The Trials and Rewards of Research…

Such a great day at the National Archives!! I went to look through Record Group 94, which contains in the Records of the Adjutant General the Amnesty Papers, pardoning letters that former Confederates sent to President Andrew Johnson after the war ended to resume their status as citizens. An additional part of this section of the Record Group contains petition letters sent to Johnson from American citizens writing in regards to Davis and his presumed punishment. Virtually neglected by majority of historians minus a select few, these records will give me exciting and crucial insight into the hearts and minds of Northerners immediately after the war. But, before I could actually begin, I had to locate the petitions, which proved to be difficult, not only for me but for the archivists themselves! After thumbing through the finding aid for RG 94, I went to the microfilm room to view the Amnesty Papers (all of them had been put on microfilm), but the worker referred me back to the consultation room because the list of former rebel letters writing to Johnson in the collection did not contain any from Davis or regarding Davis. Back I went. After explaining the situation to a different archivist, he took me back to the microfilm room and looked through a different type of finding aid for the microfilm set. In bold letters, it said at the beginning of the aid that it contained petitions sent to Johnson from citizens arguing for or against the pardon of Davis. But apparently, the microfilm did not contain the petitions. I was confused, and the archivist even more so then me. Back we went to the consultation room.

The initial searching for the petition papers…

At this point, there were about three archivists trying to locate where these petitions were hiding. They were going through all of the possible finding aids and lists of items in Record Group 94 to find these petition letters and were still coming up empty handed. I couldn’t help but stand aside and watch them try and solve this mystery. Sensing disarray in the room, three more archivists came to see what was going on and offer their help. Now I had six archivists working to find these records! After about an hour and a half and incredible amounts of frustration, they told me that the petitions must have been entered under the specific names of the former Confederates, and were therefore dispersed among the microfilm and there was no way of finding out the names of the authors unless I sifted through the entire microfilm collection. I was incredibly disappointed. I knew the records existed, had seen them referred to in secondary material, and was so close to reading them to be told I couldn’t.

More searching

So, I did what any good historian would do. I looked at the reference notes in William Blair’s newest book, With Malice Towards Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War Era, who had cited the petition letters, to see where exactly they could be found. I called over the remaining archivists in the room, and they looked at the citation, which pinpointed Box 250 of the Amnesty Papers as the source. They all looked confused. They were under the assumption that the entire collection of Amnesty Papers had been put on microfilm. I was told, yet again, to wait a few minutes, as they all dispersed to find this mysterious Box 250. Ten minutes passed, and they returned with smiles on their faces.

Utter confusion. About four archivists in the room at this time. Fifteen minutes after this, the petitions were found!!

 

Two hours and six archivists later, the box had been found! Even better, there were five boxes of petition letters sent to Andrew Johnson that were not microfilmed and had not been entered into the finding aid. I was so so happy!! I only expected one box of petition letters, not five. Needless to say, I was ecstatic, and thoroughly enjoyed reading some of the letters in the first box this afternoon. I will post another blog after I finish the petition letters, but here is a preview of what I looked at today. Until next time…

This picture, coupled with the letter on the right, is a sketch of the gallows a carpenter offered to build to hang Davis with.