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Swett Family Correspondence
mssHM 50227-50449
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Swett family correspondence
Creator:
Swett, Leonard,
1825-1889
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 50227-50449
Physical Description:
2.67 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1864-1897
Abstract: A collection of family correspondence
related to Leonard Swett, Illinois lawyer and advisor to President Abraham
Lincoln.
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]. Swett family correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. William Cook, February 1981.
Leonard Swett (1825-1889) was born in Maine and educated at Waterville College; he married
Laura R. Quigg on July 20, 1854 and their son, Leonard Herbert Swett, was born in 1859.
Leonard Swett was an active worker in Illinois politics and elected to the state legislature
in 1858; he was also a friend and advisor of Abraham Lincoln. Swett was employed in legal
work in government cases, the best known being the California quick-silver litigation in
1863. In 1865 Swett moved to Chicago, where he became a prominent civil and criminal lawyer.
After the death of his first wife, Swett married his law office manager, Marie A. H. Decker
on July 14, 1887; Swett died in Chicago on June 8, 1889.
A collection of 225 items from 1864 to 1897, which consists chiefly of letters to and from
Swett's wife, Laura R. Swett, and son, Leonard Herbert Swett. The early letters have passing
references to Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Swett's dealings in the cotton trade
during the Civil War. The later letters describe Leonard Herbert Swett's participation in
the U.S. Geological Survey of the Utah Plateau Region under Captain Clarence E. Dutton in
1880 and his later work for the XIT Ranch in 1886 during the formative period of Western
Texas. Because the Swetts were also friends of General and Mrs. George A. Custer, passing
references to them appear throughout the collection.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, September 1984. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created
the finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.
Arranged chronologically.
Additional Leonard Swett related material: mssHM 68244-68272 (acc. no. 2215); mssHM
68695-68709 (acc. no. 2331); Leonard H. Swett addenda (acc. no. 2290).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cattle -- Texas
Cotton trade -- United States
Ranch life -- Texas
Utah -- Description and travel
Utah -- Surveys
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Custer, Elizabeth Bacon,
1842-1933
Custer, George A. (George
Armstrong), 1839-1876
Johnson, Andrew,
1808-1875
Lincoln, Abraham,
1809-1865
Swett, Laura R.
Swett, Leonard Herbert,
1859-
Geological and Geographical
Survey of the Territories (U.S.)
Geographical and Geological
Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region (U.S.)