Your TR Source
Acting Secretary of State Adee sends William Loeb a copy of a letter from Florida Attorney General William H. Ellis reporting on Ellis’s delivery of the Abyssinian treaty to Emperor Menelik. Adee advises Loeb not to proclaim the treaty until they receive confirmation from the emperor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-17
Theodore Roosevelt has undertaken a libel suit against a Michigan editor who publicly accused Roosevelt of being a “habitual drinker.” Roosevelt would like Edgar Alexander Mearns to testify to the fact that Roosevelt “practically drank nothing during our African trip.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1913-02-01
President Roosevelt informs Bernard Goldsmith that he will not be able to visit Abyssinia (present day Ethiopia). Roosevelt explains that he wishes to travel as a private citizen during his upcoming African safari, and if he attended one court, he would have to make official visits wherever he goes. He also mentions that he would also rather hunt by himself than with an emperor and his retinue accompanying him. Roosevelt would like to see Goldsmith when he returns to the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-01
President Roosevelt sends two photographs to John L. Harrington, and says that Harrington may keep the one labeled for Emperor of Ethiopia Menelik II, because Robert Peet Skinner has already delivered a copy of it to the emperor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-10
Charles D. Walcott signed a letter to Henry Fairfield Osborn notifying him of the transfer of two white rhinoceros skins that Theodore Roosevelt collected. He was sorry to hear of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s accident and hopes she is recovering, especially as he knows what it is like to have someone close experience a serious accident. Childs Frick and Edmund Heller are in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) to augment the specimens collected while on safari with Roosevelt. Walcott will soon be in New York City and hopes to see Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-03
Alfred Bull sends Theodore Roosevelt a copy of his writing “How I Found Rustle-us, Prince of Abyssinia” for Roosevelt’s collection of clippings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-05
R. Vorperian sends Theodore Roosevelt a bag of coffee in appreciation of Roosevelt’s inspiring influence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-12
Emil Gribeschock, in spite of not being appointed consul general to Addis Ababa during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, continues to work for the good of the United States. In his recent travels through the United States, Gribeschock has discovered that the tariff is negatively impacting wool producers, and predicts that the tariff will be the cause of a Republican loss in the 1911 elections. He urges, however, that there is time to revise the tariff for the 1912 election, and sends a copy of his report to Roosevelt for transmission to the Tariff Board. He hopes that he will be able to receive recognition for his work this time, as his previous efforts went unrecognized.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-17
Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian, is glad that Theodore Roosevelt agrees that the zoologist Edmund Heller should go accompany Paul James Rainey on a trip to South Abyssinia. Senator Thomas Henry Carter, chairman of the Senate Irrigation Committee, is writing a report of the committee’s investigation into reclamation projects in the west, which Walcott believes discredits work done during Roosevelt’s administration. If this is the case, Walcott is sure that the minority report by Senator Francis G. Newlands will dispute it.
John L. Harrington writes to President Roosevelt to follow up on a conversation they had at a recent lunch, and gives Roosevelt some details about a journey on the Upper Nile that he took in 1904. Harrington has already been making some arrangements for Roosevelt to be able to hunt during this leg of the journey. He appends a copy of a map of the region to the letter for Roosevelt to look at.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-28
Ambassador Reid updates President Roosevelt on a number of personal, social, and official matters. In particular, Reid focuses on the fallout of a controversial interview given by Emperor William II of Germany to the British press. The interview has been suppressed in Germany and caused domestic issues for William, but may improve relations with the English. Reid discusses plans to reform the House of Lords, and a shooting outing he hosted where his son Ogden Mills Reid related stories about the presidential campaign in the United States. Reid also intends to give a dinner for Frantz Bille, the retiring Danish minister. Reid writes that everyone was on “pins and needles” waiting for information about foot and mouth disease.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-24
Secretary of State Root presents his thoughts on matters discussed in President Roosevelt’s previous letters. Topics include whether to send a minister for Abyssinia, Japan’s rescheduling of their planned exposition, Ambassador William Woodville Rockhill’s report on the Lamas, the situation on the Mexican frontier, and the renomination of Governor Charles Evans Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-23
Bernard Goldsmith urges President Roosevelt to consider visiting Ethiopia during his upcoming safari, and an invitation from Melenik II, Negus (Emperor) of Ethiopia, is coming. Goldsmith explains that his connection to the Emperor is through his friend Baron von Falkenegg, who has a substantial mineral concession in Ethiopia, and the Emperor wants the concession to be financed and controlled in America. Goldsmith discusses some reading he will be helpful for Roosevelt in planning his safari. In a post-script, Goldsmith mentions that an American diplomatic presence is lacking in Ethiopia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-22
W. H. Ellis reports that shortly after his arrival in Addis Ababa he delivered the treaty and President Roosevelt’s letter to Emperor Menelik II. The treaty was well received; Ellis reports that Menelik II informed him that he would soon have a receipt for the same.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-06
Business card of Abraham Per Lee Pease, part of the American Commission to Ethiopia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908
President Roosevelt asks Secretary of State Root if the United States should have an ambassador in Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-01
American author and journalist Poultney Bigelow writes to President Roosevelt asking for a nonsalaried mission to Abyssinia, to present condolences on behalf of all Americans for the loss of the King of Abyssinia’s pet lion.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-06
Letter from Secretary of State Hay to the Secretary to the President Loeb regarding the gift of a lion, given to President Roosevelt by the Emperor of Abyssinia. Hay informed Loeb that the animal had arrived at the National Zoological Park.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-30
Assistant Secretary of State Loomis encloses a letter from the Emperor of Ethiopia and from Consul-General Skinner for President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-16
Assistant Secretary of State Adee asks President Roosevelt whether to announce the treaty between the United States and Ethiopia. Although Ellis cabled that it was signed, Adee notes that written acknowledgment of its delivery has not yet been received and wonders if he should wait for that formality.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-02