Glenn Papers, MS 1017, 1706-1939

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Collection summary

Administrative summary

Biographical Note

Judge John Glenn was born on October 9, 1795, in Elkton, MD. He read law to receive his Law degree in 1817 and entered private practice in Baltimore. He then served as U.S. District Attorney for the District of Maryland until being nominated on March 18, 1852 by President Millard Fillmore to fill a seat in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland vacated by Upton S. Heath. Glenn held this position until his death near Catonsville, MD on July 8, 1853.

Judge Glenn’s father, Elias Glenn, also served as both U.S. District Attorney for the District of Maryland and Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. In 1812 he established a country estate south of Baltimore he called “Glennsburne.” William Wilkins Glenn (1824-1876), his grandson, and John Glenn’s son, incorporated the Curtis Creek Mining, Furnace and Manufacturing Company into the estate in the mid 19^th century. In 1888 the Company set aside a small portion of its landholdings towards the establishment of the town of Glen Burnie, a suburb of Baltimore. William Wilkins Glenn was also editor of the "Baltimore Gazette" until 1872.

Sources:

Federal Judicial Center, “Biographical Directory of Federal Judges,” accessed on September 24, 2010, http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/nGetInfo?jid=869&cid=999&ctype=na&instate.

            Ruth P. Eason, History of the Town of Glen Burnie (The Kuethe Library, Inc., Glen Burnie, MD, 1972). MF187.A6.G5E13

Scope and Content

The Glenn Papers spans the years 1706-1939. The collection is comprised primarily of correspondence as well as legal documents, deeds, wills and indentures. The collection contain personal correspondence of Judge John Glenn and his son William Wilkins Glenn including letters from Reverdy Johnson, Daniel Webster, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Maryland Governor Thomas Pratt, General Henry Heth, General Louis Wigfall.

From 1840-60, there are letters relating mainly to business and family affairs, both Judge John Glenn and William Wilkins Glenn appearing in the correspondence. From 1860-65, the letters cover the Civil War. From 1866-76, there is family and business correspondence and also letters relating to William Wilkins Glenn's Colorado silver mine deal, and from 1877-1939, the collection includes legal documents and family correspondence with  John Mark Glenn and William L. Glenn being major correspondents.

Letters in the collection give good representations of social life in Baltimore and England, and travels in S. America, CO and England, correspondents including various members of the British nobility, and Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Trollope. Other letters provide good political and economic history, including material on political prisoners during the Civil War, economic conditions in Baltimore during the War and Severn Teackle Wallis' many letters commenting on Baltimore politics before, during and after the War. There is also material relating to religious life, because of William L. Glenn's position as rector of various churches in MD.

Other Forms Note: 1 typewritten transcript of William Wilkins Glenn's journal kept on his trip to South America, 1840s. 1 typewritten transcript of William Wilkins Glenn's will, written in verse 1876. Both originals are in the collection.

One item is missing from the collection.

 Correspondence, Fremantle to Glenn,1863, Oct. 5; Box 2, Item 8

The following items have been removed from the collection for safekeeping. The original has been replaced with a photocopy.

            Correspondence, Daniel Webster, Reverdy Johnson to John Glenn, 1845; Box 1, Item 23

Correspondence, Robert E. Lee to W.W. Glenn, 1869, June 28; Box 3, Item 12

Correspondence, Robert E. Lee to W.W. Glenn, 1870, July 19; Box 3, Item 15

Correspondence, Jefferson Davis to W.W. Glenn, 1870, Oct. 4; Box 3, Item 17

See also the following related manuscript collections:

Commonplace book, ca. 1847, Glenn, Mary, 19^th cent., MS 395

Glenn Papers, 1794-1878; 1936-1941, MS 1558

See also the following related photograph collection:

            Glenn Family, PP41

See also the following works in the Maryland Historical Society’s Main Reading Room:

Catalogue of the law library of late Judge Glenn, Glenn, John, 1795-1853,  

[Baltimore?: s.n., ca. 1853], MHF 5476.G55B7

Ellen Marks Bayly and Mark Norton Schatz, eds., Between North and South: a Maryland journalist views the Civil War: the narrative of William Wilkins Glenn, 1861-1869 (Rutherford : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, c1976), E458.8.G57  

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