William Wirt

A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Allan Teichroew
Revised by John R. Monagle

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2002

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2007

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007003

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Names:

Subjects:

Occupations:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Copyright Status:

Microfilm:

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Related Materials

Arrangement of the Papers

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Administrative Information

The papers of William Wirt, lawyer, politician, United States attorney general, and biographer, were obtained through gift and purchase from various individuals, principally Alexander Randall and James F. Meegan, between 1909 and 1957.

The papers of William Wirt were processed and microfilmed in 1983. Bound volumes of correspondence and other papers were reprocessed in 2002, at which time the items were removed from the volumes and rehoused in folders, but filed in the exact order of their previous arrangement in the volumes.

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of William Wirt is governed by the Copyright Law of the United Statews (Title 17, U.S.C.).

A microfilm edition of these papers is available on four reels for purchase from the Library's Photoduplication Service subject to the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). This microfilm edition may also be requested on interlibrary loan through the Library's Loan Division. A copy of the 1983 finding aid is available on reel one of the microfilm edition.

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, William Wirt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

The papers of William Wirt span the years 1802 to 1858, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1802 to 1834. The collection consists of family and personal letters, professional or business correspondence, and the manuscript of Wirt’s biography of Patrick Henry. Scattered throughout the papers are clippings, reminiscences, transcribed writings and poetry, and children’s essays. One set of correspondence covering the years 1831-1832 focuses solely on Wirt’s decision to run for president on the Anti-Masonic party ticket against Andrew Jackson. An assortment of material also postdates Wirt’s death in 1834, including papers from survivors and descendants consisting mostly of letters of condolence and other family matters.

The main part of the correspondence treats the relationship between Wirt and his children. He had twelve by his second wife, Elizabeth Gamble, nine of whom survived to adolescence or adulthood. Their letters reflect the values of a Southern slaveholding family during a period of rapid social and political change and includes references to childhood rituals of amusement and learning and elaborate descriptions of Wirt family Christmases. Other subjects include Christian piety, social life in Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D. C., and Baltimore, and the Wirt family’s near continual grappling with illness and death.

Besides immediate family members, the most frequent correspondent in these papers is Peachy Gilmer of Henry County, Virginia. A relative through Wirt’s first wife, Mildred Gilmer of “Pen Park,” Peachy Gilmer was a lifelong friend whose letters from Wirt show the latter’s developing views over three decades. The correspondence is personal and family oriented and rather candid. A July 1807 letter from Richmond includes Wirt’s observations of the Aaron Burr trial in which he was counsel for the prosecution. Wirt and Gilmer also discussed their private financial affairs, especially in their earlier correspondence when both expressed interest in moving to Kentucky. In the 1830s after his retirement as attorney general of the United States, Wirt organized a plan to settle German farmers on an agricultural tract near Monticello, Florida. His partner and agent was Louis M. Goldsborough, a son-in-law and naval officer whose communications from the scene document the unfolding and eventual failure of the colonization effort.

Other important topics include Wirt’s The Letters of the British Spy published in1803, reactions of advance readers to the manuscript of his biography of Patrick Henry, and legal work conducted by Wirt while United States attorney for the District of Richmond in 1816 and later, from 1817 to 1829, while attorney general.

Correspondents in addition to those already mentioned include Nicholas Biddle, William H. Cabell, John C. Calhoun, Dabney Carr, Robert Gamble, Abner Phelps, Richard Rush, James Wallace, James Webster, and Lewis Williams. There are also copies of letters to presidents John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.

Related Materials

The Maryland Historical Society houses a larger body of William Wirt papers which have been reproduced on microfilm and are available for use at the Library of Congress.

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically therein.

Container List