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Pease, Geo B., (fl. 1875-1876) to Blanche Kelso Bruce

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09400.039.02 Author/Creator: Pease, Geo B., (fl. 1875-1876) Place Written: Washington D.C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 6 March 1876 Pagination: 3 p. ; 20.2 x 12.5 cm.

This letter from Pease is asking for a favor from Senator Bruce. Pease is leaving Washington D.C. and is asking Bruce for help in paying his remaining debts. This letter isrelated to GLC09400.039.1 a note asking Bruce to meet in the Marble Room.

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.

Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898
Pease, Geo B., fl. 1875-1876
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
African American History
African Americans in Government
Congress
Reconstruction
Government and Civics
Debt
Finance
Reconstruction

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