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
Show less
Related Archival Collections
(81 - 100 of 104)
Pages
- Title
- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, July 24, 1842
- Description
-
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.
Show less
- Title
- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, July 3, 1842
- Description
-
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.
Show less
- Title
- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, July 31, 1842
- Description
-
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.
Show less
- Title
- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, June 11, 1842
- Description
-
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.
Show less
- Title
- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, June 18, 1842
- Description
-
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.
Show less
- Title
- Letter to Nathan and Mary Hill, June 25, 1842
- Description
-
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.
Show less
- Title
- Letter to Pliny Corbin, July 13, 1842
- Description
-
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.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, April 22, 1822
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include date of adjournment; appropriations for different departments of government; federal revenue.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, April 8, 1822
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include date of adjournment; health of Representative John Randolph (VA).
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, December 20, 1820
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include debate in Congress over the establishment of a system of domestic manufactures.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, December 24, 1821
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include slowness of mail; Bankruptcy bill.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, December 3, 1821
- Description
-
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.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, February 15, 1824
- Description
-
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.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, February 2, 1820
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include Missouri and slavery; includes a sketch by Crafts of Missouri and surrounding area.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, February 2, 1823
- Description
-
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).
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, February 3, 1822
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include apportionment of representatives following the last census and possible loss of a congressional seat in Vermont.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, January 23, 1819
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include National Intelligencer; debate over censure of General Andrew Jackson over his engagement of the war in Florida.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, January 4, 1824
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include upcoming presidential election and potential candidates John Calhoun, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and William Crawford; divide in electoral politics on question of slavery particularly in Pennsylvania and New York; question of a Congressional...
Show moreLetter to son. Topics include upcoming presidential election and potential candidates John Calhoun, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and William Crawford; divide in electoral politics on question of slavery particularly in Pennsylvania and New York; question of a Congressional caucus on the election debated; health of members of Congress; Greek War of Independence.
Show less
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, March 25, 1820
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include mail robbery north of Baltimore; duel between Commodore Stephen Decatur and Commodore James Barron resulting in the death of Decatur; Decatur's funeral.
- Title
- Letter to Samuel P. Crafts, March 3, 1822
- Description
-
Letter to son. Topics include slowness of mail; health of members of Congress; date of adjournment.