Thomas Ewing Family Papers
Scope and Content Note
The Thomas Ewing Family Papers span the years 1757-1941, with the bulk of the material dating from 1815 to 1896. The collection contains original and transcribed correspondence, letterbooks, telegrams, autographs, diaries, journals, legal files, military records, drafts and printed copies of speeches, lectures, articles, essays, books, poems, and reports, as well as notes, scrapbooks, biographical material, college lecture notes, commonplace books, financial records, genealogies, photographs, printed matter, and maps. The papers are arranged in thirteen series: General Correspondence; Special Correspondence; Transcribed Correspondence; Letterbooks; Diaries, Journals, and Related Material; Legal File; Military Records; Speech, Article, and Book File; Subject File; Scrapbooks; Miscellany; Addition; and Oversize.
Included in the collection are papers of several generations of the Ewing family, including Thomas Ewing (1789-1871), senator from Ohio and cabinet member under William H. Harrison, John Tyler, and Zachary Taylor; Thomas Ewing (1829-1896), Union general during the Civil War and congressman from Ohio; Ellen Ewing Sherman and her husband, William T. Sherman, Civil War general; and Thomas Ewing (1862-1942), lawyer, writer, and United States commissioner of patents.
The collection documents various aspects of American political, economic, and social life, including westward expansion and frontier life, the disposal of public lands and land speculation, the practice of law in Ohio, local Ohio and national Whig politics, anti-Jacksonianism and the Bank of the United States, the organization of the Department of the Interior, the California gold rush, the rise of the Republican Party and sectionalism, Kansas statehood, the Peace Convention of 1861, the Civil War in Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the currency question and Greenback movement, the Ohio centennial, and the development and administration of patent law from 1913 to 1917.
Prominent correspondents include Philemon Beecher, Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844), James Gillespie Blaine, Orville Hickman Browning, Henry Clay, Thomas Corwin, John J. Crittenden, Charles B. Goddard, Horace Greeley, William Henry Harrison, Britton Armstrong Hill, Hocking H. Hunter, Reverdy Johnson, Abbott Lawrence, Abraham Lincoln, John McLean (1785-1861), Richard Olney, Thomas Collier Platt, S. C. Pomeroy, William S. Rosecrans, William Henry Seward, John Sherman, William T. Sherman, Henry Stanbery, Noah Haynes Swayne, Allen Granbery Thurman, John Tyler, Samuel Finley Vinton, and Daniel Webster. A card file summarizing the contents of correspondence is available in the Manuscript Division reading room.
Dates
- Creation: 1757-1941
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1815-1896
Language of Materials
Collection material in English
Access and Restrictions
The papers of the Thomas Ewing family are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the Ewing family is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Biographical Note
Thomas Ewing (1789-1871)
- 1789, Dec. 28
- Born near West Liberty, Ohio County, Va.
- 1792
- Moved with family to Marietta, Ohio
- 1798
- Moved with family to Ames Township, Athens County, Ohio
- 1809 - 1812
- Worked intermittently at the Kanawha, Va., saltworks
- 1812 - 1815
- Attended Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
- 1815 - 1816
- Studied law in the office of Philemon Beecher, Lancaster, Ohio; admitted to the bar in 1816
- Circa 1817 - 1822
- Prosecuting attorney, Fairfield County, Ohio
- 1820
- Married Maria Wills Boyle
- 1823
- Defeated as a candidate for the Ohio legislature
- 1829
- Adopted William T. Sherman
- 1830
- Elected to United States Senate on Whig ticket
- 1836
- Appointed William T. Sherman to United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
- Defeated in bid for reelection to the Senate; resumed his law practice at Lancaster, Ohio
- 1841
- Appointed secretary of the treasury by William Henry Harrison, resigning when Harrison's successor, John Tyler, vetoed a bill for rechartering the Bank of the United States; resumed law practice
- 1849
- Appointed by Zachary Taylor to organize the Home Department (later Department of the Interior)
- 1850
- Appointed to the United States Senate to complete the unexpired term of Thomas Corwin who became secretary of the treasury
- 1851
- Retired from public service, resuming his law practice
- 1851 - 1869
- Practiced law, largely before the Supreme Court of the United States
- 1861
- Appointed delegate to the Peace Convention, Washington, D.C.
- 1871, Oct. 26
- Died, Lancaster, Ohio
Thomas Ewing (1829-1896)
- 1829, Aug. 7
- Born, Lancaster, Ohio
- 1848
- Private secretary to Zachary Taylor
- 1852 - 1854
- Attended Brown University, Providence, R.I.
- 1854 - 1857
- Lived in Cincinnati, Ohio; attended Cincinnati Law School; admitted to bar in 1855
- 1856
- Married Ellen Ewing Cox
- 1857
- Moved to Leavenworth, Kans., where he practiced law as a member of the firm of Ewing, Sherman, and McCook
- 1858 - 1861
- Instrumental in exposing voting frauds under the Lecompton constitution and in bringing Kansas into the Union as a free state
- 1861
- Elected the first chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court; represented Kansas at the Peace Convention, Washington. D.C.
- 1862
- Resigned as chief justice; appointed colonel of the Eleventh Kansas Volunteers
- 1863, Mar.
- Promoted to brigadier general after the Battle of Prairie Grove, Ark.
- 1863 - 1864
- Assigned to command the border district which included Kansas and the western part of Missouri; issued Order No. 11 (25 Aug. 1863) which depopulated counties in Missouri in an effort to rout outlaws hiding there
- 1864
- Assigned to command the St. Louis, Mo., district
- Participated in the Battle of Pilot Knob, St. Louis, Mo.
- 1865
- Resigned commission; breveted major general
- Defended Samuel Bland Arnold, Edward Spangler, and Samuel Mudd on charges of conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln
- 1865 - 1870
- Practiced law, Washington, D.C.
- 1870
- Moved to Lancaster, Ohio
- 1873 - 1874
- Member of the Constitutional Convention of Ohio
- 1877 - 1881
- Represented the Lancaster, Ohio, congressional district in the United States House of Representatives
- 1879
- Ran unsuccessfully as Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio
- 1882
- Moved to Yonkers, N.Y.
- 1882 - 1896
- Practiced law, New York, N.Y.
- 1896, Jan. 21
- Died, New York, N.Y.
Thomas Ewing (1862-1942)
- 1862, May 21
- Born, Leavenworth, Kans.
- 1879 - 1881
- Attended the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio
- 1882 - 1888
- Student and tutor at Columbia University's School of Mines and Law School, New York, N.Y.
- 1888 - 1890
- Assistant examiner, Patent Office, Washington, D.C.
- 1890
- LL.B., Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
- 1891
- Admitted to the bar, New York, N.Y.
- 1891 - 1913
- Practiced law in New York, N.Y., specializing in patent law
- 1894
- Married Anna Phillips Cochran
- 1902
- Published Jonathan, A Tragedy (New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co. 148 pp.)
- 1913 - 1917
- Commissioner of patents
- 1917
- Resigned as commissioner of patents; resumed law practice in New York, N.Y.
- 1917 - 1942
- Practiced law in New York, residing in Yonkers, N.Y.
- 1942, Dec. 7
- Died, Yonkers, N.Y.
Extent
94,000 items
303 containers
11 oversize
123.2 linear feet
Abstract
Correspondence, diaries, journals, legal files, military records, speeches and writings, reports, notes, autographs, scrapbooks, biographical material, commonplace books, financial records, genealogies, photographs, printed matter, and maps pertaining to members of the Ewing family including Thomas Ewing (1789-1871), senator from Ohio and cabinet member; Thomas Ewing (1829-1896), Union general during the Civil War and congressman from Ohio; Ellen Ewing Sherman and her husband, William T. Sherman, Civil War general; and Thomas Ewing (1862-1942), lawyer, writer, and patent commissioner.
Organization of the Papers
The collection is arranged in thirteen series:
- General Correspondence, 1776-1941
- Special Correspondence, 1757-1899
- Transcribed Correspondence, 1815-1918
- Letterbooks, 1826-1897
- Diaries, Journals, and Related Material, 1775-1922
- Legal File, circa 1770-1941
- Military Records, circa 1860-1930
- Speech, Article, and Book File, 1812-1940
- Subject File, circa 1819-1934
- Scrapbooks, 1860-1903
- Miscellany, circa 1790-1940
- Addition, 1828-1865
- Oversize, circa 1830-1934
Catalog Record
Acquisition Information
The papers of the Thomas Ewing family were given to the Library by members of the Ewing family between 1908 and 1978. Additional items were purchased between 1906 and 1998.
Transfers
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some photographs and other pictorial material have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Some pamphlets and newspaper clippings have been transferred to the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Some maps have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Ewing Family Papers.
Processing History
The papers were arranged and described in 1965 by Daniel Gilham. Additional material was incorporated into the collection in 1979 by Allan Teichroew and by Margaret McAleer in 1996 and 2005 .
Source
- Ewing family (Creator, Family)
Subject
- Beecher, Philemon, 1775-1839--Correspondence. (Person)
- Biddle, Nicholas, 1786-1844--Correspondence. (Person)
- Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893--Correspondence. (Person)
- Browning, Orville Hickman, 1806-1881--Correspondence. (Person)
- Clay, Henry, 1777-1852--Correspondence. (Person)
- Corwin, Thomas, 1794-1865--Correspondence. (Person)
- Crittenden, John J. (John Jordan), 1787-1863--Correspondence. (Person)
- Ewing family. (Family)
- Ewing, Hugh, 1826-1905. Hugh Ewing papers. (Person)
- Ewing, Thomas, 1789-1871. (Person)
- Ewing, Thomas, 1829-1896. Thomas Ewing papers. (Person)
- Ewing, Thomas, 1862-1942. Thomas Ewing papers. (Person)
- Goddard, Charles B. (Charles Backus), 1796-1864--Correspondence. (Person)
- Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872--Correspondence. (Person)
- Harrison, William Henry, 1773-1841--Correspondence. (Person)
- Hill, Britton Armstrong, 1818-1888--Correspondence. (Person)
- Hunter, Hocking H.--Correspondence. (Person)
- Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845. (Person)
- Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875--Impeachment. (Person)
- Johnson, Reverdy, 1796-1876--Correspondence. (Person)
- Lawrence, Abbott, 1792-1855--Correspondence. (Person)
- Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Assassination. (Person)
- Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Correspondence. (Person)
- McLean, John, 1785-1861--Correspondence. (Person)
- Olney, Richard, 1835-1917--Correspondence. (Person)
- Platt, Thomas Collier, 1833-1910--Correspondence. (Person)
- Pomeroy, S. C. (Samuel Clarke), 1816-1891--Correspondence. (Person)
- Rosecrans, William S. (William Starke), 1819-1898--Correspondence. (Person)
- Seward, William H. (William Henry), 1801-1872--Correspondence. (Person)
- Sherman, Ellen Ewing, 1824-1888. Ellen Ewing Sherman papers. (Person)
- Sherman, John, 1823-1900--Correspondence. (Person)
- Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891--Correspondence. (Person)
- Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891. William T. Sherman papers. (Person)
- Stanbery, Henry, 1803-1881--Correspondence. (Person)
- Swayne, Noah Haynes, 1804-1884--Correspondence. (Person)
- Thurman, Allen Granbery, 1813-1895--Correspondence. (Person)
- Tyler, John, 1790-1862--Correspondence. (Person)
- Vinton, Samuel Finley, 1792-1862--Correspondence. (Person)
- Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852--Correspondence. (Person)
- Bank of the United States (1816-1836) (Organization)
- Conference Convention (1861 : Washington, D.C.) (Organization)
- Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) (Organization)
- United States. Department of the Interior. (Organization)
- Whig Party (U.S.) (Organization)
Geographic
- California--Gold discoveries.
- Kansas--Politics and government--1854-1861.
- Ohio--Centennial celebrations, etc.
- Ohio--Politics and government.
- United States--Economic policy--To 1933.
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
- United States--Politics and government--19th century.
- United States--Social life and customs--19th century.
- West (U.S.)--History.
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Thomas Ewing Family Papers
- Subtitle
- A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress
- Author
- Prepared by Manuscript Division staff
- Date
- 2005
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Part of the Manuscript Division Repository
Manuscript Reading Room
101 Independence Ave, SE
James Madison Building, LM 101
Washington, DC 20540-4683
(202) 707-5387