Scope and Content Note
The papers of Almon Ferdinand Rockwell (1835-1903) span the years 1852-1900, with the bulk of the material dating from 1861 to 1865 and 1877 to 1884. The papers consist primarily of correspondence, diaries, journals and reports.
Rockwell, an army officer, was present at the deathbeds of presidents Abraham Lincoln and James A. Garfield. Rockwell and Garfield were friends and college classmates and corresponded until the latter's death. Their correspondence, which includes ninety letters from Garfield, concerns their friendship, investments in the Silver King Mine in Colorado, and President Garfield's appointment of Rockwell as superintendent of public buildings and grounds. Other correspondents include William Henry Seward, 1854; James M. Barney of the Silver King Mine, 1877-1881; John M. Wilson, concerning ownership of the Albert Bierstadt paintings hanging in the White House, 1893; Charles F. Manderson, concerning efforts in the United States Senate to place General Don Carlos Buell on the retired list, 1894-1895; and Buell, explaining his resignation from the army, 1864 and 1895. Also included in the correspondence is a letter to Frank Abial Flower, 1898, describing the death of President Lincoln.
Rockwell, who kept a diary most of his life, recorded his experiences on General Don Carlos Buell's staff during the Civil War and described the federal occupation of Nashville, Tennessee, the Shiloh and Corinth campaigns, marches and skirmishes in northern Alabama, and the pursuit of General Braxton Bragg in Kentucky. Other entries concern the death of General William Nelson and the removal and reinstatement of General Buell.
Also included in these papers are handwritten reports by Rockwell concerning a conversation with President Garfield two days before his death in which he wondered whether he would achieve a place in history, the assassination attempt upon Garfield's life, and the events surrounding Garfield's death. A lock of the late president's hair and Rockwell's signature, written with the bullet which killed the president after its removal from the corpse, is included.