Item 16: Letter from Cassius Marcellus Clay to Mrs. Woodbury, no date
Item — Box: 11, Folder: 16
Dates
- Created: no date
Creator
- Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903 (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:
Excellent.
Measurements:
8 ⅜ in. x 5 ⅛ in.
Description:
This is a letter from Cassius Clay to Mrs. Woodbury which was sent on a Sunday, the exact date is unknown. It is inferred that this letter is from 1864 based upon the “64” written in pencil in the top right hand corner, which is different from the quill ink the content of the letter is written in. Clay served as the U.S. minister to Russia during the Civil War from 1861 to 1862 and again from 1863 to 1869. He is associated with gaining Russian support for the Union and he was involved in the negotiation of the Alaskan purchase. The English poet Robert Browning visited St. Petersburg in 1834 (accompanying his uncle William, who went on business for Rothschild's of London) and again in 1846 (as secretary to Sir Moses Montefiore). It's possible Mrs. Woodbury was hoping to discover whether Browning had relatives in St. Petersburg. Robert Browning came to popular prominence in 1864 (as result of the publication of his book of poems 'Dramatis Personae'), which is the year this letter was written. Major-General Cassius Clay was born in Kentucky in 1810. Clay was an American politician, planter, abolitionist, and military officer. He was appointed U.S. minister to Russia by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861. (Introducing a list that exists. This might be referring to Item 9a: Letter from Nicholas Longworth to Jacob Cist, 1851 June 28).
Location:
St. Petersburg, Russia
Transcription:
St. Petersburg 64 [1864]
Sunday
My dear Mrs. Woodbury
I enclose you a list of the Brownings in the city with their residences.
You see they see many.
Truly yours
Ob[edient]t s[er]v[an]t.
Cassius Marcellus Clay
Creator
- Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903 (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