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United States President, Cabinet, and House of Representatives, 34th Congress, Autograph Book

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-0356

Scope and Contents

The title of the single bound volume, Floral Album, is somewhat misleading as the book contains the autographs of President Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) and his cabinet, as well as those of virtually all members of the United States House of Representatives during the 34th Congress (3 December 1855 - 4 March 1857). The book also has the autograph of Confederate General Edmund W. Pettus, written in 1903 while he was a US senator.

Dates

  • 1855-1903

Conditions Governing Access

None

Biographical / Historical

There is no information as to whom the book actually belonged to, but James L. Pugh's (representative from Eufaula, Alabama, from 1859-1861) signature is on the page immediately following the title page before that of the president and his cabinet. Even though his signature is dated 9 November 1886, considerably later than the rest, it was obviously placed there for a reason, possibly because the book was his.

James Lawrence Pugh was born on 12 December 1820, in Burke County, Georgia, and moved to Alabama in 1824. He received a collegiate education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1841. He opened his practice in Eufaula, Alabama. He was a presidential elector in 1848 and 1856, and represented Alabama's second district as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from 5 December 1859 until 21 January 1861, when he resigned upon Alabama's secession from the Union at the time of the Civil War.

He served as an officer in the Confederate States Army, and was then elected to the First and Second Confederate Congresses. After the war, he returned to his law practice and when his U.S. citizenship was restored, he served as president of the Democratic state convention in 1874, a delegate to the 1875 state constitutional convention, and a presidential elector again in 1876. He was elected to the U.S. Senate for Alabama, to fill the term left vacant at the death of George S. Houston. He was reelected twice, serving in the Senate from 24 November 1880 to 4 March 1897.

Pugh died on 9 March 1907.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Overview

Book containing the autographs of President Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) and his Cabinet, as well as those of virtually all members of the United States House of Representatives during the 34th Congress (3 December 1855 - 4 March 1857). The book also has the autograph of Confederate General Edmund W. Pettus, written in 1903 while he was a U.S. Senator.

Provenance

unknown

General

Former title of this collection was the Susan Fenimore Cooper collection, presumably named such due to the floral plates and the inscription "Rural Hours" on the title page. Cooper's nineteenth-century publication of that name included the same or similar plates.

Special Collections staff changed the name in 2013. '

General

To provide faster access to our materials, this finding aid was published without formal and final review. Email us at archives@ua.edu if you find mistakes or have suggestions to make this finding aid more useful for your research.

Processed by

Martha Bace, 2013
Title
Guide to the United States President, Cabinet, and House of Representatives, 34th Congress, Autograph Book
Status
Completed
Date
February 2008
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Box 870266
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0266
205.348.0513