Manuscripts
William James McDermott papers
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Thomas William Sweeny papers
Manuscripts
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Thomas William Sweeny, including his personal and official correspondence, military records, and diaries, and the correspondence of William Montgomery Sweeny. Also included photographs, some pencil and ink drawings, and ephemera. Personal correspondence of Thomas William Sweeny, chiefly his letters to the family and friends written from 1846 to 1892. Military correspondence and documents - letters, orders, communications, reports, ordnance receipts, commissions, recruiting records, etc. -- accumulated by Sweeny during his service in the Mexican War, the tours in California and Nebraska Territory, and the Civil War, chiefly those received by him or his staff. There are some retained copies of outgoing communications and reports, including official reports on the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, and the march on the Holly Springs, some with by hand-drawn maps. Also included are the speech that Sweeny delivered on the first anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh, and his farewell address to the troops (July 1864). A large part of Sweeny's correspondence that he kept after his retirement from the army consists of letters from veterans and veteran organizations, including the associations of the veterans of the Mexican War, the 52nd Illinois Infantry, Army of the Tennessee, officers of the Irish Brigade, Associated Pioneers of the Territorial Days of California, Military Service Institution, the Grand Army of the Republic, Hibernian Benevolent Society, and others. Also included is the diary that Thomas William Sweeny kept during his service at Fort Yuma in 1851-1853. Another diary, titled "Life in the American Desert" (1851, June-July) consists of clippings of the articles published in installments by the New York Atlas in 1856-1857, with author's annotations. Correspondence and papers of William Montgomery Sweeny, chiefly letters addressed to him and related to his biographical and genealogical studies, including some genealogical data.Materials created by US presidents include: Ulysses S. Grant letter to Thomas Sidney Jesup, 1847 January 31 (SW 181); James K. Polk commission to Thomas W. Sweeny, 1848 April 21 (SW 358); Millard Fillmore commission to Thomas W. Sweeny, 1852 July 3 (SW 154); all items are in box 1. Note: This collection doesn't contain any materials dealing with the Fenian invasion. Persons represented by 5 or more items consist of: Sarah A (Sweeny) Barnard (7 pieces); Emile H. Brie (7 pieces); Charles Brower (9 pieces); Francis D. Clark (10 pieces); James Edward Kelly (5 pieces); W. H. Lane (6 pieces); C. Osgood Morse (7 pieces); Samuel Vincent Niles (7 pieces); James Rowan O'Beirne (6 pieces); Grenville Mellen Dodge (5 pieces); Mary P. Kilby (7 pieces); Fitz John Porter (7 pieces); Franz Sigel (11 pieces); Edward B Spalding Spalding (8 pieces); Charles Baxter Sweeny (15 pieces); Eugenia O. (Reagan) Sweeny (5 pieces); Frances Ellen Sweeny (11 pieces); Sarah Bernard Sweeny (5 pieces); Sarah Bernard Sweeny (5 pieces); and Thomas William Sweeny (335 (approx.) pieces) Some notable items include: SW 181 Grant, Ulysses S. Letter to Gen. Thomas S. Jesup. 1847, Jan. 31 SW 403 Scott, Winfield. Letter to David Conner: re. Taylor's victory over Santa Ana. 1847, Mar. 16 SW 540 Sweeny, Thomas W. To C. Lovell: Report on Battle of Corinth (Miss.). 1862, Oct. 15 SW 626 Sweeny, Thomas W. Official Report of the Battle of Shiloh. 1862 SW 627 Sweeny, Thomas W. Official Report of Brig. Gen. Sweeny of the March to Holly Springs (Miss.). 1863, Oct. 21 SW 634 Sweeny, Thomas W. "The Siege and Occopation of Corinth" (of 1862). c. 1865 SW 771 Account of battle of 52nd Ill. Reg. at Pittsburg Landing under command of Thomas William Sweeny, Feb. 1862 SW 850(1-120) Sweeny, Thomas W. & others. Letterbook. Contains correspondence re Yuma military reservation on the Colorado River, and the Sioux expedition in Nebraska Territory. SW 862(1-195) Sweeny, Thomas W. & others. Letterbook. Contains correspondence during Civil War The letterbook containing Civil War correspondence (SW 862) has been disbound for conservation purposes and the individual letters foldered sequentially in 4 boxes.
mssSW
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James F. Mercer papers
Manuscripts
A collection of over 120 letters, manuscripts, and documents (previously bound, original binding is in Box 4)). The collection includes James F. Mercer's letters written during his travels in Europe, Jamaica, and North America (1736-1755). This includes five letters by Mercer from Fort Oswego (1755-1756). The collection also includes approximately 70 letters written in the aftermath of Mercer's death, including correspondence of Mercer's brother, William Mercer, friend James Grahame, and Grahame's 13-page account of the Battle of Oswego. Other authors include: Andrew Douglass, Joseph Austin, Colin Drummond, Charles Craven, Francis Lewis, James Robertson, and Stephen Sayre. Collection includes several documents regarding James F. Mercer's finances and belongings after his death. Also included is a copy of Papers relating to the first settlement and capture of Fort Oswego, 1727-1756 [Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co., 1849], with Mercer escutcheon pasted on the front inner cover.
mssMercer
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William Walter Phelps papers, (bulk 1876-1893)
Manuscripts
A collection of political, business, diplomatic, social, and family correspondence of William Walter Phelps, chiefly letters addressed to him. The collection numbers 199 items, including items related to American politics and the Republican party, Phelps' diplomatic service, his family, social life and literary interests. Correspondents include, among others, Herbert Nikolaus von Bismarck, James Gillespie Blaine, Benjamin Harrison, Eugene Field, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and Joseph Pulitzer. Also included is the correspondence of John Jay Phelps, a poem by Eugene Field dedicated to Phelps, an 1882 letter containing an eye-witness account of the battle of Battle of Chapultepec, Mexico (1847), ephemera, photographs, and newspapers clippings. The collection also contains papers related to John Chester Eno's embezzlement from the Second Bank of New York (of which Phelps was a director) and Phelps' negotiations with Eno's father, Amos Richard Phelps, to make good the loss (1884).
mssHM 27329-27485
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James William Smith letters
Manuscripts
The three James William Smith letters are addressed to his brother J. Edward Smith. The first letter, dated August 4, 1842, was written during his voyage to Hawaii on the brig "Sarah Abigail" and describes his journey thus far. The other letters are from 1845 and discuss the Hawaiian government and politics; a land scheme related to Peter Allen Brinsmade and Ladd & Co.; Koloa, Hawaii; fellow Christian missionaries on the island; King Kamehameha III; and Albert F. Judd. Also included is an albumen print of James William Smith dated 1873
mssHM 63640-63643
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James Macomber papers
Manuscripts
This small collection contains 9 items on 22 pages, and includes correspondence, four drafts of petitions for amendments to the U.S. Constitution and drawings and notes, most along the theme of perpetual motion, with illustrations. One drawing is titled "Perhaps a perpetual motion" and its long description begins "Invented to a state of probability on the evening of the 2nd of March 1812, after going to bed, and after going on the same evening after some milk and butter to Mr. William Martindale and coming home without obtaining any of either." Also included is a one-page attendance log from his school.
mssHM 82484
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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