Scope and Content Note
The papers of Morrison Remick Waite (1816-1888) span the period 1818-1933, with the bulk of the material relating to his position as chief justice of the United States between 1874 and 1888. The collection contains letterbooks, correspondence, docket books, Supreme Court assignment sheets from 1877 to 1888, and manuscripts and proofs of Supreme Court and circuit court opinions. The papers are organized in five series: General Correspondence, Legal File, Material Relating to the Death of Waite, Financial File, and Miscellany.
Of biographical interest is a file containing correspondence, newspaper clippings, and publications relating to Waite’s death. Also in the collection are photographs, family legal papers, speeches and remarks by Waite, newspaper clippings, bills and receipts, cancelled checks, bank books, and expense accounts.
Correspondents include Benjamin Harris Brewster, Zachariah Chandler, Nathan Clifford, Roscoe Conkling, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Charles Devens, Frederick T. Freylinghusen, William Greene, Hamilton Fish (1808-1893), John Marshall Harlan, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Robert Todd Lincoln, Stanley Matthews, John C. Nicolay, Alexander Ramsey, and William T. Sherman.