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Joseph St. Julien Yates is dissatisfied with President Taft’s denial of charges leveled at Henry Lincoln Johnson and Benjamin Davis, both of whom are Taft delegates in Georgia. Yates questions whether the charges have been investigated or dismissed and is distressed that Taft would be represented by such characters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-06
Senator Dixon has received Frank Harper’s letter regarding the Georgia situation and is already working along the suggested lines.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-17
Joseph St. Julien Yates reveals the fraudulent methods that Taft supporters are using in Georgia to secure Taft delegates to the Republican National Convention. Yates is confident in President Taft’s “purity of character” and hopes that he will repudiate such tactics and men.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-04-15
Clark Grier informs Theodore Roosevelt that he will not support anyone but Roosevelt against William H. Taft in the upcoming election. Grier assures Roosevelt that he can secure Roosevelt Georgia’s vote. Grier believes Florida and South Carolina will also be easy to secure in support of Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-22
Harry C. Robert wishes to know if Theodore Roosevelt will be able to attend the Georgia State Fair this year, after being unavailable the last two times he has been invited.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-30
Judge Speer requests assistance for Cecil Morgan, a long time deputy clerk at a circuit court in Georgia. Morgan is Speer’s brother-in-law and under new regulations Morgan will be forced to retire due to their familial ties. Speer hopes that President Taft will lend his support for the relief of Morgan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-12
William N. Colquitt is pleased to hear that Theodore Roosevelt has accepted the position of honorary chairman for the Stewart-Screven Midway Monument Commission. He encloses a photograph of the monument as it will appear when completed, should it be approved by the War Department and Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon is working out the inscriptions with the Department.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-30
The Monument Committee of the Midway Society urges Theodore Roosevelt to accept the position as honorary chairman of the monument committee, as well as accept the invitation to attend the unveiling of the monument to General Daniel Stewart and General James Screven in Georgia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-21
Zeno I. Fitzpatrick would like Theodore Roosevelt to read his pamphlet about his experience as an educator in Georgia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-02
President-elect Taft has communicated with Secretary of the Navy Truman Handy Newberry, who has offered him two cruisers to travel with. Paul Charlton has suggested that Taft bring Charles Sooysmith with him on his trip to inspect the Panama Canal, but Taft thinks it would be wise to consult with Alfred Nobel before making any decisions on this issue. Taft forwards President Roosevelt a letter from George W. Davis, who has also made suggestions of engineers who should accompany Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-22
President-elect Taft has received the letter that President Roosevelt sent him, and has noted the people in Georgia that Roosevelt recommended speaking with.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-05
W. N. Mitchell explains why he advocated for President Roosevelt’s renomination at the Republican convention in Chicago. He discusses his Confederate roots, his connections to both of Roosevelt’s parents, and explains that he circulated a petition for his renomination in the South. Mitchell believed that Roosevelt had the best chance of delivering the South to the Republicans. He pledges now to support President-elect William H. Taft and work to elect Republicans in the next election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-09
This Augusta Chronicle article written by William H. Fleming details Fleming’s opinions of a recent race riot as well as the suppression of African American voters in Alabama and Georgia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-09
The writer suggests the creation of a state commission to study the race problem and propose concrete solutions. The questions the committee ought to investigate include the following: 1. Does crime increase or decrease with education among the negroes? … 13. Does a complete separation of the races improve or aggravate the relations existing between them? … 24. Does the example of Hayti show that the negro cannot be left alone?
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-24
Secretary of War Taft returns to President Roosevelt the letters from White and William H. Fleming. Taft does not think there is anything to do about the charges against General Leonard Wood, which he considers largely untrue and slanderous. Taft read Fleming’s letter, and is surprised Thomas W. Hardwick could have been elected to Congress. There is no need to dignify Hardwick’s statements about repealing the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments, which granted citizenship and voting rights to African Americans, as he “writes himself down an ass.” Taft tells Roosevelt that he is welcome to discuss the plan with Congressman Joseph Gurney Cannon. In a postscript, Taft clarifies that he read Fleming’s letter again and acknowledges that the situation is perhaps more serious than he suspected, and Congress ought to take notice.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-23
Politician and orator William H. Fleming believes President Roosevelt wishes “to do the best thing possible for the whole country, including our Southern white people, and not excluding the negroes.” Many Georgia locals agree with outspoken men like T. W. Hardwick though the South owes no allegiance to the 14th and 15th Amendment. South Carolina politician Coleman Livingston Blease has argued against education for African Americans and called for the university in Orangeburg to be torn down. Fleming asks Roosevelt if the government can make a statement of clarity regarding the amendments to help “check the riotous tendency down here.” Fleming believes that any man not willing to commit to the Constitution and its amendments should be stripped of their seat and discusses counter efforts against the passage of disenfranchisement laws.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-24
William H. Fleming writes to President Roosevelt about the possible disfranchisement of African American voters in Georgia. Fleming believes it would be a disaster if Hoke Smith, who advocates such disfranchisement, was nominated at the Democratic Convention. He is even more concerned about the conduct of Representative Thomas W. Hardwick, who has been decrying the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution and publicly renouncing his allegiance to those parts of the Constitution. Fleming thinks that the question should be raised in the House of Representatives, whether a member is violating their oath of office by refusing to uphold these amendments. Such an inquiry would force Hardwick to either retract his statements or be removed from office.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-17
Newton J. Norman sends President Roosevelt a circular and newspaper article about the preservation of the Midway Cemetery, where Roosevelt’s ancestor, Daniel Stewart, lies, and asks for a contribution to help preserve the cemetery.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-17
Postmaster-General Wynne sends William Loeb a memorandum that addresses the Georgia case that he believes President Roosevelt has in mind.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-26
Daniel Edgar Sickles asks President Roosevelt to consider his views on labor and urges Roosevelt to make a statement supporting workers’ rights. Sickles discusses mob rule, claiming that there have been no mobs in New York since 1863 and mentioning the conditions in Georgia. Sickles notes that he is helping to prepare an address to veterans. Sickles encloses a published letter from 1896, noting that he believes “Bryanism is as much an issue now as it was then.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-18