Your TR Source
This memorandum describes the candidacy of Oscar R. Hundley for appointment as judge to various openings in Alabama. Hundley’s numerous endorsers are listed. Objections to his appointment are discussed, along with Hundley’s responses.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-08
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
At the request of Theodore Roosevelt, his secretary forwards a letter and two telegrams. Roosevelt has agreed to carry out any arrangements made by Mr. Tuttle and Charles S. Thompson. In reply to Edward Prentiss Costigan, Roosevelt has sent a message to Judge Ben B. Lindsey, approving the third party movement in Colorado. Roosevelt has not responded to the telegram from Joseph Oswalt Thompson.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-13
President Roosevelt considers Booker T. Washington’s letter to be important and will meet with Tuskegee Postmaster Joseph O. Thompson soon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-30
President Roosevelt has informed Charles H. Scott that he intends to follow Judge Jones’s recommendation for U.S. Marshal in Alabama. Scott requested that Jones have a conference with himself and Joseph O. Thompson about the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-24
In response to a letter from William Eleroy Curtis about the quality of his appointments in Alabama, President Roosevelt offers the facts. He asks Curtis to ask people whether the new men he has appointed are better than the ones he replaced. He also clarifies that he did not bar appointees from serving on national and state committees, but that he prefers that appointees do not dominate them. In response to Curtis’s demands that he replace postmasters in Dothan, Andalusia, and Marion, Roosevelt says that one was removed, an inspector recommended that a second be kept, and an investigation into the third is ongoing.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-28
President Roosevelt wants to correct mistakes and falsehoods in William Eleroy Curtis’s letter about the state of political appointments in Alabama. Roosevelt believes that Curtis was misled by a statement by Mr. Faulkner, which implied that Roosevelt has appointed fewer and worse African Americans to positions than William McKinley did. The appointments in Alabama have been higher quality in the last three and a half years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-25
President Roosevelt thanks Senator Frye for the box. He thinks he can arrange for William Frye Tebbetts to stay on as a customs collector.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-10
President Roosevelt corrects Judge Jones; Miss Cunningham is not currently the postmistress of Brewton, Alabama, but is merely a candidate for the position. He has asked John Singleton Mosby to investigate Alabama affairs, directing him to contact Jones for information. Roosevelt asks Jones’s opinion of the recommendation for Birmingham postmaster.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-12
President Roosevelt thanks Senator William P. Frye for forwarding the letter from Mr. Stratton, and tells him that he has taken immediate action to begin inquiries into the two postmasters mentioned in the letter. Roosevelt mentions that he has received protests regarding the conduct of William Frye Tebbetts in Montgomery. Roosevelt rates the opinion of Judge Jones about Mr. Thompson more highly than Mr. Stratton’s opinion. He is thinking of following Mr. Stratton’s suggestion to send Colonel Mosby to investigate the conditions in Alabama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-10
President Roosevelt is unsure of what to do about William Frye Tebbetts, recently appointed Customs Collector in Mobile, Alabama. Roosevelt is concerned about how he has behaved toward African Americans based on comments from Booker T. Washington. Roosevelt informs President pro tempore of the Senate Frye he needs to know that Tebbetts will give all people—white or black—a square deal. Otherwise, Tebbetts cannot keep the position.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-22
Dr. Edelman cautions Senator Bristow against pressing for the patronage resolution as he believes that it would be damaging in the South. He requests that Bristow consult with Lynn Haines and is willing to meet with Bristow afterwards.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-03-08
Oscar R. Hundley appreciates the opportunity to write frankly to William Loeb, and says that he does not have any intention of giving Charles H. Scott a recommendation. Scott was elected as a delegate to the Alabama state convention by both administration and anti-administration forces, and chose to attend the anti-administration convention in spite of the work done for him by the administration forces to elect him national committeeman. Hundley also talks about his conflict with Judge Thomas Goode Jones, and how this relates to the proceedings of the anti-administration forces in Alabama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-11
Alford Warriner Cooley returns several letters to William Loeb, and will talk with him about them tomorrow.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-28
Booker T. Washington updates William Loeb on matters in Alabama, including several upcoming meetings he has scheduled, as well as the fact that the state committee in Birmingham, Alabama, endorsed President Roosevelt and Secretary of War William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-22
Assistant Attorney General Cooley has read and returns Booker T. Washington’s letter about the political situation in Alabama. He believes that Charles H. Scott should be kept in line until the Republican National Convention, and is happy to use whatever influence he has with him to get him to change his demands. Both Scott and Joseph O. Thompson are beholden to the Roosevelt Administration for their influence in Alabama, thus it should be possible to achieve the arrangement President Roosevelt wants. Cooley wishes that Scott and others who supported Secretary of War William H. Taft before Roosevelt’s declaration would understand that Assistant Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock is not against them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-06
Booker T. Washington requests that nothing be done in Alabama to disrupt Tuskegee Postmaster Joseph O. Thompson’s authority without his consent. Thompson has been working out the situation and currently has it under control. If the conflict between Thompson and Charles H. Scott cannot be resolved, Scott should be given a position out of state, as it is imperative that Thompson’s influence over the Alabama State Committee be maintained.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-07
Judge Jones feels he must explain himself to President Roosevelt, though his attempts may verge on tattling. Jones feels that Joseph O. Thompson’s recent letter was quite unnecessary and created the intention of blaming Jones for wrongdoing. Jones talked with Thompson and told him that if Marshal Leander J. Bryan denied the charges put before him, that he would denounce him quickly. Wanting more information, Thompson told Jones that Captain O’Brien knew Bryan and could speak to the charges, but O’Brien will not talk with Jones. Jones goes on to describe the suspect activities of Thompson and Charles H. Scott, and hopes that Roosevelt will believe that he has not personally benefited from appointing anyone.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-16
Booker T. Washington writes to President Roosevelt including a newspaper clipping from the Montgomery Daily Advertiser. Washington notes that the newspaper clipping shows the appointment of a recommended postmaster and believes that Alabama will meet and even surpass the “Mississippi Standard.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-14