Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation

MSS 16235, William Cabell Rives letter, Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased from David M. Lesser Antiquarian Books by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia on October 10, 2016.

Biographical / Historical

William Cabell Rives was a distinquished Virginian who served in virtually every office to which his constituents could elevate him. His correspondent, Benjamin Howard, was a Maryland Congressman who became well known to the legal community, as Reporter of Decision including the Dred Scott case for the United States Supreme Court.

Included in their discusion is Charleston lawyer, Hugh Swinton Legare who became Attorney General of South Carollina. Elected to Congress in 1836, he defeated Congressman Henry Pinckney, who was an advocate of Nullification and opposed to everything Jacksonian. He would later be appointed United States Attorney General by President Tyler.

Scope and Contents

William Cabell Rives letter to Congressman Benjamin C. Howard, 1838 October 15, autograph signed letter from Castle Hill, Virginia totaling 0.03 cubic feet, and discussing the election of Hugh Swinton Legare of South Carolina to the House of Representatives and other political matters. Legare, who was a friend of both of them, is losing the election to their disappointment. Also mentioned are charges made by Daniel O'Connell against the United States minister to England, Andrew Stevenson.