Allison, William B. (William Boyd), 1829-1908

Maude E. Mosher writes to Theodore Roosevelt to help her family with their financial troubles. Mosher grew up in Beaver, Pennsylvania, where her father, John B. Young, was a famous lawyer. In 1888, she married Lemuel L. Mosher, also a lawyer. They purchased land in Wagoner, Oklahoma, where they are raising their five sons. Mosher hopes to keep her sons employed at home, to prevent them from getting involved with drinking and smoking. They are $700 behind on their mortgage, and Mosher is hoping Roosevelt can help them. She lists several prominent politicians and judges, who can vouch for her family’s good character, that Roosevelt can consult.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-27

Creator(s)

Mosher, Maud E. (Maud Eva), 1867-1942

Representative Hill responds to President Roosevelt’s questions on laws governing currency. Hill is very concerned about fiat money. Hill is a proponent of a bill, presently in committee, that will move the United States back to the gold standard.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-14

Creator(s)

Hill, Ebenezer J., 1845-1917

President Roosevelt shows Uncle Sam a “quilting bee in aid of the suffering public.” Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Wisconsin Senator John C. Spooner, Iowa Senator William B. Allison, and Texas Senator Joseph W. Bailey sit at a table stitching amendments on a “rate bill” quilt. Spanish Treaty Claims Commissioner William E. Chandler looks through a window and holds a paper that reads, “I’m no liar.” There is a portrait of George Washington on the wall.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-15

Creator(s)

Rogers, W. A. (William Allen), 1854-1931

Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich and Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox sit on top of a “Senate” dome, trapping President Roosevelt underneath with an “Allison amendment” and “the big stick.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-14

Creator(s)

Macauley, C. R. (Charles Raymond), 1871-1934

President Roosevelt asks Joseph Bucklin Bishop to give his opinion about Roosevelt’s policies and actions. He comments on speeches that he has given and the reactions of various members of Congress. Roosevelt goes on to discuss the tariff question and provides his opinions on the matter. He also mentions the reaction of the press to his response to labor issues surrounding the Union Pacific Railroad.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1903-04-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt, as Hercules, wears a lion skin and holds a sword. He faces a nine-headed hydra, with each head identified as that of a senator. The hydra’s tail is labeled “U.S. Senate.”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905-04-05

In a battle scene, President Roosevelt is about to make a final charge on “Fort Democracy” labeled “Peace, Constitution, [and] Prosperity.” Performing various functions in Roosevelt’s camp are “Foraker,” “Morton” spying from a balloon, “Allison” raising a flag labeled “Up with the Trusts,” “Woodruff” attending to wounded T.C. “Platt,” “Higgins” and “Odell” with cans of money from a box labeled “Groceries N.Y. State,” “Cortelyou” sharpening a sword, “Shaw” with binoculars, “Bliss” and “Fairbanks” loading a small cannon labeled “National Committee Gun,” and “Rockefeller” with a hod full of money bags labeled “Standard Shot.”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-11-02

President Roosevelt informs Secretary of State Hay that Elihu Root made an error regarding the message. He will send it in and asks if Hay has any documents to go with it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt was deeply attached to Senator Allison and never knew a “finer citizen” than Grenville Dodge.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt disagrees with several statements Secretary of State John Hay wrote. While Hay was one of the most “delightful characters” Roosevelt had ever met, he found Hay lacking leadership qualities as a Secretary of State. Roosevelt provides Senator Lodge with his view of the Alaska Boundary dispute in 1903. He includes copies of the letters Roosevelt wrote to Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry White to show to British Secretary of State for the Colonies James Chamberlain and Prime Minister James Arthur Balfour. Roosevelt explains why certain appointments were made following the death of President William McKinley and details for why Hay was not consulted on matters concerning the Russo-Japanese War and the acquisition of Panama.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt sends condolences to Leroy James McNeely on the unexpected death of Iowa Senator William B. Allison.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt outlines the creation and mission of the Inland Waterways Commission, and praises Chairman Burton for the work it has done so far. Roosevelt hopes that the Commission’s recommendations will be enacted by Congress soon, and directs the Commission to continue its work pending further action. He announces his plans to increase the Commission from nine members to twelve, and through executive order will direct executive departments to allow the Commission access to their records.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt sends General Smith a copy of a letter he received from Chief of Ordnance William Crozier applauding the appointment of Smith to brigadier general before his retirement. In the letter Crozier details Smith’s triumphs, including the widespread adoption of the built-up forged steel cannon gun and revitalizing coastal defenses in the United States. Roosevelt appreciates Smith’s service to the country, as this efforts advanced the development of seacoast defenses in the United States.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt will not deny the claim made in an Iowa newspaper that quoted his support for Senator William B. Allison’s re-election campaign over challenger and current Iowa Governor Cummins. Roosevelt does not want to set a precedent of responding to every quote that is falsely attributed to him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Although the rule for nominations is that Senators make the recommendations, President Roosevelt would like to appoint the man Governor Cummins wants, and advises Cummins to speak with Iowa Senators William B. Allison and Jonathan P. Dolliver to see if they will agree.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt asks for Senator Hale’s assistance in ratifying the Algeciras treaty. Roosevelt had not supposed that there would be opposition to it, but “apparently some of the Democrats are inclined to make trouble.” The United States signed on to the treaty because it was already a signatory to the existing treaty, and failing to do so would have meant a loss of treaty rights. Roosevelt considers it important to be a party to the treaty, and mentions that the United States has had a treaty with Morocco since even before the Constitution was adopted.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt hopes that Senator Frye can see a way to act in favor of the proposed lock canal design for the Panama Canal, as Roosevelt believes that trying to construct the canal as a sea-level canal “would be a calamitous blow to the entire project.” If Frye can do this, Roosevelt asks him to telegraph Senator William B. Allison.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt responds to an editorial published by the Daily Times, sending Harrison Gray Otis a copy of a letter he wrote to Senator William B. Allison showing that the Hepburn bill is unchanged by the Allison amendment. The editorial in Otis’s paper therefore states “the exact reverse of the facts,” and Roosevelt is troubled to see it go so wrong.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Attorney General Moody sends President Roosevelt the account he requested of the conference Moody had with Senators Benjamin R. Tillman and Joseph W. Bailey. Moody recounts the circumstances leading to the conference, and the discussions he had with Roosevelt prior to the conference regarding an amendment to the Hepburn bill and the ability of Congress to limit the ability of courts to issue interlocutory injunctions. Moody told the two senators Roosevelt’s thoughts on the matter and found them to be largely in agreement, leading to the creation of a draft amendment. This amendment had some difficulty in the Senate, and Moody told Tillman and Bailey that it may be difficult for an amendment that the executive branch had a hand in crafting to pass, and suggested that they collaborate with Senator William B. Allison on the creation of a new amendment.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-14

Creator(s)

Moody, William H. (William Henry), 1853-1917

President Roosevelt sends Senator Lodge a history of the Chandler-Bailey-Tillman matter regarding the passage of the Hepburn Act.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919