Your TR Source
Samuel H. Thompson sends Theodore Roosevelt an autographed copy of his book The Highlanders of the South. He greatly admires Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-13
The Joint Committee of the Tennessee General Assembly sends Theodore Roosevelt a joint resolution inviting him to address the Assembly at a time of his choosing.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-02
Grosvenor Dawe informs Theodore Roosevelt that six other governors are heading representative committees at the Southern Commercial Congress, with more expected. The Congress “typifies a new union of the South along the constructive lines of commerce and business” compared to the unity of fifty years ago during the Civil War.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-16
John Allison has been receiving treatment for an abscess in his ear, but is beginning to do better. He praises Theodore Roosevelt’s open letter to Chairman Clapp. Allison looks forward to seeing Roosevelt when he travels to Tennessee in the near future, and suggests State Senator John Houk as a candidate to introduce Roosevelt at Knoxville, Tennessee, noting that he “has been a ‘wheelhorse’ for Roosevelt in Tennessee.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-09-05
John Allison describes his military career to President Roosevelt and concludes that he cannot accept the Vicksburg Park Commission, as he did not serve there. However, he would like to be appointed to a commission he can legally accept. Allison also offers his view on how Secretary of War William H. Taft might unite the Tennessee Republican Party after he secures the nomination for president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-05
John Callan O’Laughlin provides President Roosevelt an overview of his impressions of the political mood of the country. O’Laughlin has concluded that Secretary of War William H. Taft will receive the Republican nomination for president, and recounts the various states that he believes will go for Taft, as well as the political figures who he believes should be watched or contacted in the various states. There is still substantial popular support for Roosevelt in the country, and O’Laughlin believes that if Roosevelt were to run he would win. Roosevelt’s action in ordering an investigation of the wage scale of railroad employees is very popular. Taft draws much of his strength comes from his connection to Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-24
Representative Hale of Tennessee writes to President Roosevelt with information in the interest of building a respectable Republican party in Tennessee. Hale says that Tennessee has been corrupt for 15 years, but under Roosevelt the state organization has been cleaned up. He hopes this will continue under the administration of Secretary of War William H. Taft, Roosevelt’s likely successor. Hale worries about slanderous claims about his nomination and corruption in the Southern faction of the party. He feels he has given up much for the good of the party, and hopes Roosevelt will not believe the charges against him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-17
A letter to the editor laments the state of the Republican Party in Tennessee, which the writer considers too corrupt and factionalized to warrant loyalty from voters. If the Party were to focus on its principles it would be more electorally successful.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-30
John Allison thanks President Roosevelt for his letter to his daughter, Emma V. Allison, who is ill. The letter brightened her mood considerably. Allison hopes, if Roosevelt is nominated for president in 1908, that not only is he elected, but that he receives the electoral vote of Tennessee. Allison provides a report on the Republican Party of Tennessee, calling it a “seething bed of factionalism” which has lost much of its power. Someone high up in the party should discipline the leaders in Tennessee. Allison explains how he would go about that if he were the one to do it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-25
Colonel Newell Sanders predicts that Republicans in Tennessee will remain united in the upcoming election, that President Roosevelt will be nominated for a second elected term as president and accept, and that Richard W. Austin will not run against fellow republican Congressman Nathan W. Hale.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-24
John Allison sends President Roosevelt a newspaper clipping that he intended to send with his previous letter, and says that reading it will make a paragraph of his letter make more sense. He also encloses an editorial commenting on Justice David J. Brewer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-27
Senator Beveridge writes to follow up on an earlier conversation with President Roosevelt about the constitutionality of the Child Labor Bill. The jurisprudence is unambiguous in demonstrating that Congress may regulate all matters relating to interstate commerce. Beveridge also notes that many initiatives by the states to solve this issue have been ineffective, citing several examples. He has also seen the popular sentiment stirred up by the long campaign against child labor, and believes this bill is an example of good governance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-22
Anna Roosevelt Cowles writes her brother, President Roosevelt, regarding the selection of a Connecticut Supreme Court Justice. She thinks that either Walter Chadwick Noyes or John J. Beach would be a good choice, although she has heard more about the latter. She also communicates that she is enjoying the summer weather and that her family is doing well in Farmington, Connecticut.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-01
Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte discusses the political situation in Baltimore regarding the vacancy for Deputy Surveyor of Customs and recommends that President Roosevelt leave the position unfilled until after the election and then appoint James Campbell. Bonaparte then discusses the political situation between Clarence C. Pusey, Abraham Lincoln Dryden, and John B. Hanna, recommending that Roosevelt suggest that Pusey wait until November 1st to take office, which would be considerate to William H. Jackson without offending Pusey’s supporters. Bonaparte also discusses whether two ships should make a trip to New Orleans or not.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-10
Henry Cabot Lodge spoke with Attorney General Moody about the platform he is preparing for the Republican State Convention. During their conversation, Lodge learned that President Roosevelt is thinking about appointing Democratic Judge Horace H. Lurton to the Supreme Court. Lodge has strong feelings that the Republican Party should only appoint Republican judges. As a Hamiltonian in his beliefs on the Constitution, he worries about appointing a “strict constructionist who inherits the separatist tradition.” Lodge concludes with some comments about William Jennings Bryan, the beef trust, and “the silver question,” also called bimetallism.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-01
Secretary of War Taft agrees with President Roosevelt’s decision to appoint John Marshall Harlan. Taft then analyzes the political considerations in making the appointment of the Supreme Court justice who will succeed Henry Billings Brown. Taft also expresses concern about Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal John F. Stevens’s inability to answer the charges of Poultney Bigelow’s article in The Cosmopolitan, even if the charges have no foundation. In addition, Taft notifies Roosevelt that he tried to get Major George W. Goethals, an army engineer, to be Secretary of the Board to live on the Isthmus of Panama, but the presence of Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission Joseph Bucklin Bishop prevents it. Taft recognizes that Congressman Julius C. Burrows is “indignant” about Taft’s involvement in the appointment of District Judge in the Western District of Michigan, but Taft does not think Burrows is justified.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-21
Judge Lurton admires the address of Mr. Fleming, which discusses preserving the gap between whites and African Americans by lifting whites up, not holding African Americans down. Fleming also spoke in reference to grandfather clauses. Public opinion has not brought up criticism against the grandfather clauses. Lurton is sending a typewritten copy of a rare document, an address to the people of Tennessee by the delegates to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention of 1834 explaining why the proposed constitution did not provide for emancipation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-23
Two delegates from Tennessee have been reelected to vote for Theodore Roosevelt and two delegates from Alabama have decided that it is their duty to support Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-16
William Eleroy Curtis, a reporter for the Chicago Record-Herald, notifies President Roosevelt that he is planning a visit to five southern states. Curtis asks Roosevelt if there are any people or issues that he should write about.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-24
Judge Lurton writes to Secretary of War Taft about H. Campbell, a former candidate for governor in Tennessee, who is reportedly lazy and not taken seriously by the Republican Party, but needs to be accommodated. Lurton also invites Taft to visit Nashville if he will be canvassing as part of President Roosevelt’s campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-13