Isaac N. Arnold Collection: Finding Aid mssHM 39875-39903
Melissa Haley
The Huntington Library
September 2022
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated by Melissa Haley, December 6, 2023.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Isaac N. Arnold collection
Creator:
Arnold, Isaac N., 1815-1884
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 39875-39903
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1834-1888
Abstract: Collection consists of loose letters and documents dating from 1834 to 1888 that were removed from Isaac N. Arnold's The Life
of Abraham Lincoln (1885), 17875, volumes 1 and 2.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Isaac N. Arnold collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Provenance unknown. In library as of 1959.
Removed from Isaac N. Arnold,
The Life of Abraham Lincoln (Chicago: Jansen, McClurg, & company, 1885), Call number: 17875, on May 30, 1974.
Isaac N. Arnold (1815-1884) was born in Hartwick, New York, and studied law. In 1836, he moved to Chicago, where he set up
a legal practice and met Abraham Lincoln. Arnold served three terms in the Illinois House of Representatives as a Democrat;
he later joined the abolition movement and the Free Soil Party, then became a Republican. In 1860, he was elected to the U.S.
House of Representatives, serving until 1865, where he sponsored abolition legislation. Arnold served briefly from 1865 to
1866 as the Sixth Auditor of the U.S. Treasury. He returned to Chicago, where he resumed his legal work and wrote biographies
of Benedict Arnold and Abraham Lincoln; his book The Life of Abraham Lincoln was published in 1884. Arnold died in Chicago
at age 68.
Collection consists of loose letters and documents removed from Isaac N. Arnold's The Life of Abraham Lincoln, 17875, volumes
1 and 2. Materials created by U.S. presidents include Millard Fillmore, Washington, D.C., order to Secretary of State Edward
Everett, document signed, 1853 February 25; Franklin Pierce, Washington, D.C., order to Secretary of State William Learned
Marcy, document signed, 1855 April 19; James Buchanan, Washington, D.C., order to Secretary of State Lewis Cass, document
signed, 1859 December 30; James A. Garfield, Washington, D.C., note to Mr. Conant, autograph letter signed, 1875 March 8;
Ulysses S. Grant letter to unknown recipient recommending Dr. Hicks, autograph letter signed, undated; Martin Van Buren order
to Secretary of State John Forsyth, document signed, 1839 August 1.
Also present are letters or documents from Benjamin F. Butler, Henry Clay, Schuyler Colfax, Roscoe Conkling, Edward Everett,
Hannibal Hamlin, Oliver Otis Howard, Reverdy Johnson, Robert Todd Lincoln, John A. Logan, Irvin McDowell, Montgomery C. Meigs,
Lot M. Morrill, John M. Schofield, Winfield Scott, Philip H. Sheridan, William T. Sherman, Daniel Sickles, Alexander H. Stephens,
Charles Sumner, Alfred H. Terry, and Daniel Webster.
This finding aid was created in 2022 by Melissa Haley as part of the American Presidential Papers Project with enhanced description
of the presidential material present. The items had been assembled physically and arranged by Huntington Library former staff
in the mid-20th century.
Collection is arranged alphabetically by sender.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Government records -- United States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868
Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893
Clay, Henry, 1777-1852
Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885
Conkling, Roscoe, 1829-1888
Everett, Edward, 1794-1865
Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874
Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
Hamlin, Hannibal, 1809-1891
Howard, O.O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909
Johnson, Reverdy, 1796-1876
Lincoln, Robert Todd, 1843-1926
Logan, John Alexander, 1826-1886
McDowell, Irvin, 1818-1885
Meigs, Montgomery, 1847-1931
Morrill, Lot M. (Lot Myrick), 1812-1883
Pierce, Franklin, 1804-1869
Schofield, John McAllister, 1831-1906
Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866
Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Sickles, Daniel Edgar, 1819-1914
Stephens, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), 1812-1883
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Terry, Alfred Howe, 1827-1890
Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852
Box 1
Isaac N. Arnold collection 1834-1888