Your TR Source
John M. Comstock, naval officer at the Port of New York, summarizes his recollection of the facts related to an investigation of the Customs House in New York City.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1890-04-26
Joel B. Erhardt of the New York Custom House responds to a letter from Commissioner Roosevelt. The matter Roosevelt wrote about has been turned over to a special officer for investigation. Handwritten notation says, “In re Jordan.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1890-04-26
H. W. Raymond responds to a letter from Theodore Roosevelt, verifying facts regarding an investigation of the Customs House in New York City.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1890-05-13
Legislation establishing a three-member commission to administer Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Park
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1890-08-19
William Dean Howells writes Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt about an unidentified book. The book may be volume two of John G. Nicolay and John Hay’s Abraham Lincoln, which was published in 1890.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1890-10-26
Representative Reed thanks Commissioner Roosevelt for his letter of encouragement, following the mid-term elections in which Republicans lost heavily. Reed expects “buffeting from the enemy” for a short while – probably referring to the fact that the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in the election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1890-11-21
Edward A. Freeman thanks Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt for his recent letter and for the books. Freeman comments at length on Roosevelt’s analysis of English and Spanish colonization in America.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-01-14
Maine Representative Thomas B. Reed writes: “Dear Roosevelt, I think I was perverse that night. Yours regretfully T.B.R.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-01-25
Cleveland H. Dodge expresses appreciation for Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt’s book New York City: A History. Dodge finds that Roosevelt has shown a “capital sense of proportion,” “splendid patriotism,” and will help give a “higher sense of pride and loyalty” in order to leader to “nobler efforts for the City’s best good.” Dodge also finds Roosevelt to be a source of encouragement and inspiration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-03-20
John Scott appeals to Theodore Roosevelt for a job on the train.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-04-09
Thomas B. Reed has been in Italy for six weeks and wishes to catch up on political news.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-05-27
Mrs. Backer, a teacher, writes to request a donation to purchase a piano for their school.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-06-26
Receipt from a meal at the Metropolitan Club Restaurant that included clams, blue points, potato salad, and Camembert. Theodore Roosevelt spent four dollars and seventy-five cents on the meal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1898-04-20
Thomas B. Reed congratulates Theodore and Edith Roosevelt on the birth of their daughter Ethel. He gives sarcastic commentary about the choice between James G. Blaine and Benjamin Harrison for president in the next election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-08-22
Thomas B. Reed responds to a newspaper report that James Blaine will not accept nomination by the Republican Party for president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-12-03
James Bryce asks Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt for information on Civil Service Reform for a new edition of his book, The American Commonwealth. Bryce asks specifically about the total number of offices included in the Pendleton Act, and the total number of places in the Federal Civil Service. In addition, Bryce hopes Roosevelt will remind “[Henry Cabot] Lodge of his promise to take steps to have an official publication of State Constitutions, in continuation of [Benjamin Perley] Poore’s Collection.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1891-12-12
William P. Trent thanks Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt for his letter regarding Trent’s recently published biography of William Gilmore Simms. Trent discusses what he learned from reading southern antebellum literature from the period of the Civil War and his views on the problems with sectionalism in the South. He admits that his voice will likely not be heard beyond the classroom.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1892-03-20
Mary Leontine Roosevelt Leaycraft, a cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, requests a letter of introduction for her husband Charles Russell Leaycraft to the U.S. Ambassador to England, as he will be spending a month in London on business. She also shares some family news.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1892-04-21
Essay by Kent Ellsworth Keller on the necessity and plan for a rational system to provide and maintain a standing army. He proposes inducting teenagers ranging from fifteen to eighteen to enter a three year academy to see if they have the qualities of a soldier. If they prove their aptitude, then they can join the Army Academy at West Point. The rest will be held on reserve. Handwritten notation: “This plan was conceived and written out at Heidelberg Germany in April 1892. After studying the German Army System.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1892-04
Thomas R. Lounsbury responds to Theodore Roosevelt’s critique of his Studies in Chaucer. He encourages Roosevelt in his work of civil service reform.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1892-05-05