Autograph Collection of Lawrence F. Bower: Finding Aid

Processed by The Huntington Library staff in 1977; supplementary encoding and revision supplied by Xiuzhi Zhou in 2000, and Diann Benti in June 2017.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Manuscripts Department

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2129

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Overview of the Collection

Title: Autograph Collection of Lawrence F. Bower

Dates (inclusive): 1802-1904

Collection Number: mssHM 14000-14061

Collector: Bower, Lawrence F.

Extent: 63 pieces in 1 box

Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2129

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Abstract: This collection consists of a small group of unrelated letters collected for their autograph values by Lawrence F. Bower around 1889 and specializing in naval and military officers (particularly rear admirals), of the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

Language: English.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. Autograph Collection of Lawrence F. Bower, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

Purchased as Lot 18 in the American Art Association sale of January 9, 1923.

Biographical Note

Lawrence F. Bower began his autograph collection around 1889 specializing in naval and military officers of the War of 1812 and the Civil War. He wrote personally to many of the officers still living in the 1890s requesting their autographs.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a small group of unrelated letters collected for their autograph values by Lawrence F. Bower around 1889 and specializing in naval and military officers (particularly rear admirals), of the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Bower wrote personally to many of the retired Civil War officers who were living in the last decade of the nineteenth century, requesting their autographs, and, in addition, collected a few letters of historical value. Judging from the contents of the answers to these requests, Mr. Bower was only a boy at the time.

The letters addressed to Bower, which comprise 34 pieces, or over one-half of the collection, are dated from 1889 to 1904; while the items of historical value (28 pieces) cover quite evenly the period of 1802-1898, with the exception of a gap between 1829 and 1855.

The autographs include:

Bainbridge, William
Barney, Joshua
Boyd, John Parker
Chaille-Long, Charles
Du Pont, Samuel Francis
Franklin, Samuel Rhoads
Harmar, Josiah
Howard, Oliver Otis
Hull, Isaac
Johnson, Bradley Tyler
Johnston, Joseph Eggleston
Lane, James Henry
Longstreet, James
MacDonough, Thomas
Meade, George Gordon
Meigs, Josiah
Melville, George Wallace
Perry, Matthew Calbraith
Perry, Oliver Hazard
Pope, John
Porter, David
Porter, David Dixon
Preble, George Henry
Rodgers, Christopher Raymond Perry
Scott, Winfield
Sheridan, Philip Henry
Sigel, Franz

Note: Individuals represented only by letters addressed to Bower which are of interest only for the autograph, have been omitted.

Notable items include:

Bainbridge, William (1774-1833) To Benjamin Williams Crownishield, Secretary of the Navy, in support of the application of Alexander Gordon for a midshipman's warrant 1817, Aug 1
Barney, Joshua (1759-1818) List of papers concerning his claims against the French government, etc., with instructions for his agent 1802, July 9
Chaille-Long, Charles (1842-1917) To F P >Noble, Secretary of the World's Congress Auxiliary at Chicago, referring to his article on The Origin and Progress of African Exploration and Discovery... 1893, July 3
Franklin, Samuel Rhoads (1825-1909) To Capt Smith of the U.S.S Bermuda, instructing him to transfer his passengers and stores for New Orleans to another ship and proceed to the coast of Texas 1865, Jan 31
MacDonough, Thomas (1783-1825) To Raymond Perry, referring to the distribution of the Lake Champlain prize money 1815, Sep 1
Meigs, Josiah (1757-1822), and Stephen Decatur (1779-1820) To James Monroe, then Secretary of State, recommending Col Samuel Green, editor of the Connecticut Gazette, as the publisher of the laws of the United States in Connecticut 1816, Feb 22
Perry, Oliver Hazard (1785-1819) To William Sanford Rogers, giving news of war activities in Newport harbor 1812, Dec 15

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.

Subjects

United States. Army -- Officers -- 19th century -- Autographs.

United States. Navy -- Officers -- 19th century -- Autographs.

Autographs -- Collectors and collecting -- United States.

United States -- History -- War of 1812 -- Sources.

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources.

Forms/Genres

Collections United States.

Letters (correspondence) United States.

Box 1

mssHM 14000-14061