Letters Home From Congress
Collection Overview
This collection features letters home from Warren R. Austin (Senator, 1931-1946), Jacob Collamer (Representative, 1843-1848; Senator, 1855-1865), and Samuel C. Crafts (Representative, 1817-1824; Senator, 1842-1843). The letters document travel to...
Show moreThis collection features letters home from Warren R. Austin (Senator, 1931-1946), Jacob Collamer (Representative, 1843-1848; Senator, 1855-1865), and Samuel C. Crafts (Representative, 1817-1824; Senator, 1842-1843). The letters document travel to and from Washington by horse, boat, train, and airplane; lodging in boarding houses, hotels, and homes; social life in Washington; significant local and national events; and legislative issues under consideration in Congress. Austin's letters are particularly strong in their coverage of his frustration at being a Senator in the minority party during the era of Roosevelt and the New Deal; his activities on the Judiciary Committee; and foreign affairs questions such as the Neutrality Act. The letters of Crafts and Collamer both extensively cover the question of slavery, discussing Missouri statehood, John Brown, the annexation of Texas, and the Civil War. All three Congressmen frequently discuss questions regarding appropriations and the Federal budget. Biographical information is available from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, at: http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp
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(41 - 60 of 64)
Pages
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, December 11, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include adjournment of Congressional session; Senate and House repeal of Bankruptcy Law; act for reducing pay of members of Congress and other officers of government would fix the compensation of members at seven dollars per day, and seven dollars for...
Show moreLetter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include adjournment of Congressional session; Senate and House repeal of Bankruptcy Law; act for reducing pay of members of Congress and other officers of government would fix the compensation of members at seven dollars per day, and seven dollars for every twenty miles of travel, and reduce the pay, by twelve and one half percent, of all of officers of government who receive more than twelve hundred dollars a year; vote to release General Jackson's fine.
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, December 11, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include effect of severe weather on obtaining a quorum in the Senate; health of Senator Samuel Phelps (VT); church meeting preached by Dr. Nott, President of Union College, Schenectady, New York; boarding accommodations in Washington, DC.
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, July 17, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include President Tyler and the Tariff Bill; Tariff Bill passed, 116 to 112, by the House despite opposition from Locofocos (Democrats) and some Southern Whigs and a threatened veto; Tariff Bill now in the Senate where there are 20 Locofocos (Democrats)...
Show moreLetter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include President Tyler and the Tariff Bill; Tariff Bill passed, 116 to 112, by the House despite opposition from Locofocos (Democrats) and some Southern Whigs and a threatened veto; Tariff Bill now in the Senate where there are 20 Locofocos (Democrats) and 30 Whigs, but 5 southern Whigs who will cast the deciding votes on passage; Vermont State Whig Convention; Governor Paine (VT); Henry Clay's potential candidacy for President; Craft's feelings on being elected for the remained of Judge Samuel Prentiss' Senate term; rumored changes in President Tyler's cabinet; Daniel Webster, Lord Ashburton and a prospect of a settlement of disputes with Great Britain.
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, July 24, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include Senate debate on the new Tariff Bill with a bare majority in favor; Crafts in favor of Tariff Bill as passed by the House; frauds practiced by manufacturers and importers; expected veto of Tariff Bill by President Tyler because of the continuation...
Show moreLetter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include Senate debate on the new Tariff Bill with a bare majority in favor; Crafts in favor of Tariff Bill as passed by the House; frauds practiced by manufacturers and importers; expected veto of Tariff Bill by President Tyler because of the continuation of the distribution of the proceeds of the public lands among the states; current state of the Treasury; Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton's negotiation over the boundary between the United States and Canada, in particular the northeastern boundary.
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, July 3, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include attendance at church meetings in the Representatives Hall in the Capitol and various chaplains and clergymen who preach there; regular attendance of Washington citizens, particularly blacks, at church meetings; plans to see Sabbath School scholars...
Show moreLetter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include attendance at church meetings in the Representatives Hall in the Capitol and various chaplains and clergymen who preach there; regular attendance of Washington citizens, particularly blacks, at church meetings; plans to see Sabbath School scholars and black Sabbath School scholars 4th of July processions; death and funeral of Senator Samuel Southard (NJ); veto by President Tyler of Tariff Bill with provision postponing the distribution to the States of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands and return of bill to the House of Representatives with little chance of overriding the veto; Locofocos (Democrats) are against distribution and generally against protection, but despise Tyler.
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, July 31, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include attendance at a church meeting in the Representatives Hall in the Capitol with a eulogy for Rev. Cookman, a former chaplain of Congress who was lost on the steamship President; Senate debate on the Tariff Bill and the unlikelihood that it will be...
Show moreLetter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include attendance at a church meeting in the Representatives Hall in the Capitol with a eulogy for Rev. Cookman, a former chaplain of Congress who was lost on the steamship President; Senate debate on the Tariff Bill and the unlikelihood that it will be altered much from the version passed in the House; expected veto of the Tariff Bill by President Tyler; Locofoco (Democrat) opposition to the Tariff Bill; treaty between United States and Great Britain.
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, June 11, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include Tariff being considered in the House of Representatives; duties on imports; duty on foreign wool and response of wool manufacturers; distribution of the proceeds of the public lands; Apportionment Bill for Representatives to Congress debated in...
Show moreLetter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include Tariff being considered in the House of Representatives; duties on imports; duty on foreign wool and response of wool manufacturers; distribution of the proceeds of the public lands; Apportionment Bill for Representatives to Congress debated in the Senate; fashions in Washington, DC; flowers and vegetables seen in DC.
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, June 18, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include reports of a snow storm in Vermont; Apportionment Bill passed in the Senate; Tariff being considered in the House of Representatives; distribution of the proceeds of the public lands; description of work in the Senate; Locofocos (Democrats) and...
Show moreLetter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include reports of a snow storm in Vermont; Apportionment Bill passed in the Senate; Tariff being considered in the House of Representatives; distribution of the proceeds of the public lands; description of work in the Senate; Locofocos (Democrats) and Whigs in Congress; President Tyler and Congress.
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- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, June 25, 1842
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Letter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include different rules and protocols in the House of Representatives and the Senate such as the one hour rule; President Tyler and the Whigs in Congress; Apportionment Bill; Locofoco (Democrat) opposition to districting of States; Tariff being considered...
Show moreLetter to daughter and son-in-law. Topics include different rules and protocols in the House of Representatives and the Senate such as the one hour rule; President Tyler and the Whigs in Congress; Apportionment Bill; Locofoco (Democrat) opposition to districting of States; Tariff being considered in the House of Representatives; duty on wool; Distribution Act; rumor of a Cabinet break-up by President Tyler.
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- Letter to Pliny Corbin, July 13, 1842
- Description
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Topics include workload of Congress and industriousness of majority members in the Senate and the House; relationship of Whigs and Locofocos (Democrats) in Congress and relationship of Congress to President Tyler; Tariff Bill and expected Presidential veto.
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, April 22, 1822
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Letter to son. Topics include date of adjournment; appropriations for different departments of government; federal revenue.
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, April 8, 1822
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Letter to son. Topics include date of adjournment; health of Representative John Randolph (VA).
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, December 20, 1820
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Letter to son. Topics include debate in Congress over the establishment of a system of domestic manufactures.
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, December 24, 1821
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Letter to son. Topics include slowness of mail; Bankruptcy bill.
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, December 3, 1821
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Letter to son. Topics include traveling from Albany, NY to Washington, DC; beginning of Congressional session and search for a new Speaker of the House; lodgings in Washington, DC.
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, February 15, 1824
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Letter to son. Topics include Congressional caucus on the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, with 64 of 69 votes for William Crawford for President and 57 votes for Albert Gallatin for Vice-President; no Vermont representatives or Senators participated in the caucus.
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, February 2, 1820
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Letter to son. Topics include Missouri and slavery; includes a sketch by Crafts of Missouri and surrounding area.
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, February 2, 1823
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Letter to son. Topics include Captain Alden B. Partridge's lectures on the Battle of Waterloo and national defense; health of Representative John Randolph (VA); Representative George McDuffie (SC).
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, February 3, 1822
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Letter to son. Topics include apportionment of representatives following the last census and possible loss of a congressional seat in Vermont.
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- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, January 23, 1819
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Letter to son. Topics include National Intelligencer; debate over censure of General Andrew Jackson over his engagement of the war in Florida.