Alexander James and George Mifflin Dallas Papers

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

Gift of Mr. Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr., December 1969.

Finding aid revised according to contemporary archival standards in June 2017 by Sarah Lerner, Student Worker.

Use

The Alexander James and George Mifflin Dallas Papers are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

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.

Publisher

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Finding aids author

Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.

Date

August 2024

Creator

Dallas family

Subject

Roads -- Pennsylvania

Mexican War, 1846-1848 -- Public opinion

United States -- Foreign relations -- To 1865 -- Russia

People

Alexander, William, 1768-1841

Biddle, Clemont, 1740-1814

Bishop, Abraham, 1763-1844

Brown, John, 1783-1841

Buchanan, James, 1791-1868

Cass, Lewis, 1782-1866

Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908

Dallas, Alexander James, 1759-1817

Dallas, George Mifflin, 1792-1864

Dallas, Sophia Philips

Dallas, Sophia Chew

Girard, Stephen, 1750-1831

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790

Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

McKean, Thomas, 1734-1817

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Moran, Benjamin, 1820-1888

Nicklin, Susan

Polk, James K. (James Knox), 1795-1849

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Seward, William H. (William Henry), 1801-1872

Sutherland, Joel B. (Joel Barlow), 1792-1861

Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862

Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852

Organization

Bank of the United States (1791-1811)

Pennsylvania. Militia. Paymaster General

United States. Department of the Treasury

Place

Pennsylvania -- Politics and government

Pennsylvania -- Public works

Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Politics and government

United States -- History -- War of 1812

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Language

English

Form

Correspondence