Elisha W. Keyes papers, 1808-1809, 1818-1822, 1833-1910.

ArchivalResource

Keyes, Elisha W. (Elisha Williams), 1828-1910. Elisha W. Keyes papers, 1808-1809, 1818-1822, 1833-1910.

Elisha W. Keyes papers, 1808-1809, 1818-1822, 1833-1910.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/145787618

Papers of Elisha W. Keyes, a prominent Wisconsin Republican leader, chairman of the State Central Committee (1868-1877), University of Wisconsin regent (1877-1889), and Madison postmaster (1861-1882, 1898-1910), consisting of correspondence, articles, addresses, and diaries. Preeminent in the correspondence, beginning about 1860, are the subjects of political and public affairs. The correspondence relates to the early years of the Republican Party, political conditions in Washington at the opening of the Lincoln administration, the course of the war, Keyes' conduct of the post office, the methods of office seekers (civil and military), and the views of congressional leaders after the war. The 1870s papers candidly document Republican leaders, their methods in attacking opponents, strategy, political quarrels and rivalries, use of money in campaigns, campaign literature, and the affairs of the Milwaukee Sentinel. There is also information on the relations of Keyes and the Grangers, on the investigation of Keyes and Matthew H. Carpenter for participation in the whiskey ring scandal, and on the connection of railroads and politics in Wisconsin. About 1880, the collection begins to be confined almost wholly to state affairs. Contests in regard to the management of the university can be traced in the correspondence, especially the relations of President John Bascom and Keyes. The papers treat briefly the rise of the insurgent movement, of inter-party strife, and elections, and are valuable to the end for the comments of a shrewd and experienced observer of political trends of the day. Private and personal correspondence runs throughout most of the collection. The letter press copybooks, some of which are almost illegible, include professional correspondence of the law office of George B. Smith and Keyes in the fifties. Articles and diaries relate to subjects of early Jefferson and Dane County history and various matters that engaged Keyes' attention.

32.0 c.f. (108 archives boxes, 2 card file boxes, 41 volumes, and 1 oversize folder)

Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project