Manuscripts

James Clyman papers

Description: The collection contains nine diary volumes (mssHM 3900, 1844 May 14-1846 July 21), a book of verse (mssHM 3901, 1878-1881), and correspondence, receipts, documents, invoices, notes, accounts, and manuscripts (mssHM 3902-3951, 1827-1845).
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1827-1881
Call number: mssHM 3900-3951
Creator: Clyman, James (1792-1881)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from Charles L. Camp, 1925. The papers were previously in the possession of Wilber Lamar Tallman, grandson of James Clyman.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

James Clyman papers

Manuscripts

The collection contains 52 items and includes letters and receipts about Clyman's service in the Black Hawk War (1832-1835), receipts and promissory notes from the business operations of Clyman and Arnett in Danville, Illinois (1832-1840). The collection also includes nine volumes of diaries describing Clyman's travels to, life in, and return from Oregon and California (1844-1846) and an 1871 diary kept in Napa, California. Also included is one letter from Henry Dodge (1832) and another letter from Stephen Watts Kearny (1834).

mssHM 3900-3951

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James K. Polk papers

Manuscripts

This collection primarily consists of correspondence and notes of James K. Polk, dating from 1844 to 1849, and correspondence of his wife Sarah Childress Polk, dating from 1883 to 1889; a 19th century copy of Polk's 1849 will is also present. Polk's correspondence discusses politics, plans for his presidency, and the collectorship of New York. His notes on newspaper articles concern Martin Van Buren; Benjamin Tappan, Francis P. Blair and the annexation of Texas; and the Wilmot Proviso. The collection also contains several newspaper articles from 1846 regarding the Oregon boundary dispute, a copy of Senator Arthur Bagby's 1845 open letter to the people of Alabama concerning the annexation of Texas, and an 1849 extract from a French newspaper about events in the United States. Sarah Childress Polk's correspondence primarily concerns biographical sketches of herself and her late husband, with several letters from George Bancroft. In addition, the collection contains a note regarding a Congressional report on title endorsed by James Madison, 1790.

mssPolk

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Autograph letter of Doctor George Clymer

Manuscripts

The Cyane was launched in 1837 and served in the Pacific from November 1841 to October 1844, sailing again for the Pacific in August 1845 and serving in that theatre during the Mexican-American War. On July 7, 1846, her commanding officer, Captain William Mervine, led a detachment of Marines and sailors from Commodore John D. Sloat's squadron ashore at Monterey, California, hoisting the American flag at the Customs House and claiming possession of the city and all of present day California.

mssHM 80804

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George Boyd papers

Manuscripts

Collection contains correspondence and documents primarily relating to U.S. government agents and others working among the Native American tribes in the Michigan and Wisconsin Territories from 1818 to 1846. Individuals represented include John Tanner, Eleazer Williams, Henry B. Brevoort, Louis B. Porlier, and Zachary Taylor (pass for several individuals through "Indian country," Fort Howard, Green Bay, 1818 July 19, HM 15377). There is also trader Louis B. Porlier's account book from 1845 to 1846 documenting his activities in upper Wisconsin Territory (in French). Material for the most part does not mention specific Native American tribes or individuals. Early items in the collection also document George Boyd's tenure in Europe prior to his move to the Michigan Territory.

mssHM 15370-15387

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George Boyd papers

Manuscripts

mssHM 15370-15387

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James McHenry papers

Manuscripts

A collection of 161 items from 1776 to 1815; it consists of the professional, personal, and political papers and correspondence of James McHenry. The bulk of the collection consists of letters addressed to McHenry during his term as the Secretary of War, from 1796 to 1800. Also included are: petitions to Sir William Howe and report to George Washington concerning the condition of American prisoners of war (1776 to 1777); a regimen and diet prescribed by him to Alexander Hamilton (1778); correspondence and documents relating to the American Revolution accumulated by McHenry during his service as Washington's secretary (1778 to 1780); and Lafayette's aid (1780 to 1781), including a journal that McHenry kept in July 10-15, 1778 en route with Washington's Army to the North River. The collection contains five John Adams items: autograph request signed to Secretary of War James McHenry, 1797 March 14 (MH 1); autograph letter signed to James McHenry, 1797 Ocotober 27 (MH 2); contemporary copy of letter to Timothy Pickering, 1798 June 12 (MH 3); autograph letter signed to James McHenry, 1798 July 6; and autograph letter signed to James McHenry, 1798 August 18 (MH 159).

mssMH

James Clyman papers

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