Collections of college and personal papers, as well as a select number of individual documents, have been briefly described in entries available for browsing and searching on this site. All collection and document descriptions contain a representative image and a summary of the contents.
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Former Pennsylvania Representative Andrew Boden asks John Boyle, an attorney at the US Navy Office in Washington, to “procure for me” a copy of “the secret minutes of the convention, which framed the U. S. constitution.” As a member of Congress...
Location: I-SpahrB-undated-4
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: 
Letter from Andrew Boden to John Boyle
Anna Laetitia Barbauld asks Ritchard Taylor to post a letter for her and to come visit.
Location: I-Friends-1974-10
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Anna Barbauld to Ritchard Taylor
Attorney Roger Brooke Taney informs his client, Mrs. Patterson, that she has been served with a legal notice. When Mrs. Patterson returns from a few days in the country, Taney explains that "I will arrange with you the course proper to be...
Location: I-SpahrB-1964-6
Subject: Legal Affairs
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to Mrs. Patterson
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...
Location: I-Friends-1992-6
Subject: Genealogy and Family History, Literary Pursuits, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Robert Waln, Jr. to Samuel Sitgreaves
Attorney Roger Brooke Taney writes to his client, a Mr. Colt, and offers advice on the best way to influence the federal government. "Your interest would best be promoted by addressing a memorial to the Secretary of the Treasury" because, as...
Location: I-SpahrB-1965-15
Subject: Economics and Finance, Legal Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to Mr. Colt
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...
Location: I-Purchase-1955-60
Subject: Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from William Wilkins to John Calhoun
Attorney Roger Brooke Taney asks for information about legal decisions in Maryland regarding selling property "conveyed in trust to secure the repayment of money loaned." Taney also request a copy of the relevant decision by the court of appeals...
Location: I-SpahrB-1963-4
Subject: Economics and Finance, Legal Affairs
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Lancelot Johnston of Morgan County, Georgia, son of a friend and physician of George Washington, buys "a negro man named Tilman" from M. L. Graves for five hundred and fifty dollars on June 10, 1825.
Location: I-NelsonR-1956-1
Subject: Business and Industry
Format: Financial Documents
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Bill of Sale from M.L. Graves to Lancelot Johnston
Samuel Maclay receives his Bachelor of Arts Diploma from Dickinson College on July 30, 1825.
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Bachelor of Arts Diploma - Samuel Maclay
Alexander Macbeth, a member of the Class of 1825, receives this diploma as a member of the Union Philosophical Society on July 31, 1825.
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Union Philosophical Society Diploma - Alexander Macbeth
Samuel Maclay, a member of the Class of 1825, receives this diploma as a member of the Union Philosophical Society on July 31, 1825.
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Union Philosophical Society Diploma - Samuel Maclay
Baltimore attorney Roger Brooke Taney writes J. J. Speed, an attorney in Annapolis, and discusses a particular legal case. "The postponement of the case of Canals vs. McFadon is perfectly agreeable to me," as Taney explains.
Location: I-SpahrB-1965-6
Subject: Legal Affairs
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to J. J. Speed
Attorney Roger Brooke Taney to another lawyer, J. J. Speed, about proving a certain point in a particular legal case. "Please see that this proof [is] introduced into the proceedings before a decision takes place," as Taney explains.
Location: I-SpahrB-1969-5
Subject: Legal Affairs
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to J. J. Speed
Attorney Roger Brooke Taney writes to Senator Samuel Smith and discuses his view of the legal rights of the Creek and Cherokee tribes in Georgia with regard to treaties made with the federal government. Taney also discusses the Act of 1793 in...
Location: I-SpahrB-1954-4
Subject: International Affairs, Legal Affairs, Native Americans, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to Samuel Smith
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...
Location: I-AsbellY-2004-8
Subject: Legal Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to William Beall
Mary Nisbet Turnbull writes to her son, Alexander Turnbull, discussing new developments in the affairs of his father's estate, in addition to the lives of other members of their family. Transcript included.
Location: MC 2001.7, B1, F25
Subject: Land and Real Estate, Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
Secretary of the Treasury Richard Rush prepares a questionnaire on the manufacture of silk for Connecticut to be included in a manual mandated by the House of Representatives.
Location: I-BeachW-1983-4
Subject: Business and Industry, Politics and Government
Format: Reports
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Questionnaire Prepared by Richard Rush
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on September 27, 1826 shows the members of the graduating class and the speeches that they were scheduled to deliver.
Location: Dickinsoniana Programs
Subject: Dickinson College Events
Format: Memorabilia and Ephemera
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: 1826 Commencement Program
Attorney Roger Brooke Taney writes General Walter Jones to discussing the timing of "the monastery case." Taney notes that Jones should "consider the case as continued until June next."
Location: I-SpahrB-1953-20
Subject: Legal Affairs
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to Walter Jones
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...
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
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letters from James Buchanan to John Reynolds
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
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from James Buchanan to John Reynolds
Rev. Samuel B. How writes to Reverend Ashbel Green to settle his accounts and explain that he must leave the pastorate because his wife is sick. "[The] wretched state of Mrs. How’s health has induced [me] to believe that it is my duty to leave...
Location: I-BeachW-1980-1
Subject: Economics and Finance, Personal and Family Life, Religion and Spirituality
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Samuel How to Ashbel Green
Secretary of the Treasury Richard Rush acknowledges the receipt of two letters and states that he "took pleasure in receiving" E. H. Mills' correspondence.
Location: I-BeachW-1984-7
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from Richard Rush to E. H. Mills
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...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Economics and Finance, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letters from James Buchanan to Samuel Ingham
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...
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
View Item: Letters from James Buchanan to Thomas Elder
John McLean, United States Postmaster, writes William Murphy, the Postmaster of Maysville, Kentucky, to remind him of the obligation to deliver letters on Sunday that "arrive on Saturday night." "Please conform to [this rule] and render the...
Location: I-Purchase-1973-1
Subject: Business and Industry, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1820-1839
View Item: Letter from John McLean to William Murphy