Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Townsend, Jas B., fl. 1878 to Blanche Kelso Bruce

Order a pdf of this item here.

A high-resolution version of this object is available for registered users. LOG IN

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09400.147 Author/Creator: Townsend, Jas B., fl. 1878 Place Written: Grenada, Mississippi Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 14 December 1878 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 24.5 cm, Width: 19.6 cm Order a Copy

Townsend is writing to Senator Bruce asking his support in making sure that the current candidate for sheriff in his county J.H. Campbell, also the incumbent does not get confirmed. He starts the letter by telling the Senator that he was the "first White Man in my County that voted an Open Republican Ticket" and that as a result he was "ostracized, and even Burnt in Effigy upon the streets in my town" by the "present incumbent of the Post Office of this Place"

Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898
Townsend, Jas B., fl. 1878

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources