Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Maitland, James M. (1815-1864) to Joseph M. Maitland

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.10.090 Author/Creator: Maitland, James M. (1815-1864) Place Written: Kingston, Ohio Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 9 August 1863 Pagination: 2 p. ; 31 x 18.7 cm. Order a Copy

Tells his son that his uncle, Elhanan Mast, is planning on running for "Representative or Clerk of the Court it is not determined which it is the intention of nominating a full Democratic ticket in the County of the War Democrats..." Praises Mast's capabilities for political office, noting that he enlisted in the service the day after the April 1861 attack on Fort Sumter that signalled the beginning og the Civil War. Reports that a local man, Joseph Pullens, "was ran out of Urbana by some half a dozen and stoned for halloeing for Vallandigham." Also notes that the Purtlebaugh home was broken into due to the charged political atmosphere.

Joseph Maitland enlisted on 8 August 1862 as a private. He was mustered into "G" Co. OH 95th Infantry. He was mustered out 31 May 1865 at Memphis, Tennessee.
Clement Vallandigham was a Peace Democratic, or Copperhead, who openly criticized Lincoln and the War, believing that war should not be used as a means to prevent the South's secession. Lincoln banished Vallandigham in May 1863, and shortly thereafter Vallandigham traveled to Canada, where he ran a campaign for Governor of Ohio. He lost the campaign and returned to the United States in 1864, violating the military's court order.

Maitland, Joseph M., 1839-1918
Maitland, James M., 1815-1864
Vallandigham, Clement Laird, 1820-1871

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