Burtown, Ino. A., (fl. 1876) to Blanche Kelso Bruce
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09400.134 Author/Creator: Burtown, Ino. A., (fl. 1876) Place Written: Washington D.C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: Circa 1876 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 20.6 x 18.2 cm. Order a Copy
This is a short note that says the document that was originally forwarded with it was to be destroyed after reading. According to the docket the original document was about delegates to the convention in Cincinnati, which occurred in 1876. There is no other document with this note, it probably was destroyed as asked in the note.
Blanche Kelso Bruce was born into slavery near Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va. on March 1 1841. He was tutored by his master's son, but left his master at the beginning of the civil war and taught school in Hannibal Mo. After the civil war Bruce became a planter in Mississippi, and a member of the Mississippi Levee Board, and Sheriff and Tax Collector for Bolivar County from 1872-1875. Bruce was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate, where he served from March 4 1875 - March 3 1881. Bruce was the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. In 1881 Bruce was appointed by President James Garfield as the Register of the Treasury. Bruce then went on to serve as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Colombia from 1891-1893, returning to the office of Register of the Treasury from 1897 until his death on March 17, 1898.
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