Frémont, John Charles

A fine archive of manuscript materials, books, pamphlets, campaign memorabilia and images, by and about the explorer, first Republican presidential candidate, Civil War officer, and Territorial Governor of Arizona, in generally fine condition, ca. 1835–1902.

generally fine, clean condition, details provided in inventory.
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Frémont (1813-1890) gained fame leading several survey expeditions in the western territories in 1833-1849, and aiding in the establishment of the California Republic and State (his landholdings and gold mine in California were to preoccupy him for the remainder of his life). He ran for President in 1856 as the first candidate of the new Republican Party (losing to Buchanan). In 1861 he was in London buying arms for the north. He was appointed major general in the Department of the West, based in St. Louis. There he proclaimed martial law in Missouri, confiscating property and freeing the slaves, but his order was reversed by Lincoln who wished to tread lightly on a border state. Removed from command, Lincoln gave him command of the Mountain Department in Western Virginia, but he resigned and ran for the Presidential nomination in 1864, only to quit the campaign and support Lincoln. After the war he pursued his own business interests, and was appointed governor of the Arizona territory.

The archive deals in some detail with each of these aspects of his life, not to overlook his warm relationship with his wife Jessie Benton (1824-1902), daughter of Thomas Hart Benton, and author of many stories and historical books.

Letters & Manuscripts, in five loose-leaf binders with typed inventories and transcripts:

Binder I: 47 autograph letters signed, 2 letters signed, 2 autograph manuscripts signed, 1 document signed by Frémont, plus 3 letters signed by others, various places, 5 November 1835 – 27 May 1861, 4to and 8vo, ca. 91 pages written; formerly folded, a few small inkstains. Concerned with assembling publications of his reports on survey expeditions, hiring interpreters, request for reimbursement of expenses as commander and governor in California, his court-martial, specimens found on his expeditions, the award of the Founders Medal by the Royal Geographical Society, organizing his business interest in the Mariposa gold mine, letter introducing Reverend S.B. Bell to Henry Ward Beecher, other legal and banking matters with the house of Mark Brumagim & Co., the approach of war "We have the news up to the 21st which included the secession of South Carolina. I think that Lincoln will maintain the government" (14 January 1861), departure for England, letters from England on the management of his affairs in California.

Binder II: 54 autograph letters signed, 1 letter signed, and 3 documents signed by Frémont, various places in the United States, 6 July 1861–27 May 1890, 4to and 8vo, ca. 83 pages written; formerly folded, a few small stains. Concerning news of his appointment as major general in the western department, reporting for duty to General Winfield Scott, thank you note to George B. McClellan, appointment of George E. Waring major in cavalry, other appointments and travel passes for his new officers, his business interests in California and after the war elsewhere, some of which on the letterhead of the Executive Department Territory of Arizona (1879) but of a purely personal nature, a letter to Albert Bierstadt inviting him to visit in Tarrytown, New York (1874).

Binder III: 6 autograph letters signed by Frémont, New York & Washington D.C., undated, 8 pages written, plus 21 miscellaneous items related to his presidential campaign and other matters with typescripts, photocopies and news clippings, including the pamphlets "The Frémont Song Book for the Campaign of 1856" (Indianapolis: 1856), and "The Rocky Mountain Song Book, published for the Use of the Frémont Flying Artillery of Providence" (Providence: 1856).

Civil War Binder, Frémont Hussars: 60 pieces, including 20 autograph letters signed by various individuals including Henry Ward Beecher (a letter of introduction for one of his parishoners), Colonel George Edwin Waring, Brigadier General Alexander Sandor Asboth, William S. Burns, E.B. French, William Howard, John C. Kelton, H.W. Nichols, John W. Noble, Lt. Col. S.W. Trovelli, 10 autograph documents signed, printed forms with manuscript accomplishment, and a series of 12 telegraphs from Edwin M. Stanton to Frémont (written in a secretarial hand on printed forms, 28 March – 11 April 1862), the binder consisting mostly of correspondence with Waring, administrative matters, special orders, casualty lists, etc., various places, 9 September 1861 – 26 June 1864, ca. 92 pages written, various sizes 12mo to folio; most formerly folded, some damp and inkstains.

Jessie Benton Frémont
41 autograph letters signed, 2 autograph manuscripts signed, 1 typed manuscript signed, 1 autograph document signed, New York, Paris, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and other locations, 13 December 1840 – 1 March 1902, 4to and 8vo, ca. 95 pages written, plus family photographs and clippings, concerning her publications and those of her father Thomas Hart Benton, letters of introduction, legal and family matters, and letters in defense of her husband's reputation after his death.

Broadsides, Pamphlets
Nicholas Frias. To the Judges of the Court of Claims ... 24th February, in the year 1855. Folio, 3 pages; formerly folded. In a tan half-morocco folding-case. Claim for reimbursement of property damaged by American forces under Frémont. — U.S. Congress, House of Representatives. Continuation of Frémont's Reconnissance from the Boundary of Missouri to Terre Haute, Indiana ... January 20, 1847. [Washington D.C.: 1847]. 8vo, 39 pages, modern wrappers, in a maroon cloth folding-case. — Francis Preston Blair. "Frémont's Hundred Days in Missouri." Speech of Hon. F.P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, on Frémont's Defense; delivered in the House of Representatives, March 7, 1862. Washington: 1862. 8vo, 16 pages, stitched as issued, in a brown cloth folding-case. — Eulogio F. de Celis. Court of Claims. No. 1785. Eulogio F. de Celis, administrator of the estate of Eulogio de Celis, deceased, vs. the United States. No place or date (after 1874). 8vo, 9 pages; margins of last page mended. In a gray cloth folding-case. Enforcement of claims in a contract with Frémont about cattle. — Jessie Benton Frémont. A Year of American Travel. New York: 1878. 12mo, contemporary green cloth, printed paper label on spine, in a green cloth drop-box. — Frémont's Romanism Established, acknowledged by Archbishop Hughes. No place or date [1856]. 8vo, 16 pages, stitched as issued, in a maroon cloth folding case. Wonderful example of an unsigned scurrilous political attack on Frémont. — John C. Frémont, Governor of Arizona. Report of the Governor of Arizona Territory. [Prescott, 28 October 1878]. 8vo, 15 pages; disbound. In a brown cloth folding-case. — Grand National Republican Banner. New York: Currier, 1856. Folio, half morocco clamshell box. Lithographed campaign poster with portraits of Frémont and Dayton. — plus other 1856 campaign memorabilia, documents and images.

Books by Frémont
Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the Years 1843-'44. [Senate Issue]. Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1845. Thick 8vo, 27 plates with views and maps including 2 folding, 1 large folding map in an interior pocket; occasional patches of brown or foxing on some text and smaller maps. Publisher's brown blind-stamped cloth, gilt-stamped title on spine, in a red half-morocco slipcase. Sabin 25845. — Another copy of Idem, same binding, in a blue half-morocco slipcase, this copy inscribed to Edward Everett from Thomas Hart Benton; oval stamps of New England Historic-Genealogical Society, Boston, on title and next leaf, head and foot of spine chipped, corners bumped. — [Idem], Syracuse: Hall, 1846, 8vo, unillustrated, modern half morocco, in a blue half-morocco slipcase; some marginal foxing. — [Idem], Buffalo: Derby, and Cleveland: Smith, Knight, 1850, 8vo, 2 portraits, 2 plates, modern three-quarter morocco, in a blue half-morocco slipcase. This edition updated "with recent notices of the Gold Region." — Geographical Memoir upon Upper California, in illustration of his Map of Oregon and California [Senate Issue, 30th Congress, Miscellaneous No. 148]. Washington: Wendell & Van Benthuysen, 1848. 8vo, original blue printed wrappers, with large folding "Map of Oregon and Upper California," both in a red cloth folder, in a blue half-morocco folding case; some light browning and soiling at map folds, some light foxing in pamphlet. — Memoirs of My Life ... Together with a sketch of the Life of Senator Benton ... by Jessie Benton Frémont. Vol. I [all published]. Chicago & New York: Belford, Clarke, 1887. Thick quarto, modern buckram; some marginal foxing in plates.

Related Books
Wide Awake [Magazine]. Volumes Z & BB. Boston: 1888-89. 4to, contemporary three-quarter calf; rubbed. Each volume contains two stories by Jessie Benton Frémont. — Bret Harte. The Lost Galleon and Other Tales. San Francisco: 1867. 8vo, publisher's russet pebbled cloth, gilt-decorated, in a blue half-morocco slipcase. Presentation copy to Mrs. Frémont. — United States Magazine, vol. 3, July – December 1856. New York: Emerson, 1856, 8vo, original blind-tooled cloth, in a red half-morocco slipcase; dampstains, backstrip torn, covers worn. Contains an illustrated life of Frémont. — plus ca. 40 other publications including early and modern biographies of Frémont and Jessie, several published to promote his presidential campaign.

Related Manuscripts
Constitution [Frémont Club of Milton New Hampshire]. Milton, ca. 1856. Folio, 1 page, signed by the officers. Green half-morocco drop-box. Club formed to support Frémont's campaign. — Russell Errett. Autograph letter signed, 4to, 1 page, Pittsburgh, 4 September 1856, written on a handbill:
Frémont Head Quarters ... The Friends of John C. Frémont, in Western Pennsylvania, will hold a a[sic]Grand Mass Convention, in the city of Pittsburgh, PA., on Wednesday, September 17th., 1856. [Pittsburgh: 1856]. Brown cloth folding-case. — Jesse A. Park. 61 autograph letters, signed, mostly from Prescott, Arizona, 18 January 1870–31 August 1893. In a loose-leaf binder, with inventory and transcripts. Written to friends and family back in Ohio, the letters mention Frémont as territorial governor.

With his Travelling Dispatch Box, tin box with hinged top and handle, 15 ¾ x 11 ½ x 7 ¼ inches, painted dark brown with gold-ruled borders, and in gold script "J. C. Fremont."; a few dents and scuff marks.

A typed inventory of the entire collection is available upon application to the department.