the question of reconstruction

Report of the Joint Committee of the two Houses of Congress on reconstruction. The legislation contains a draft of the 14th amendment, and two bills providing for the restoration of the rebellious state to their full political rights.

GLC03465

28 December 1843

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Autograph letter signed

Title: to R.W. Latham

Jackson writes to Latham at Upperville, Virginia. Discusses Stockly Donelson's default on a contract involving the purchase of enslaved people from Andrew Jackson Donelson and Andrew Jackson, Jr. Latham who attempted to hold A. J. Donelson and Andrew Jackson Jr. liable for the sum. Tells Latham that Stockly's part of the debt is secured by a deed of trust.

GLC03423

January 31, 1861

Hicks, Thomas H., 1798-1865

Broadside

Title: To the People of Maryland

Mildly pro-Confederate broadside issued by Hicks as governor of Maryland during the secession crisis, before the border states had seceded. Concerns the impending crisis and what side Maryland should take in it, but firmly associates Maryland's interests with those of the "Cotton States," and its slave owning neighbors.

GLC03427

10 December 1863

Birney, William, 1819-1907

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Angel James Creswell

Marked as "Private." General Birney discusses the publication of an enclosed certificate (not included) with Creswell, a United States Representative from Maryland. Discussing African American soldiers, states "In July, I was authorized by telegram to say these men should be credited on the draft; and I expect the administration to be as good as its word." Wishes Creswell success in his career as a Representative.

GLC03428.01

January 24, 1691 - December 20, 1843

Header Record

Title: Middlesex County Virginia documents [Decimalized: .01-.85]

A collection of eighty seven documents, many regarding the slave trade in Middlesex County Virginia. Includes by-laws for Colored Ladies Lincoln Association and a document regarding a freeman emancipating an enslaved woman he intended to marry. Also includes slave sales documents. The collection also includes materials relating to the Pursoll family, the Winn family, and a printed document signed by Peter V. Daniel, who later served as Supreme Court Justice. A finding aid list was created by Pierpont Morgan Library.

GLC03434

1863

Vallandigham, Clement L., 1820-1871

Book signed

Title: The record of Hon. C. L. Vallandigham on abolition, the Union and the Civil War.

Published by J. Walter & Co. in Ohio. Vallandigham signs 19 January 1864 in Windsor, Ontario, where he was living in exile.

GLC03441

18 June 1862

Medary, Samuel, 1801-1864

Newspaper

Title: The crisis. [Vol. 2, no. 21 (June 18, 1862)]

Pro-slavery newspaper. The article "Questions Gingerly Touched and Tenderly Asked" harshly criticizes the "Ohio State Journal" for its previous criticism of "the Crisis". Also includes a speech by Samuel S. Cox of Ohio, given at the House of Representatives on June 6, 1862 entitled "Emancipation and its Results-- Is Ohio to be Africanized?" (pages 162-163 and 166). Reports on many news items of local and national importance, as well as advertisements, court cases, and military news.

GLC03442

4 October 1862

Harper & Brothers, 1833-1962

Newspaper

Title: Harper's weekly. [Vol. 6, no. 301 (October 4, 1862)]

Includes a printing of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on the third page titled, "THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY." Discusses the Emancipation Proclamation, including an article titled "Slavery Practically abolished." Includes coverage of McClellan in Fredericksburg, an image of General McClellan entering the town of Frederick, Maryland, and the Battle of Antietam. Duplicate of GLC08620.

GLC03443

1787 - 1788

Loudon, Samuel, 1727-1813

Magazine

Title: The American Magazine.

Contains six monthly issues. Billed as "Containing a Miscellaneous Collection of Original an other Valuable Essays, in Prose and Verse, and Calculated both for Instruction and Amusement." A quote underneath the title reads: "Science the guide, and truth the eternal goal." A table of contents appears for each issue, on p. 1, 65, 129, 193, 273, and 353. There are several articles on contemporary political issues. In the December issue, notable articles appear on Bills of Rights, principles of government and commerce, education, and a "London review of John Adams's defense of the…

GLC03462

1861-1862 circa

Walker, Leroy Pope, 1817-1884

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas J. Porter

Forwarding Porter a petition to the President, and wishes Porter would forward it to the President. The petition requests the exemption of Walker's overseer from military service. Most likely written while Walker was Secretary of State, between 17 September 1861 and 31 March 1862.

GLC03468.08