JOHN BACHELDER LETTER
ON HIS ADVERTISING LETTERHEAD

A personal letter by John B. Bachelder on his illustrated advertising letterhead, touching on his intention to give some engravings to a friend as well as talks he gives on a painting.  Bachelder writes to his father-in-law Daniel B. Stevens Esq. of Nottingham, New Hampshire. The letter mainly concerns.....

EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF BREWER, MAINE AND VICINITY

A substantial archive of manuscript documents and letters, many of which relate to the early development of the town of Brewer, Maine and the role of Samuel B. Stone as “father of the town,” with letters concerning the administration and development of land in nearby Eddington, etc.  The earliest.....

A VANQUISHED VIRGINIA REBEL IN
PORT HUDSON & NEW ORLEANS DURING RECONSTRUCTION

An engaging group of letters by an ex-Confederate soldier writing from Port Hudson and New Orleans in the immediate post-Civil War period—conjuring the Reconstruction-era scene, chronicling hard times, and including some African-American content.  Seven of the present letters were written by businessman Wade Gaulden Chiek, a native of Winchester.....

LINCOLN’S FRIEND AND ALLY MARK DELAHAY
ON KANSAS TERRITORY SURVEYING AND POLITICS

An interesting letter by the Kansas Territory politician and abolitionist Mark W. Delahay, an old friend and political ally of Abe Lincoln who appointed him to a handful of high-ranking governmental positions in Kansas.  Born in Maryland, Mark William Delahay (1828–1879) was a fellow lawyer of Abe Lincoln during.....

CONFEDERATE ASSISTANT SURGEON SEEKS PROMOTION

A multifaceted letter illuminating medical aspects of the Civil War.  Tazewell Howard, newly arrived assistant surgeon to George Paul Harrison’s training camp outside Savannah, Georgia, describes his new appointment and attempts to use his connections to secure a higher paying post. He reports a certain dissatisfaction with his lot.....

JACKIE KENNEDY TO J. WATSON WEBB, JR.,
DIRECTOR OF THE SHELBURNE MUSEUM

A letter from Jackie Kennedy composed shortly after her husband’s election thanking the president of the Shelburne Museum for a gift. In this letter typed on White House stationary, dated December 15, 1961, Jackie thanks J. Watson Webb, Jr., the president of the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, for “the handsome.....

“THIS IS A PRITY HARD COUNTRY FOR A MAN TO LIVE”

A pair of letters written during the winter and spring seasons in gold rush era California, commenting on the steep costs of living and relating various forms of labor the writer has undertaken for modest pay.  These letters span a period of three months, January–March, 1857; each is addressed.....

WITH LETTERS FROM JACOB RIIS
TO AN IMMIGRATION DOCTOR

The autobiography of social reformer Jacob Riis, along with two letters from Riis to influential Ellis Island immigration doctor Victor Safford. First published in 1901, this is a 1902 printing. Riis’s autobiography begins with his youth in Denmark (including his initially one-sided bond with his beloved wife Elizabeth), and his.....

A BLOODLESS BLEEDING KANSAS LETTER

A letter written from Kansas Territory on the state of politics at the time of the quest for statehood, the bloodless “Battle of Paris,” the Wyandotte Constitution, and John Brown. Originally from Herkimer County, New York, Lorenzo Dow Round (1813–1877) apparently settled in Kansas some time in the 1850s. Responding.....

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS ATTEMPT TO SWAY SAM HOUSTON

An intriguing letter to Sam Houston as a U.S. Senator, from a party of Virginia democrats, docketed by Houston. This is an ostensibly routine invitation to a July 28th and 29th 1848 mass meeting at the Orange Co., Virginia Court House, written by several prominent Virginia Democrats. Though the real.....