United States Department of Justice general records, 1877-1906 (bulk 1877-1890).

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United States Department of Justice general records, 1877-1906 (bulk 1877-1890).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/209658369

Correspondence, memos, telegrams, newspaper clippings, and other materials concerning violent acts committed against African American candidates for office and African American voters in several Louisiana parishes. Most of the records originate from the U.S. Marshal's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans, La., though some correspondence of U.S. Dept. of Justice officials in Washington, D.C., is included. Records consist of letters from African American citizens in Bossier and Tensas Parishes describing violence and voter intimidation tactics used against blacks by white mobs and "rifle clubs"; an account of Mrs. J. Ernest Breda describing the attack on her home and the attempted murder of her husband, a judge in Natchitoches, La., who was active in the Republican Party, by a white mob; several descriptions of the violent confrontation between an assembly of Republican Party members in Waterproof, La., and a group of armed whites who attempted to disrupt it; clippings from newspaper stories and editorials from Louisiana newspapers concerning the events in Waterproof; accounts of a trial of a group of whites charged with elections-related offenses against African Americans in Natchitoches; a long letter from Alfred Fairfax, an African American Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in the 5th district of Louisiana in Waterproof, describing the attempt on his life by a white mob that ransacked his home; letters and petitions from citizens in New Orleans concerning voting irregularities in Orleans Parish; and letters from Jack Wharton, the U.S. Marshal in New Orleans, to U.S. Dept. of Justice officials in Washington, D.C., describing his plans to investigate the incidents. The records include an index of letters received by the U.S. Marshal's and U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans showing writers' names, purpose of the letters, and action taken. Also included is a letter and an instruction book of Charles Devens, U.S. Attorney General, containing copies of letters conveying instructions and advice to U.S. attorneys around the country. Several of the letters concern allegations that U.S. Marshal Jack Wharton has failed to adequately carry out his duties, thereby encouraging instances of election fraud and other offenses.

circa 300 items.

Louisiana State University, LSU Libraries

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7002337

Louisiana State University, LSU Libraries

Related Entities

There are 10 Entities related to this resource.

United States. Congress. House

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rs2rf8 (corporateBody)

U.S. House of Representatives is the lower house of Congress. From the guide to the Subscription lists, 1870, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections) The first session of the Congress of the United States, under a resolution passed by the Congress of the Confederation, on September 13, 1788, was called to meet in New York City on March 4, 1789. On the appointed day only 13 Members of the House were present and, as this number did not constitute a quorum, the sessions...

United States. Department of Justice

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6md9phz (corporateBody)

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice in the United States, and is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department was formed in 1870 during the Ulysses S. Grant administration, and administers several federal law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigat...

Republican Party (La.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w13831 (corporateBody)

United States. Attorney-General

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6643gv6 (corporateBody)

Wharton, Jack.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6841cz5 (person)

United States. Marshals Service

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66t4nxf (corporateBody)

The U.S. Marshals were formed by the Judiciary Act of 1789 in order to give the federal government enforcement power to apprehend fugitives and perform other odd jobs- such as the U.S. census (until 1870). Marshals were permitted to swear in Special Deputies and form posses to apprehend federal fugitives. Marshals could serve subpoenas, writs, warrants, summonses, handled all federal prisoners, and were able to distribute funds as ordered by federal courts. From the description of U....

Breda, J. Ernest, 1841-1914

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6088w1t (person)

Breda, Elcey.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6909qtg (person)

Fairfax, Alfred, approximately 1840-approximately 1916

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63z1bwk (person)

Devens, Charles, 1820-1891

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w95986 (person)

Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Devens graduated from Boston Latin School and eventually Harvard College in 1838, and from the Harvard Law School in 1840. He was admitted to the bar in Franklin County, Massachusetts, where he practiced law from 1841 to 1849. In 1848, he was a Whig member of the Massachusetts Senate. From 1849 to 1853, Devens was United States Marshal for Massachusetts, in which capacity he was called upon in 1851 to remand the fugitive slave, Thomas Sims, to slavery. This...