Number 4 - The Papers of Abraham Lincoln

October - December 2007
Volume 7 Number 4
TWO MORE MEMBERS INDUCTED
INTO THE LINCOLN CORPS OF DISCOVERY
S
taff members conducting research at the National
Archives in College Park, Maryland, continue to find
new documents written by Abraham Lincoln that do not
appear in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln.
In July, Assistant Editor Ed Bradley found a new
Lincoln letter in the records of the State Department. The
letter, dated March 21, 1862, is to Secretary of State William H. Seward
and requests that
Seward send Lincoln a nomination
for Stephen S.
Harding as governor of the Utah
Territory. Ten
days later, Lincoln
appointed
Harding to the
position.
In September, Research
Associate Director John Lupton
Associate David
Presents the Award to Assistant
Gerleman found a
Editor Ed Bradley
new Lincoln letter
to Secretary of the Interior Caleb B. Smith, dated April 2,
1861. The letter involved an appointment for Clinton C.
Hutchinson as Indian agent for the Sac and Fox.
No underachiever, Gerleman followed up his
discovery by finding two more new Lincoln letters, both on
the same day in November. The two documents were in the
Field Office Appointment Papers for Minnesota in the
records of the Department of the Interior. The first was a
letter to newly appointed Secretary of the Interior Thomas
Ewing, dated March 12,
1849, in which Lincoln
recommended Dr. Anson
G. Henry for the position
of Register of Public
Lands in Minnesota. The
second letter, dated
March 29, 1849, to
Secretary of the Navy
William B. Preston,
recommended T. Lyle
Dickey and also asked
Preston to remind
Secretary Ewing of
Research Associate David
Lincoln’s desire to see
Gerleman Receives
Anson G. Henry
His Award
appointed as Register in
Minnesota. Henry did not receive the appointment, but in
July 1861, President Lincoln appointed Henry as the
Surveyor General for the State of Washington.
Images of all of these documents are available on
the project’s website at www.papersofabrahamlincoln.org/
New_Documents.htm.
Both Bradley and Gerleman received a magnifying
glass and case, signifying their induction into the Lincoln
Corps of Discovery. The Lincoln Corps of Discovery, now
with five members, recognizes the sleuthing skills of project
editors who discover a new document written by Lincoln
that has not been published and that is also unknown to the
repository housing it. Because of the vast collections of the
National Archives, four of the five members of the Corps
have earned their award by locating new Lincoln documents
in record groups at Archives II.
PROJECT WRAPS UP 2007 TRAVEL
I
n September, Associate Editor John Lupton and Assistant
Editor Stacy McDermott traveled to Baltimore and
Annapolis, Maryland, to scan seventy documents at four
repositories. They would like to thank James W. Cheevers
at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis; Jim
Emmons and Christopher Becker at the Maryland Historical
Society in Baltimore; Margaret Burri and James Stimpert at
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; and Robert W.
Schoeberlein at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis.
Lupton and McDermott also spent time at the Library of
Congress to oversee progress there and at the National
Archives to conduct research in several record series.
Also in September, Research Associates Erika
Nunamaker and Kelley Clausing visited twelve private
collectors, museums, and libraries in West Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, where they digitized
forty-eight Lincoln documents. For their generous assistance,
the project would like to thank Edward Steers of Berkeley
Springs, WV; Lonnie Neubauer of Chevy Chase, MD;
Thomas Gull of Rockville, MD; Gary Sherman of Silver
Spring, MD; Paul Carr of Lewes, DE; Lynn Cantanese and
Marjorie McNinch at the Hagley Museum and Library in
Wilmington, DE; Jeff Smith of Ellicott City, MD; William
and Elizabeth Gumprecht of Wilmington, DE; Diana Peterson
of Haverford College in Haverford, PA; Andrew Coldren of
the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum in
Philadelphia, PA; Timothy Murray and Rebecca Johnson
Melvin at the University of Delaware in Newark; and Connie
Cooper at the Historical Society of Delaware in Wilmington.
In September, Director Daniel Stowell scanned a
Lincoln document being offered for sale by Ivey-Selkirk
Auctioneers in St. Louis, Missouri. The project appreciates
the assistance of Terry Beye. In October, Stowell also
scanned a Lincoln document owned by L. Roger Knudson.
The project staff appreciates his assistance in bringing this
document to our attention.
In October, Assistant Editor Chris Schnell and Erika
Nunamaker scanned thirteen documents in southern Illinois
and in Kentucky. Thanks to Idabel Evans of Hillsboro, IL;
the Special Collections Research Center at Southern Illinois
University-Carbondale; the Kentucky Library and Museum
at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green; and Betty
Isbell of Vandalia, IL.
In October, Daniel Stowell and Stacy McDermott
visited fourteen repositories and private collectors in southern
California. For their assistance, the project would like to
thank Ronald Vanderhye and Carol Beales at the James S.
Copley Library in La Jolla; Bradford Claybourn at Mission
San Luis Rey in Oceanside; Viltis A. Jatulis at Thomas
Aquinas College in Santa Paula; Edward C. Fields at the
University of California, Santa Barbara; David Karpeles of
the Karpeles Manuscript Library in Santa Barbara; Genie
Guerard, Lilace Hatayama, Robert D. Montoya, Brandon
Barton, Jessica Goza, Desmond Stevens, and Taryn
Haydostian at the University of California, Los Angeles;
Murray J. Smith in Los Angeles; Betty Uyeda and John
Cahoon at the Seaver Center for Western History Research
of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, in
Los Angeles; Joseph Dmohowski at Whittier College in
Whittier; Don McCue at the Lincoln Memorial Shrine in
Redlands; Dale Ann Stieber at Occidental College in Los
Angeles; Judy Harvey Sahak at Scripps College in Claremont;
and Michael F. Hecht in San Dimas.
In November, Erika Nunamaker and Chris Schnell
traveled to Alabama and Florida, where they obtained images
of thirty-five documents. For their generous assistance, the
project would like to thank the following: Mary
Jo Scott at the Alabama Department of
Archives and History in Montgomery; Steve
Antonacci of Fort Myers, FL; Donald Pick of
Weston, FL; Joseph Rubinfine of Cocoa, FL;
Dr. William Meyer of Port Saint Lucie, FL;
David Beach of Sanford, FL; and Steven
Hoskin of Venice, FL.
Also in November, John Lupton and
Erika Nunamaker traveled south to visit twelve
repositories and collectors in four states, where
they collected images of thirty-one documents.
Abraham Lincoln to Jackson Grimshaw
They wish to thank Betsy Thornton at the
11 April 1858
The image above is the second page of this new Lincoln document Haywood County Museum in Brownsville, TN;
found at the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware.
Tammy Braithwaite and Ronda Cloud at the
Pink Palace Museum in Memphis, TN; Ed Frank at the
University of Memphis; Elizabeth Gates and Bill Short at
Rhodes College in Memphis; Elaine Smith, Tara Laver, and
Faye Phillips at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge;
Greg Lambousy, Kathryn Page, and Reagan Buckley at the
Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans; Leon Miller at
Tulane University in New Orleans.Wendy Richter, Russell
Baker, and April Goff at the Arkansas History Commission
in Little Rock; and Dan and Faye House in Mountain Home,
AR.
During the final three days of this trip, P. J. Huffstutter
of the Los Angeles Times traveled with Lupton and
Nunamaker for information on a feature story that will appear
in a future edition of the Times.
In December, Daniel Stowell visited the Abraham
Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago, where he scanned four dozen
documents within the project’s scope. In addition to some
new legal documents from Lincoln’s law practice, the
documents included a new letter by Lincoln from his
presidency and numerous endorsements on letters written to
him. The project wishes to thank Daniel Weinberg for his
willingness to let the project scan documents in his current
inventory.
STAFF NEWS
I
n October, A J Aiséirithe defended her dissertation entitled
“Piloting the Car of Human Freedom: Abolitionism,
Woman Suffrage, and the Problem of Radical Reform, 18601870.” She received her Ph.D. from the University of
Chicago in December.
Also in October...
Chris Schnell and Erika Nunamaker presented papers
at the Ohio Valley History Conference in Bowling Green,
Kentucky. Nunamaker’s paper was entitled “‘You Must
Have Portraits of the Family’: The Art and
Commerce of the Chicago Portrait Company.”
Schnell’s paper was entitled “‘Life on the Circuit’:
Itinerant Professionals, Taverns, and Congeniality
in Mid-Nineteenth Century Illinois.”
John Lupton spoke at the Decatur Public
Library on “Abraham Lincoln and the Law of
Slavery” in conjunction with their exhibition of “Free
at Last: A History of the Abolition of Slavery in
America.”
Daniel Stowell gave a presentation on the
case of People v. Armstrong and its representation
in the film Young Mr. Lincoln to the monthly meeting
of the Morgan County Historical Society in
Jacksonville.
Donors
he project acknowledges with deep appreciation the
generosity of the following contributors:
T
Anonymous Donor
Joe Ancion
Decatur Public Library Foundation
John A. Lupton
George Williams
In November...
Erika Nunamaker presented a paper entitled
“Political Women, Yesterday and Today: A Comparison of
Mary Lincoln and Hillary Clinton” to the Central Illinois
Women’s Bar Association in Springfield.
John Lupton, Daniel Stowell, and Kelley Clausing
attended the annual meeting of the Association for
Documentary Editing in Richmond, Virginia. Lupton serves
as treasurer of the organization.
Daniel Stowell gave a presentation on the case of
People v. Armstrong for volunteers at the Beardstown
Courthouse Museum, where the trial took place in May 1858.
He also made a separate presentation on the trial for a group
of students in a Youth Leadership Academy, sponsored by
the University of Illinois Extension Office.
Daniel Stowell attended the annual Lincoln Forum
Symposium in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he joined
other scholars in a roundtable discussion of “Lincoln and the
Law.”
John Lupton gave a presentation about the forensics
of Lincoln’s handwriting to a Princeton High School chemistry
class. The students visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library on December 18 (see picture below).
Lupton Explains Characteristics of Lincoln’s Handwriting
LINCOLN EDITOR
ISSN 1537-226X
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln
Printed by authority of the State of Illinois
(3.8M—12-07)
A Project of
How You Can Help:
Cosponsored by
Center for State Policy and Leadership
at University of Illinois at Springfield
Abraham Lincoln Association
• By advising project staff of known or reported Lincoln
documents in your locality. We are seeking copies of any
document, letter, or contemporary printed account that relates
to Abraham Lincoln’s entire life, 1809-1865.
• By making a tax-deductible donation to the Papers of
Abraham Lincoln in support of the project. Such gifts provide
crucial support in furtherance of the project’s objectives.
(a Founding Sponsor of the Lincoln Legal Papers)
Project Staff:
Daniel W. Stowell, Director/Editor; John A. Lupton, Associate Director/
Associate Editor; Ed Bradley, Assistant Editor; Stacy Pratt McDermott,
Assistant Editor; Christopher A. Schnell, Assistant Editor; A J Aiséirithe,
Research Associate; Kelley B. Clausing, Research Associate; David
Gerleman, Research Associate; John A. Macaulay, Research Associate;
Erika Nunamaker, Research Associate; Marilyn Mueller, Research Assistant;
Carmen Morgan, Secretary; Robert Crosby, Graduate Assistant.
Please address inquiries and gifts to:
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln
#1 Old State Capitol Plaza, Springfield, IL 62701-1512
Phone: (217) 785-9130 Fax: (217) 524-6973
Website: http://www.papersofabrahamlincoln.org
LINCOLN EDITOR
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
#1 Old State Capitol Plaza
Springfield, IL 62701-1512
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National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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