Dates: 1837-1838.

Biography:

Loyal C. Kellogg

Loyal C. Kellogg lived in the cities of Benson and Rutland in Rutland County, Vermont. Of the three individuals writing to him in the 1830s, only one can be identified as a Mississippi resident: Lemuel N. Baldwin, a lawyer who moved from Connecticut to Claiborne County in 1836 to be a tutor to the children of W. R. McAlpine. Baldwin soon gave up teaching to practice law. He married Mary Jane McDougall in 1842. Baldwin owned a large plantation with eighty-one slaves before the Civil War. After the war, Baldwin was able to recover financially, and he became active in local politics. He was known as "Judge" Baldwin at the time of his death in July of 1893. His wife died in May of 1899.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains fragments of three letters, each written by a different author. The first letter fragment is by an unknown author. It was mailed from Grand Gulph [Gulf], Mississippi, on August 8, 1837, and was received by Loyal C. Kellogg in Benson, Vermont, on September 2, 1837. The writer discusses current national elections and party politics. The letter fragment is peppered with allusions to the Romantic poets, Latin quotations, and political opinions regarding William Henry Harrison.

The second letter fragment is by E. H. Kellogg, the brother of Loyal C. Kellogg. It was written on April 5, 1838, at Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Loyal C. Kellogg received this letter on April 11, 1838, at Rutland, Vermont. E. H. Kellogg discusses his introduction to the legal profession and his romantic interests.

The third letter fragment is by Lemuel N. Baldwin. It was written on April 6, 1838, at Grand Gulph [Gulf], Mississippi, and received on April 24, 1838, at Rutland, Vermont. Baldwin discusses politics, slavery, and current local elections, mentioning Seargent S. Prentiss, J. F. H. Claiborne, and Samuel J. Gholson. Part of the letter is written crosswise in red ink.

This collection will be especially interesting to legal and social historians.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Letter fragments. 1837-1838. 0.10 c.f.