Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of transcriptions of David Davis correspondence from various sources, most likely collected by Harry E. Pratt for his University of Illinois doctoral dissertation, "David Davis, 1815-1886," submitted in 1930.
David Davis of Bloomington, Illinois, served as Eighth Circuit Court Judge from 1848-1862, U.S. Supreme Court Justice from 1862-1877, and U.S. Senator from 1877-1883. Harry E. Pratt (1901-1956) grew up in Cambridge, Illinois, and received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in History from the University of Illinois. He served as dean at Blackburn College (Carlinville, Illinois), and taught history at Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Illinois). Pratt was a Lincoln and Illinois history scholar who served as the Executive Secretary of the Abraham Lincoln Association from 1936-1943, and as the Illinois State Historian and Director of the Illinois State Historical Society from 1950-1956.
This collection includes transcribed letters of the correspondence of David Davis. Correspondents include Judge Thomas Drummond, Ward Hill Lamon, General William Orme, Leonard Swett, and John Wentworth. The letters discuss political issues, court appointments, and various court cases. Ten telegrams concerning the Liberal-Republican nomination of 1872 are also included.
The Library acquired the collection prior to June 1956.
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