Parsons, Herbert, 1869-1925

Letter from Marcus Braun to William Loeb

Marcus Braun updates William Loeb on the political situation in New York after a discussion the two men recently had. Braun believes Public Service Commissioner Frederick C. Stevens may be planning some kind of political scheme to “get the old gang back into power.” The situation is so upsetting to Braun that he has resigned from the Hungarian Republican Club, but he can rally his associates if the need arises. Braun shares a commendation he received for his work, but says a raise or promotion would have been more welcome to him and his family.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-17

Creator(s)

Braun, Marcus, 1865-1921

Letter from Timothy L. Woodruff to William Loeb

Timothy L. Woodruff describes the situation in Albany after the New York State Legislature became deadlocked over the question of apportionment. Woodruff would like to meet with William Loeb and President Roosevelt before he leaves on vacation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-17

Creator(s)

Woodruff, Timothy L. (Timothy Lester), 1858-1913

Letter from James Sullivan Clarkson to William Loeb

Surveyor of Customs for the Port of New York Clarkson reports to William Loeb that voters in the South and West want President Roosevelt to be re-elected, though they admire William H. Taft, and George B. Cortelyou is also favored. Clarkson asks for clarity as to who he should expect to provide direction for him in the coming campaign. Representative Herbert Parsons wishes to change several appointments, some of which have been under the control of the Surveyor. Clarkson also discusses the presidential campaign in Iowa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-13

Creator(s)

Clarkson, James Sullivan, 1842-1918

Letter from Charles Sprague Smith to William Loeb

Charles Sprague Smith spoke with Nicholas Murray Butler, and thinks Charles Evans Hughes’s campaign for governor of New York is in good shape. They tried to enlist Jacob A. Riis’s help, but he is unwilling to help due to a newspaper attack on his friend Richard Watson Gilder. Smith also believes that the Republicans should enlist the help of rabbis to help convince Jewish voters.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-29

Creator(s)

Smith, Charles Sprague, 1853-1910

Letter from Gherardi Davis to Theodore Roosevelt

Davis writes President Roosevelt to give him a worker’s perspective on how the gubernatorial election campaign of William Randolph Hearst, whose election he thinks inconceivable. Davis worries that there might be a bad showing upstate. He believes that workers were more interested in Charles Evans Hughes’s ideas on political economy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-27

Creator(s)

Davis, Gherardi, 1858-1941

Letter from Timothy L. Woodruff to Theodore Roosevelt

New York Republican State Committee Chairman Woodruff informs President Roosevelt that he has received his letter and talked with New York Congressman Herbert Parsons and Republican National Committee Member William L. Ward. They are all in agreement regarding the “Oscar Straus matter,” which is likely a reference to Roosevelt’s possible appointment of New York City politician Oscar S. Straus as Secretary of Commerce and Labor. This would be the first appointment of a Jewish-American to a cabinet position, and could win Jewish votes for the Republicans in the gubernatorial race between Charles Evans Hughes and Democrat William Randolph Hearst.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-22

Creator(s)

Woodruff, Timothy L. (Timothy Lester), 1858-1913

Letter from Timothy L. Woodruff to Theodore Roosevelt

Timothy L. Woodruff, Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, updates President Roosevelt on the campaign for the 1906 New York gubernatorial election between Republican Charles Evans Hughes and Democrat William Randolph Hearst. Woodruff agrees with Roosevelt that campaign events should not feature Republicans with national reputations, with the exception of Secretary of State Elihu Root, who is from New York. Woodruff says he attempted to prevent Speaker of the House and Illinois Congressman Joseph Gurney Cannon from campaigning for Republicans in New York and, that having failed, has asked that Cannon avoid discussing national Republican issues like tariffs or labor unions. Woodruff includes a letter from a local Democratic lawyer whom Woodruff feels represents many Democrats who oppose Hearst enough to cross party lines to vote for Hughes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-13

Creator(s)

Woodruff, Timothy L. (Timothy Lester), 1858-1913

Letter from J. S. Sherman to Theodore Roosevelt

Representative Sherman notifies President Roosevelt that a meeting with Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon will be held, but a meeting with Secretary of State Elihu Root will be abandoned. The justification for the decision was “the howl the ‘Yellow Journals’ would make” about Root’s acceptance of a retainer for being counsel to Thomas F. Ryan. Representative Jacob Van Vechten Olcott feels that Cannon’s speech at Durlan’s Academy can only bring “great good.” Sherman feels the Republicans will not lose any votes by exploiting the achievements of the party, and he acquiesces to Representative Herbert Parsons in terms of who would be best to speak in New York City. Sherman hopes Root might schedule a speech in upstate New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-15

Creator(s)

Sherman, J. S. (James Schoolcraft), 1855-1912

Letter from Charles Evans Hughes to Theodore Roosevelt

Charles Evans Hughes thanks President Roosevelt for his letter and notes that he is fully alive to the danger Roosevelt mentioned. Hughes has discussed the labor situation with Herbert Parsons and plans to get hold of Julius M. Mayer. Hughes also encloses a letter from Charles Sprague Smith, Director of the People’s Institute, which he thinks will interest Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-04

Creator(s)

Hughes, Charles Evans, 1862-1948

Letter from Nicholas Murray Butler to Theodore Roosevelt

Nicholas Murray Butler thinks Herbert Parsons showed far more power of leadership than he had anticipated, and the Republican party has been saved from making a critical blunder. Butler believes that the Republican party will win, but he recognizes the intensity of the political struggle ahead. Professor Hermann Schumacher gave a successful inaugural address, and Butler finds him personally very agreeable.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-28

Creator(s)

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

Memorandum to Theodore Roosevelt

William L. Ward and William Barnes are in favor of nominating Herbert Parsons for governor of New York. Ward wonders how this suggestion strikes the president.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-21

Creator(s)

Presidential Office Staff

Letter from John A. Sleicher to William Loeb

John A. Sleicher hopes the president will rescind oppressive regulation of small newspapers. Conde Hamlin of the St. Paul Pioneer Press agrees. Hamlin thinks William Jennings Bryan has “queered himself” but will be nominated nonetheless. Governor Frank S. Black and his wife Lois are returning from vacation. Sleicher hopes Black will be a delegate at the New York state convention and also recommends Herbert Parsons for the state committee. Sleicher tells Loeb to take pictures on an upcoming trip out West.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-21

Creator(s)

Sleicher, John A. (John Albert), 1848-1921

Letter from Henry W. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Henry W. Taft is obliged to President Roosevelt for his letter regarding the Santo Domingo matter. He congratulates Roosevelt about New York City and calls it, “the most signal victory within the party that we have ever had in our city.” If they can replace Benjamin B. Odell, Taft feels William D. Barnes or Timothy L. Woodruff would both make good state chairman but worries people would see that as following Roosevelt’s plan for where the party is headed. He also thinks Herbert Parsons would make a solid governor or state chairman as he both stands for reform but is also practical, unlike F. Norton Goddard.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-22

Creator(s)

Taft, Henry W. (Henry Waters), 1859-1945

Letter from James R. Sheffield to Theodore Roosevelt

James R. Sheffield understands why President Roosevelt and First Lady Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt will not be able to visit him in Franklin County, New York. He hopes they consider a trip there in the future. Sheffield will be returning to New York soon and is excited to work on reelecting Herbert Parsons.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-14

Creator(s)

Sheffield, James R. (James Rockwell), 1864-1938

Letter from William R. Willcox to William Loeb

New York City Postmaster William R. Willcox writes William Loeb regarding the incident of a person of color, postal clerk A. D. Guerrant, being fired for insubordination. Willcox disagrees with the letter Congressman Herbert Parsons sent to President Theodore Roosevelt alleging that Guerrant had been the victim of racial discrimination. Willcox outlines the case, defends the decisions of the other department managers, and denies strongly the accusation that the New York Post Office discriminates or makes hiring or promotion decisions based on anything but merit.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-05

Creator(s)

Willcox, William R. (William Russell), 1863-1940

Letter from Charles William Anderson to William Loeb

Charles William Anderson writes to William Loeb about the meeting of the Republican State Committee in New York. Anderson disputes a report that Chairman of the Committee Benjamin B. Odell had intended to question Anderson’s right to vote in the Committee. Anderson suggests that a future meeting between President Roosevelt and New York Representative Herbert Parsons will “clear up the atmosphere” concerning rumored indifference on the part of Roosevelt toward Parsons.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-30

Creator(s)

Anderson, Charles William, 1866-1938

Letter from John A. Sleicher to Theodore Roosevelt

John A. Sleicher asks President Roosevelt for “one or two good, stirring sentences” that he could use in conjunction with a cartoon he is creating for the magazine Judge to help the Republican ticket in Pennsylvania. In addition, Sleicher is glad Roosevelt has come out for Herbert Parsons, who will need all the help he can get. Sleicher also suggests that the Secretary of the Treasury make his examination of national banks as carefully and as conservatively as possible in order to give a feeling to the people of greater security in the national banking system.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-30

Creator(s)

Sleicher, John A. (John Albert), 1848-1921

Letter from Alford Warriner Cooley to Theodore Roosevelt

Civil Service Commissioner Cooley informs President Roosevelt of William R. Willcox’s progress in depoliticizing the New York City Post Office and running it “on a business basis.” However, Willcox faces the challenge of wresting the office from the traditions of its prior administration and the inconsistencies between the rules for post office employees and those of the Treasury Department.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-04

Creator(s)

Cooley, Alford Warriner, 1873-1913

Letter from William W. Cocks to William Loeb

William W. Cocks has written to Truman Handy Newberry about appointing William Perry to the Naval Collier service. Cocks saw William Barnes yesterday and discussed the situation in New York City. Cocks hopes William Loeb will help Representative Herbert Parsons over Lemuel Ely Quigg. Cocks also believes it necessary to support Governor Frank Wayland Higgins, since indifference on the part of President Roosevelt will be construed by Republican State Chairman Benjamin B. Odell’s people as opposition to Higgins.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-24

Creator(s)

Cocks, William W., 1861-1932

Letter from Alexander Lambert to Theodore Roosevelt

Dr. Lambert shares with President Roosevelt some political gossip he overheard about Charles Evans Hughes and Benjamin B. Odell, with regards to the governor’s race in New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-24

Creator(s)

Lambert, Alexander, 1861-1939