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.

Harris, Isham G. (Isham Green) (1818-1897) to Jacob Thompson

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02469.07 Author/Creator: Harris, Isham G. (Isham Green) (1818-1897) Place Written: Nashville, Tennessee Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 25 June 1860 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 27 x 10.9 cm. Order a Copy

Harris, Governor of Tennessee, writes to Thompson, United States Secretary of the Interior. Recommends George Western Thompson, of Wheeling, (present-day West Virginia), for the position of Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. Notes that the Supreme Court vacancy resulted from the death of Justice Peter V. Daniel. Writes, "I knew Judge T. intimately when in the House of Reps, and am satisfied that he is in every way well qualified to discharge the duties of the position in question A gentleman of lofty tone and bearing, decided talent, and thourough legal learning..." Written on Nashville Executive Department stationery, bearing an image of the department.

Thompson was a U.S. Representative from Virginia 1851-1852. He was elected judge of the circuit court of Virginia in 1852, reelected in 1860, and was removed from office in 1861, on refusal to take the oath of office in support of the establishment of West Virginia.

Harris, Isham G. (Isham Green), 1818-1897
Thompson, Jacob, 1810-1885
Thompson, George Western, 1806-1888
Daniel, Peter Vivian, 1784-1860

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