Levi P. Morton Correspondence
An inventory of his correspondence at Syracuse University
Finding aid created by: KM
Date: Feb 1989
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| 27 Jul 2009 | converted to EAD (MRC) |
Finding aid created by: KM
Date: Feb 1989
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| 27 Jul 2009 | converted to EAD (MRC) |
Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Morton, Levi P. (Levi Parsons), 1824-1920. |
| Title: | Levi P. Morton Correspondence |
| Dates: | 1860-1912 |
| Quantity: | 0.5 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | Papers of the Congressman from New York, United States minister to France, Vice-President of the United States, and Republican governor of New York State. Collection contains mostly incoming correspondence from clergymen, educators, financiers, journalists, and politicians. Some letters are addressed to Morton's executive secretary, Ashley W. Cole. |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: | Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center |
Levi P. Morton (1824-1920) was a Congressman from New York (1879-1881), United States minister to France (1881-1885), Republican governor of New York State (1895-1896), and Vice President of the United States (1889-1893) under President Benjamin Harrison.
The Levi P. Morton Correspondence is a collection of mostly incoming letters dated between 1860 and 1912, the bulk of which were written during Morton's tenure as Governor of New York (1895-1896). Morton's correspondents include authors and journalists (Henry Abbey, Lyman Abbott, W.J. Arkell, George W. Childs, Edwin L. Godkin, Frances M. Harris (pseud. Hope Ledyard), St. Clair McKelway, Oswald Ottendorfer, Franz Sigel, William Allen White); as well as clergymen (Thomas K. Beecher, Arthur C. Coxe, Theodore L. Cuyler, William C. Doane, John Hall, F.D. Huntington, John Ireland, Abram N. Littlejohn, Charles H. Parkhurst, H.C. Potter); educators (Nicholas M. Butler, Henry M. MacCracken, Jacob Schurman, Booker T. Washington, Alexander S. Webb); and financiers (Collis P. Huntington, Russell Sage, William C. Whitney). The bulk of the correspondence is from fellow politicians (William B. Allison, Cornelius N. Bliss, George S. Boutwell, Simon Cameron, Chauncey M. Depew, Roswell P. Flower, Frank W. Higgins, Elihu Root), including a number of state governors: R.A. Alger (Michigan), James A. Beaver (Pennsylvania), Charles A. Culberson (Texas), Charles W. Lippitt (Rhode Island), W.J. Stone (Missouri), and H.M. Wells (Utah).
Many of the letters (W.S. Bissell, William A. Butler, Joseph Choate, John Hall, MacCracken, Sage, Sigel, Benjamin F. Tracy) relate to particular pieces of legislation before the then-Governor, the largest number in reference to the Greater New York bill, an effort to consolidate Brooklyn and New York into one large metropolitan area (Abbott, Cuyler, C.P. Huntington, Littlejohn, Parkhurst, Potter, William C. Redfield). Also among the letters are several lengthy opinions (James C. Carter, Choate, Joseph Larocque, Root) which Morton solicited regarding the selection of appellate judges for the State Supreme Court. Among other issues discussed in the correspondence are public school reform (N.M. Butler, Doane, Root); separation of church and state (John Ireland); protection of the State forests (Gifford Pinchot, Nathan Straus); establishment of the State Veterinary College at Cornell University (Schurman); and prison reform (Beecher, F.D. Huntington). One of the most interesting of the incoming letters is an item from the Navy Department secretary M.A. Herbert, who upon learning of the State's plans to widen the Erie Canal, Suggests (3 Jan. 1896):
The moderate depth of water in the Erie Canal would prevent the passage of most naval vessels now in service, but with the width of locks increased to 23 feet it would be possible that a class of ships built especially for the defense of the lakes could be kept in New York, ready for service on the lakes in case of hostilities with Great Britain. Our treaty with that country limits its naval force on the lakes to one gunboat, but should the Erie Canal be available, the present advantage of Great Britain, the possession of a waterway through its own territory, would be counterbalanced and the defense of our Northern frontier simplified.
In addition there are a few letters of introduction (0.E. Babcock, Lucius Fairchild, Ottendorfer, Edward Thornton, M.R. Waite) and numerous recommendations for various appointments (J.W. De Peyster, S.B. Elkins, John G. Evans, F.M. Finch, Hamilton Fish, Flower, William P. Frye, Higgins, Frank Hiscock, Horatio C. King, Warner Miller, Sage, James W. Wadsworth, George L. Wellington, Stewart L. Woodford).
Letters are arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
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Persons
Abbey, Henry, 1842-1911.
Abbott, Lyman, 1835-1922.
Alger, R. A. (Russell Alexander), 1836-1907.
Allison, William B. (William Boyd), 1829-1908.
Arkell, W. J. (William J.), 1856-1930.
Babcock, Orville Elias, 1835-1884.
Baird, Absalom, 1824-1905.
Beaver, James A. (James Addams), 1837-1914.
Beecher, Thomas Kinnicut, 1824-1900.
Bissell, Wilson Shannon, 1847-1903.
Bliss, Cornelius Newton, 1833-1911.
Boutwell, George S. (George Sewall), 1818-1905.
Butler, Matthew Calbraith, 1836-1909.
Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947.
Butler, William Allen, 1825-1902.
Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889.
Carter, James C. (James Coolidge), 1827-1905.
Carter, Thomas Henry, 1854-1911.
Chandler, William E. (William Eaton), 1835-1917.
Childs, George William, 1829-1894.
Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917.
Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903.
Cole, Ashley W., 1841-1920.
Coxe, A. Cleveland (Arthur Cleveland), 1818-1896.
Croes, J. J. R. (John James Robertson), 1834-1906.
Culberson, Charles A. (Charles Allen), 1855-1925.
Cuyler, Theodore L. (Theodore Ledyard), 1822-1909.
Davis, Cushman Kellogg, 1838-1900.
De Peyster, J. Watts (John Watts), 1821-1907.
Depew, Chauncey M. (Chauncey Mitchell), 1834-1928.
Doane, William Croswell, 1832-1913.
Doremus, Robert Ogden, 1824-1906.
Egan, Patrick, 1841-
Elkins, Stephen B. (Stephen Benton), 1841-1911.
Evans, John Gary, 1863-1942.
Fairchild, Lucius, 1831-1896.
Finch, Francis M. (Francis Miles), 1827-1907.
Flint, Austin, 1836-1915.
Flower, Roswell Pettibone, 1835-1899.
Frye, William P. (William Pierce), 1831-1911.
Godkin, Edwin Lawrence, 1831-1902.
Hale, Eugene, 1836-1918.
Hall, John, 1829-1898.
Harris, F. McCready (Frances McCready)
Herbert, Hilary A. (Hilary Abner), 1834-1919.
Higgins, Frank Wayland, 1856-1907.
Hunt, Richard Morris, 1828-1895.
Huntington, Collis P. (Collis Potter), 1821-1900.
Huntington, F. D. (Frederic Dan), 1819-1904.
Ireland, John, 1838-1918.
King, Horatio C. (Horatio Collins), 1837-1918.
Lamont, Daniel Scott, 1851-1905.
Lippitt, Charles Warren, 1846-1924.
Littlejohn, Abram Newkirk, 1824-1901.
MacCracken, Henry Mitchell, 1840-1918.
McKelway, St. Clair, 1905-1980.
Metcalf, Lorettus Sutton, 1837-1920.
Miller, Warner, 1838-1918.
Olney, Richard, 1835-1917.
Ottendorfer, Oswald, 1826-1900.
Parkhurst, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1831-1889.
Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946.
Porter, Horace, 1837-1921.
Potter, Henry Codman, 1835-1908.
Redfield, William Cox, 1858-1932.
Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902.
Rhodes, James Ford, 1848-1927.
Root, Elihu, 1845-1937.
Ruger, Thomas Howard, 1833-1907.
Sage, Russell, 1816-1906.
Schurman, Jacob Gould, 1854-1942.
Scribner, G. Hilton (Gilbert Hilton), 1831-1910.
Seward, Clarence A. (Clarence Armstrong), 1828-1897.
Seward, Frederick William, 1830-1915.
Sigel, Franz, 1824-1902.
Stone, William Joel, 1848-1918.
Straus, Nathan, 1848-1931.
Tracy, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1830-1915.
Waite, Morrison R. (Morrison Remick), 1816-1888.
Walcott, Charles D. (Charles Doolittle), 1850-1927.
Wanamaker, John, 1838-1922.
Waring, George E. (George Edwin), 1833-1898.
Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915.
Webb, Alexander S. (Alexander Stewart), 1835-1911.
Wellman, Francis L. (Francis Lewis), 1854-1942.
Weston, Edward Payson, 1839-1929.
Whitney, William C. (William Collins), 1841-1904.
Williams, Henry Shaler, 1847-1918.
Woodford, Stewart L. (Stewart Lyndon), 1835-1913.
Corporate Bodies
Republican Party (N.Y.)
Subjects
Governors -- New York (State)
Patronage, Political -- New York (State)
Places
New York (N.Y.) -- Politics and government -- To 1898.
New York (State) -- History -- 1865-
New York (State) -- Officials and employees -- Selection and appointment.
New York (State) -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950.
Genres and Forms
Correspondence.
Occupations
Governors.
Politicians.
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Levi P. Morton Correspondence
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
Correspondence
| Correspondence | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Abbey, Henry 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Abbott, Lyman 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Alger, Russell Alexander 1895, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Allison, William Boyd 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Arkell, William J. undated - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Babcock, Orville Elias 1873 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Baird, Absalom 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Beach, L. H. 1886? - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Beaver, James A. 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Beecher, Thomas Kinnicut 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Bissell, Wilson Shannon 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Bliss, Cornelius Newton 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Boutwell, George Sewall 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Burney, Hiram 1860 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Butler, Matthew Galbraith 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Butler, Nicholas Murray 1894, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Butler, William Allen 1895, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Cameron, Simon 1883 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Carter, James Coolidge 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Carter, Thomas Henry 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Chandler, William Eaton 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Childs, George William 1892 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Choate, Joseph Hodges 1895, 1896 - 3 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Clay, Cassius Marcellus 1862 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Cornwell, George 1887, 1896 - 2 outgoing letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Coxe, Arthur Cleveland undated - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Croes, John James Robertson 1895 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Culberson, Charles Allen 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Cuyler, Theodore Ledyard 1895, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Davis, Cushman Kellogg 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Depew, Chauncey Mitchell 1894, 1895 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | De Peyster, John Watts 1895 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Doane, William Croswell 1894, 1896, 1898, undated - 5 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Doremus, Robert Ogden 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Egan, Patrick 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Elkins, Stephen Benton 1895, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Evans, John Gary 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Fairchild, Lucius 1881 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Finch, Francis Miles 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Fish, Hamilton 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Flint, Austin 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Flower, Roswell Pettibone 1894, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Frye, William Pierce undated - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Godkin, Edwin Lawrence 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Hale, Eugene undated - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Hall, John 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Harris, Frances McCready 1895 - 3 incoming letters, 4 related letters and a clipping | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Herbert, Hilary Abner 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Higgins, Frank Wayland 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Hiscock, Frank 1895 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Hunt, Richard Morris 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Huntington, Collis Potter 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Huntington, Frederic Dan 1895, 1896 - 2 incoming letters and 1 enclosure | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Ireland, John 1895, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Jackson, W. E. 1888 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | King, E. S. 1890 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | King, Horatio Collins 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Knapp, J. N. 1888 - 2 outgoing letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Lamont, Daniel Scott 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Larocque, Joseph 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Ledyard, Hope | |||||||||||
| See Harris, Frances McCready. | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Lippitt, Charles Warren 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Littlejohn, Abram Newkirk 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | MacCracken, Henry Mitchell 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | McKelway, St. Clair 1895, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Metcalf, Lorettus Sutton 1887 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Miller, Warner 1895, 1896 - 3 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Nordhoff, Mr. 1873? - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Olney, Richard 1895, 1896 - 8 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Ottendorfer, Oswald 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Parkhurst, Charles Henry 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Patten, Mary undated - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Pinchot, Gifford 1894 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Ponsonby, Arthur C. 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Porter, Horace 1895 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Potter, Henry Codman 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Redfield, William C. 1896 - 1 incoming letter and 2 related documents | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Reed, Thomas Brackett 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Rhodes, James Ford undated - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Root, Elihu 1895, 1896 - 3 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Ruger, Thomas Howard 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Sage, Russell 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Sargent, Mr. undated - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Schurman, Jacob Gould 1894, 1895, 1896 - 4 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Scribner, Gilbert Hilton undated - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Seward, Clarence Armstrong 1887 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Seward, Frederick William 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Sigel, Franz 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Stewart, John R. 1911, 1912 - 2 outgoing letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Stone, William Joel 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Straus, Nathan 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Thornton, Edward 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Townsend, [ ] 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Tracy, Benjamin Franklin 1894, 1896 - 2 incoming letters | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Wadsworth, James W. 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Waite, Morrison Remick 1882 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Walcott, Charles Doolittle 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Wanamaker, John 1892 - 1 outgoing letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Waring, George Edwin 1895 - 1 incoming letter and 1 related document | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Washington, Booker T. 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Webb, Alexander Stewart 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Wellington, George L. 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Wells, Heber Manning 1896 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Weston, Edward Payson 1894, 1896 - 2 incoming letters and 1 clipping | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Whitney, William Collins 1894 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Williams, Henry Shaler 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Woodford, Stewart Lyndon 1895 - 1 incoming letter | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Unidentified 1901, 1896, undated - 2 outgoing letters and 1 fragment addressed to Griswold | ||||||||||