6 March 1920

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924

Document signed

Title: [Sentence commutation for Charles Manfri, convicted of selling heroin in New Jersey 19 December 1918, and sentenced to four years imprisonment]

Charles Manfri, alias Charles Mansfield, was convicted of violating the Harrison Anti-Narcotic Act in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey and sentenced to four years in the State penitentiary in Baltimore, Maryland. Wilson commuted his sentence to end April 3, 1920 and signed in purple pencil, no reason given for clemency. Countersigned by A. Mitchell Palmer. Printed document with blanks filled with type.

GLC01622

December 20, 1856

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry E. Rees

Senator Sumner replies to a letter from Rees. Claims that unless slavery is checked, "the liberty of white as well as black in our country will become a name only."

GLC01574.02

1807

Taney, Roger Brooke, 1777-1864

Autograph document signed

Title: [John Bayly vs. Otto H. W. Luckett]

Retained legal brief concerning a case in the amount of $108.31. Taney signed as an attorney. On verso is a note also signed by Taney requesting that Mr. Ritchie (possibly his secretary or clerk) file this brief and send a copy to the courthouse.

GLC01574.05

July 5, 1699

Penn, William, 1644-1718

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph Pike

Penn writes about preparations for his last trip to America. Accompanied by a separate leaf signed "M. Jacob" stating that the letter is "to my great great great grandfather Joseph Pike." A merchant in Cork, Ireland, Pike was an old Quaker friend.

GLC01577

September 21, 1798

Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Serving as Secretary of State, Pickering informs an unknown recipient of a letter received from Colonel David Humphreys regarding a claim presented to the Spanish Government. Expects that "if we avoid a war with Spain, the claim will finally be paid." Letter discusses a Concerning payment of a claim to the Spanish Government.

GLC01579.02

October 27, 1776

Schuyler, Philip John, 1733-1804

Letter signed

Title: to Elias Dayton

Letter written by Major General Schuyler as commander of the Northern Department, to Colonel Elias Dayton of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment. Sent by Schuyler when Dayton's regiment was marching north from Schenectady. Dayton's troops were being sent to the Mohawk Valley to defend the residents from Tory and Indian assaults during the vicious partisan fighting in upstate New York. Says that based on intelligence from General Nicholas Herkimer, his regiment will probably have to march back to the German Flatts, an area near the mouth of the West Canada Creek in New York, unless militia can be sent…

GLC01580

February 7, 1819

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Regarding his public quarrel with General Andrew Jackson. Feels that Jackson is trying to make him look bad in any way possible, but is not too concerned. Addressed to "Major," from whom he had received correspondence. Surname of recipient may be "Mercer," as Scott mentions that he looks forward to seeing the recipient and Mrs. Mercer.

GLC01581

March 16, 1863

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Stephen Augustus Hurlbut

Sherman writes about his surprise that General Hurlbut's nomination is being opposed in the Senate. He castigates the press, "I have been foolish to excite the animosity of the Newspaper fraternity ... but this class of men are so supercilious that whenever I come in contact with them I feel a natural repugnance which they are smart enough to see." Informs that he has been summoned to Young Point to meet General Ulysses S. Grant's boat. States he will leave tomorrow but cannot mention the exact route. Informs that the original plan to take Vicksburg, which he still feels is best, was to "form…

GLC01582

circa spring 1851

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Dr. Stone

Stowe writes from "Woodside Cottage." Says she just received his letter and hopes to see him in Boston next week. Asks him "to make no public mention if you have not, of the Uncle Tom project till I have seen you. Don't mention it at any rate till then." Stowe began writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in early 1851. The recipient may be Rev. Thomas Treadwell Stone (1801-1895), a Unitarian minister, writer, Transcendentalist, and abolitionist from Massachusetts. Letter written in spring of 1851.

GLC01584.01

March 20, 1852

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

On its first day of publication in 1852, Stowe sends a copy [not present] of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" to Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. Slavery had been abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833, and Stowe holds Britain up as a model for Americans. Letter written mostly in the third person. Stowe had consulted Horace Mann several days before writing this letter, asking for his advice as to how best to contact Prince Albert and other noteworthy British individuals. Evidently, Mann's advice had proved useful: Despite the "republican simplicity" of this letter to the Royal Consort,…

GLC01585

December 29, 1855

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mrs. S.C. Hall

Mentions the suffering of many families in England (likely a reference to the Crimean War) and hopes that it has not affected Mrs. Hall and her family. Stowe writes that she will probably be in England some time in the coming year, as there are many people she wants to visit. Reading over old letters has her reminiscing about a previous trip to England. Discusses a Miss Greenfield, a black singer. Envelope is adhered to first page of the letter. Mrs. S.C. Hall was a popular Irish-born novelist. Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield (ca. 1824-1876), known as "The Black Swan," was a singer noted for her…

GLC01586

October 29, 1852

Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, 1819-1901

Autograph letter signed

Title: to the Duchess of Sutherland

Written as Queen, signed as "V R" for Victoria Regina. Mentions that Lord Carlisle has written the preface to "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, "a book which is being increasingly read but I have not yet had time to read; did your brother know the Authoress in America?" Stowe has presented a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" to Prince Albert on publication day in March 1852 (see GLC01585). In the remainder of this letter, the Queen chides the Duchess for not writing, gives news of acquaintances and family (including her "Uncle Leopold," presumably King Leopold I of Belgium) and…

GLC01587

circa July 6, 1640

Williams, Roger, fl. 1640-1667

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Winthrop

Discusses the current behavior of the Native Americans in his area. Mentions struggles between the sachem Uncas, allied with the European settlers, and his enemy, Miantinomo. Postscript possibly refers to the efforts of King Charles I to restore High Church liturgy in Scotland. Letter written to Royal Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Winthrop during (or shortly after) his second term. Date of composition may be June 7, 1640 instead of July 6, 1640. Williams was founder of Rhode Island.

GLC01590

October 16, 1862

Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886

Letter signed

Title: to Thomas Hillhouse

Arthur, writing as New York Quartermaster General, responds to a special order from Brigadier General Hillhouse by suggesting "that the proper transportation should be obtained from Major See at Elmira" for the 17th Regiment, because little of their route is in New York. Letter written on stationery of the New York State Quartermaster General's Department.

GLC01591

1 September 1869

Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821-1877

Document signed

Title: Selma marion memphis railroad company first mortgage eight percent bond.

Signed by President of the railroad company, Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest, an inveterate opponent of Reconstruction, used such ventures to rebuild his fortune after the Civil War. Includes 28 coupons for $40 attached. Second page includes an endoresement of the bond by the state of Alabama, and a list of "persons allowed" to take out a bond.

GLC01593

June 6, 1865

McCaleb, Edwin H., fl. 1844-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: To T.P. Chandler, Esq.

McCaleb thanks Chandler and his family for their kindness while a prisoner of war in the North. He writes that "All good citizens deeply deplore the assassination of Pres. Lincoln... Mr. L -- was a great man and more than that was a good man and countryy [sic] could ill afford to lose his services at this important crisis...." He expresses his concern with Andrew Johnson's use of military courts to try citizens and feels he is "overstepping his oath of office." He protests that turning an ignorant Black person into a self reliant citizen will stump the growth of the South. Finally, he defines…

GLC01594

6 June 1863

Halpine, Charles G., 1829-1868

Manuscript document

Title: to William Watts Hart Davis

Halpine, Assistant Adjutant General to General [David] Hunter, relates orders to Colonel Davis. Instructs Davis to order Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, "to embark on board the [Demole] ordered to Beaufort with the least possible delay." States that Shaw should bring two days cooked and ten days uncooked rations for his men. Instructs Shaw to bring his regiment directly to Hilton Head. Written on United States Military Telegraph stationery.

GLC01595.01

January 7, 1891

Hamlin, Hannibal, 1809-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to C. E. Potts

Hamlin replies to a letter from Potts in Troy, New York. He thanks Potts for a copy of the "Wide Awake Vocalist," an 1860 Presidential campaign song book for the Republican Party candidates (Abraham Lincoln and Hamlin). Reminisces about the campaign, and serving with Lincoln. Remarks, "we had to keep our territories free from the curse of slavery..." He clls Lincoln "a great and good man." He writes, "few remain who participated in those political conflicts or who realise, the determination and integrity required for that occasion. A majority of our population to day, were then unborn and can…

GLC01595.02

1861-1870

Header Record

Title: Civil War date and post civil war letters and documents [decimalized]

GLC01596

24 September 1864

Ullman, Daniel, 1810-1892

Endorsement signed

Title: [Document signed by Union generals Daniel Ullman, Michael K. Lawler, and Joseph J. Reynolds]

Signed in Louisiana on September 24 by Ullman; forwarded to Lawler, who signed on September 25; forwarded to Reynolds, who signed ion September 30. The verso is a note transmitting "a list of all officers and enlisted men of 62nd Regt U.S. Col'd Inf. absent from their proper commands on detached service," in compliance with instructions dated September 6 from the Department of the Gulf in New Orleans, Louisiana. Cut from a larger document, but complete within itself.

GLC01596.03

July 27, 1861

Pope, John, 1822-1892

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Clara Pope

John Pope writes to his wife about family matters at length.

GLC01596.04

7 June 1865

Canby, Edward Richard Sprigg, 1817-1873

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Rejection of a Canby's resignation]

Canby, as Major General in command of the infantry in New Orleans, has his resignation rejected and returned to him in "the interest of the service." Made by order of the Secretary of War and signed by C.W. Foster, the Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers. On stationery of the Headquarters, Department of the Gulf. Document is incomplete.

GLC01596.07

November 2, 1862

Greene, George Sears, 1801-1899

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Edwin Denison Morgan

Greene writes to Morgan, the New York Governor, about the loss of all but one field-grade officer in Greene's brigade. Mentions the death of Colonel Goodrich. He recommends that Richard Edely, the current chaplain, be appointed colonel of the 60th Regiment of New York Volunteers.

GLC01597

July 20, 1862

Ricketts, James Brewerton, 1817-1887

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Lucas Hartsuff

A brief letter to Brigadier General Hartsuff about the need for a replacement for Major Gould.

GLC01598

1777/12/03

Thomson, Charles, 1729-1824

Autograph document signed

Title: Congressional resolution to Delaware, re: guidelines for exchanging money

Certified copy of a resolution of Congress asking states to enact laws requiring redemption of British bills of credit acquired on or before 4/9/1775, providing guidelines and redemption dates. Docketed on verso. Was written in Congress.

GLC01600