Letters of Application and Recommendation During the Administration of Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877, Microfilm Collection, NARA Riverside, continued

I guess you would call this "part 5" of a (length to be determined) blog series on using the NARA catalog and, specifically, finding lesser-known microfilm publications at the Pacific Region (Riverside) facility. This blog, then, is a follow-up of previous ones:

February 25 about how to navigate the NARA on-line microfilm catalog (applicable to researchers in all geographic areas)
March 22 about the information documents for the NARA holdings (applicable to researchers in all geographic areas)
March 23 an overview of the Letters of Application and Recommendation during the Grant Administration
March 24 an example of one file in the Grant Administration collection

Our last examination was of a letter recommending Herman Haupt for a government position. Today we will look at a file for a lesser-known applicant, but one who might happen to be related to you (who knows?). If you have WENDT in your family tree, this may be of particular interest:

Unfortunately, as we so often find in micro-productions, the 2 other papers that were with this were illegible. One was the "jacket" or "cover" for this document (giving just the name and date) and the other was a picture of the file folder that holds the original paperwork. Neither is crucial to the use of this letter and it is good to see that the document itself is in remarkably good (and legible) condition. Another downside of most of these letters is that they don't follow up on what happened next.

Did Mr. Wendt get the appointment in Vienna? If so, did he ever return to the United States? Did his family go with him? But consider this: If this WENDT is yours and you "lost" him around 1874 (whether or not you were able to locate him later), this might explain where he went and give further clues of places to search for more information! If he did not get the appointment, it still mentions to his native city (Vienna) and may give a researcher a valuable clue in locating baptismal and immigration records. This one letter could knock down a few significant WENDT walls.

So the question is this: is there a relative of yours that made application or wrote a letter to a presidential administration, or for whom a letter of recommendation was written? (Yes, I've checked for my ancestors, just in case . . . of course, there are none that I've located so far, but if you hit "pay dirt" I'd love to know!)

Reminder, how to search the catalog for information in this collection can be found at my earlier blog on March 22.

Letters of Application and Recommendation During the Administration of Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877, Microfilm Collection, NARA Riverside

In two previous blogs I have introduced my readers to
1) How to navigate the microfilm collections at the National Archives and Records Administration, Pacific Region (Riverside) and
2) What the "Letters of Application and Recommendation During Presidential Administrations, 1797-1877" is and how to access the information on which NARA facilities have the various collections available for customer viewing.

In this posting I want to share some of the findings in the collection of "Letters" of the Administration of Ulysses S. Grant (to help you save a little time, just click on the link "Ulysses S. Grant" and you can easily follow along on the Information Document - also called the "Descriptive Pamphlet," "Publication Details," and the "Finding Aid" - it's a PDF document that explains the history behind the collection and provides - in most cases - an Index to all the organizations and people about which the Letters and Applications are written).

Seven NARA facilities have this particular collection: Pacific Region (Riverside County, CA), Archives I (Washington, D.C.), Southeast Region (Atlanta, GA), Great Lakes Region (Chicago, IL), Archives II (College Park, MD), Southwest Region (Ft. Worth, TX), and Pacific Alaska Region (Seattle, WA).

There are 69 rolls of film in the collection and the Record Group (RG) is 59 ("General Records of the Department of State"). This Record Group also contains "other documents relating to appointments to public office, including oaths of office, attested copies of confirmations and rejections by the Senate, copies of commissions, and resignations and declinations of appointments" (Publication Number M-968, Washington, DC: NARA, 1975, p. 2).

Within the document (we're not into the films yet, just checking the PDF "View Important Publication Details" at this time), you can learn the history of the Grant Administration, a hint of the types of documents you will find on the films (applications of Union Army veterans, African Americans, those already holding government positions, and civilians seeking political and other appointments, etc.). It is estimated that, during the early part of his administration, about 400 people approached Grant, and his appointees, for consideration for Federal positions (many having served under Grant in the War).

In the cases where an applicant might have had another name or a letter also involved another consideration, a cross-reference is provided in the Index: e.g., "Carlisle, John S., Mar. 10-May 11, 1869 (6). See also Campbell, Archibald W." So if you are looking for Archibald W. Campbell (for whom there are an associated 22 documents), in the same index you will find his listing but no cross reference to John S. Carlisle (for whom there are an associated six documents), plus the date range given is "Apr. 26-Nov. 1, 1869." It would behoove the researcher to investigate both of these document collections (Carlisle and Campbell) (pp. 15-16). As it turns out, both Campbell and Carlisle letters are located on the same film roll (#10, Cab-Cas) (p. 104). (Note: it is most likely that the Campbell material includes some Carlisle material, but only within the date range given under "Carlisle.")

I hope that clarifies how the Information Document works and how it can be used before you visit your local archives. Knowing the film number(s) (in this case, Series M968, roll 10) will help you find your information faster when you arrive at the facility. As mentioned before, if you have a number of films to view, call or email in advance so they can be pulled for you; Pacific Region email for this purpose is riverside.archives@nara.gov.

The next couple of blogs will give some examples of the letters received by the Grant Administration: 3 for well-known individuals and 1 for a lesser-known person (but possibly your ancestor?).