Taylor, Levi, (fl. 1876) to Blanche Kelso Bruce
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09400.006 Author/Creator: Taylor, Levi, (fl. 1876) Place Written: Floreyville Mississippi Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 3 February 1876 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 27 x 22.2 cm. Order a Copy
The topic of this letter is a debt held by Levi Taylor, he is asking Senator Bruce if he had paid/purchased the debt, as another party is suing him for the amount of the $70 loan. There is an additional penciled note that mentions that the writer of the pencil note has "forgotten the parties [and] have no data to which to refer" The docket has a summary of the letter that Levi is asking if his $70 dollar note from Lee Charles that is held by the Major has been paid.
Blanche Kelso Bruce was born into slavery near Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va. on March 1 1841. He was tutored by his master's son, but left his master at the beginning of the civil war and taught school in Hannibal Mo. After the civil war Bruce became a planter in Mississippi, and a member of the Mississippi Levee Board, and Sheriff and Tax Collector for Bolivar County from 1872-1875. Bruce was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate, where he served from March 4 1875 - March 3 1881. Bruce was the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. In 1881 Bruce was appointed by President James Garfield as the Register of the Treasury. Bruce then went on to serve as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Colombia from 1891-1893, returning to the office of Register of the Treasury from 1897 until his death on March 17, 1898.
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