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President Roosevelt sends Governor Curry a letter from Judge Thomas Goode Jones, a man he greatly respects who served in the Confederate Army. Jones’s son would like to work on a ranch, and Roosevelt asks Curry if he could offer some advice.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-21
President Roosevelt sends Lawrence F. Abbott, editor of The Outlook, his correspondence with Judge Thomas Goode Jones, who he is “glad that I have backed up.” The Sun’s recent turn against the Navy surprised Roosevelt, and he would like to discuss the matter with Abbott and his brother, Ernest Hamlin Abbott. Roosevelt extends an invitation to stay at the White House to Abbott’s father, Lyman Abbott. The Outlook continually provides excellent points, which Roosevelt draws on.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-29
President Roosevelt details how Attorney General Bonaparte is to respond to United States District Attorney N. M. Ruick, using quotations from various correspondences.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-24
President Roosevelt agrees with Attorney General Bonaparte’s conclusions in the Standard Oil and Chicago Alton Railroad case. While he thinks Bonaparte’s letter to Henry Lee Higginson is admirable, Roosevelt thinks it best not to publish it and open himself to further attacks by the press. He cautions against attending the conference of attorney generals. Roosevelt suggests how to respond to United States District Attorney N. M. Ruick and handle the situation in New Mexico.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-22
President Roosevelt instructs Attorney General Bonaparte to stop investigating the matter involving William B. Sheppard, and to fill out his appointment as the judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Roosevelt has directed Special Assistant Attorney General Ormsby McHarg to continue the prosecution in New Mexico. While Roosevelt feels that McHarg lacks the experience to handle the case, he understands that halting the prosecution would likely result in the statute of limitations coming into play. He hopes to send Assistant Attorney General Alford Warriner Cooley to new Mexico to help take up the matter. Bonaparte should continue insisting on an immediate separate trial for Senator William Edgar Borah. The press continually attacks Roosevelt and Bonaparte.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-15
President Roosevelt is sorry he could not appoint William Lea Chambers but was pleased by what he had to say about Judge Jones.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-10
President Roosevelt thanks John William Griggs for his letter and the enclosure from James T. Woodward. Thomas Goode Jones has been appointed judge, as Griggs may have seen in the press.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-09
President Roosevelt was glad to find that former president Grover Cleveland holds Thomas Goode Jones in such high regard, and is glad to have appointed him as a judge, even though he did this before hearing Cleveland’s opinion. He appreciated Cleveland attending the funeral of former president William McKinley with him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-09
Thomas Goode Jones will be appointed as United States district judge in Montgomery, Alabama. President Roosevelt would like to discuss various matters with Senator Morgan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-05
Lawrence F. Abbott, publisher of The Outlook, tells William Loeb that he received the papers from Judge Thomas Goode Jones that Loeb sent. Abbott plans to keep them for a little longer before returning them to Loeb.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-13
Newspaper article regarding the reappointment of Leander J. Bryan to the United States Marshals office by Judge Thomas Goode Jones, and its effect on the Republican Party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-08
Newspaper article on the Democratic nomination race and the reappointment of Leander J. Bryan to the United States Marshal’s office by President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-07
Two Alabama patronage referees, Joseph O. Thompson and Charles H. Scott, want to replace Deputy Marshal Alfred B. Colquitt with a Republican. Judge Thomas Goode Jones argues against this action and declares that “no officer of his court should be removed because of his politics.” Thompson and Scott plan to see United States Marshal Leander J. Bryan on the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-28
President Roosevelt responds to Representative Williams’s claim that he does not understand the South. Although Roosevelt is “greatly puzzled” by some difficulties he has encountered in the South, he has tried to treat the Southern States fairly. Roosevelt believes there are no issues with what he has done in the South but how he has been misrepresented in the South. The president is fine if people disagree with his policies, but he does not like when the facts are misrepresented. He mentions statements made by Alabama Senator John Tyler Morgan and Williams himself that were incorrect. Roosevelt does not appreciate the application of base motives to the president of the United States, and believes if the people of the South have been misled, it is because Southern leaders have misled them. Roosevelt also does not appreciate white men in the South trying to get their vote to count more than those in the North, and believes African American men should be judged by the same tests as “ignorant, vicious and shiftless whites.” Roosevelt closes by saying that what the South “really needs” is for her leaders to tell the truth.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-05
Theodore Roosevelt writes to Governor B. B. Comer and tells him he will write to Judge Jones to “correct the statement which you tell me, that you had maligned him to me, and made evil statements concerning him.” He asks that his name be kept out of any public controversy, though.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-27
Theodore Roosevelt writes to Governor B. B. Comer and tells him that his letter was in error over Roosevelt’s opinion on an injunction by Judge Jones. Although Comer believed that Roosevelt was “disappointed” in the ruling, Roosevelt recalls that he “approved of his course.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-20
Theodore Roosevelt thanks former Governor of Alabama B. B. Comer for the letter, and will read his statement. Roosevelt is saddened by Comer’s fight with Judge Thomas Goode Jones.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-19
Theodore Roosevelt appreciates William Holcombe Thomas’s letter and congratulates him on “your admirable part in the great victory.” However, he is indignant at Thomas’s defeat and directs him to visit Judge Thomas Goode Jones to connect with the Federal Court.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-27
During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt did meet with Booker T. Washington to discuss the appointment of Judge Thomas Goode Jones, but he was not going to appoint Jones solely on Washington’s recommendation. The dinner with Washington created a scandal even though Roosevelt had previously socialized with African Americans. The dinner was a mistake as it was certain to be misunderstood. Roosevelt misjudged the intellectual and moral state of Southern whites and African Americans.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-11-20
President Roosevelt says he will “read that address with interest and profit.” He saw Judge Thomas Goode Jones recently and was impressed with him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-13