Scope and Content Note
The papers of Benjamin Franklin Wade (1800-1878) span the years 1832-1886, but the bulk falls within the period of his services as United States senator, 1852-1869. The collection is arranged in two series: General Correspondence and Miscellany series.
A few letters concern Wade’s law practice and business affairs, but most are political in nature. Many are requests for help in obtaining civil or military appointments. Subjects include Ohio and national politics, including the elections of 1860, 1864, and 1868, secession, the Civil War, the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, emancipation, Reconstruction, Negro suffrage, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson.
Among the correspondents are James A. Briggs, Salmon P. Chase, Jacob D. Cox, Henry Winter Davis, Count Adam G. De Gurowski, William Dennison, John W. Forney, James A. Garfield, Joseph H. Geiger, William A. Goodlow, Abraham Lincoln, R. F. Paine, Donn Paitt, William S. Rosescrans, William Henry Seward, Green Clay Smith, Edwin McMasters Stanton, and Charles Sumner.