Scope and Content Note
The papers of John Spalding Flannery (1870-1954) consist of records of McKenney, Flannery & Craighill, a Washington, D.C., law firm with which Flannery was associated, and span the dates 1902-1953, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1902-1929. The principal partners of the firm, Frederick D. McKenney and Flannery, practiced before the United States Supreme Court and represented several American Indian tribes in legal actions against the federal government. The firm counted at least three sitting justices of the Supreme Court as clients. Records include Oliver Wendell Holmes's last wills and testaments and information regarding the design and construction of Charles Evans Hughes's Washington, D.C., residence. Records concerning President William H. Taft were given to the firm by the estate of his longtime secretary, Wendell W. Mischler, and include correspondence, notes, photographs, press clippings, schedules, and personal records regarding Mischler's service to Taft and Taft's terms as president of the United States and chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. Correspondents include both William H. Taft and his wife, Helen Herron Taft.