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Salmon P. Chase Papers
This collection contains correspondence, notes, speeches, legal opinions, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks, as well as a group of papers belonging to J. W. Schuckers, Chase’s personal secretary and biographer. Series 1 makes up the majority of the collection, and includes both incoming and outg...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Collection: | Salmon P. Chase Papers |
| Collection Number: | 0121 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
| Physical Description: |
12.0 Linear feet ; 43 boxes; 16 volumes; 10 flat files |
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| Access: |
This collection is open for research. |
| Summary: |
This collection contains correspondence, notes, speeches, legal opinions, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks, as well as a group of papers belonging to J. W. Schuckers, Chase’s personal secretary and biographer.
Series 1 makes up the majority of the collection, and includes both incoming and outgoing correspondence. This correspondence is both personal and professional in nature. Chase’s correspondence covers a fair range of topics, including his law practices, his family, politics, abolition, and economics.
Series 2 is concerned with slavery. This small group of papers is primarily newspaper clippings and scrapbooks, as well as a small amount of correspondence and speech notes, all dealing with slavery and abolition.
Series 3 concerns Chase’s time as chief justice of the Supreme Court. The majority of the series contains notes on cases and legal opinions, as well as a few logistical papers.
Series 4 is miscellaneous papers. It contains some information about Chase's time as secretary of the Treasury, including records of the department and financial and debt reports, as well as a fair number of newspaper clippings. Many of the clippings are collected into smaller scrapbooks. There are also some loose newspaper clippings and whole newspapers on various topics, including politics and economics. Additionally, there are some photographs, maps, pamphlets, and catalogues.
Series 5 contains J. W. Schuckers's papers, which include biographical material on Chase, draft chapters of Schuckers’s biography of Chase, and personal and business papers including correspondence, investment information, and newspapers.
Series are primarily arranged alphabetically. Series 1, 4, and 5, are grouped by topic and then arranged alphabetically. The volumes are arranged by size.
Much of series 1-4 was microfilmed in 1987, and the microfilm reel numbers can be found in the microfilm index avaliable at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873) was a career politician and an influential Union decision-maker during the Civil War. He served as governor of Ohio, U.S. senator, secretary of the Treasury, and Supreme Court chief justice. The Salmon P. Chase Papers, which span the years 1824-1884, provide tremendous insight into the professional life of Chase and provide information on the National Bank and specie debates, as well as the abolition movement from the early 1820s through the Civil War. This collection contains correspondence, speech notes, newspaper clippings, biographical material, court opinions, financial papers, and a myriad of miscellaneous items. In addition to containing Chase's papers, this collection also contains the papers of J. W. Schuckers, Chase's personal secretary and biographer. Schuckers’s papers give further insight into the economic situation immediately following the Civil War and include correspondence, newspapers, investments records, and other financial papers. |