Historical manuscripts, 1636-1935.

Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63g5gp7 (person)

William Henry Seward was born in Florida, Orange County, New York, on May 16, 1801. He was the son of Samuel S. Seward and Mary (Jennings) Seward. He graduated from Union College in 1820, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1822. In 1823, he moved to Auburn, New York, where he entered Judge Elijah Miller's law office. He married Frances Adeline Miller, Judge Miller's daughter, in 1824. Seward was interested in politics early in his career and became actively involved in the Anti-Masonic m...

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

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68m82zx (person)

Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette was born at Chavaniac, Auvergne, in 1757, to an old, illustrious family of the provincial and military nobility. He lost both his parents early: his father was killed by the British at the Battle of Minden when Lafayette was two years old (1759), and when he was thirteen and attending the prestigious Collège de Plessis in Paris both his mother and grandfather died (1770). The latter's death left Lafayette with a si...

Jay, John, 1745-1829

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hj7b4k (person)

John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, Founding Father, abolitionist, negotiator, and signatory of the Treaty of Paris of 1783. He served as the second governor of New York and the first chief justice of the United States. He directed U.S. foreign policy for much of the 1780s and was an important leader of the Federalist Party after the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788. Jay was born into a wealthy family of merchants and...

Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sc4xsr (person)

Benjamin Rush (January 4, 1746 [O.S. December 24, 1745] – April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, and educator and the founder of Dickinson College. Rush attended the Continental Congress. His later self-description there was: "He aimed right." He served as Surgeon General of the Continental Army and became a profess...

Bancroft, George, 1800-1891

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68b1x43 (person)

George Bancroft was an American historian and statesman, and an active promoter of secondary education both in his home state and at the national level. As U. S. Secretary of the Navy under James K. Polk, Bancroft established the Naval Academy at Annapolis and later served as U.S. Minister to Great Britain (1846-1849), Prussia (1867-1871), and the German Empire (1871-1874). He is best remembered however for his 10-volume History of the United States, a work which fellow historian Leop...

Crawford, William Harris, 1772-1834

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c06wf3 (person)

William Harris Crawford (February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as United States Secretary of War and United States Secretary of the Treasury before running for president in the 1824 election. Born in Virginia, Crawford moved to Georgia at a young age. After studying law, Crawford won election to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1803. He aligned with the Democratic-Republican Party and U.S. Senator James Jac...

Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s865sc (person)

Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore. As one of the most prominent American lawyers of the 19th century, he argued over 200 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court between 1814 and his death in 1852. During his life, he was a member of the Federalist Party, the Nati...

Cass, Lewis, 1782-1866

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61p8qjx (person)

Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1848 Democratic presidential nominee and a leading spokesman for the Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, which held that the people in each territory should decide whether to permit slavery. Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, he attended Philli...

Burr, Aaron, 1756-1836

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nx07m0 (person)

Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer. A Founding Father, he served as the third vice president of the United States during President Thomas Jefferson's first term from 1801 to 1805. His role in helping form the nation, however, would be overshadowed when he killed fellow Founding Father Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel. The duel led to the collapse of Burr's political career and tarnished his legacy in American history. Burr was born t...

Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hz233g (person)

Simon Cameron was born in Maytown, Pennsylvania in 1799, to Charles Cameron (d. January 16, 1814) and his wife Martha McLaughlin (d. abt. November 10, 1830). Cameron was the third of five sons; and had three younger sisters. One story claimed that Cameron was orphaned at nine, and later apprenticed to a printer, Andrew Kennedy, editor of the Northumberland Gazette before entering the field of journalism. If Cameron were apprenticed to Kennedy at age nine (~1808) for a then-standard period of ...

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

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ck93n8 (person)

Sherman was born in 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio, near the banks of the Hocking River. His father, Charles Robert Sherman, a successful lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court, died unexpectedly in 1829. He left his widow, Mary Hoyt Sherman, with eleven children and no inheritance. After his father's death, the nine-year-old Sherman was raised by a Lancaster neighbor and family friend, attorney Thomas Ewing, Sr., a prominent member of the Whig Party who served as senator from Ohio and as the first S...

Houston, Sam, 1793-1863

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jn30w4 (person)

Texas politician, soldier, and frontier hero. He was the first president of the Republic of Texas and served as a United States Senator for that state. From the description of Letter, ca. 1855. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122699442 From the description of Letter, 1859. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145435304 Sam Houston's colorful public life began with his heroic action during the war of 1812. He served as congressman and governor of Tennessee, spent years amon...

Guthrie, James, Sir, 1859-1930

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sj4wpq (person)

Paulding, James Kirke, 1778-1860

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6765h22 (person)

Author and naval officer. A close friend of Washington Irving, Paulding collaborated with him to produce the satirical periodical, Salmagundi. He also wrote poetry, fiction, and a popular biography of George Washington. President Martin Van Buren appointed Paulding Secretary of the Navy in 1839, in which post he served until 1841. From the description of [Letter] 1839 May 7, Navy Department [Washington, D.C., to] Gilbert Davis, New York. (University of South Florida). WorldCat record...

Churchill, Randolph Henry Spencer, lord, 1849-1895

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h41zg3 (person)

British statesman. From the description of Autograph letter signed : 2 Connaught Place, W., [London], to Arthur Sullivan, 1885 Apr. 22. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270125376 Lord Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill (1849-95), Conservative statesman; third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough; M.P. for Woodstock, 1874-85, and for South Paddington, 1885-94; Secretary of State for India, 1885-86, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1886; and father of Sir Winston Churchill. ...

Lee, Charles, 1731-1782

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sj1ncn (person)

Lee was a veteran British Army officer who settled in America in 1773 and was appointed a major general in the Continental Army at the outbreak of the Revolution. In 1778, he was appointed to lead the attack at the Battle of Monmouth, but instead retreated without warning, apparently ignored orders from George Washington, and afterward demanded an apology from him. Lee was suspended and later dismissed from the Army. From the description of ALS, 1776 Jan. 30, Stamford, Ct...

Sharpe, Horatio, 1718-1790

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6794jsj (person)

British colonial governor of Maryland. From the description of Horatio Sharpe papers, 1758-1784. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70980438 Colonial Governor of Maryland. From the description of Letter signed : Annapolis, to the Commissioners of the Paper Currency Office, 1761 May 1. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270664850 ...

Washington, George, 1732-1799

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r31qfk (person)

George Washington (b. Feb. 22, 1732, Westmoreland County, Va.-d. Dec. 14, 1799, Mount Vernon, VA) was the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Washington came from a family of farmers and landowners. He had little education but showed an aptitude for mathematics. He used this talent to become a surveyor. At 15, Washington took a job as assistant surveyor on a team sent to map the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia. In his early 20s, Washington joined the Virgin...

Zola, Émile, 1840-1902

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ff3wp6 (person)

French writer. From the description of Mon salon, corrected proof, 1866. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 80803997 From the description of Letters, 1858-1860, to Paul Cezanne. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 84387915 Zola was a French novelist, critic, and political activist. The Dreyfus Affair was the controversy that occurred with the treason conviction (1894) of Capt Alfred Dreyfus (1859c1935), a French general staff officer. Zola w...

Lowell, James Russell, 1819-1891

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vh5qp9 (person)

Poet and author, Cornell University non-resident professor. From the description of James Russell Lowell letter and portrait, 1871 July 12. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 123412650 Lowell was an author, poet, editor, teacher, and diplomat. He edited The Atlantic Monthly, and with Charles Eliot Norton, The North American Review ; was professor of French and Spanish Languages and Literatures at Harvard; and U.S. minister to Spain and to England. Aldrich was ...

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61s7dgz (person)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. He was the son of James (lawyer, financier) and Sara (Delano) Roosevelt. He married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt on March 17, 1905, and had six children: Anna, James, Franklin, Elliott, Franklin Jr., John. He received his B.A. from Harvard in 1904 and later attended Columbia University Law School. Roosevelt was admitted to the Bar in 1907 and worked for the Carter, Ledyard, and Milburn firm in New York City from 1907 to 19...

Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, Marquis, 1738-1805

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60v8jtv (person)

Governor General of India and British army officer. From the description of Papers of Charles Cornwallis, Marquis Cornwallis, 1614-1854. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71068310 British general; second in command in North America during Revolution, surrendered to Washington at Yorktown. Later governor-general of India. From the description of Proclamation, 1781 March 18, North Carolina. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 86156104 Charle...

Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g26q0t (person)

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, on 30 November 1874. He was educated at Harrow and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst before joining the Army in 1895 and serving in India and Sudan. After leaving the Army in 1899, he worked as a war correspondent for the Morning Post and the following year was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Oldham. In 1904, Churchill decided to join the Liberal Party, and in 1906, was elected Liberal MP f...

Toussaint-Louverture, 1743?-1803

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mh78xn (person)

Reformer, Haitian army officer, and public official. Full name: Pierre Dominique Toussaint Louverture. From the description of Toussaint Louverture papers, 1797-1800. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70981003 Haitian general and liberator. From the description of Passport, An 6 [i.e. 1798] Germinal 22, Gonaïves, Haiti, issued to Richard Codman. (Boston Athenaeum). WorldCat record id: 14444822 ...

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60d5jrb (person)

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was an American statesman and third president of the United States. From the description of Thomas Jefferson letter, 1809. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 367818629 Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third president of the United States, born in Goochland (now Albemarle County), Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 to 1775, and with R. H. Lee and Patrick Henry initiated the inter-colonial committee of correspond...

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr., 1841-1935

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60q1p0q (person)

Holmes was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to the prominent writer and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. and abolitionist Amelia Lee Jackson. Dr. Holmes was a leading figure in Boston intellectual and literary circles. Mrs. Holmes was connected to the leading families; Henry James Sr., Ralph Waldo Emerson and other transcendentalists were family friends. Known as "Wendell" in his youth, Holmes, Henry James Jr. and William James became lifelong friends. Holmes accordingly grew up in an atmospher...

Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nc5zdc (person)

Protector. From the description of Letter signed "Oliver P" : Westminster, to Colonel Underwood, 1657 Feb. 4. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270537898 Epithet: Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000357.0x0002c4 Army officer, Puritan, and statesman of Great Britain. From the description of Oliver Cromwell papers, 1874. (Unknown). World...

Stoddert, Benjamin, 1751-1813

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69w0k4d (person)

First Secretary of the Navy, 1798-1801. From the description of Letter : Georgetown, to Messrs. Samuel & J. Smith, Baltimore, 1786 March 8. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 22919290 From the description of Letter : Georgetown, to John Templeman, Philadelphia, 1792 Oct. 31. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 22919313 Benjamin Stoddert, a Maryland native, was the first Secretary of the Navy, serving from 1789 to 1801. He built a powerful fleet and established the Marine...

New York (State). Mayors Court.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61039m2 (corporateBody)

Lee, Robert Edward, 1807-1870

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sk28nd (person)

Robert Edward Lee (1807-1870) served as General of the Confederate Army in the U.S. Civil War and was president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia from 1865 to 1870. Lee spent the first twenty-three years of his military career in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. From 1837 to 1841 he was superintending engineer for the harbor of St. Louis and the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Robert E. Lee was a United States Army officer, 1829-1861; commander of Virginia forces in the ...

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xk8d2z (person)

Mary Ann Lamar Cobb (1818-1889), wife of Gen. Howell Cobb (1815-1868). From the description of Letter to Mary Ann Lamar Cobb, 1888 Oct. 2. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 38476494 Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) was born in Kentucky. He attended Transylvania University for a short time before enrolling at West Point in 1824, at the age of 16. He graduated in 1828 and immediately joined the First Infantry. His regiment was engaged in the Blackhawk War of 1831. In 1833, he became a...