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.
Sorted chronologically
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney writes to his granddaughter, Phoebe K. Campbell, about the summer weather as well as reports and comments on various family news. Family members mentioned include Phoebe's aunt Maria and Mr. Allison...
Location: I-SpahrB-1965-9
Subject: Health and Medicine, Personal and Family Life, Weather and Climate
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
Horatio Collins King's diary during the fall of his third year at Dickinson College. King is a member of the class of 1858. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1999.9, B2, F6
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: 
Editor's Note -- Diary of Horatio Collins King, Diary of Horatio Collins King, Fall 1856 (Transcript)
The Dickinson College catalog for the 1856-1857 academic year. Through the years, the annual catalog was variously titled "The Bulletin," "Catalogue and Register," "Course Catalog," and similar variants. The catalog typically includes the list of...
Location: Dickinsoniana Periodicals
Subject: Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Administration, Education
Format: Books and Pamphlets
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item:
Horatio Collins King's diary during the spring of his third year at Dickinson College. King is a member of the class of 1858. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1999.9, B2, F6
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Editor's Note -- Diary of Horatio Collins King, Diary of Horatio Collins King, Spring 1857 (Transcript)
Hiram Walbridge writes President James Buchanan to introduce Robert Gamble and recommend him for a political appointment. Walbridge notes that “Gamble is a sound reliable democrat” who “has held responsible public trusts in the City of New York...
Location: I-SpahrB-1952-10
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney writes to D. M. Perine regarding a life insurance policy payment at the Baltimore Life Insurance Company. As he is still in Washington, Taney asks Perine to take the payment to J. J. Donalson. While...
Location: I-SpahrB-1969-8
Subject: Economics and Finance, Health and Medicine, Legal Affairs, Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to D. Perine
United States Attorney General Jeremiah Sullivan Black provides legal advice to President James Buchanan on whether the Chief Executive can remit part of the sentence of a convict. "I have examined and found that the universal practice of all...
Location: MC 1998.10, B1, F2
Subject: Legal Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Jeremiah Black to James Buchanan
Thomas Griffith, a member of the Class of 1858, writes to his sister about his semester at Dickinson College. Griffith writes about some of his friends, health, as well as his studies. Griffith also tells his sister about his plans for the...
Location: MC 2005.4, B1, F1
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Thomas M. Griffith to His Sister
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Robert Cooper Grier (Class of 1812) writes to his brother, Nelson Grier, and discusses a picnic as well as a trip to the mountains.
Location: I-Friends-1981-7
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Robert Grier to Nelson Grier
Edwin L. Griffith prepared this oration, entitled “The Student's Dream," for the commencement ceremonies held July 9, 1857. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript...
Location: Orations-1857-G853s
Subject: Education
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "The Student’s Dream," by Edwin L. Griffith
Conway Phelps Wing receives his Honorary Doctor of Sacred Theology Diploma from Dickinson College on July 9, 1857.
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Honorary Doctor of Sacred Theology Diploma - Conway Wing
John Hays (II) receives his Bachelor of Arts Diploma from Dickinson College on July 9, 1857.
Location: OC 2001.1, F7
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Bachelor of Arts Diploma - John Hays II
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on July 9, 1857 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: 1840-1859
View Item: 1857 Commencement Program
First Lady Harriet Lane writes to Lily Macalester about the going ons of Washington D.C., her trip to Pennsylvania, Macalester's trip to West Point, as well as various bits of gossip. Lane also comments on several political figures, including...
Location: I-Friends-2000-8
Subject: Military Affairs and Conflict, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Harriet Lane to Lily Macalester
Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb writes to David Tompkins and accepts his election to the James Buchanan Literary Association of New Haven, Connecticut.
Location: I-Purchase-1966-1
Subject: Literary Pursuits, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Howell Cobb to David Tompkins
Jacob Frick asks Eli Slifer to write to Pennsylvania Governor William F. Packer "in my behalf for the office of Notary which will become vacant here [in Pottsville] this Fall." Transcript included.
Location: MC 2003.4, B4, F17
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Jacob Frick to Eli Slifer
Horatio Collins King's diary during the fall of his senior year at Dickinson College. King is a member of the class of 1858. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1999.9, B2, F6
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Editor's Note -- Diary of Horatio Collins King, Diary of Horatio Collins King, Fall 1857 (Transcript)
Assistant Postmaster General Horatio King writes the Postmaster of Athens, Pennsylvania , to reprimand him for "the negligent and imperfect manner in which the cancellation of postage stamps is... performed in your office."
Location: I-SpahrB-1950-6
Subject: Business and Industry, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Horatio King to the Postmaster in Athens, PA
President James Buchanan writes former President Franklin Pierce and encloses "the first copy of the message which has been delivered to any person." The "message" that Buchanan refers to is likely his first State of the Union, which was...
Location: MC 1998.10, B3, F25
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
United States Senator Simon Cameron writes Samuel D. Ingham, a former United States Secretary of the Treasury, to discuss President James Buchanan and other national political matters. "Our old friend [President James] Buchanan is really in...
Location: I-SpahrB-1963-1
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Simon Cameron to Samuel Ingham
Rufus Choate, a former US Senator from Massachusetts, writes President James Buchanan (Class of 1809) to request the appointment of Edward Riddle as a naval agent in Boston, Massachusetts. "Mr Riddle [is] eminently well suited to perform the...
Location: I-AsbellY-1978-1
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Rufus Choate to James Buchanan
Horatio Collins King's diary during the spring of his senior year at Dickinson College. King is a member of the class of 1858. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1999.9, B2, F6
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Editor's Note -- Diary of Horatio Collins King, Diary of Horatio Collins King, Spring 1858 (Transcript)
William Bigler writes to A. Boyd Hamilton and discusses President James Buchanan and several national political issues, including slavery, the Dred Scott decision, and the Lecompton Convention in Kansas. "I should sacrifice much before I would...
Location: I-SpahrB-undated-3
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
James Sellers writes fifteen letters to Eli Slifer concerning help with managing his father's estate, the possibility of his election as Senator as a result of his affiliation with the Whig party, questions about the division of Union County, as...
Location: MC 2003.4
Subject: Business and Industry, Legal Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from James Sellers to Eli Slifer
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney writes Professor Joseph Henry, the first Smithsonian Secretary, to explain that he cannot meet with the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. As the Supreme Court Justices are meeting to decide...
Location: I-SpahrB-1969-7
Subject: Legal Affairs, Politics and Government, Science and Technology
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Roger B. Taney to Joseph Henry