Scope and Content Note
The papers of William Learned Marcy (1786-1857) span the years 1806-1930, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1806-1857. They begin with a commonplace book for his senior year at Brown University and include an early diary, 1831-1857, the draft of an autobiography, a private letterbook while Marcy served as secretary of war, and another private letterbook while secretary of state. The papers include drafts of diplomatic dispatches, drafts in Marcy's hand of presidential messages to Congress, 1854-1856, and copies of James Buchanan's letters to Marcy in 1853-1856 when Buchanan was minister to England. The material has been organized into seven series: General Correspondence , Family Correspondence , Letterbooks , Diaries , Subject File , Miscellany , and Addition .
The collection relates to Marcy's public career and reflects New York state and national Democratic politics in the three decades prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Most of the later material is dated in the 1850s. Other subjects range from the Martin Koszta and Black Warrior cases and the Gadsden purchase to questions concerning the proper attire for American diplomats abroad and Pierre Soulé's conduct in Spain. Included also are papers relating to Marcy collected and compiled by Henry Barrett Learned.
Prominent among Marcy's correspondents are W. R. Andrews, Benjamin Franklin Angel, George Bancroft, August Belmont, James G. Berrett, James Buchanan, Archibald Campbell, Lewis Cass, George Mifflin Dallas, Charles Augustus Davis, Charles Eames, James Gadsden, Timothy Jenkins, Simon B. Jewett, John Livingstone, John Y. Mason, William Porcher Miles, George W. Newell, Horatio J. Perry, Franklin Pierce, James K. Polk, Herman J. Redfield, Horatio Seymour, John Addison Thomas, Samuel J. Tilden, Martin Van Buren, Gorham A. Worth, and Silas Wright. Numerous letters or drafts to Prosper Montgomery Wetmore deal with New York state politics. Many others were addressed to Samuel Marcy, James G. Berrett, Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, and Archibald Campbell.