Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm75011700
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of the Bancroft-Bliss families were given to the Library of Congress by Elizabeth B. Bliss and William J. A. Bliss between 1928-1945. Some items were reproduced with permission of Elizabeth B. Bliss in 1944. Small additions were acquired by purchase in 1946 and gift in 1976.
The papers of the Bancroft-Bliss families were arranged and described in 1974 by Anita Nolen. An addition was made in 1983, and the finding aid was revised in 2011.
Some photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Some maps have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. Some books have been transferred to the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Bancroft-Bliss Families Papers.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the Bancroft-Bliss families is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of the Bancroft-Bliss families are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Bancroft-Bliss Families Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of the Bancroft-Bliss families span the period 1788-1928, but bulk largest
during the periods 1815-1875. The collection contains family and general correspondence,
invitations, a diary, financial and legal papers, and printed material. The papers are
organized in four series:
Family Correspondence , General Correspondence ,
Included are papers of George Bancroft (1800-1891), historian, secretary of the navy, and United States minister to England and Germany; papers of his wife, Elizabeth Davis Bancroft (1803-1886); papers of her first husband, Alexander Bliss (1792-1827), lawyer and junior partner of Daniel Webster; and papers of their son, Alexander Bliss (1827-1896), author, soldier, and secretary of the American legation at Berlin.
The Family Correspondence is primarily concerned with social and business conditions at home, reflections on the European scene during George Bancroft's years abroad, and Alexander Bliss's service as an officer in the Quartermaster's Department of the Union Army during and after the Civil War, especially regarding the Army of the Potomac.
Bliss's Civil War service is also reflected in the General Correspondence series in letters he received during and after the war from fellow army officers. This series also contains numerous letters from Daniel Webster to Alexander Bliss (1792-1827) for the period 1816 to 1827; they are concerned mainly with personal business matters and their law practice. Drafts of dispatches in the hand of Alexander Bliss (1827-1896), secretary of the United States legation at Berlin from 1867 to 1874, are also present. Prominent correspondents in this series include Joseph G. Crane, George William Curtis, Caroline B. Estcomb, George Hardwick, John Hay, Rufus Ingalls, Montgomery C. Meigs, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Charles Sumner, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, and Lydia Williams.
A separate series contains the manuscripts associated with the production of
Among the Miscellany are a typescript and galleys of Elizabeth Davis Bancroft's
An appendix to the finding aid contains an index of correspondents in the General Correspondence series, including the years of the correspondence.
This collection is arranged in four series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm75011700
Letters sent and received between members of the Bancroft and Bliss families and photostatic copies of correspondence between family members.
Arranged chronologically and grouped by correspondent.
Letters received, drafts of letters sent, photostatic copies of letters from
George Bancroft, and invitations. An appendix to the finding aid contains an
Correspondence arranged chronologically.
Letters received from contributors to this volume and letters received from non-contributors concerning the book.
Arranged alphabetically. Also miscellaneous material and printed matter.
Calling cards, a diary of Alexander Bliss, financial papers, legal papers, manuscripts, speeches, writings, newspaper clippings, and other miscellaneous material.
Arranged alphabetically.
Asterisks indicate information supplied by the indexer.