Item 7: Letter from John C[abell]. Breckinridge to C[harles] P[ost] Culver, 1856 July 4
Item — Box: 11, Folder: 7
Dates
- Created: 1856 July 4
Creator
- Breckinridge, John Cabell, 1821-1875 (Person)
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Letter
Condition Note:
Good.
Measurements:
9 ⅞ in. x 7 ¾ in.
Description:
This is a letter from John Cabell Breckinridge to Charles Post Culver (1822-1899) on July 4, 1856. This letter is responding to a letter sent by Culver to Breckinridge on June 25, 1856 in which Culver quoted Breckinridge’s words from a letter he wrote in 1854 that promised to hire Culver, and his response indicates that Culver recently asked him again for a pledge to appoint him to a “diplomatic appointment.” In this letter, Breckinridge states that it would be improper for him to do so at this current canvass as he is a candidate running for office. Breckinridge is referring to the upcoming U.S. presidential election of 1856 in which Breckinridge was nominated as the vice presidential nominee under James Buchanan for the Democratic party. He was nominated as the candidate for vice-president in June of 1856 at the 1856 Democratic National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Breckinridge was born in Kentucky in 1760 and became a soldier, lawyer, and politician. He was thirty six when he became the youngest ever vice president. Charles Post Culver was born near Mansfield, Ohio in 1822 but his parents removed him to Louisville, Kentucky during his infancy and he lived there until the age of 15 in which he became a pharmacist’s assistant and stayed at this position for five years until he was able to afford and attend night classes for college. He attended Transylvania College in Louisville, KY for two years before he volunteered to fight with the Kentucky Volunteers in the Mexican American War and participated in the battle of Resaca, Buena Vista, and other military engagements. He received a land grant in Chicago for his military service after the war but he sold it and returned to Louisville briefly to attend law school at Transylvania University and opened up a law firm as an attorney-at-law, but his lack of experience in court was demonstrated as during one of his cases, he broke down crying in court in front of the jury. He decided to enter the medical profession and after taking a medical course in Michigan, he went back to Louisville, KY and graduated from Transylvania University with a medical degree after one year’s study. He accepted an offer after graduation to take over the medical practice of Dr. Drane in New Castle, Kentucky, but his work in the medical field caused him stress and his health to decline so much that he gave up this medical practice to move to Georgia, where he eventually was introduced to Hon. Alexander H. Stephens.
During the Civil War, he resided in the South and was a hospital surgeon for the Confederate in Richmond, Virginia. After the war, he became the private secretary of Stephens in Washington, D.C., who was the former Vice President of the Confederacy, but who became a Congressman during the Reconstruction era. He was one of the Founders of the Homeopathic Hospital in Washington and was one of the Board of managers until he left Washington, D.C. to take up residence in Tacoma, Washington in 1887 where he took up the legal profession. Within the letter from Breckinridge to Culver, Breckinridge states that Culver desired “some office in the west” and at the time the letter was written, Culver was living in Georgia and asking for an endorsement from Breckinridge, however, this request was denied. Culver ended up doing a lot of religious and charitable work out west as he founded the Humane Society of Tacoma. He died on October 27, 1899.
Breckinridge was born in Kentucky in 1760 and became a soldier, lawyer, and politician. He was thirty six when he became the youngest ever vice president. Charles Post Culver was born near Mansfield, Ohio in 1822 but his parents removed him to Louisville, Kentucky during his infancy and he lived there until the age of 15 in which he became a pharmacist’s assistant and stayed at this position for five years until he was able to afford and attend night classes for college. He attended Transylvania College in Louisville, KY for two years before he volunteered to fight with the Kentucky Volunteers in the Mexican American War and participated in the battle of Resaca, Buena Vista, and other military engagements. He received a land grant in Chicago for his military service after the war but he sold it and returned to Louisville briefly to attend law school at Transylvania University and opened up a law firm as an attorney-at-law, but his lack of experience in court was demonstrated as during one of his cases, he broke down crying in court in front of the jury. He decided to enter the medical profession and after taking a medical course in Michigan, he went back to Louisville, KY and graduated from Transylvania University with a medical degree after one year’s study. He accepted an offer after graduation to take over the medical practice of Dr. Drane in New Castle, Kentucky, but his work in the medical field caused him stress and his health to decline so much that he gave up this medical practice to move to Georgia, where he eventually was introduced to Hon. Alexander H. Stephens.
During the Civil War, he resided in the South and was a hospital surgeon for the Confederate in Richmond, Virginia. After the war, he became the private secretary of Stephens in Washington, D.C., who was the former Vice President of the Confederacy, but who became a Congressman during the Reconstruction era. He was one of the Founders of the Homeopathic Hospital in Washington and was one of the Board of managers until he left Washington, D.C. to take up residence in Tacoma, Washington in 1887 where he took up the legal profession. Within the letter from Breckinridge to Culver, Breckinridge states that Culver desired “some office in the west” and at the time the letter was written, Culver was living in Georgia and asking for an endorsement from Breckinridge, however, this request was denied. Culver ended up doing a lot of religious and charitable work out west as he founded the Humane Society of Tacoma. He died on October 27, 1899.
Location:
Lexington, Kentucky
Transcription:
Lexington Ky July 4 1854
Dear sir
I have rec’d [recieved] your letter of the 25 inst[ant], in which you refer to some correspondence written me in 1854, when you desired some office in the west, and where, as you quote my words, I expressed a willingness to hire you, if I could do it consistently with obligations to others. And you now wish a pledge from me to assist you in obtaining some diplomatic appointment, in consideration of your experience, your Time and Talents in the present canvass.
I would have been happy to promote your wishes in 1854- but in my opinion it would not be proper for me to give the pledge you desire, and I am quite sure that upon reflection, you will come to the same conclusion. I am very clear that it would be highly improper for me under any circumstances, to come under pledge of this character, (even if I have the power to redeem them) while I am a candidate for office; but I do not mean to intimate that you regarded your suggestion as improper.
C[harles] P[ost] Culver Esq. Yours very Respectfully
Atlanta Ga John Breckinridge
Creator
- Breckinridge, John Cabell, 1821-1875 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu