Scope and Contents: Henry Pelham Holmes Bromwell was a member of Congress, 1865-69, when he lived in Charleston, Ill. He later moved to Colorado, where he continued in public service. Among the original items in this collection is a Dec. 18, 1864 letter to Bromwell from Maj. James A. Connolly, "before Savannah," describing the march through Georgia and expounding on the anti-black actions of Gen. Jefferson C. Davis.
There is also a letter dated May 15, 1865 from W. S. Marshall, a constituent stationed in Vicksburg, Miss., telling Bromwell that Congress needs to take action to help ease racial tensions in the region. In addition, there is also a deposition by Allan Pinkerton regarding Timothy Webster, one of his secret service operators, who was captured in Richmond, court-martialed by the Confederate Government, and executed in 1862. Webster's 1841 marriage certificate, is included, as Bromwell was working to get benefits for Webster's widow.
Among the photocopies in the collection are an 1861 letter to Bromwell from his mother, an April 1865 letter from Bromwell describing arrangements in Springfield for Lincoln's funeral; and three 1865 letters to Bromwell from William H. Herndon, who asks assistance in his Lincoln research. In addition, there is a copy of a letter from William Pickering on May 18, 1865, claiming Lincoln had planned on reappointing him as Governor of Washington Territory.
Originals were given to the University of Illinois Library by Henry's daughter, Henrietta Bromwell of Denver. Photocopies are from the Bromwell papers in the Library of Congress.
| Illinois History and Lincoln Collections
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