Historical Society, it is believed that none of his correspondence has hitherto been known, and Mr. and Mrs. Davis's gift is a solid contribution to colonial history. pers. Through the generous interest of Judge J. Lawrence The Crallé paCampbell, of Bedford City, Va., in behalf of himself and his brothers, Richard K. Campbell, Esq., chief of the Division of Naturalization, Department of Commerce and Labor, and Henry T. Campbell, Esq., of Norfolk, Va., grandsons of Richard K. Crallé, the Library is in possession of a body of some eighty papers left by Mr. Crallé, pertaining to the history of the War of 1812, the Mexican war, and the efforts to nominate Calhoun for the Presidency. Mr. Crallé was the intimate confidential friend of Calhoun, his chief clerk when he was Secretary of State in 1844, and the editor of his works after his death. He gathered material for a biography of Calhoun, but, except for a fragment among the papers now presented to the Library, the manuscript was lost. The letters are from Dixon H. Lewis, Senator from Alabama, Duff Green, Abel P. Upshur, and others. What may be termed an enlargement of the field of activity of the Division has been its efforts to obtain material throwing light upon the development of the religious sects in the United States. The Library does not desire to secure the records of individual churches-these are properly local historical archives--but to collect the papers of churchmen who have played a part in the introduction or upbuilding of religious sects in various sections of the country is a legitimate undertaking for a library concerned with the conservation of the records of American history. Besides the Waddel Diary already mentioned, the more important accessions have been: "Smith's papers The New England Baptist Library Association, of Boston, Rev. Hezekiah having intimated to the Library that certain of its manuscripts pertaining to Baptist activity during the Revolution might, under satisfactory arrangement, be transferred The life of Rev. Moses Hoge, D.D. Shaker scripts pers manu to this Library, negotiations were entered into which resulted in the acquisition by the Library of the diaries, letters, order books, and sermons of Rev. Hezekiah Smith, D. D., of Haverhill, Mass., a chaplain in the army during the Revolution; the papers covering the years 1762 to 1805, and throwing important light especially upon the Baptist movement in the army during the Revolution. Moses Hoge was a soldier in the Revolution; then became a pupil of Rev. James Waddel in Virginia, and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in Virginia, 1781. He was a school teacher, and from 1806 until his death, in 1852, president of Hampden Sidney College. He published an answer to Paine's "Age of Reason" in 1799. His son, John Blair Hoge, also a Presbyterian minister, wrote his life, a manuscript of 230 pages, of foolscap size, which has not been published, and contains a great deal of valuable information concerning the development of Presbyterian education in Virginia. The manuscript was acquired from John Blair Hoge's grandson, Rev. Peyton H. Hoge, of Pewee Valley, Kentucky. Through Mr. J. P. MacLean, the valuable collection of Shaker manuscripts already in the Library's possession has been greatly enriched by 51 volumes of notebooks, experiences, records, etc. The Baird pa- Rev. Samuel John Baird retired from the Presbyterian ministry in 1865, moved to Virginia, and wrote much thereafter on Presbyterian ecclesiastical polity, and was prominently identified with Presbyterian doctrinal discussions. Upward of 600 pieces of his correspondence have been acquired by the Library, being chiefly letters from Presbyterian ministers on church affairs and doctrinal questions. Transfers The transfers from other government offices during the year include twenty-four letters from public characters (1795-1850) deposited by the Department of the Interior, and what is to be known as The House of Representatives Collection, the completion of which is not yet accomplished. sentatives collection The establishment of The House of Representatives col- House of Reprelection is an important step, which may lead to future accessions of great interest to scholars. It resulted from a feeling by the House of Representatives that certain of its old records, not having a present-day value and yet having great interest and value to historical students, could be more usefully preserved in the Library than in its own archives. The House resolution, introduced by Hon. James F. O'Connell, of Massachusetts, and amended by Hon. Fran- · cis Burton Harrison, of New York, reads as follows: Resolved, That there shall be paid out of the contingent fund of the House, under the direction of the Clerk, an amount not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars for the better preservation of the early files of the House, consisting of original manuscripts; said files to be classified, re-jacketed, and indorsed in such manner as in the judgment of the Clerk will insure their safe-keeping and accessibility. And the Clerk of the House is hereby authorized to deposit with the Librarian of Congress all original letters and papers of historical value for preservation in the Library of Congress as a part of the files of the House of Representatives subject to removal or withdrawal only by order of the House, a list of same and receipt therefor to be communicated to the House and published in the Journal and in the Congressional Record; and the selection of the documents to be transferred to the Library of Congress shall be made under the direction and supervision of the Chief of the Bureau of Manuscripts of the Library of Congress.-House Resolution, no. 403, March 5, 1910. A list of the records which were the subject of the resolution was drawn up in the office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and submitted to the Chief of the Division of Manuscripts of the Library, by whom such docu William Short papers ments as seemed to have historical or autographic value were selected, and these are now in process of being delivered to the Library from time to time as the classification and re-jacketing progresses in the Clerk's office. Eight lots have been receipted for, comprising 269 separate groups, the papers ranging in date from the time of the Revolution. (being documents filed in various proceedings before Congress) to 1860, and embracing a great variety of subjects— the question of the removal of General Washington's remains; the relief of his body servant, John Cary; letters of Robert Fulton; inventories of the contents of the White House; petitions against slavery; petitions against war with England in 1812; memorials on colonization of free persons of color; petitions against Sunday mails; papers concerning polar explorations; papers concerning the Seminole war; concerning the invulnerable steam battery invented by Clinton Roosevelt; concerning the bodily attack on Charles Sumner, etc. Further accessions of especial importance are: The William Short papers.—William Short was born in Virginia, September 30, 1759, and died in Philadelphia, December 5, 1849. He was appointed secretary of legation at Paris in August, 1785, when Jefferson was minister; left in charge of the legation September 26, 1789; and commissioned chargé d'affaires April 20, 1790. January 16, 1792, he became minister resident at The Hague, and March 18 of the same year was sent to Spain as joint commissioner plenipotentiary with William Carmichael to make a treaty concerning the free navigation of the Mississippi, boundaries, and commerce, becoming sole plenipotentiary when the treaty was signed, October 27, 1795. He had the management of the public debt in France, and in 1790 was commissioned to negotiate a loan for the United States under the funding acts of August 4 and 12. His correspondence with Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, on financial questions, is full and important, especially because In recent years, from time to time, by auction and at pri- Gerry papers vate sale, the papers of Elbridge Gerry, collected by his biographer, Austin, have been disposed of in separate and detached portions at prices which precluded their passing into the Library's possession-a misfortune, indeed, as their historical value has been greatly diminished by their being scattered. The Library was so fortunate as to obtain one lot of these papers, which includes drafts of his letters and diplomatic memoranda made between the years 1797-1801, when he was on his special mission to France. A part of the correspondence of Theodore Dwight Weld, Weld papers the anti-slavery lecturer, reformer, and author (born, 1803, died, 1895), and his wife, Angelina Emily Grimké, has been acquired. It includes letters on the subject of abolition of slavery from Beriah Green, Gerrit Smith, Joshua R. Giddings, William Lloyd Garrison, Henry Wilson, Wendell Phillips, and Sarah M. Grimké. er's diary William Owner's diary, kept in Washington from 1860 to William Own1867, is in nine volumes, and gives the most important events of the Civil War chronicled as they occurred. |