Call Number:

SPC MSS SP 002

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

2.8 linear feet (7 volumes + 1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Volume/box number], Alexander James and George Mifflin Dallas Papers, SPC MSS SP 002, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1794-1863 (inclusive)

Creator:

Dallas family

Form:

Correspondence

Abstract:

Alexander James Dallas was born in Jamaica and arrived in Philadelphia in 1783. During the next thirty years Dallas served in a variety of public offices including as counselor to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and Secretary of the Commonwealth. In 1792 Alexander and his wife Arbella Smith had a son, George Mifflin, who like his father became a prominent Pennsylvania politician. After graduating from Princeton George travelled to Russia, Belgium, and England on a peace mission as secretary to Albert Gallatin. George Mifflin practiced law and went on to become Mayor of Philadelphia and a U.S. Senator. After serving in the diplomatic corps George Mifflin became Polk's vice president.

The papers of a prominent late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Philadelphia family that participated in local, state, and national politics; including correspondence and manuscripts.

The correspondence of Alexander James Dallas, 1788-1816, documents his interest in the National Bank; his participation in Republican politics; and his duties as aide-de-camp to the Paymaster General of the Pennsylvania Militia, the Secretary of the Treasury, and as Acting Secretary of War (1815). There are a number of letters from Philadelphia merchant Stephen Girard regarding the National Bank.

The correspondence of George Mifflin Dallas, 1821-1863, documents his political affairs; including his position as U.S. Attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania and Foreign Minister to Russia (1837-1839) and England (1856-1861), as well as issues surrounding the Mexican War. The papers include correspondence with his wife, Sophia Chew Dallas, and his daughter Sophia Philips Dallas. The collection also includes twenty-eight poems and prose pieces written by George Dallas between 1815 and 1839.

The collection also contains assorted official documents marking milestones in the Dallas family political careers and assorted autographed correspondence of prominent American political figures. The prominent correspondents include William Alexander, Clemont Biddle, Abraham Bishop, John Brown, Grover Cleveland, James Buchanan, Lewis Cass, Benjamin Franklin, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas McKean, James Monroe, Benjamin Moran, James K. Polk, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Seward, Joel B. Sutherland, Martin Van Buren, and Daniel Webster.

The collection is arranged into 8 series as follows:

• Series 1: Correspondence of A.J. Dallas, 1794-1809, undated
• Series 2: Correspondence to A.J. Dallas and Letter of John Mifflin to Caesar Rodney, 1775-1864
• Series 3: A.J. Dallas and G.M. Dallas, Original Papers, 1788-1915
• Subseries 3.1: Autograph Letters and State Papers, A.J. Dallas, 1788-1816
• Subseries 3.2: Original Office Appointment of George M. Dallas, April 7, 1829
• Subseries 3.3: Autograph Letters from George M. Dallas, 1816- 1861, undated
• Subseries 3.4: Civil War and Presidential Letters to A.J. Dallas, George M. Dallas and Others, 1815-1915
• Series 4: Original Letters of Stephen Girard to A.J. Dallas, 1814-1816, undated
• Series 5: Mss. and Original Poems and Prose Pieces. G.M. Dallas, 1815-1843, undated
• Series 6: Correspondence to G.M. Dallas, 1821-1892
• Series 7: Correspondence of G.M. Dallas, 1825-1865, undated
• Series 8: Additional, 1813-1926, undated