circa 1911

Goff, Albert H., fl. 1842-?

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: [Description of the Battle of Mobile Bay]

Goff served as a 3rd Assistant Engineer aboard the USS "Chickasaw" during the Battle of Mobile Bay. Looking back at age 69, Goff provides an account of the battle. Relates that the "Chickasaw," an ironclad monitor, was ordered to take a position between Fort Morgan and the wooden vessels to protect them the fort's batteries. Says that "Then the fight was on & How vicously [sic] that water batter fired at us! I could feel their 10 ince shot and shell strike our turrets and side armor. I could hear the whir of the balls as they passed over our decks. Realizing there were torpedoes…

GLC08431

circa August 1861

Paris, George, fl. 1861

Map

Title: [Depicts the First Battle of Bull Run, or Manassas Plains, fought 21 July 1861]

Sketched in pencil and ink, with a later note describing Paris as a Mississippi soldier. Includes locations, camps, and positioning of troops. Inscribed on verso to George's mother Mary C. Paris.

GLC08432

1864-1865

Document

Title: Items related to the Auditor's Office, Mississippi [Decimalized .01-.02]

GLC08433

1850

Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872

Pamphlet

Title: Speeches of Hon. William H. Seward, and Hon. Lewis Cass on the subject of slavery. [...] March 1850.

Original yellow paper cover, uncut.

GLC08435

6 February 1865

Cooper, Samuel, 1798-1876

Document

Title: [General orders no. 3: Appointing Robert E. Lee commander in chief]

Printed order by Samuel Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector General appointing Lee the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States.

GLC08436

1864

Magee, James, 1802-1878

Sheet music

Title: The Rally Cry of Freedom

Published by James Magee at 316 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Tune based on "Battle Cry of Freedom." Printed in blue and red. Image of pillars and an arch. Two soldiers guard the pillars. Underneath the space of the arch there is a scene of a cavalry charge. At the top of the arch an eagle carries four American flags. First stanza: "Come true loyal hearts, / For the rescue unite, / Shouting the rally cry of freedom; / From the North, East and West, / Come gather in your might, / Shouting the battle cry of freedom."

GLC08437

30 November 1803

Compton, Harry, fl. 1803

Document signed

Title: [Purchase of slave Kate and her three children by manumitted slave]

Legal document for the purchase of the slave Kate and her three children Ben, Caleb, and Nancy. The purchaser was "a free African" named Harry Compton, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and he left an "X" as his mark. It appears that Kate was Compton's wife and the three children belonged to them. The slaves were sold by their owner Anne Acker, of Amwell Township, New Jersey, for 100 dollars due in one year from the date of the document. Compton declared himself "a manumit & free from bondage to man or set of Men." Witnessed by John Johnson (who signed with an "X" as his mark), William Marts…

GLC08440

circa 1861

Cramer, J. A. S., fl. 1861

Sheet music

Title: Six hundred thousand more

Song to the tune of "Blow ye Windy Morning." Seven stanzas. Song about coming to the aid of the Union. First stanza says: "We are coming Father Abraham, six hundred thousand more, / From Franklin's winding streams, and from Fulton as before; / We leave our ploughs and workshops, our wives and children dear, / With hearts too full for utterance, with but a silent tear; / We dare not look behind us, but steadfastly before - / We are coming, Father Abraham - six hundred thousand more." Written by "Col. J. A. S. Cramer, Prop'r, Next Door to Montgomery's Hotel, Chambersburg, PA." Date inferred…

GLC08441.01

circa 1863

Broadside

Title: The Draft! Full List of the Drafted in Bordentown Township

Lists men drafted into the army from Bordentown Township, New Jersey. Says "Three clergymen, Rev. J. Biggio, Rev. O.H. Hazard, and R. Julian, were among the lucky ones." List is divided into two sections. One section has no heading and the other's title is "Per Centage." There are about 150 names printed on the sheet. Date inferred from the year of the first Northern draft.

GLC08441.02

January 11, 1862

Beers, Otis, fl. 1862

Document signed

Title: [Draft notice for Lemuel J. Beardsley for state militia]

Notification that Beardsley has "been Drafted as a Member of the Active Militia of this State." Says the law gives him five days "to make your excuse to the Selectmen," in accordance with a law passed 3 July 1861. Signed by selectmen Otis Beers, S.P. Curtis and D.B. Booth.

GLC08441.03

16 March 1864

Smith, James Youngs, 1809-1876

Document

Title: [Proclamation from the Governor of Rhode Island]

Signed in type by Rhode Island Governor Smith. Co-signed in type by Rhode Island Secretary of State John R. Bartlett. Proclamation says a further draft of 200,000 men has been ordered by the president. Hopes the quota can be filled by voluntary enlistment. Governor says the proclamation was put forth by the state to be "relieved of all apprehension of a draft, and pursue their avocations without anxiety." Image of the state seal of Rhode Island, which consists of an anchor with the word "hope" above it, is at the top. Was previously folded.

GLC08441.04

1845-1892

Header Record

Title: Civil war broadsides, posters and prints [Decimalized .01-.12]

GLC08442

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

January 7, 1781

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

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Walter Stewart

Writes to Colonel Stewart to ask how he is addressing a recent mutiny in the Continental Army, referred to as "the unhappy and disgraceful dispute." Also notes the expected arrival of General George Washington. On January 1, 1781, soldiers under General Anthony Wayne deserted their camp at Morristown for want of adequate food, clothing, and pay. The mutiny was later suppressed by General Arthur St. Clair; Lafayette indicates he spoke to St. Clair about the matter and is in disbelief. The letter is dated 1781 but incorrectly docketed 1780.

GLC00139

February 3, 1781

Von Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, 1730-1794

Letter signed

Title: to Nathanael Greene

Written by Von Steuben as the senior Continental officer in Virginia to General Greene as commander in the Southern Department. References Greene's letter of January 24, 1781. Congratulates Greene on his army's recent victory at Cowpens and in the race to the Dan River. Says the traitorous General Benedict Arnold's incursions in Virginia were causing him problems and keeping him from reinforcing Greene's army. Says the troops he wanted to send off on January 15, 1781 will not be ready until February 20, 1781. Mentions changes in his command and says General Robert Lawson will relieve General…

GLC00140

June 28, 1845

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Cooper

Informs Cooper, a Gettysburg lawyer and former Congressman, of his presidential aspirations for 1849. Expects President James Polk to attempt to run for a second term. States that Polk and Cave Johnson, Postmaster General, conspire to remove and appoint men to office. Discusses the political appointments and aspirations of Supreme Court Associate Justice John McLean, Congressman George McDuffie, Andrew Jackson, Whig Party founder and North Carolina Senator Willie Person Mangum, Georgia General Duncan Lamont Clinch, Kentucky Senator John Jordan Crittenden, Delaware Senator John Middleton…

GLC00145

May 12, 1866

Cooper, Peter, 1791-1883

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to John Sherman

Cooper, an inventor and philanthropist, discusses disagreement between President Andrew Johnson and Congress regarding reconstruction. Suggests to Sherman, a Senator from Ohio, that Johnson and Congress require Southern Congressional members to take an Oath binding them to maintain the Constitution of the United States. Also recommends "that all persons who may at any time on the floor of Congress either advocate the right to secede from the Union, or the repudiation of the National debt, or propose any unrepublican laws ... shall be declared guilty of treason, and the party so offending,…

GLC00150

October 23, 1816

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Monroe

Writes to Secretary of State Monroe after his successful treaty negotiations with the Cherokee and Chickasaw regarding "their claim South of the Tennessee that interferes with the [C]reek cession." Comments on difficulties with the Chickasaw, who claimed rights to lands based on treaties from 1794 and 1801. States that they "will now have good roads kept up & supplied by the industry of our own citizens, and our frontier defended by a strong population. The sooner therefore that this country can be brought into market the better." Indicates that they will create two districts and surveyed…

GLC00151

August 10, 1853

Pierce, Franklin, 1804-1869

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his brother

Writes that he is upset to hear what his brother has said about David L. Gregg, who was appointed Commissioner to the Sandwich Islands. Informs that this is the first he has heard about Gregg's Catholic sentiments and that it did not occur to him to ask Gregg about his religious opinions. Advises that maybe his brother's informants are mistaken. Postscript note to the Honorable John Aiken in Andover, Massachusetts saying that he will write to Mary soon. Written on mourning stationery.

GLC00152

24 July 1840

Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862

Document signed

Title: [Presidential authority to the Secretary of State to affix the seal to the pardon of Charles Green, slave of Ann Seddon, Stafford County, Virginia].

GLC00153

July 4, 1823

Stone, William James, 1798-1865

Broadside

Title: Declaration of Independence [W.J. Stone facsimile on vellum]

The William J. Stone facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, printed on parchment, with Stone's imprint. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, upon discovering the fragility of the original Declaration of Independence in 1820, ordered this exact facsimile to be produced. It took Stone three years to exactly copy and engrave the handwriting on the original document. This image is the closest facsimile of the original document. As such, the Stone facsimile has become the basis for all modern facsimiles. Two hundred copies of this broadside were distributed to surviving signers of the…

GLC00154.02

January 13, 1776

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Letter signed

Title: to Col. Alexander McDougall

Washington writes that he is told that a vessel has just arrived with gun powder, which he asks McDougall to obtain. (Name is McDougall, per Fitzpatrick.)

GLC00154.03

August 9, 1974

Nixon, Richard M., 1913-1994

Typed letter signed

Title: Pardon-related: Resignation letter to Henry Kissinger (souvenir copy)

Typed letter signed by Nixon (genuine), with a Kissinger endorsement which is probably forged, per Charles Hamilton. On White House stationery.

GLC00154.10

05 September 1863

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document signed

Title: Call for troops from Ohio

First call on Ohio. Assigns "six hundred and fifty-three as the first proportional part of the quota of troops to be furnished by the Eighteenth district of the state." Call made in accordance with the 3 March 1863 "An act for Enrolling and Calling out the National Forces and for other purposes."

GLC00158

14 November 1855

Pierce, Franklin, 1804-1869

Document signed

Title: Pardon of Christian Krouse, convicted of assault with intent to rape.

Convicted of assault with intent to rape; sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. Pardoned for "...divers other good and sufficient reasons...". (c/s William L. Marcy)

GLC00159