American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Archive of approximately 65 items including letters and documents from the General Land Office. Other notable figures represented in the collection include Ohio politician Elijah Hayward (1786-1864) and US Senator from Illinois Richard M. Young (1798-1861). Conditions vary, most documents with expected wear and toning given age, few items with tears and manual repair, but generally good. Vp, 1813-1902 (bulk 1834-1861).

Correspondence is predominantly of a familial rather than a political nature: 7 letters (some partial) to Stokely from his sister Frances Stokely Wilson (1789-1868) which, among other subjects, discuss Stokely's nephew who was an Indian Agent, Stokely's political career, and also with extensive discussion of a rift between the widowed and impoverished Frances and Stokely stemming from finances and their father's will ; 12 letters from Stokely to his third wife Mary Barton Stokely (1829-1918) and other family members, dating 1858-1861, most written from Stokely's home in Steubenville, "The Grove"; a June 1839 letter from "a committee appointed on behalf of the young men of Antrim [Ohio] & vicinity" requesting that  Stokely "deliver an address before the Ladies & Gentlemen of this place on July 4th 1839"; and an 1857 letter addressed to Mrs. Stokely.

Approximately 19 warrants, deeds, and other papers related to the General Land Office spanning 1834 to 1853, including an 1848 document signed by Richard M. Young as Commissioner and an 1834 letter written by Elijah Hayward which deals with land patents and the Virginia Military District. Prior to Young's appointment as a land commissioner by Pres. James K. Polk, he served as the presiding judge in the Joseph Smith assassination trial. Hayward, who had been elected as a judge to the Ohio Supreme Court, later accepted an appointment from President Andrew Jackson to serve as a Commissioner for the General Land Office.

[With:]
Stokely's diploma from Washington Academy in Washington County, PA (now Washington & Jefferson College), 1813. -- 24 leaves of pressed and mounted botanical specimens, most identified on bottom right as "Flora of Dubuque Co., Iowa" and "Collected by C.C. Stokely." Carlin Curtis Stokely (1887-1985) was the son of Joseph T. Stokely (1861-1949) and grandson of General Stokely. -- 2 calling card-style "At Home" cards indicating that "Genl. S. Stokely" would be "At Home" on "Thursday Evening Febry. 26th at 8 1/2 o'clock." 

Born and educated in Washington, Pennsylvania, Samuel Stokely moved to Steubenville, Ohio, shortly before he was admitted to the bar in 1817. There, he established a law practice and embarked upon a career which included a number of public offices including US Land Receiver (1827-1828), state senator for Jefferson County (1837-1838), US Representative (1841-1843), and Brigadier General of militia.