Gilded Age Collections

(Description ID: 594220)

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

George S. Boutwell

GA-73

Introduction
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content
Inventory

Introduction
The George S. Boutwell Collection consists primarily of correspondence, documents, and manuscripts appearing in various collections held by the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center.

Biographical Sketch
George S. Boutwell was born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1818. He attended the local schools and thereafter educated himself for the legal profession. Boutwell entered the law firm of Bradford Russell in Groton, Massachusetts at the age of eighteen. In 1841, Boutwell was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was re-elected in 1842, 1843, and 1846-1849. After an unsuccessful bid for the governorship, Boutwell was elected to that office in 1850 and re-elected in 1851. Boutwell was one of the organizers of the Republican Party, supporting Fremont in 1856 and Lincoln in 1860. Under Lincoln, Boutwell served as the first commissioner of internal revenue. In 1863, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, retaining that position until 1868. Boutwell was chairman of the committee that drafted the articles of impeachment against Andrew Johnson and a member of the committee that reported the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Boutwell not only reported and drafted the Fifteenth Amendment, but also conducted the debate upon it in the House of Representatives. President Ulyssess S. Grant appointed Boutwell the Secretary of the Treasury. After Henry Wilson became vice president, Boutwell resigned his position and succeeded Wilson in the United States Senate. During the Hayes administration, Boutwell served as the commissioner to revise the statutes of the United States. And in 1880, he became counsel for the United States before the French and American claims commission. He died in Groton in 1905.

Scope and Content
The Boutwell Papers, extending from 1862 to 1904, consists primarily of outgoing correspondence appearing in the Rutherford B. Hayes Papers, the William Claflin Papers, and various other manuscript collections held by the Hayes Presidential Center. The inventory lists each letter, manuscript, and document and the collection in which it appears. In addition to the correspondence, the collection contains a 104-page ledger kept by Boutwell. It contains a variety of speeches and articles written by Boutwell from 1876 to 1902. The material includes newspaper clippings of speeches and printed articles annotated by Boutwell as well as handwritten drafts of speeches. Topics include education, Reconstruction, Republican Party, Election of 1876, national finances, and agriculture.

Inventory
Ac. 1000

BOUTWELL Ledger, 1876-1902

Ledger containing 104 pages of articles and speeches (including drafts) by Boutwell on a variety of subject.

BOUTWELL (Miscellaneous Correspondence)

To Mr. Hay dtd Oct. 10, 1862.
To James Redpath dtd Washington Sept. 12, 1876, 4p. A.L.S.
To Wm. W. Barnham dtd Boston, Jan. 25, 1882, 1p. A.L.S.
To Stephen M. Allen dtd Washington, Mch. 21, 1882, 1p. A.L.S.

SEAMAN, J. M.
To [GSB] dtd Buffalo, [NY,] Oct. 27, 1870, 3p. Copy of A.L.S.

INDEX OF BOUTWELL MATERIAL IN OTHER COLLECTIONS 1862-1904

Nathaniel P. Banks Papers:

BOUTWELL, George S.
To NPB dtd Washington, Dec. 18, 1876, 1p. Typed copy.
     [Original, Illinois State Historical Society].

William Claflin Papers:

BOUTWELL, George S.
To WC dtd Washington, Jne. 27, 1863, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd n.p., Nov. 16, 1863, 1p. A.N.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Feb. 11 1865, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Jan. 11, 1869, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Jan. 29, 1869, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Mch. 10, 1869, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Mch. 20, 1869, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Apr. 30, 1869, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Sept. 13, 1869, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Sept. 16, 1870, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Jan. 24, 1871, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Indianapolis, [IN], Oct. 4, 1872, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Jly. 29, 1874, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Jan. 2, 1875, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Washington, Dec. 18, 1875, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Boston, [MA,] Feb. 19, 1880, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Jly. 11, 1891, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Boston, [MA,] Feb. 9, 1897, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd n.p., Dec. 12, 1897, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Jan. 27, 1898, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd [Boston, MA,] Mch. 18, 1898, 1p. A.N.S. [on the verso, Wm. B. Wright to WC dtd
     n.p. n.d., 2p, A.L.S.].
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Jan. 30, 1899, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Jan. 30, 1900, 1p. A.L.S. [w/enclosure].
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Jan. 18, 1901, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Jan. 29, 1902, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd n.p., Mch. 8, 1902, 2p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Jan. 30, 1903, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Mch. 14, 1903, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, [MA,] Dec. 25, 1903, 1p. A.L.S.
To WC dtd Groton, MA, Jan. 29, 1904, 1p. Typed letter signed.
To WC dtd Groton, Mch. 8, 1904, 2p. A.L.S.

CLAFLIN, William
To GSB dtd Exec. Dept., Boston, [MA,] May 18, 1869, 2p. A.L.S.

Murat Halstead Papers:

BOUTWELL, George S.
To MH dtd Columbus, OH, Sept. 17, 1878, 1p. Typed copy of A.L.S.

Rutherford B. Hayes Papers:

BOUTWELL, George S.
To [?] dtd n.p., n.d., 1p. A.N.S.
To H. A. Nelson dtd U.S. Senate Chamber, Washington, Aug. 14, 1876, 1p. A.L.S.
To John Sherman dtd Boston, [MA,] Aug. 22, 1877, 1p. A.L.S.
To RBH dtd Boston, [MA,] Dec. 3, 1878, 1p. A.L.S.
To John Sherman dtd Boston, [MA,] Feb. 3, 1879, 1p. A.L.S.
To RBH & LWH dtd Washington, Feb. 15, 1881, 1p. Formal note.

HAYES, Rutherford B.
To GSB dtd Columbus, OH, Jan. 6, 1870, 1p. Copy of A.L.S. [Letter Book, p. 116].

Miscellaneous Items:

1. "The Financial Policy of the Administration..." Address delivered at the Horticultural Hall in
    Philadelphia, Oct. 9, 1869. In Cincinnati Commercial, Oct. 13, 1869.
2. "Reduction of the National Debt of the U.S." dtd 1876, 1p. Prtd form. [w/additions and
    notations by RBH].

Charles Lanman Papers:

BOUTWELL, George S.
To CL dtd Groton, MA, Nov. 3, 1863, 2pp. A.L.S. [A manuscript autobiography].

CROSS REFERENCES

Rutherford B. Hayes Papers:

ANDERSON, J. W.
To Wm. King Rogers dtd [May, 1877], 6p. A.L.S.

BERTHRONG, H. W.
To Col. Cassey dtd Port of Boston, MA, Mch. 19, 1877, 2p. A.L.S. [w/notation on verso by C. Schurz].

BETTS, William J. & Co.
To RBH dtd Hartford, CT, May 26, 1884, 1p. Typed letter signed.

BRYAN, Guy M.
To RBH dtd Galveston, TX, Apr. 27, 1880, 7p. A.L.S.

CHANDLER, William E.
To "My Dear Sir" dtd Washington, Jan. 29, 1877, 3p. A.L.S.

COX, J. D.
To RBH dtd Feb. 10, 1877.

CURTIS, George William
To RBH dtd Ashfield, MA, Aug. 31, 1876, 6p. A.L.S.

[DICKINSON, W. M.]
To RBH dtd Cincinnati, OH, Sept. 15, 1869, 7p. Incomplete.

EDMUNDS, George F.
To RBH dtd Washington, Mch. 2, 1881, 5p. A.L.S.

ERNST, George A.
To RBH dtd Boston, MA, Feb. 29, 1888, 3p. A.L.S. [w/prtd. folder].

GLASGLOW, S. L.
To RBH dtd Saltillo, PA, Feb. 12, 1877, 4p. A.L.S.

GRANT, Ulysses S.
To GSB dtd Sept. 12, 1869. Copy of letter in GSB's, "Black Friday, Sept. 24, 1869."
     [See, HB 3717, 1869, B77].  

HAYES, B. A.
To RBH dtd Cambridge, MA, Jan. 28, 1877, 2p. A.L.S.

HAYES, Rutherford B.
To Whitelaw Reid dtd Jne. 4, 1869. Typed copy.
To Charles Nordhoff dtd Columbus, OH, Nov. 2. 1869, 2p. A.L.S.
To J. H. Saville dtd Dec. 29, 1871, 1p. Typed copy.
     [See, Letter Book II, p. 292; Diary & Letters III, p. 184].

HORTON, S. D.
To RBH dtd Pomeroy, OH, Feb. 27, 1877, 2p. A.L.S.

JOHNSTON, Judge William
To RBH dtd Washington, Jly. 7, 1869, 3p. A.L.S.

JONES, George W.
To RBH dtd Fort Wayne, IN, May 2, 1878, 1p. A.L.S.

JONES, T. C.
To RBH dtd Fairholme, Oct. 20, 1875, 4p. A.L.S.

KELLEY, William D.
To RBH dtd Washington, Feb. 18, 1877, 8p. A.L.S. [w/clipping].

LEGGETT, M. D.
To RBH dtd Cleveland, OH, Mch. 8, 1876, 4p. A.L.S.

MACINTIRE, Benjamin F.
To RBH dtd St. Simons Mills, GA, May 6, 1889, 3p. A.L.S.

MATCHETT, W. B.
To RBH dtd Washington, Jan. 13, 1879, 6p A.L.S. [w/notation on the verso].

MATHEWS, William T.
To RBH dtd New York, Nov. 12, 1880, 5p. A.L.S.
To RBH dtd Groton, MA, Nov. 17, 1880, 2p. A.L.S. [w/clipping].

NELSON, Rev. Henry A.
To RBH dtd Geneva, NY, Aug. 16, 1876, 2p. A.L.S.

NORDHOFF, Charles
To RBH dtd May 12, 1870.
To RBH dtd New Jersey, Jly. 28, 1875, 4p. A.L.S.

SAVILLE, J. H.
To RBH dtd Jly. 8, 1869.

SHELLABARGER, Samuel
To RBH dtd [Washington], Jan. 5, 1877, 2p. A.L.S.
To RBH dtd "Private," n.p., Jan. 8, 1877, 4p. A.L.S.

SHERMAN, John
To RBH dtd Washington, Sept. 30, 1878, 1p, L.S. [w/handwritten brief, 8p.].

SMITH, William Henry
To RBH dtd Chicago, [IL,] Dec. 20, 1876, 2p., A.L.S.

STILES, J. H.
To RBH dtd Port Gibson, MS, Aug. 20, 1876, 7p. A.L.S.

U. S. CABINET
Mss. dtd [1877], 13p.

U. S. SUPREME COURT, DIST. OF COLUMBIA
List of applicants with names of parties endorsing them dtd 1878, n.d., 4p.

WARNER, Willard
To RBH dtd U.S. Senate Chamber, Washington, Jan. 19, 1870, 2p. A.L.S.

WILBER, Mary C.
To RBH dtd Sept. 25, 1871.

WILLIAMS, W. D.
To RBH dtd Terre Haute, IN, Mch. 41, 1878, 2p. A.L.S.

WOOD, William P.
To RBH dtd Washington, Dec. 4. 1878, 3p. A.L.S. [w/enclosure, 6p. mss.].
To RBH dtd n.p., Feb. 14, 1879, 9p. A.L.S. [enclosed with W. B. Matchett to RBH same date].

YARANN, Jason
To RBH dtd Windsor Locks, CT, Feb. 12, 1877, 4p. A.L.S. [w/attached note].

Thomas Nast Collection:

Autograph letters and documents relating to the testimonial to Thos. Nast.

F. B. Voegele Collection:

PHILLIPS, Fred. J.
To Roland Worthington dtd Washington, Dec. 21, 1881, 1p. A.L.S.