1776-1803

Barry, John, 1745-1803

Printed document signed

Title: [Certificate for distribution of naval prize money]

Signed as a captain in the navy. Blank document certifying that the bearer, aboard a ship under Barry's command, is entitled to a portion of the prize-money (from ships seized). Penciled in notes indicate the document's connection to the navy and the rarity of Barry's autograph.

GLC02297.07

4 October 1822

George IV, King of the United Kingdom, 1762-1830

Document signed

Title: [Additional convention to Treaty of Ghent]

The Russian copy in French and English in side by side columns. Signed by George IV and countersigned by George Canning as head of the Foreign Office. Diplomatic document comprising a rider or supplemental convention to the Treaty of Ghent, agreed upon on 24 December 1814. This convention pertains to compensation for American enslaved people who were seized. The first leaf constitutes the King's official Warrant addressed to John, Earl of Eldon, "Our Chancellor of Great Britain," to affix the seal of Great Britain to the treaty between Great Britain, Russia, and the United States. The…

GLC02304

24 October 1812

Bentley, William, ?-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Lucy Knox

Reports that he is on board the ship "America," and they encountered another ship, the "John," upon which he saw her son, Henry Jackson Knox. Declares that Knox appeared to be healthy and in good spirits. Also relates the successes each ship had in fighting the British.

GLC02437.08065

March 16, 1817

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Swartwout

Letter written by Monroe as President to Swartwout, the former Quartermaster-General from March 1813 to June 1816. Monroe was Secretary of War from 1814 to 1815 and Swartwout reported to him during that point in the War of 1812. Swartwout apparently wrote Monroe for documents defending his conduct during the war. Monroe says he is returning papers relating to claims of Swartwout from January 1815. Says he remembers the time well and recollects the powers given to Swartwout to carry out the war. Says his letter from February 4, 1815 will give the best account of the powers given him. Says…

GLC01743.01

22 November 1816

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Autograph document signed

Title: [A general account of General Robert Swartwout's duties]

Written by Monroe as Secretary of State, recollecting the appointment and duties of Quartermaster-General Robert Swartwout, who served from March 1813 to June 1816. Monroe also served as Secretary of War in 1814-1815 and would have been his superior during those years. Swartwout was apparently seeking documents after questions of his conduct came up. Using cautious wording, Monroe recollects authorizing Swartmout's recommendations for deputies and assistants in January 1815. Also says it was decided to raise a large force for an approaching campaign and gave Swartwout the necessary powers to…

GLC01743.02

April 20, 1813

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Monroe

Letter written in his neatest hand. Adams thanks Secretary of State Monroe for a favorable report concerning his son's diplomatic service, at St. Petersburg, and alluding to the appointment of his son to peace commissioner. John Quincy had been appointed peace commissioner on April 17, with Russia as mediator between the U.S. and Britain, but the attempt proved abortive. However, young Adams remained and was eventually part of the peace commission the negotiated at Ghent. John Adams seems to be recalling his own diplomatic service during the Revolution as a peace commissioner and how it…

GLC01481

June 17, 1801

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Letter signed

Title: to David Lenox

Forwards papers to Lenox concerning British impressment of American seamen because they possibly allude to one such impressed citizen, John Stafford.

GLC01511

May 8, 1814

Brown, Jacob, 1775-1828

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Edward Mitchell

Major General Brown notes receiving Colonel Mitchell's letter reporting the British capture of Oswego, New York, at the Battle of Big Sandy during the War of 1812. Indicates that he is satisfied with Mitchell's actions against the superior British forces. Discusses military plans and mentions the location of the enemy fleet, directs an express be established. "…with this reinforcement you will be able to make the enemy pay dearly…"

GLC01469

28 August 1812

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Printed document signed

Title: Additional instruction to the public and private armed vessels of the United States.

Signed by Monroe as Secretary of State, directed to privateers. In response to the repeal of British Orders in Council, instructs naval and privateering ships to assist American-owned vessels bringing British goods to the United States. Issued shortly after the beginning of the War of 1812. States "The public and private armed vessels of the United States are not to interrupt any vessels belonging to citizens of the United States coming from British ports to the United States laden with British merchandize... " Compare to GLC01494.

GLC01665

February 1, 1815

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Levett Harris

Adams thanks Harris, the United States Charge d'Affaires in Russia, for obtaining and sending Adams' passport while Adams attended peace negotiations in Ghent. He refers to European peace proceedings in Vienna, stating that "The late symptoms of a coalition between France and England are the strongest guaranty of the continuance of Peace." He informs Harris that his wife, Louisa Catherine Adams, is in charge of several financial transactions in Adams' absence.

GLC01644

21 July 1815

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph document signed

Title: [Passeport N.5: Passport introducing American Joel Post as Envoy Extraordinary to England]

In French. Introduces Joel Post as Envoy Extroadinary to England and certifies that he is an American citizen. Also provides physical description of Post: his age (46), height (5' 9.5"), brow (high), eyes (grey), nose (straight), mouth (average), chin (round), hair color (blond) and face (oval). Document signed by John Quincy Adams, and signed and sealed in red by Post. Information on verso, also in French, listing the date of July, 1815, with two stamps reading "Legation de France a Londres."

GLC01676

14 May 1813

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Broadside

Title: Cartel for the exchange of prisoners of war, between Great Britain and the United States of America

Broadside reprinting terms of prisoner exchange agreed to by the American and British governments. Includes notations on the right and left margins of the document. Signed by Secretary of State James Monroe and Tho. Barclay.

GLC01621

August 4, 1812

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Joy

Discusses some political pamphlets that dealt with the 1807 British naval attack by the ship Leopold against the Chesapeake, an American ship, and its consequences for the War of 1812. Adams was then the United States Ambassador to Russia. Joy, who lived in London, was an advocate for the Americans during the War of 1812.

GLC01540

20 July 1813

North, William, 1755-1836

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Major Jackson

Written by North in retirement in Major Jackson. Marked at address that the letter is "to be published as a private letter." Sees in the newspaper that General Hull is to be tried on the charge of treason and cowardice during the surrender of Detroit in August 1812. Says he does not believe the charges to be true. In emotional language he attacks the rumors against Hull and defends his Revolutionary War record. Is especially outraged over the rumors of compensation money the British allegedly gave Hull. Says if fear was part of the surrender, then it wasn't a selfish fear, but one based on…

GLC02542.20

February 30, 1815

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Pamphlet

Title: Message from the President [transmitting Treaty of Peace]

Printed by Roger C. Weightman

GLC08455

1828

Binns, John, 1772-1860

Pamphlet

Title: Monumental Inscriptions.

8 images of fictitious funeral monuments, each to a man executed by Jackson. The first six are for Tennessee militiamen executed in February 1815, after the Battle of New Orleans, for being deserters. The last two are for John Woods, a mutineer Jackson had executed during the Creek War. The imagined tombstones bear inscriptions detailing how each was a good man and soldier, and regardless of this, was "By the Orders of General Andrew Jackson, Shot to Death." Each monument was supposedly erected on 4 July, 1828. One reminds the reader "Let not the splendor of Military renown Blot out…

GLC08460

1810-1945

Newspaper

Title: 14 newspapers: War of 1812, Grand Review of Armies in 1865, death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

GLC08725

1815-1817

Header Record

Title: Reports of State, Treasury and War Departments re: War of 1812

GLC08636

12 December 1810

Russell, Benjamin, 1761-1845

Newspaper

Title: Columbian centinel. [No. 2784 (Dec. 12, 1810)]

Includes a message from President James Madison to Congress on the topic of "The embarrassments which have prevailed in our foreign relations." Also contains a "memorial of the Revolutionary Convention of West-Florida" and President Madison's proclamation annexing Western Florida. With many announcements and advertisements.

GLC08559

1813-1814

Newspaper

Title: American weekly messenger. [Vol. 1, no. 1 (September 25, 1813)-v. 1, no. 26 (March 19, 1814)]

A weekly compilation of government documents, for the early part of the War of 1812. Vol. 1 no. 1-26. Includes two addenda. Printed (and edited by?) John Conrad.

GLC08617

1813-1865

Newspaper

Title: 12 miscellaneous newspapers re: Nat Turner, slavery, Lincoln, War of 1812

GLC08430

June 23, 1813

Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James T. Austin

Comments on the loss of a ship, the Chesapeake. Also notes the slow progress of the Ways and Means Committee, the resignation of General Henry Dearborn for health reasons, and the recovery of President James Madison from an illness. Discusses witnessing a demonstration of "liquid fire, inextinguishable for a period, by water" by a "Mr Lloyd of Adams in Pennsylva" and the products potential for weaponry. Gerry was then vice president. Written from the chamber of the senate. One engraving of "Elmood," once the residence of Elbridge Gerry, included as collateral.

GLC00137

October 1808

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Printed document signed

Title: [Thomas Jefferson's defense of the Embargo Act of 1807]

Sent to Elijah Brown, Jr. Esq. Circular sent in response to criticisms of the Embargo Act of 1807 by people in the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Explains and defends the Embargo Act as a recourse for securing the United States' rights to freely navigate the ocean. Argues it is "the only honorable expedient for avoiding war." Jefferson received the petition from Brown on 13 October 1808. GLC00016 is a similar printed letter from another town in Massachusetts (now Maine), though it is the result of a different printing.

GLC00115.01

January 20, 1812

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George G. Channing

In the letter, William Ellery thanks his grandson for his letter and for the wine he sent. He apologizes for the delay in responding due to outfitting a revenue cutter to cruise against violators of the Non-Intercourse Act. He reports that he has received a letter from R.H. Dana of Provincetown. In the letter, he praises education, and includes local news intended for Channing's mother and mentions a letter of recommendation for R.H. Dana. He asks that the letter be forwarded to M.R. Dana. A poetic note is written on the envelope leaf.

GLC00108.01

April 15, 1812

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George G. Channing

In the letter, William Ellery thanks his grandson for his letter. He expresses happiness on the success of his auction business and that the candidate who opposed Channing in the recent election was defeated. He is much pressed with the increase of his duties during the present conflict with Great Britain. He reports that in local politics that the Federalists are sure to triumph.

GLC00108.03