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Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm77026385
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 Joseph Holt, United States postmaster general, secretary of war, judge advocate general of the United States Army, and lawyer, were given to the Library of Congress by Mrs. Walter M. Rose in 1907. Additions were given by Joseph H. Rose in 1954-1957.
The papers of Joseph Holt were arranged and described in 1978. The finding aid was revised in 2011 and in 2015.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Joseph Holt is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Joseph Holt 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.
The papers of Joseph Holt are available on the Library of Congress Web site at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000068.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Joseph Holt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Joseph Holt (1807-1894) span the years 1797-1917, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1859-1889. The collection consists principally of correspondence supplemented by diaries, ledgers, account books, bills and receipts, briefs and other legal papers, newspaper clippings, speeches, photographs, and printed matter. The collection is organized into seven series: General Correspondence and Related Material ; Personal Correspondence , Winfield Scott Correspondence ; Diaries, Notebooks, and Epistolary Records ; Financial Papers ; Miscellany ; and Oversize .
Holt’s career as newspaper editor, lawyer, local politician, cabinet member, and first judge advocate general of the United States Army is illumined by this collection. Holt’s correspondence from the 1830s and 1840s relates largely to legal matters and politics in Kentucky and Mississippi. In particular, the letters from Albert Gallatin Hawes, a United States Representative from Kentucky, afford generous glimpses into politics of that state.
The emerging sectional conflicts that ultimately led to the Civil War drew Holt into national politics. On the eve of the war he occupied a prominent place in the ranks of the Democratic Party. In 1859, he was appointed postmaster general by President James Buchanan. In January 1861, he was appointed secretary of war, an appointment he later described in an article entitled “How I Became Secretary of War.” Among Holt’s tasks as secretary of war was keeping the peace in the capital during Lincoln’s inauguration. Correspondence between Holt and Winfield Scott reflects concern over numerous rumors of planned assassination attempts by the Knights of the Golden Circle and other pro-Southern organizations.
On Sept. 3, 1862, Holt was appointed judge advocate general of the army. Though a Southerner and a Democrat, he supported the Union. The newly-created post to which he was named carried the responsibility for the establishment of military commissions with jurisdiction over civilian offenders.
On May 4, 1865, a military commission was convened to try the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspirators. The event was to color the rest of Holt’s life. The Holt Papers contain voluminous correspondence regarding the commission as well as affidavits, depositions, transcribed testimony, and various versions of the charges against the conspirators. Particularly noteworthy is the correspondence between Holt and Louis J. Weichmann, a principal government witness in the conspiracy trial. Their correspondence began in May 1865 and continued for almost thirty years. Also in the collection are items relating to allegations that Holt suppressed a clemency petition addressed to President Andrew Johnson on behalf of Mary Surratt; a seven-page letter from Mrs. Samuel Mudd to Holt, pleading her husband’s innocence; Holt’s correspondence with other members of the commission after the trial; and a draft of the charges against the conspirators in the handwriting of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
Correspondents include Jeremiah S. Black, James Buchanan, Simon Cameron, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, John Marshall Harlan, John Hay, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Mary Harrison Holt, Margaret Wickliffe Holt, Richard S. Holt, Samuel P. Holt, Thomas H. Holt, Reverdy Johnson, Horatio King, Harriet Lane, Francis Lieber, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Rush, John G. Nicolay, Amelie L. de Noircy, Winfield Scott, J. Marion Sims, James Speed, and Lew Wallace.
This collection is arranged in seven series:
Bound volumes of letters received and sent. Includes transcripts of the trial of the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspirators, drafts of the charges, transcripts of correspondence, legal miscellany, speeches to the juries, and other miscellaneous items.
Arranged and bound chronologically, with some items filed out of order.
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Mainly correspondence with family members and friends.
Arranged chronologically.
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Letters between Holt and Scott.
Arranged chronologically.
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Diaries, notebooks, and epistolary record.
Organized into three groupings and arranged chronologically.
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Canceled checkbook, ledgers, account books, bills and receipts, and indenture.
Arranged by type of material.
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Invitations, acceptances, calling cards, legal notes, a French copybook, roll book, passport, clippings, photographs, printed matter, an article by Holt, editorial remarks, an autobiography of Holt, and scrapbooks.
Arranged by type of material.
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Maps, financial papers, newspapers, and printed matter.
Arranged and described according to the series, container, and folder from which the items were removed.
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