Guide to the Fessenden Collection, 1786-1982, undated
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Fessenden Collection, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library.
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The collection focuses on the family and professional life of William Pitt Fessenden(1806-69), Senator from Maine and Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury from July 1864 to March 1865. Fessenden (Bowdoin 1823) was a lawyer in Bridgton, Bangor and Portland; a Maine legislator (1832,1840, 1845-46, 1853-54), member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1841-43); and Senator from Maine (1854-64, 1865-69). An early member of the Republican Party, he opposed slavery. In the Senate he served as chair of the Finance Committee and, as a member of the Reconstruction Committee, voted against the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Several other family members are also represented in the collection.
Samuel Fessenden (1784-1869, Bowdoin hon. 1846), Fessenden's father, studied law with Daniel Webster. He was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature (1814-16) and the Massachusetts Senate (1818-19). He was Major General of the Massachusetts (later Maine) militia, a temperance man, an ardent abolitionist, Liberty Party candidate for congressman and governor, and an early supporter of the Republican Party.
Ellen Maria Deering Fessenden (1809-57), Fessenden's wife and daughter of a prominent Portland citizen, remained in Portland and corresponded with her husband about their four sons and household matters.
Thomas Amory Deblois Fessenden (1826-1868, Bowdoin 1845), brother of William Pitt Fessenden, was elected to Congress in 1862, and was chosen as a presidential elector in 1866. He died of Bright's disease in 1868.
James Deering Fessenden (1833-82, Bowdoin 1852), a lawyer, was Captain of the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters and, in 1862, organized the first regiment of African-American soldiers, mustering out as Brevet Major General of Volunteers. He later became Register in Bankruptcy for the 1st District of Maine (1868) and served in the state legislature (1872-75).
William Howard Fessenden (1835-98, Bowdoin 1855), also a lawyer, became head of the Portland Machine Works (1872) and later moved to California (1880).
Francis Fessenden (1839-1906, Bowdoin 1858) practiced law in New York. He was wounded at Shiloh while Captain of the 19th Infantry and lost his leg in the Red River campaign. Retired as Major General in 1866, he sat on the commission examining Wirtz's abuses at Andersonville and was assistant commander of the Freedmen's Bureau. He resumed his legal career (1867) and was mayor of Portland (1876).
Samuel Fessenden (1841-62, Bowdoin 1861) was in Kansas during the "Bloody Kansas" revolt (1856). As Lieutenant of the 2nd Maine Battery, he was mortally wounded at Second Manassas.
Elizabeth Caroline Fessenden Warriner (1821-1902), Fessenden's cousin, was one of his most intimate confidants.
Correspondence, professional and personal records, publications, articles, addresses, reports, lectures, memoirs, a diary, documents, receipts, accounts, clippings, images, genealogies, and biographical material related to the Fessenden family.
Although mostly family correspondence, there are letters from more than 360 others, including prominent lawyers, politicians, reformers and soldiers. Among them are: James G. Blaine, Simon Cameron, Salmon P. Chase, Frederick Douglass, Neal Dow, Hamilton Fish, James Wilson Grimes, Joseph Hooker, Abraham Lincoln, Edwin M. Stanton, Daniel Webster and Gideon Welles. Most heavily represented, each with 10 or more letters are: John Lincoln Baxter; George T. Little, Bowdoin librarian; Theophilus P. Chandler, Bangor and Boston lawyer; Josiah S. Little, Maine legislator; and Edward S. Leland, Judge in Ottawa, Ill.
Related material: A portable writing desk once owned by William Pitt Fessenden is held by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
Joseph Palmer and Phebe Beech Fessenden Papers for material on another branch of the Fessenden family.
Approximately 2500 letters from 1790 to 1917, most to or from William Pitt Fessenden. Much of the correspondence deals with family matters, Fessenden's career, or his sons' Civil War experiences. Also included are typescripts of his son Samuel's letters.
Arranged chronologically.
1790-1837
Jan. 1838-Feb. 1842
March 1842-Dec. 1844
Jan. 1845-Aug. 1851
Sept. 1851-Aug. 1855
Sept. 1855-Jan. 1857
Feb. 1857-May 1859
June 1859-Dec. 1860
Jan. 1861-April 1862
May 1862-Jan. 1864
Feb.-Sept. 1864
Oct. 1864-July 1866
Aug. 1866-May 1868
June 1868-undated
Carbons of typescripts of the Sam Fessenden letters / prepared by John L. Baxter, Set 1 (pp. 1-184)
Carbons of typescripts of the Sam Fessenden letters / prepared by John L. Baxter, Set 2 (pp. 1-142)
Transcripts of correspondence with James Wilson Grimes
Correspondence: misc. covers
Correspondence-Carbon typescripts of the Sam Fessenden letters . . ., c. 3
7/4/1864 letter from President Abraham Lincoln - original (photocopy of letter is in Fessenden correspondence, filed chronologically) [in Manuscripts box]; 7/2/1864 telegram forwarded to Mr. Fessenden from Abraham Lincoln - original (photocopy of telegram is in Fessenden correspondence, filed chronologically) [in Manuscripts box]
Microfilm service copies, 35 mm, filmed by the University of Virginia. Four of the five reels contain selected correspondence from the Fessenden Collection: Correspondence. Letters in the Fessenden Collection are arranged chronologically, while letters on the microfilm are arranged by correspondent. This series is linked here to a pdf file with the arrangement of correspondence on the microfilm, followed by the corresponding reel number. The fifth reel contains correspondence from the James Shepherd Pike Papers, including letters from William Pitt Fessenden to Pike. Bowdoin College does not hold the original James Shepherd Pike Papers.
Arranged by correspondent.
Microfilm
Documents concerning military and political appointments and estate settlements, together with certificates and passports. Dating from 1840 to 1864, most relate to William Pitt, Francis or James Deering Fessenden.
Arranged alphabetically.
Agreements settling the estate of James Deering
Appointment of W.P. Fessenden as Secretary of the Treasury (1864)
Certificate admitting W.P. Fessenden to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court (1848)
Certificate of W.P. Fessenden's election as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1840)
Memorandum re the will of W.P. Fessenden
Notes re the disposition of the belongings of [Francis?] Fessenden
Passports of Francis Fessenden
Portland Renewal Authority, Munjoy South Urban Renewal Project, "Statement of Taking" re land inherited by Foxes and Fessendens
Settlement of the estate of Nathaniel Deering
Biographical information on members of the Fessenden family, including general records, memoirs, educational material, etc.; together with essays concerning family members by 20th century scholars, and genealogical records on the Fessenden and Fox families. The material dates from 1823 to 1982.
Arranged alphabetically.
Biographical: Charles Stewart Davies Fessenden
Biographical: Frances Cushing Greeley Fessenden
Biographical: Francis Fessenden - general
Biographical: Francis Fessenden - memorials
Biographical: Hewitt Chandler Fessenden
Biographical: James Deering Fessenden, Sr. - general
Biographical: James Deering Fessenden, Sr. - memorials
Biographical: James Deering Fessenden, Jr.
Biographical: Joseph Palmer Fessenden
Biographical: Joseph Palmer Fessenden - Bowdoin autograph album, Class of 1851
Biographical: Samuel Fessenden, Jr. - general
Biographical: Samuel Fessenden, Jr. - education
Biographical: Samuel Fessenden, Jr. - Bowdoin autograph/photograph album, Class of 1861
Biographical: Samuel Fessenden, Jr. - ms. record of his disappearance into Kansas in 1856
Biographical: Samuel Fessenden, Jr. - concerning people contacted by W.P. Fessenden in tracing him to Kansas in 1856
Biographical: Samuel Fessenden. Jr. - Maine Historical Society newsletter
Biographical: Samuel Clement Fessenden
Biographical: Thomas Amory Deblois Fessenden
Biographical: William Howard Fessenden
Biographical: William Pitt Fessenden - general
Biographical: William Pitt Fessenden, 1823 Bowdoin diplomas
Biographical: William Pitt Fessenden - memorials [miss.]
Biographical: William Pitt Fessenden - memorials [printed]
Biographical: William Pitt Fessenden - Maine Historical Society Newsletter Family history:
Biographical: Three Fessendens and Daniel Webster / by Samuel Fessenden [presented to the Science and Art Club of Germantown, Pa., January 25, 1982]
Biographical: A vote of "Not Guilty": William Pitt Fessenden's role in the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson / by Carol Bolger[photocopy; for Gov. 43, May 15, 1978]
Biographical: William Pitt Fessenden / by William Salter [reprint from the Annals of Iowa, 1908]
Genealogies: Fessenden family - Account of Gen. Samuel Fessenden and Family / by Francis Fessenden
Genealogies: Fessenden family - Account of Samuel Fessenden and Family / by Francis Fessenden
Genealogies: Fessenden family - American Ancestry [of Francis Fessenden]
Genealogies: Fessenden family - Excerpts from Genealogy on the Fessendens and Fosters / by Earl Foster Fessenden [and] Dorothy Fessenden Rodger
Genealogies: Fessenden family - Fessenden Family in America / [by] John L. Baxter
Genealogies: Fessenden family - Fessenden Genealogy / by Francis Fessenden
Genealogies: Fessenden family: general
Genealogies: Fox family
Published and unpublished essays, notes, reports, addresses and speeches bound in two volumes, including several presented before Maine societies. Many concern political subjects such as reconstruction, the Treasury and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson; others cover more general topics such as temperance and the fourth of July. The volumes were compiled by James D. Fessenden.
Addresses and speeches on various subjects, and childhood short stories by W.P.Fessenden; together with a Samuel Fessenden Sr. address, and Francis Fessenden's memoir of his father
Addresses, speeches, reports and notes on various political topics
Items relating to the history and careers of several family members, 1786-1968. Featured are materials relating to Bowdoin College, including two essays written by Thomas A.D. Fessenden (Bowdoin 1845) while a student; the Civil War (i.e. appointments, orders, documents, a diary, etc.); printed items on reconstruction and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson; the family's finances (i.e. contracts, receipts, accounts, etc.); family bibles, and family manuscripts, including many sermons by William Fessenden (1747-1805).
Arranged alphabetically.
Bowdoin College material: "The Fessenden Affair" / by John L. Baxter (Speech given before the Town & College Club, January 5, 1968)
Bowdoin College material: Dedication of the Fessenden Room
Bowdoin College material: Miscellaneous
Bowdoin College material: Records concerning Samuel Fessenden, Jr. Civil War:
Bowdoin College material: Account of a caucus of Republican Senators, held December 16, 1862
Bowdoin College material: Confederate currency
Bowdoin College material: Francis Fessenden, appointments and recommendations for promotion
Bowdoin College material: Francis Fessenden, military retirement
Bowdoin College material: James D. Fessenden, Sr., diary and account book James D. Fessenden, Sr., promotions and appointments
Bowdoin College material: Samuel Fessenden, Jr., orders re
Bowdoin College material: List of killed, wounded or missing members of the 30th Maine Vols. after Sabine Cross Roads, Pleasant Hill and Cane River Crossing
Bowdoin College material: Manuscript maps
Bowdoin College material: Miscellaneous material Family Bibles:
Bowdoin College material: Bible given to "Thomas & Lirrie from their affectionate parents, Samuel and Deborah Fessenden, July 18, 1855." Inserted is a list of family members to whom the bible was passed, marriages, births, and deaths.
Bowdoin College material: Bible given to Stephen D. Fessenden "with the love of his Aunt, Mary D. Sewall," March 1868
Family Manuscripts: "The Conspiracy : a tragedy in four acts" / Samuel Fessenden, Sr. College
Family Manuscripts: College essays (2) of Thomas A.D. Fessenden (Bowdoin 1845)
Family Manuscripts: Diary of William Fessenden, January - April, 1786
Family Manuscripts: Sermon on Acts 8:22 & 25, by William Fessenden
Family Manuscripts: Sermon on 1st Corinthians 13:12, by William Fessenden
Family Manuscripts: Sermon on 2nd Corinthians 4:3-4, by William Fessenden
Family Manuscripts: Sermon on Isaiah 55:6, by William Fessenden
Family Manuscripts: Sermon on John 6:67, by William Fessenden
Family Manuscripts: Sermon on Psalms 111:10, by William Fessenden [fragment]
Family Manuscripts: Sermon on St. Matthew 24 [i.e.25]:46, by William Fessenden
Family Manuscripts: Sermon on unknown verse, by William Fessenden [fragment] Financial material:
Family Manuscripts: Account book of W.P. Fessenden, 1833-1839
Family Manuscripts: Contracts, receipts, etc. re Francis Fessenden's Life and Public Services of William Pitt Fessenden
Family Manuscripts: Loan agreement between Edward Fox and John W. and Wm. H. Day, April 1, 1879 [ms. copy]
Family Manuscripts: Miscellaneous
Family Manuscripts: Official and personal finances of W.P. Fessenden
Family Manuscripts: Receipt for $10,000 to be used to start the Commission for the Promotion of Education in the South [founding Storer College] signed by W.P. Fessenden and N.C. Brackett
Family Manuscripts: Valuation statements of W.P. Fessenden's personal and real estate properties Reconstruction and Presidential Impeachment.
Family Manuscripts: "Impeachment : Opinion of Hon. W.P. Fessenden on the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ..., 1868"
Family Manuscripts: "Joint Committee on Reconstruction. Journal: 39th Congress 1st Session [2 copies]
Family Manuscripts: "President Johnson and His War on Congress" / by Carl Shurz Treasury Department.
Family Manuscripts: Translation of a portion of an article on W.P. Fessenden, prepared for a Swiss French language journal by George Harrington U.S. Senate.
Family Manuscripts: Rules of the U.S. Senate, Hon. W.P. Fessenden copy
Miscellaneous items including one folder on the northeast boundary controversy and an 1869 map of Munjoy Hill in Portland.
Arranged alphabetically.
Map of Munjoy Hill (Portland, Maine), 1869
Miscellaneous
Re Northeast Boundary controversy
Printed Ephemera
Material relating to the Fessenden Association and family archive created by John Lincoln Baxter. It includes correspondence from 1955 to 1969, Bowdoin College news releases, and material concerning the dedications of the Treasury Department portrait of William Pitt Fessenden and of the Fessenden Room at Bowdoin.
Arranged alphabetically.
Correspondence, 1955-1969
Material re dedication of Fessenden Room, Bowdoin College
Material re W.P. Fessenden portrait in the Treasury Dept., Washington, D.C.
Membership and address lists
Miscellaneous manuscript material
News releases, Bowdoin College
Newsclippings, 1858-1909, on various subjects, comprised of items about 19th century notables, members of the family, the Civil War, politics, William Pitt Fessenden's legislative career, and his tenure at the Treasury Department.
Arranged alphabetically.
Articles and Addresses: "Jay Cooke and the Financing of the Civil War" / by Ellis Paxon Oberholzer
"Mrs. Abraham Lincoln and Her Friends" / by Willis Steell
"The Tariff in Our Times" / by Ida M. Tarbell Biographical, re:
Charles Stewart Daveis Fessenden
Francis Cushing Greeley Fessenden
Francis Fessenden
Hewitt Chandler Fessenden
James Deering Fessenden, Sr.
Joseph Palmer Fessenden
Mary Turner Peterson Fessenden
Samuel Fessenden, Sr.
Samuel Fessenden, Jr.
Samuel Clement Fessenden
Thomas Amory Deblois Fessenden
William Howard Fessenden
William Pitt Fessenden
Miscellaneous distantly related Fessendens and others Civil War:
"Abraham Lincoln's Rise to Greatness" (from the Evening Post, Feb. 13, 1909)
"Chase to Greeley: some hitherto unpublished letters" (from the [New York?] Daily Tribute, Jan. 20, 1895) General, re:
Family homes (Deering/Fessenden)
W.P. Fessenden research
Memorials to W.P. Fessenden
Miscellaneous
Provenance of collections
Restoration of the Treasury Department's portrait of W.P. Fessenden
Reviews of Francis Fessenden's "Life and Public Services of William Pitt Fessenden"
Political: W.P. Fessenden and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Political: W.P. Fessenden's speech re the Lecompton Constitution (Feb. 8, 1858)
Political: "Reminiscences of Maine Politics", nos. 14 and 15 / by Judge Henry Carter (no. 14 discusses W.P. Fessenden)
Political: "Reminiscences of Neal Dow..." (Portland Evening Express, Nov. 28, 1903)
Political: Scrapbook on various political subjects
Political: "They Were Seven...the story of the famous deadlock in the Maine Legislature [1854]" (Lewiston Weekly Journal, Jan. 19, 1893)
Political: Treasury Department-scrapbook re W.P. Fessenden's tenure, together with obituaries of Francis Fessenden
Political: Scrapbook on the Civil War and aftermath
Photographs and engravings of the Fessenden family are supplemented by Francis Fessenden's Civil War album, which contains cartes-de-visite of Union and Confederate Army and Navy officers; most are identified. There are also pocket-size cartes-de-visite, organized alphabetically, of John C. Fremont, Ulysses S. Grant, Hannibal Hamlin, Abraham Lincoln, William Henry Seward and other Civil War era government and military figures. Place images, mainly connected with the Civil War are also included in the series, as well as photographs from the 1966 dedication ceremony of the William Pitt Fessenden Room in Hawthorne-Longfellow Hall, Bowdoin College.
Arranged alphabetically.
Fessenden Family: Francis Fessenden, 1858
Fessenden Family: Francis Fessenden, n.d.
Fessenden Family: Francis Fessenden and General Henry Anderson, n.d.
Fessenden Family: Francis Fessenden in uniform, n.d.
Fessenden Family: James Deering Fessenden, Sr., n.d.
Fessenden Family: James Deering Fessenden, Sr. in uniform, n.d.
Fessenden Family: James Deering Fessenden, Sr. in uniform, n.d.
Fessenden Family: Samuel Fessenden, Jr., 1841
Fessenden Family: Samuel Fessenden, Jr. in uniform, n.d.
Fessenden Family: Samuel Fessenden, Sr., n.d.
Fessenden Family: Samuel Fessenden, Sr., n.d.
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden, 1854, and 1863 with currency and IRS cigar stamp
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden, 1868
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden, n.d. (early years)
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden, n.d. (mid-late years)
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden, n.d. (mid-late years)
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden and his sons, n.d.
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden portrait (bust), n.d.
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden portrait (Treasury Department,post restoration), n.d.
Fessenden Family: William Pitt Fessenden portrait (Treasury Department, pre-restoration), n.d.
Fessenden Family: Francis Fessenden Civil War Album
People (other than Fessenden family): A - D (cartes-de-visite), n.d.
People (other than Fessenden family): F - K (cartes-de-visite), n.d.
People (other than Fessenden family): L - P (cartes-de-visite), n.d.
People (other than Fessenden family): R - W (cartes-de-visite), n.d.
People (other than Fessenden family): Unknown people and miscellaneous groups (cartes-de-visite), n.d.
Places: Falls Church, Virginia, n.d.
Places: Fort Pulaski after the bombardment, n.d.
Places: Fort Western, Augusta, Maine, 1862
Places: Mount Kineo, Moosehead Lake, Maine, n.d.
Places: U.S. Revenue Steamer William P. Fessenden, n.d.
Places: U.S. Revenue Steamer William P. Fessenden, n.d.
Places: U.S. William Pitt Fessenden Room, Hawthorne-Longfellow Hall, Bowdoin College, n.d.
Places: William Pitt Fessenden Room, Hawthorne-Longfellow Hall, Bowdoin College, dedication ceremony, 1966 Aug 16