The papers of Joseph Holt (1807-1894) span the years 1797-1917, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1859-1889. The collection consists principally of correspondence supplemented by diaries, ledgers, account books, bills and receipts, briefs and other legal papers, newspaper clippings, speeches, photographs, and printed matter. The collection is organized into seven series: General Correspondence and Related Material ; Personal Correspondence , Winfield Scott Correspondence ; Diaries, Notebooks, and Epistolary Records ; Financial Papers ; Miscellany ; and Oversize .

Holt’s career as newspaper editor, lawyer, local politician, cabinet member, and first judge advocate general of the United States Army is illumined by this collection. Holt’s correspondence from the 1830s and 1840s relates largely to legal matters and politics in Kentucky and Mississippi. In particular, the letters from Albert Gallatin Hawes, a United States Representative from Kentucky, afford generous glimpses into politics of that state.

The emerging sectional conflicts that ultimately led to the Civil War drew Holt into national politics. On the eve of the war he occupied a prominent place in the ranks of the Democratic Party. In 1859, he was appointed postmaster general by President James Buchanan. In January 1861, he was appointed secretary of war, an appointment he later described in an article entitled “How I Became Secretary of War.” Among Holt’s tasks as secretary of war was keeping the peace in the capital during Lincoln’s inauguration. Correspondence between Holt and Winfield Scott reflects concern over numerous rumors of planned assassination attempts by the Knights of the Golden Circle and other pro-Southern organizations.

On Sept. 3, 1862, Holt was appointed judge advocate general of the army. Though a Southerner and a Democrat, he supported the Union. The newly-created post to which he was named carried the responsibility for the establishment of military commissions with jurisdiction over civilian offenders.

On May 4, 1865, a military commission was convened to try the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspirators. The event was to color the rest of Holt’s life. The Holt Papers contain voluminous correspondence regarding the commission as well as affidavits, depositions, transcribed testimony, and various versions of the charges against the conspirators. Particularly noteworthy is the correspondence between Holt and Louis J. Weichmann, a principal government witness in the conspiracy trial. Their correspondence began in May 1865 and continued for almost thirty years. Also in the collection are items relating to allegations that Holt suppressed a clemency petition addressed to President Andrew Johnson on behalf of Mary Surratt; a seven-page letter from Mrs. Samuel Mudd to Holt, pleading her husband’s innocence; Holt’s correspondence with other members of the commission after the trial; and a draft of the charges against the conspirators in the handwriting of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

Correspondents include Jeremiah S. Black, James Buchanan, Simon Cameron, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, John Marshall Harlan, John Hay, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Mary Harrison Holt, Margaret Wickliffe Holt, Richard S. Holt, Samuel P. Holt, Thomas H. Holt, Reverdy Johnson, Horatio King, Harriet Lane, Francis Lieber, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Rush, John G. Nicolay, Amelie L. de Noircy, Winfield Scott, J. Marion Sims, James Speed, and Lew Wallace.