Secretary of State John Quincy Adams writes to Ebenezer Huntington, an attorney, to inform him that the USS John Adams has been sent to Havana with "purpose of procuring the Release of such Citizens of the United States, including Captain Asa Hosmer, as may be detained there as...

Lawyer and banker Roger Brooke Taney responds to a client who wants to collect a toll from travelers that ford a river rather than use their tolled bridge. While an "Act of 1818" prohibits such collections, Taney suggests a different solution: "Obstruct[ing] the ford as the law authorize[s] you...

Author Robert Waln, Jr. writes Pennsylvania politician Samuel Sitgreaves to ask for information about the life of James Wilson for a book entitled Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Waln poses nine questions to Sitgreaves regarding Wilson's personal and...

William Wilkins writes to Secretary of War John C. Calhoun and recommends the son of an officer who served during the American Revolution, Dr. H. Stevenson, as an army paymaster. Wilkins also congratulates Calhoun on his election to Vice President of the United States in the Election of 1824....

Attorney Roger Brooke Taney writes to William Beall, a member of Andrew Jackson's Democratic Central Committee, regarding legal issues of a mutual acquaintance. "You have I presume heard of the unfortunate affair in which Romeo's son William was supposed to be engaged" and, as Taney notes, "I...

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. 

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...

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.

Richard Rush responds to John F. Watson's request for assistance in obtaining an "appointment as governor or superintendent of the Marine Assylum near Philadelphia." Rush explains that he talked to Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard, who noted that it was likely "that a naval officer will...

United States Treasury Secretary Richard Rush writes to Joseph B. Manning stating that he has forwarded Manning's letter and enclosed $30 to the Department of State, "to which the subject of patents belongs."

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.

Statesman Richard Rush writes to an unspecified Colonel, requesting papers on behalf of the Treasury Department and returning works the Colonel has already sent.