Manuscripts
Letters that Edward Kirby wrote to his wife and eldest son Jake between 1827 and July 1848 constitute the largest portion of the collection. Kirby's peacetime letters describe his travels in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York State, and his trips to Washington, D.C., and discuss family news, business investments, the management of his two-thousand acre farm, the increasingly complicated financial affairs, the fallout from the Panic of 1837, and local news, including the events of the Patriot War (1837) in the neighboring Canada. Kirby, a leader of the local Whigs, also discusses state and national politics, in particular the internal improvements, protective tariff, and the annexation of Texas. Kirby also recounts Washington news and rumors and comments on various aspects of military life as well as the news of the Second Seminole War. Included is a 1840 letter from William H. Seward soliciting Kirby's opinion on the "candidates." Kirby's letters written during the Black Hawk War discuss the progress of the war, the outbreak of cholera, peace negotiations, and the allegations against Winfield Scott. The Mexican War letters describe Kirby's journey to Northern Mexico and his war experiences, including the battle of Monterey, the siege and taking of Vera Cruz, the battles that marked Scott's march to Mexico City, and the occupation of the Mexican capital. Kirby also recounts news that were circulated at Taylor's and Scott's headquarters, in particular rumors of the eagerly awaited peace negotiations, discusses the financial operations of the United States Army, and shares his impressions of Mexico. The letters describe Winfield Scott, Nathan Towson, William Jenkins Worth, Zachary Taylor, John E. Wool, Jefferson Davis, Joseph Eggleston Johnston, George Gordon Meade, his nephew Edmund Kirby Smith, and others. Also included are Kirby's commissions and his certificate of membership in the Aztec Club. The collection also includes letters that Edmund Kirby, Jr. wrote to his brother Reynold Marvin Kirby in 1860-1863. The letters counsel his brother on the course of his studies and a college selection, (Marvin chose to go to the Geneva College, and his brother paid his tuition), vividly describe the life at the Military Academy on the eve of the Civil War, and discuss the secession crisis and other aspects of national politics. The letters written from the battlefields in Virginia describe the Union positions at Edwards Ferry and the Mud March of 1862 and blast the radical Republicans in Congress. The last letter, entirely devoted to Marvin's studies, is dated March 3, 1863. Also included is a letter of condolence from Henry Jackson Hunt to Kirby's mother. Also included are two letters addressed to Ephraim Kirby from Uriah Tracy (1788, Oct. 18), reporting on the on the proceedings of the state General Assembly, including the passage of "a very benevolent act relative to Africans" and Aaron Burr (1801, Feb.) requesting an urgent meeting, and Gideon Grange's letter to Thomas Worthington introducing Ephraim Kirby as the newly appointed commissioner on the Spanish Boundary.
