Entries drawn from collection & document descriptions
James Buchanan was a graduate of Dickinson College, Class of 1809, who went on to become the fifteenth president of the United States. The majority of this collection is comprised of correspondence between Buchanan and his business and political associates; over four hundred letters penned by...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Economics and Finance, Education, International Affairs, Legal Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Books and Pamphlets, Engravings and Illustrations, Legal and Government Documents, Letters/Correspondence, Memorabilia and Ephemera, Newspapers and Magazines, Reports, Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1800-1819, 1820-1839, 1840-1859, 1860-1879, 1880-1899, 1900-1919, 1920-1939, 1940-1959, 1960-1979, 1980-1999
Collection Inventory: 
mc1998.10.pdf
The Dickinsoniana Newspaper Collection consists of various newspapers acquired by the Library over the years. These items feature articles which concern mainly Dickinson College: happenings on campus, curriculum offerings, and doings of famous alumni such as James Buchanan and Roger Brooke Taney...
Location: Dickinsoniana – Newspaper Collection 1769-2001
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College History, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Military Affairs and Conflict
Format: Newspapers and Magazines
Time Period: 1780-1799, 1800-1819, 1820-1839, 1840-1859, 1860-1879, 1880-1899, 1900-1919, 1920-1939, 1940-1959, 1960-1979, 1980-1999, 2000-2019
Collection Inventory: Dickinsoniana - Annotated Newspaper List
Collection Inventory: Dickinsoniana - Subject Index
James Buchanan writes two letters to Henry Shippen regarding purchasing land out west, a judicial appointment in Iowa, Pennsylvania politics, the financial system, and the Deposit Law of 1836. "I have been accustomed to witness many humbugs," but as Buchanan explains, Pennsylvania "Governor [...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Business and Industry, Economics and Finance, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1800-1819
Representative James Buchanan writes three letters to Jacob M. Halderman regarding the legal case against Colonel Thomas and his debt to the federal government. Transcripts included.
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Legal Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
James Buchanan writes six letters to John Reynolds on a variety of different legal and political matters, including the Presidential elections of 1828 and 1844, Buchanan's experience living in Russia as the US minister, and increasing sectional tensions. Transcripts included.
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Business and Industry, Health and Medicine, International Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
James Buchanan writes to Samuel D. Ingham, Esquire, discussing a conflict between him and General Jackson which Buchanan is to address in the Lancaster Journal. He expresses concern over "the preservation of [his] own character." He claims in a subsequent letter that the "Jackson papers...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Economics and Finance, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Representative James Buchanan writes Thomas Elder and discusses a number of issues in two letters, including the health of Judge Duncan, the 1829 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, cities that a transcontinental road would pass through, a trial of six Tennessee militia men sentenced to...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Business and Industry, Economics and Finance, Health and Medicine, Legal Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Representative James Buchanan writes Joseph Gales and William Seaton to complain about being misquoted in a newspaper article. "I never expressed such an opinion" on imports, as Buchanan notes. Buchanan also asks them to publish a correction. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F8
Subject: Business and Industry, Economics and Finance, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Representative James Buchanan writes a letter from Washington, DC, and discusses several political issues in Pennsylvania, including the 1829 Gubernatorial election. Buchanan describes Isaac Barnard, a possible candidate for governor, as "a high minded, independent honest man" who will never "...
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F9
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Legal and Government Documents
Time Period: 1820-1839
Representative James Buchanan writes two letters to Senator Isaac D. Barnard to discuss political matters as well as console him for his defeat at the Harrisburg Convention. Transcripts included.
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Representative James Buchanan writes two letters to Colonel Isaac Wayne and shares political news, explains why midshipmen cannot be appointed, as well as speculates on possible candidates for the 1832 Presidential election. The politicians that Buchanan mentions include incumbent President...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Military Affairs and Conflict, Native Americans, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Representative James Buchanan writes to Peter Stephen Du Ponceau of Philadelphia about Du Ponceau's earlier letter, which Buchanan had delivered to Ambrose Spencer, the chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. Buchanan explains that "[Spencer] justly appreciates the services which you have...
Location: I-Friends-2006-3
Subject: Business and Industry, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Representative James Buchanan writes to Hugh Hamilton and regarding Hamilton's mistake in publishing Buchanan's letters in the New York Inquirer. Even though Hamilton "transposed the order of time in which they were written and omitted that portion of the letter in regard to myself...
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F11
Subject: Literary Pursuits, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
John Reynolds writes to James Buchanan, the United States Minister to Russia, regarding various business matters that he will address while Buchanan is out of the country. "I fear you have had a rough and tedious passage and suffered from sea sickness though I indulge the hope that you are this...
Location: MC 1998.10, B4, F21
Subject: Business and Industry, Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
James Buchanan writes to James Humes regarding the "unpleasant circumstances attending my departure" from the United States, Pennsylvania Governor George Wolf's re-election, and increasing sectional tensions. Buchanan also describes his experience living in St. Petersburg as the United States...
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F12
Subject: International Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Travel and Tourism, Weather and Climate
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
James Buchanan, the Minister to Russia, writes J. Randolph Clay with complaints about the cost of sending mail from the United States to Russia and offers diplomatic advice. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F13
Subject: International Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
James Buchanan, the United States Minister to Russia, asks Nathaniel Niles to send "my private letters immediately by Mail." Buchanan also provides an update on the Mission of General Mouravieff to the Pasha of Egypt. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F13
Subject: International Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
James Buchanan writes to John Maclean a month before his term as a US Senator from Pennsylvania starts. Buchanan, a Democrat who had resigned as Ambassador to Russia the previous year, also discusses Samuel Porter, son of the late Michigan Governor George Porter, and the possibility of his...
Location: I-Friends-2004-4
Subject: Education, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Representative Henry Augustus Philip Muhlenberg writes to John Meredith Read, an attorney in Philadelphia, about various political intrigues and comments on James Buchanan's election to the United States Senate. "I rejoice in the election of our friend Buchanan" and, as Muhlenberg explains, "he...
Location: I-SpahrB-1954-3
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
US Senator James Buchanan writes to Henry D. Gilpin about his unconfirmed nomination.
While "a week ago I thought there was no doubt," Buchanan explains that "from the [temper?] manifested to day on the rejection of John S. Sullivan I fear that your nomination will not be confirmed."
Location: I-Friends-2005-5
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Senator James Buchanan writes to Mahlon Dickerson, the Secretary of the Navy, regarding the Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1835. The contest was between incumbent Governor Wolf, Joseph Ritner, and Henry A. P. Muhlenberg. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F14
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Senator James Buchanan writes to Roberts Vaux reflecting upon the election of delegates to the Democratic Committee of Correspondence in Pennsylvania for the proposed March 4 Convention. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F14
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Senator James Buchanan writes three letters to Dickinson College President John Price Durbin in regard to the education and financial accounts of William Hopkins at the school. Transcripts included.
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Dickinson College Administration, Education
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Senator James Buchanan writes to V. Best and discusses whether to vote for or against "Colonel Benton’s Expunging resolution." "I have been somewhat astonished that several of my friends in Pennsylvania have advised me to disobey the Instructions of the [Pennsylvania] Legislature," as Buchanan...
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F15
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Senator James Buchanan writes John M. Clayton for assistance in locating "some original Land Office papers" that are missing from the Committee room. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F18
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
