Descriptive Summary

John Campbell White Papers

MS 1005

Maryland Historical Society

Baltimore MD 21201-4674

by

Scott A. Leonard

September 1996

Dr. John Campbell White (1757-1847) came to the United States with some of his several sons in 1798 from Ireland. After becoming a successful Baltimore doctor, he founded White and Sons Distillery. The collection is named after one of these sons, John Campbell White.

John Campbell White (late 1700's-1800's), also referred to as John White, became cashier of the Baltimore Branch of the Second Bank of the United States during the 1820's. A large amount of the papers in the collection deal with bank business. John White was appointed trustee for the Bank in 1821. His correspondence with Langdon Cheves (1776-1857) and Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844) was almost daily for several years until the Bank closed in 1837. The Bank papers include meeting minutes, committee reports, accounts with insolvent debtors, and legal papers.

After bank material, the most important part of the collection appears to concern matters of litigation in the Baltimore courts between 1820 and 1860. An intense family quarrel arose concerning White and Sons and other matters of the estate of Dr. John Campbell White. After 1840, more family correspondence appears in the collection. The name of another son of Dr. White, Henry (1794-1882), becomes more frequent in among this correspondence. Surnames such as Ridgely, Patterson, Dorsey, and Bonaparte also appear after 1840.

The collection was a gift to the Maryland Historical Society from Mr. John Campbell White in September 1954.

MS 1005 contains correspondence to and from John Campbell White, papers of the Baltimore Branch of the Second Bank of the U.S., legal papers dealing with the White vs. White litigation, business papers of White and Sons, and correspondence between family members, friends of the family, and business acquaintances.

The collection concerns John Campbell White, son of Dr. John Campbell White, and the arrangement of the collections reflects this. The two largest series, I and II, are made up of the incoming and outgoing correspondence of John White. The arrangement of these series are typical of the other correspondence series. Each is arranged into folders for individual correspondents, depending on the volume of correspondence. If there are very few items involving a particular correspondent, those items are lumped together with other items into one general outgoing or incoming correspondence file.

In the case of series VI, Correspondence of Other Member of the White Family, the decision was made to group these items into one series, rather than a series for each individual. The relative volume of correspondence involving each individual was not great enough to warrant a separate series. Correspondence between individual members of the White family and either John or Henry is included in the series for John or Henry.

Another series of interest, series XIII, contains papers regarding naturalization records and genealogical notes on the Lyde, Buckler, Ridgely, and Eichelberger families. These notes are undated and unsigned.

The great majority of MS 1005 is still in need of reprocessing. The original processing was done in the mid-1960s, and each individual item was given its own folder, and the folders were arranged chronologically. These folders are not acid-free, and there may be items needing preservation. This reprocessing should serve as a model for the continuing arrangement of the collection. Items were

rearranged into folders and series dedicated to correspondents or, for items which were not correspondence, by subject. This reduced the size of the collection from 39 to 35 boxes.

Series I. Incoming Correspondence of John Campbell White

Box 1

From

—Alexander, J. S.

—Bend, William

—Biddle, Nicholas

(four folders)

—Bosley, James

—Brown, John A.

—Buchanan, J. A.

—Campbell, J. Mason

(two folders)

—Cheves, Langdon

(three folders)

—Clay, Henry

—Colt, R. L.

(two folders)

—Cope, Herman

Box 2

—Correy, J.

—Cowperthrait, J.

—Donnell, John

—Ellicott, Thomas

—Gassaway, Louis

—Gill, George

—Gibson, R.

—Gilman, R.

—Gilpin, H. D.

—Haine, W. M.

—Harper, C. C.

—Harper, Robert G.

—Hunter, Jason

—Ingham, S.

—Jameson, S.

—Jandon, S.

—Jefferson, Thomas

—Johnson, Reverdy

—King, John

—Kinney, William

—Lammot, Daniel

—Latimer, R. W.

—Leavitt, R.

—Lurman, Gustav W.

—MacCauley, Mary

—MacTavish, Mary

—Magruder, Robert B.

(three folders)

—Magruder, William

—Manning, W.

—McTavish, John

—Meredith, John

—Morton, John

—Murray, Henry W.

—Nicholas, C. I.

—Orbison, William

Box 3

—Patterson, Elizabeth

—Patterson, William

—Pennington, J.

—Pinkerton, J.

—Poe, George

—Porter, Alexander

—Robinson, William

—Rutter, J. B.

—Seth, J. G.

—Smith, D. A.

—Smith, R.

—Speed, J. J.

—Streaker, Charles

(two folders)

—Steward, Catherine

—Stuart, George

—Warbuck, Geoff

—White, Ann

—White, C. LeRoy

—White, Campbell P.

(three folders)

Box 4

—White, Campbell P.

(three folders)

—White, Decimus and Stevenson White

—White, John C. (of Henry)

—White, John G. (New York)

—White, Henry

—White, Joseph

—White, Mary

—Wilkins, Henry

—Williams, Nathan

—Wilson, Thomas

—Wirt, William

—Woodbury, Levi

Incoming Correspondence of John White

Incoming Correspondence of White, John and Henry White

Series II. Outgoing Correspondence from John Campbell White

Box 5

To

—Benett, A.

—Bend, William B.

—Biddle, Nicholas

(three folders)

—Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon and William Patterson

—Brown, J. A.

—Campbell, J. Mason

—Cheves, Langdon

(three folders)

—Colt, R. L.

—Cope, Herman

—Cumming, J.

—Ellicott, Thomas

Box 6

—Gilpin, H. D.

—Glenn, John

—Harper, Robert G.

—Haine, W. M.

—Hunter, Jason

—Ingham, Samuel

—Jandon, S.

—Lander, A.

—Latimer, R. W.

—Leavitt, A.

—Lheater, C.

—Magruder, Robert B.

—Meredith, John

—Moore, Morton and Company (Illinois Land Agency)

—Morrison, J. D.

—Nicholas, C. I.

—Robinson, M.

—Smith, R.

—Streaker, C.

—White, Campbell P.

—White, Henry

—White, Dr. John Campbell

—White, John Campbell (b. 1827)

—White, John G. (NY)

—Wilson, Thomas

(two folders)

—Wirt, William

—Woodbury, Levi

Outgoing Correspondence of White, John

White, John—Memoranda

Series III. Correspondence of Thomas Ellicott

From

—Barring Brothers

—Cheves, Langdon

—Cooke, Edward E.

—Harper, Robert G.

—Kennedy, J. P.

—Key, Francis Scott and James P. Dunlop

—Magruder, Richard B.

—Meredith, John

—Pinkney, William

—Smith, George

—Smith, S.

—Winchester, George

Incoming Correspondence of Ellicott, Thomas

Series IV. Incoming Correspondence of Henry White

Box 7

From

—Barnes, William

—Barnett, A.

—Campbell, J. Mason

—Forbes, J. M.

—Glenn, John

—Moore, Morton and Company

—Rodenmayer, William A.

—Starkweather, N. S.

—Webster, Daniel

—White, Campbell P.

—White, John G.

(two folders)

—White, Joseph

Incoming Correspondence of White, Henry

Series V. Outgoing Correspondence of Henry White

To

—James Mason Campbell

—Daniel Webster

—Campbell P. White

—John G. White

Outgoing Correspondence of White, Henry

Series VI. Correspondence of Other Members of the White Family

C. Ridgely of H. To Eliza Ridgely [Mrs. John C. White of H.]

Dorsey, Becky Hanny to Miss Ridgely

Morris, Lydia to Eliza Ridgely

Evans, Mary and Lizzie to Eliza Ridgely

Ridgely, E. E. to Eliza Ridgely [Mrs. John C. White of Henry]

[Ridgely], Julieanne to Eliza Ridgely

Latrobe, John H. B. and J. M. Campbell to John Campbell White and Campbell P. White

Latrobe, John H. B. to John White (b. 1827)

Nourse, Joseph E. to John White (b. 1827)

Scott, Winfield to Robert White

White, John Campbell (b. 1827) to Eliza Ridgely

White, John Campbell (b. 1827) to Campbell P. White

White, John Campbell (b. 1827) to Joseph White

White, Joseph to Reverdy Johnson

White, Joseph to John H. B. Latrobe and J. M. Campbell

White, Joseph to Campbell P. White

White, Joseph to Robert White

Incoming Correspondence of Ridgely, Eliza [Mrs. John C. White of H.]

Incoming Correspondence of White, Campbell P.

Incoming Correspondence of White, Dr. John C.

Incoming Correspondence of White, Joseph

Outgoing Correspondence of White, Campbell P.

Series VII. Correspondence of J. M. Campbell

Box 8

Incoming Correspondence of Campbell, J. M.

Alexander, J. S. to James Mason Campbell

Glenn, John to James Mason Campbell

Johnson, R. to James Mason Campbell

McLean, Cornelius to J. M. Campbell

Pennington, J. to James Mason Campbell

Stewart, D. to J. Mason Campbell

Stewart, D. to J. Mason Campbell and Reverdy Johnson

Outgoing Correspondence of Campbell, J. M.

Campbell, J. Mason to David Stewart

Series VIII. Correspondence of Others

Biddle, N[icholas] to Donnell, John

Biddle, Nicholas to William Patterson

Biddle, Nicholas to Nathaniel Williams, Reverdy Johnson and John Glenn

Brown, Alex to Langdon Cheves

Buckles, Louis to William Buckles

Carroll, Charles—Authorizing John MacTavish as an attorney for Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Cope, Herman to John Meredith

Donnell, John to Langdon Cheves

Garrett, William to Richard B. Magruder

Franklin, W. to George Kerbs

Haine, Joseph to Sir John Soane

to Thomas Janvier

Johnson, Reverdy to Messrs. Glenn and Stuart

Latrobe, John H. B. and J. M. Campbell to Reverdy Johnson

Lewis, Thomas to Samuel Ogden

Long, Robert C. to Dennis A. Smith

Magruder, Richard B. to James Calhoun

McCulloh, J. W. to Samuel McCulloh

McLean, Cornelius to Thomas Alexander

Mullikin, B. H. to William B. Bends

Rahe, William to William Buckley

Rhind, Charles to George Williams

Smith, F. A. to George Williams

Smith, William W. to John A. Morton

Speed, J. J. to Charlotte

Taylor, Elijah to George Carter

Duke of Wellington

Wilcock, Santiago Smith to Joel R. Poinsett

Wirt, William to Alexander Brown

Wirt, William to John Donnell

Correspondence of Thomas, Philip E.

Incoming Correspondence of Biddle, Nicholas

Incoming Correspondence of Bosley, James

Incoming Correspondence of Donnell, John

Incoming Correspondence of Ellicott, Thomas and John Meredith

Incoming Correspondence of Johnson, Reverdy

Incoming Correspondence of Magruder, Richard B.

Incoming Correspondence of Magruder, William

Incoming Correspondence of Meredith, John

Incoming Correspondence of Ridgely, Eliza E.

Incoming Correspondence of Smith, Dennis A.

Incoming Correspondence of Smith, Richard

Incoming Correspondence of Williams, George

Incoming Correspondence of Wirt, William

Outgoing Correspondence of Donnell, John

Letters (unknown correspondents)

Series IX. Papers Relating to the White vs. White Litigation

Box 9

Joseph White vs. John Campbell White and Others

Joseph White vs. John White, Henry White, Campbell P. White

(three folders)

Series X. Bank Papers

Box 10

Legal Cases involving the Bank of the United States

Papers of the Bank of the United States

(three folders)

Correspondence of the Bank of the United States

Checkbook—Bank of the United States

Canceled Checks and Register—Franklin Bank

Real Estate Papers

Series XI. Business Papers of John Campbell White

Estate of James Calhoun—John White, Trustee

Estate of William Sinclair—John White Executor

Estate of John A. Morton, Jr.

White, John—Affairs of the Bank of the U. S. of MD

White, John Campbell—Narrative of the Cashier, Case for John A. Brown

Gold/Silver Folder

Notes Paid—John White, Henry White

Box 11

Indenture between Ellicott, Thomas and John White

(eleven copies)

Relating to Insolvent Debtors

Mortgages to John White

Accounting Notes

Balance Sheet of Thomas Ellicott, Trustee

Business Records

Powers of Attorney—John Campbell White of Henry

Relating to Will of John Campbell White—John White, Executor

Report of White and Gilpin to Levi Woodbury

Alexander, J. S.—Opinion, Port Office Lease

Insurance Policy issued to John White and Co.

Letting, P. and Son - notice to quit

Latrobe, John H. B. to Thomas and White, trustees

White, John, trustee, for Charles C. Harper

Rye and Barley Malt Orders

Chevolleau, Francis, Power of Attorney to John White

Series XII. Miscellaneous Business and Legal Papers

Relating to the Trustees of S. Smith and Buchanan

Mortgage and Account of McKim, John

Protest[s] of Henry Myers note to Jacob Myers... (three)

Oliver, R. against Hollins and McBlair

Legal Papers—Miscellaneous

Legal Papers

Legal Papers — John Louis Buchanan

Stock Transfer Vouchers

Accounts—William Riggin

Financial and Legal Documents of Dr. John White

Balance Sheets—Distillery

Joseph White Distillery Accounts

Navile, William—Property Claims

Regarding the Renting of the Distillery Property

Relating to the Will of Robert White

The Manhattan Company vs. Robert White

Lot and House on Frederick Street

Fiscal and Legal Documents of James McCulloh

Documents Regarding Mount Royal Property

Williams, James—Promissory Note and Protest, Amos A. Williams

Legal Papers of Williams, George

Affidavit Drafts—City of Baltimore

Treasury Department Notice

Series XIII. Naturalization and Family Papers

White, Henry Naturalization Record

White, John Naturalization Record

Naturalization Act—U.S. Congress

Genealogical Notes—Lyde and Buckler Families

Genealogical Notes—Ridgely, Eichelberger and Buckler Families

Series XIV.

Floor Plan of the 22nd Congress (House of Representatives)

Series XV.

Copies of Medical Articles

Series XVI.

Book Announcement for A History of England

MS 1011 William Wirt Papers, 1784-1864

July 17, 1958.

Memorandum to Mr. James W. Foster:

Mrs. W. Bladen Lowndes has presented to the Maryland Historical Society the Papers of William Wirt (1772-1834), Attorney General of the United States from 1817 to 1829.

The collection consists of approximately 9,000 pieces, including an estimated 4,000 letters from Wirt, 3,000 to Wirt, and 2,000 other items. The collection dates from 1786 to 1860, with the bulk of the materials being dated between the years 1820 to 1834. Represented are letters, copies and drafts of letters, fragments of law briefs, etc., newspaper clippings, poems and articles. About three quarters of the collection represents correspondence to or from the family. Included are letters from John Marshall, Edward Everett, James Monroe, St. George Tucker, Salmon P. Chase, John H. Rice, Thomas Randall, John Howard Payne, Reverdy Johnson, George R. Gilmer, Thomas H. Pope, Robert Gamble, William Pope, Albert Gallatin, John P. Kennedy, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Bushrod Washington, and Charles Goldsborough. A number of the letters in the collection appear to be copies furnished by Wirt's family to John P. Kennedy for his use in writing the biography of Wirt.

The papers are valuable for the descriptions of events, society, persons and places in Washington, Baltimore, Richmond, and other localities. There are letters and documents relevant to many legal cases including McCulloch vs. Maryland, Gibbons vs. Ogden, Dartmouth College, the Burr Trial, and the Peck impeachment. There are descriptions of Pinkney, Taney, Harper and other legal lights. Many of the letters and documents relate to Wirt's Attorney Generalship; others contain his views on the Alien and Sedition Acts, election of 1800, the War of 1812, the Hartford Convention, the Missouri Controversy, the election of 1824, the Bank War, Jackson, Roger Brooke Taney, and others. Also included are

letters and documents relevant to Letters of the British Spy, Old Bachelor, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry, and a quantity of correspondence from and to J. P. Kennedy in regard to Kennedy's biography of Wirt.

John D. Kilbourne.

WIRT PAPERS

18 boxes.

1. dates 1786-1860, bulk 1820 - 1834.

2. size

from Wirt

4000 items

to Wirt

3000 items

other

2000 items

9000 approx.

3. description letters, copies and drafts of letters, fragments of law briefs, etc., newspaper clippings, poems, articles, pages from diaries (not Wirt's), etc.

4. correspondents 3/4 of collection to/from family; also

4a. letters from

John Marshall (3) minor

Edward Everett (1)

Jas. Monroe (26)

St. G. Tucker (many)

S. P. Chase (3)

Daniel Randall (Mexican War) (2)

Thos. H. Hicks (1 bdsde.)

Geo. Hay (1)

H. S. Tucker (11)

John H. Rice (many)

Joseph Correa de Serra (4)

Thos. Randall (many)

John McLean

John Patterson

John Howard Payne

Reverdy Johnson (1)

Upton Heath (3)

Geo. R. Gilmer (many)

Thos. H. Pope (many)

John Glenn

Robt. Gamble (many)

Wm. Pope (many)

Sam. Foote (2)

J. J. Floyd [UNK]

F. W. Gilmer (1)

James Allen (1)

Chas. B. Dana (1)

Wm. T. Findley (1)

Albert Gallatin (1)

J.H.B. Latrobe (1)

J. C. Calhoun (1)

Robt. Walsh, Jr. (6)

Bushrod Washington (1)

J. P. Kennedy (many)

Daniel Webster (3)

Wm. Sullivan (1)

Henry Clay (1)

Jos. Story (2)

Jefferson (7) copies

Geo. Sullivan (1)

David Daggett (2)

Chas. Goldsborough (3)

Societies, Colleges, etc.

4b. Wirt to family, also

Dabney Carr (many)

Peter H. Carnes (4)

Thos. Randall (many)

Jonathan Meredith (many)

Thomas Swann (46)

Madison (4 plus 6 copies)

Jefferson (8 copies)

J. Adams (1) Copy

S. P. Chase

Chas. Goldsborough

D. B. Ogden

Severn Teackle Wallis

5. Highlights Descriptions of society, events, bldgs., etc., in Washington, Balto., Richmond, many other places.

Letters and documents relevant to many cases, including McCulloch v. Md., Gibbons v. Ogden, Dartmouth College, Burr Trial, Peck impeachment. Descriptions of lawyers Pinkney, Taney, Winder, Harper, etc.

Letters and documents relevant to Wirt's Attorney Generalship, also his views on Alien/Sedition Acts, election of 1800, War of 1812, Hartford Convention, Missouri Controversy, Election of 1824, bank war, Jackson, Crawford, R. B. Taney, etc., etc.

Letters and documents relevant to British Spy, Old Bachelor, Patrick Henry; many from/to J. P. Kennedy re: Biography of Wirt.

6. Note Approximately one fourth of the letters from Wirt are copies, apparently made by his son for the use of J. P. Kennedy.

D.H.F.

William Wirt Papers, 20 boxes, 2 Letterbooks. Some descriptive comments by Gerald Gunther, 12/12/60.

The collection consists mainly of intra-family correspondence. Much of it was apparently grouped and separated by writer and year, by Mrs. Elizabeth W. Wirt shortly after the death of her husband, William Wirt, in 1834. Some additional organizing was done by Catherine G. Wirt, Wm. Wirt's daughter, in the 1840's.

In the intra-family correspondence, the most valuable are the letters between William Wirt and his wife. There are almost daily letters from each during the periods when William Wirt was away from home on legal business — periods which often covered most of the year. For example, William Wirt resided in Washington from 1817 to 1829, when he was Attorney General. However, through these years — and especially from 1822-23 on — he practised extensively out-of-town — particularly in the federal and state courts in Maryland (Baltimore and Annapolis). In many of the years in the 1820's, he was in Washington only during the months the U.S. Supreme Court was in session, for 2 - 3 months between January and March. In 1829, Wirt moved to Baltimore. From then until his death in 1834, the correspondence of course covers the periods he was in Washington on Supreme Court work, in Annapolis, and in other out-of-town places. Through these years, there is also much correspondence between Wirt and his daughters (Catherine G, Elizabeth G., Laura H., Ellen, and Agnes) and his son Robert, as well as with his son-in-law Thomas Randall (married Laura, 1827) and Louis Goldsborough (married Elizabeth G. approximately 1830). There is also much correspondence between the sisters and between mother and children.

Though much of this family correspondence deals merely with personal and household matters, there is much relevant to social life in Washington, Baltimore and elsewhere. Its greatest value to me, however, was in the description of the

legal practice in William Wirt's letters. Quite frequently, Wirt reports to his wife — and occasionally to his older daughters — about important cases he is engaged in, about fees, about the performance of other attorneys (Pinkney, Harper, Taney, etc.), and about judges. From 1829 on, these reports include discussion of Supreme Court cases, as well as his work as defense attorney in the impeachment proceedings against Judge Peck in 1830-1831.

One other group of family papers is worth noting: the letters from son-in-law Thomas Randall and daughter Laura W. (Wirt) Randall to the Wirts. After Wirt had unsuccessfully sought to obtain for [UNK] the position of Clerk of the U. S. Supreme Court in 1826, he was able to help him receive an appointment as judge for the Middle District of Florida in 1827. The Randalls' letters from the Tallahassee area of Florida are useful for Florida development problems, land speculation and legal work. They in part complement other materials about Florida land matters in the papers: Wirt's work as counsel for the U. S. in the important Florida land cases in the U. S. Supreme Court in the early 1830's, and Wirt's interest in settlement of Florida property which he had bought (particularly correspondence with his other son-in-law, Louis Goldsborough, who was in charge of the Florida settlement effort in the early 1830's.)

The non-family correspondence scattered throughout the Wirt Papers is much less voluminous, more spotty and was obviously far less systematically preserved. Nevertheless, it contains material on several important problems and was to me at least as enlightening as the family letters. The most important matters dealt with in the non-family correspondence may be summarized as follows:

(1) Georgia Indian litigation. Wirt was in effect chief counsel for the Cherokee Indians in their attempts to attack Georgia's anti-Indian laws in the U. S. Supreme Court. The Court denied relief in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia in 1831, but decided against Georgia (and for imprisoned missionaries) in

Worcester v. Georgia in 1832. The latter case led to the major conflict between the Marshall Court and the Jackson administration -- Jackson was obviously reluctant to aid in the enforcement of the Supreme Court decree, and the episode is closely related, in time and substance, to the South Carolina nullification controversy in 1832-33. The Wirt papers include very important letters from the Indian leaders (John Ross, their chief, and ssveral of their agents) and from officers and agents of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the missionary group which conducted and financed the Worcester litigation. There are also letters from Wirt relating to the cases and to post-decision attempts at compromise settlement.

(2) Anti-Masonic nomination. The Wirt Papers contain little on politics -- largely because Wirt, during most of his career (including his 12 years in the Cabinets of Monroe and John Quincy Adams) took little interest in political affairs -- he was too preoccupied with building his legal practice to meet constant financial problems. However, he became the candidate of the Anti-Masonic party for President at its 1831 Convention, looking to the 1832 election. The papers contain a small but important group of letters relating to the Anti-Masonic nomination. (There are also photostats of most or all of the material in one of Wirt's letterbooks at the Library of Congress -- a letterbook restricted to items on the 1831-1832 candidacy.)

(3) General legal practice. There are scattered items of correspondence with other attorneys, particularly relating to Wirt's Supreme Court work. The 1832-34 letterbook deals extensively with this, as do a number of letters to Wirt. The most important group of the latter is from Thomas Swann, a prominent Alexandria lawyer who was for several years U. S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and President of the D. C. Branch of the Bank of the United States, and who was associated with Wirt in a number of cases. The Swann letters were presumably stitched and preserved by Mrs. Wirt because he was a close family

friend, not because of his legal prominence.

4. The Attorney General in private practice. Both the family and non-family correspondence throw much valuable light on the difficulties of acting both as Attorney General of the U. S. and as private counsel throughout the 1817-1829 period. Though the combination of these functions was proper at the time, it created inevitable problems: conflicts of interest questions, allocation of time between public and private clients, absence from Cabinet meetings because of out-of-town private engagements, etc. (There are, by the way, very few formal legal papers in the collection -- almost everything on Wirt's practice comes from the correspondence. In addition there are a few scraps of argument notes in several cases, and a very long written argument prepared for the impeachment trial of Judge Peck in 1830-1831.)

Some final comments:

I am preparing a volume of a Supreme Court History for the 1815-1835 period. For this work, Wirt's career is of the greatest importance. His career was at its height from 1817, when he became Attorney General, to his death in 1834. During much of that period, he, in terms of numbers and importance of cases, was one of the two or three most active practitioners in the Supreme Court -- perhaps the most active.

With the recent acquisition of the Wirt Papers by the Maryland Hist. Soc., Wirt's career is probably better documented than that of any other important Supreme Court attorney in my period, with the possible exception of Daniel Webster. The papers here, together with the collection at the Library of Congress and the letterbooks and papers in the Attorney General files at National Archives, give a very rich picture. The Md. His. Soc. collection is now easily the most voluminous, I would judge, Though it required wading through much of little interest to me, a fairly thorough examination produced much of importance.

I have made little mention here of the materials outside of the 1815-35 period, since I did not examine it as carefully. There is the same kind of correspondence I have described for the pre-1815 period, though much smaller in volume. During that period, Wirt was in practice in Richmond; for a while before coming to Washington in 1817, he was United States District Attorney for Virginia. The letterbook which carries through 1816 and some of the correspondence relate to his Virginia legal work. The post-1834 material appears to be almost entirely family correspondence of little general importance.

There is also some correspondence with John P. Kennedy in connection with his preparation of the 2-volume life of Wirt in the 1840's. Though Kennedy prints excerpts from many letters, he did a crude editing job -- often not indicating omissions which contain important data or which change the sense of the passage. The Wirt papers contain one box of copies of letters prepared by or for Kennedy's Life. Some of the letters copied -- especially long ones from Wirt to his friends Dabney Carr and Joseph Cabell -- are apparently unavailable in the original. Since Kennedy did not print all of these letters -- and practically none in full -- the copies are of importance. The copies give the appearance of being accurate and complete -- the bowlderizing took place in Kennedy's editing, as is also indicated by the original manuscript of the Life which is in the Kennedy papers at the Peabody Institute.

I have jotted down these comments from memory. My notes contain a more complete and specific indication of the contents and distribution of the collection, by box, etc. I do not have these notes before me -- they are across the street in the Maryland Historical Society, which is closed today because of the snow emergency. I will be happy to supply more detailed information from these notes if it is desired, when the city's struggles with the snow cease.

Gerald Gunther

12/12/60