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Creator: | Sedgwick, C. B. (Charles Baldwin), 1815-1883. |
Title: | Charles Baldwin Sedgwick Papers |
Inclusive Dates: | 1814-1891 |
Quantity: | 1.75 linear ft. |
Abstract: | Papers of the New York State lawyer, U.S. Congressman (1859-1863), abolitionist, born near Pompey, N.Y. Correspondence (1847-1891); genealogical material; legal and financial records (1814-1879); writings (1837-1884), including essays, speeches, and published letters; and memorabilia. Largely family correspondence with additional letters of Louis Agassiz, Samuel Bowles, Salmon P. Chase, F.J. Child, James Freeman Clarke, Roscoe Conkling, George W. Curtis, John A. Dahlgren, Richard H. Dana, H.L. Dawes, Daniel S. Dickinson, J.T. Fields, John M. Forbes, John C. Frémont, William Lloyd Garrison, George W. Geddes, George F. Hoar, John Jay, Thomas Starr King, Samuel J. May, Robert B. Minturn, Levi P. Morton, Charles Eliot Norton, Elizabeth P. Peabody, Wendell Phillips, William H. Seward, Gerrit Smith, Israel Washburn, R.S. Watson, Andrew D. White, and others. |
Language: | English |
Repository: | Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center/university-archives |
Charles Baldwin Sedgwick (1815-1883) was an American attorney and U.S. Congressman from New York State. While an attorney in Syracuse he was a member of the defense counsel for the Jerry Rescue case.
Sedgwick was born on March 15, 1815 near Pompey, New York. His parents, Stephen and Anne Baldwin Sedgwick, sent him to Pompey Hill Academy. Later in 1834 he graduated from Hamilton College. Around 1835 he married Ellen Smith who died in 1846. In 1847 Sedgwick married Deborah Gannett of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1846 Sedgwick moved from Pompey to Syracuse, N.Y. and opened a law office. During the latter part of the decade he became involved with various social reform causes, particularly the anti-slavery movement. He was affiliated with American Anti-Slavery Society, and was a member of the Syracuse Vigilance Committee which aided runaway slaves. Sedgwick was one of the attorneys for the defense in the Jerry Rescue Case.
Sedgwick was elected to Congress in 1859 where he served two consecutive terms as the representative of the twenty-forth District. As a member of Congress he distinguished himself as an anti-slavery advocate, and as Chairman of the Navy Committee. In 1863 he returned to private life, and the practice of law.
See the genealogical table for the Sedgwick family tree.
The Charles B. Sedgwick Papers consist of correspondence, legal and financial Records, memorabilia, and writings.
Correspondence, 1847-1891, consists largely of letters written by Charles Baldwin Sedgwick to various members of his family, especially his wife. These discuss family matters as well as subjects with broader social implications. Some of the letters concern his duties in Congress and the progress of the Civil War. About one third of the correspondence consists of letters written to Sedgwick by his family and various associates. Among this latter group are a number of notable individuals including Roscoe Conkling, John A. Dahlgren, William Lloyd Garrison, John Jay, Wendell Phillips, and Gerrit Smith. An index to selected correspondents appears at the end of this finding aid.
Legal and financial records, 1814-1879, consist of routine documents pertinent to the business affairs of the Sedgwick family. It also contains a few items that pre-date Sedgwick's birth.
Memorabilia dating from 1862 to 1883 contains various items of incidental interest including clippings, biographical material, and obituaries of Charles B. Sedgwick and his son Frank.
Writings date from 1837 to 1884. There are essays, published letters, and speeches authored by Charles B. Sedgwick. Of special interest in this section is an essay, probably written by Sedgwick, on "The Legal Conditions of Women," 1837. There is also a small group of writings by others.
Correspondence is in chronological order. The remaining series are in alphabetical order by type or title.
The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Charles Baldwin Sedgwick Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
Created by: MLB
Date: Apr 1973
Revision history: 12 Jul 2009 - converted to EAD (MRC);
16 Jul 2009 - adds, M84-31 (MRC);
5 Jan 2017 - fixed index code (MRC);
8 Jun 2023 - subject term updated (DTF);
10 Apr 2025 - collection rehoused, inventory upated (MS)
Correspondence | |||||||||||
Box 1 | [General] Mar 1847-Jun 1861 (27 folders) | ||||||||||
Box 2 | [General] Jul 1861-Jan 1865 (22 folders) | ||||||||||
Box 3 | [General] Feb 1865-Feb 1891 (13 folders) | ||||||||||
Box 3 | [General] undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Fragments |
Legal and financial records | |||||||||||
Appointment certificates | |||||||||||
Box 3 | Master and Examiner in Chancery for County of Onondaga issued by the State of New York 1841 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Attorney and Counsellor of Supreme Court of the United States 1850 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | United States Representatives election certification by the New York State Secretary of State 1860 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Bills and receipts 1867-1879, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Brief: Supreme Court of the United States, Peter Miller and others, claimants of the Bark Hiawatha, her cargo, &c. vs the United States circa 1866 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Rockefeller property 1814, 1822 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Specifications for house construction undated |
Memorabilia | |||||||||||
Box 3 | Biographical material | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Clippings | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Obituaries 1862-1883 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Miscellaneous 1852-1885, undated | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Fragments |
Writings | |||||||||||
Essays | |||||||||||
Box 4 | "The Legal Condition of Women #2" 1837 - handwritten | ||||||||||
Published letters | |||||||||||
Box 4 | A correspondence between Charles Sedgwick and George Thompson to set right a newspaper account of the annual meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society May 1851 | ||||||||||
Speeches | |||||||||||
Box 4 | Acceptance of donation on behalf of the board of trustees of Wells College | ||||||||||
Box 4 | "An Oration...Delivered Before the United Chapters of the Sigma Phi Fraternity at Their General Convention Held in Geneva, N. Y." 1850 - printed item | ||||||||||
Box 4 | "Emancipation and Enrollment of Slaves In the Service of the United States" 1863 | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Eulogy on Abraham Lincoln 1865 | ||||||||||
Box 4 | On old Pompey Academy undated | ||||||||||
Box 4 | "State of the Union" 1861 - printed item | ||||||||||
Box 4 | "The Republican Party: The Result of Southern Aggression" 1860 - printed item | ||||||||||
Box 4 | "To Raise Additional Soldiers" 1863 - printed item | ||||||||||
Miscellany | |||||||||||
Box 4 | "A Girl of Sixteen at Brook Farm," by Deborah G. Sedgwick - manuscript of essay published in the Atlantic Monthly, March 1900 | ||||||||||
Box 4 | "Wendell Phillips," pamphlet by George William Curtis 1884 | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Verse - printed item |
All items are to Charles Baldwin Sedgwick, unless otherwise noted.