Scope and Content Note
The papers of John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822-1907) span the years 1849-1902 and consist of bound volumes of correspondence, diaries, journals, reports, printed matter, and related material. The collection focuses mainly on Davis's diplomatic career, especially his part in the Alabama claims dispute with Great Britain, but it also features his stint from 1854 to 1861 as American correspondent for the London Times and the nearly two decades after 1883 that he spent as reporter of the United States Supreme Court, where he edited volumes 108-186 of the United States Reports. The collection is organized in five series: Correspondence , Diaries , Alabama Claims, Subject File , and Oversize .
Included in the Alabama Claims series are official and personal correspondence, reports, arguments, and other documentation relating to Davis's role as commissioner and agent representing American interests in Geneva, Switzerland, during the negotiations over compensation from Great Britain for damages inflicted by the British-built, Southern-operated cruiser Alabama on Northern merchant ships during the Civil War. Featured in the Subject File are scrapbooks of Davis's writings as American correspondent in London prior to the Civil War and documentation concerning various negotiations involving the United States and Great Britain between 1849 and 1853. One volume related to the Alabama negotiations focuses on issues pertaining to Central America. Also in the Subject File is a certificate of President Ulysses S. Grant's appointment of Davis in 1870 as arbitrator between Great Britain and Portugal in a matter involving colonial possessions in West Africa.