Marvin H. Bovee Correspondence: Finding Aid mssBV
Melissa Haley
The Huntington Library
September 2022
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Marvin H. Bovee correspondence
Creator:
Bovee, Marvin H. (Marvin Henry), 1827-1888
Identifier/Call Number: mssBV
Physical Description:
2.4 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1850-1887
Abstract: Collection primarily consists of letters received by Marvin H. Bovee regarding the abolition of capital punishment and Democratic
politics, dating from 1850 to 1887.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
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[Identification of item]. Marvin H. Bovee correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from H.B. Halverson, 1956.
Marvin H. Bovee (1827-1888), a Wisconsin Democratic politician and social reformer, was born in Amsterdam, New York. In 1843,
he moved to the Wisconsin territory and in 1852 was elected a state senator. Bovee led a successful campaign to abolish capital
punishment in Wisconsin in 1853 and went on to become a national expert in the death penalty and prison reform.
The collection primarily consists of letters received by Marvin H. Bovee regarding the abolition of capital punishment and
Democratic politics, dating from 1850 to 1887. Correspondents include James Buchanan, Horace Greeley, Oliver Wendell Holmes,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Horatio Seymour, Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, William Cullen Bryant, Charles Sumner,
Henry Whitney Bellows, John Greenleaf Whittier, Salmon P. Chase, Morgan Dix, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Theodore Tilton, Fernando
Wood, and others; in addition, there is some Bovee family correspondence including two letters from Marvin H. Bovee to his
wife. Also present are contemporary copies of four poems, Bovee family obituaries, and a carte-de-visite of Horace Greeley.
The three autograph letters signed from James Buchanan to Marvin H. Bovee are dated 1864 October 18 (BV 9), 1867 December
9 (BV 10), and 1868 February 10 (BV 11).
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.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssBV 1-100.
Marvin H. Bovee,
Reasons for Abolishing Capital Punishment (Chicago, 1878), 303374.
Collection is arranged chronologically.
Portions of some letters are reproduced in Marvin H. Bovee,
Reasons for Abolishing Capital Punishment (Chicago, 1878).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Capital punishment -- United States -- History -- Sources
Capital punishment -- United States -- Public opinion
Legislators -- Wisconsin -- Archives
Politicians -- United States -- Correspondence
Social reformers -- Wisconsin -- Archives
Wisconsin -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Wisconsin -- Politics and Government -- 1848-1950 -- Sources
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Poems -- 19th century
Bellows, Henry W. (Henry Whitney), 1814-1882
Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1875
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868
Chase, Salmon P. (Salmon Portland), 1808-1873
Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903
Dix, Morgan, 1827-1908
Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882
Seymour, Horatio, 1810-1886
Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 1815-1902
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Tilton, Theodore, 1835-1907
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892
Wood, Fernando, 1812-1881
Democratic Party (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Democratic Party (Wis.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Box 1
Correspondence 1850-1868
Box 2
Correspondence 1869-1887
Box 2
Poetry, obituaries, photograph