Holt, Alfred Bolling, (fl. 1877) to Blanche Kelso Bruce
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09400.097 Author/Creator: Holt, Alfred Bolling, (fl. 1877) Place Written: Dalton, Georgia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 8 March 1877 Pagination: 4 p. ; 24.6 x 19.4 cm. Order a Copy
A letter from Alfred Bolling Holt, who is writing Senator Bruce to request help in gaining a position in Mississippi, possibly in the treasury department. He makes great mention of all his friends from previous positions in Tennessee, and Georgia. He also mentions that his purpose for a new position is because he must now take care of his widowed sister and her two kids. This item is related to GLC09400.098
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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