SCOPE: Autographs of significant individuals that have been collected by the St. Louis Mercantile Library over the years.
HISTORY: Several of the Signatures are of early St. Louisians and therefore of local interest. Others have arrived in a very haphazard way at the Library - a visit by the person, a dashed off signature after a speech in the Mercantile Library Lecture Hall, etc.
EXTENT: 153 clipped signatures, letters, and writing samples from 146 distinct individuals collected as part of an autograph collection.
A PDF list of the letters, including biographical information on many of the individual, is available for research purposes: Download a PDF
Autographees include:
1. Anderson, Thos. L. (Mo. Rep)
2. Brackenridge, H. W.
3. Bradford, A. W. (Governor of Maryland) 1864
4. Charless, Joseph (2)
5. Combs, Leslie
6. Connors, William
7. Corey, Sam´l (Governor. of Maine) 1864.
8. Edwards, N.
9. Lind, Jenny
10. Lisa, Manuel
11. Mullanphy, Bryan
12. Mullanphy, John
13. Pettit, Spencer (Killed by Tom Biddle)
14. Scott, John (Congressman) 1817
15. Smith, J. Gregory
16. Taylor, Z.
17. Tucker, Th. T. (United State Treasurer)
18. Unidentified (1)
A 2018 addendum to the collection added the following signatures:
19. Stephen Douglas, W.P Fesserder, George Beneraft, Edain Stanton, David Porter
20. Joel Abbot (18 Jan 1793 – 14 Dec 1855)
21. Robert Anderson (14 Jun 1805 – 26 Oct 1871)
22. Eunice White Beecher (26 Aug 1812 – 08 Mar 1897)
23. Gracie Bell
24. Francis Preston Blair Jr. (19 Feb 1791 – 08 Jul 1876)
25. George H Blickhahn ()
26. Abrahm Bradley (22 Feb 1767 – 07 May 1838)
27. Edward S. Bragg (20 Feb 1827 – 20 Jun 1912)
28. Edward Broward
29. Benjamin Gratz Brown (28 May 1826 – 13 Dec 1885)
30. Joseph C. Cabell (28 Dec 1778 – 05 Feb 1856)
31. Augustus A Chapman (09 Mar 1805 – 07 Jun 1876)
32. William Merritt Chase (01 Nov 1849 –25 Oct 1916)
33. George W. Childs (12 May 1829 – 13 Aug 1928)
34. James Clark (16 Jan 1779 – 27 Aug 1839)
35. Cassius Marcellus Clay (19 Oct 1810 – 22 Jul 1903)
36. W.H. Clopton (24 Aug 1847 – ? )
37. Seth W. Cobb (5 Dec 1838 – 22 May 1909)
38. Thomas W. Cobb (1784 – 01 Feb 1830)
39. Walter S. Cox (25 Oct 1862 – 25 Jun 1902)
40. Uranus H Crosby (14 Jun 1805 – 26 Oct 1871)
41. Charles Curtis (25 Jan 1860 – 08 Feb 1936)
42. Samuel Whittlesey Dana (13 Feb 1760 – 21 Jul 1830)
43. William Henry Westray Darley (09 Sep 1801 – 31 Jul 1872)
44. John Davenport (16 Jan 1752 – 28 Nov 1830)
45. W.F. De Sanpure (?)
46. John D. Dickinson (28 Jun 1767 – 28 Jan 1841)
47. Dr. William Dickinson
48. W.F. Dickman
49. Paul Da Chaillu (31 Jul 1831? – 29 Apr 1903)
50. Cecile Eissrig
51. John Eubank
52. James Fairman (1826 – 12 Mar 1904)
53. Hamilton Fish (3 Aug 1808 – 7 Sep 1893)
54. Thomas B. Florence (26 Jan 1812 – 03 Jul 1875)
55. John Forsyth Sr. (22 Oct 1780 – 21 Oct 1841)
56. Ephraim Hubbard Foster (17 Sep 1794 – 06 Sep 1854)
57. Myles Birket Foster (04 Feb 1825 – 27 Mar 1899)
58. Richard Le Gallienne (20 Jan 1866 – 15 Sep 1947)
59. James Abram Garfield (19 Nov 1831 – 19 Sep 1881)
60. Mary Euphemia "Effie" Germon (13 Jun 1845 – 06 Mar 1914)
61. Joseph Gist (12 Jan 1775 – 08 Mar 1836)
62. John M Glover
63. Andrew Robison Govan (13 Jan 1794 – 27 Jun 1841)
64. Grandremy
65. James Guthrie (05 Dec 1792 – 13 Mar 1869)
66. Edward Hagan (01 Feb 1846 – 20 Feb 1893)
67. Edward Everett Hale (03 Apr 1822 – 10 Jun 1909)
68. William John Hammond (1799 – 1848)
69. Marcel Housteau
70. Thomas Wentworth Higginson (22 Dec 1823 – 9 May 1911)
71. Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers (13 Aug 1764 – 6 Jan 1813)
72. John Hogan (2 Jan 1805 – 5 Feb 1892)
73. John Holland (1805 – 1880)
74. J Howbridge
75. John J. Ingalls (1833 – 1900)
76. Charles Jared Ingersoll (1782 – 1862)
77. Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786 – 1868)
78. George Inness (01 May 1825 – 03 Aug 1894)
79. Francis Johnson (19 Jun 1776 – 16 May 1842)
80. General George Wallace Jones (12 Apr 1804 – 22 Jul1896)
81. W.F. Jordan (1860-1910)
82. Preston King (14 Oct 1806 – 12 Nov 1865)
83. Philander C. Knox (06 May 1853 – 12 Oct 1921)
84. Charles Kunkel
85. Lambelin
86. Robert Lansing (17 Oct 1864 – 30 Oct 1928)
87. Edwin Leigh (M.D.) (1815 – 1890)
88. Maurice Leloir (1 Nov 1853 – 7 Oct 1940)
89. F. Lepere
90. William H Lepere
91. W.S. Lincoln & Son
92. Lewis F. Linn (05 Nov 1796 – 3 Oct 1843)
93. George McManus (23 Jan 1884 – 22 Oct 1954)
94. Edwin Markham (23 Apr 1852 – 07 Mar 1940)
95. Marshall
96. Louis McLane (1786-1857)
97. Joseph J Mickley (1799-1878)
98. John Baptist Miège, S.J. (18 Sep 1815 – 21 Jul 1884)
99. L.U. Morrill
100. Napel
101. Arnold Naudain (1790 – 1872)
102. John Nicholson
103. Alex Nisbes
104. John W Norton
105. Joseph Nourse (1754 – 1841)
106. Charles A. Oesue?
107. Francis Parkman (1823 – 1893)
108. Leon Germain Pelouse (1838 – 1891)
109. Maxwell Phillips
110. Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (1760 –1844)
111. Rafailli
112. George W. Reed (1831 – 21 Dec 1906)
113. Read
114. Thomas Brackett Reed (1839 – 1902)
115. John Rhea (1753 – 27 May 1832)
116. Henry Mower Rice (29 Nov 1816 – 18 Jan 1894)
117. John Roane
118. Major Isaac Roberden (11 Sep 1763 – 15 Jan 1829)
119. M Romero
120. W.S. Rosecraus
121. Russell Sage (4 Aug 1816 – 22 Jul 1906)
122. John Sartain (24 Oct 1808 – 25 Oct 1897)
123. James S Sherman (1855 – 1912)
124. Reverend Narayan Sheshadri
125. Franz Sigel (1824 – 1902)
126. Beaumont Smith (15 Aug 1885 – 02 Jan 1950)
127. Samuel Smith (27 Jul 1752 – 22 Apr 1839)
128. William Beauman Smith
129. Joel Walker Sweeney (1810 – 29 Oct 1860)
130. William B. Swett (13 Aug 1824 – 25 Mar 1884)
131. Thomas
132. Jeff Thompson (1826 – 1876)
133. Daniel D Tompkins (1774 – 1825)
134. David Trimble (Jun 1782 – 20 Oct 1842)
135. James Noble Tyner
136. Antony Vallon
137. George Washington
138. T.F. Wayand
139. Alex P. Webb
140. Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb
141. Edward D. White (1845 – 1921)
142. Hugh Lawson White (30 Oct 1773 – 10 Apr 1840)
143. Mary E. Wilkins (Freeman) (1852 – 1930)
144. Lewis Williams (1782 – 1842)
145. E.K. Wilson (1821 – 1891)
146. Francis Wilson
SPECIAL THANKS:
Special thanks to Olivia Steurtz, Library Intern, Tiffany Dvorak, Library Intern, and William Fischetti, Library Volunteer, for their assistance in the processing and biographical research of this collection.
ACCESS: A PDF list of the letters with dates and biographical information is available for research purposes: Download a PDF
The collection is available for on-site use only in the Rare Book and Manuscripts Reading Room. Some of the material in Special Collection M-003 may be photocopied, digitally scanned or photographed, subject to condition. For collections marked limited access, researchers are advised to contact the library at least three business days in advance of their visit to submit a request to view the physical material.
Researchers are advised to call ahead concerning changes in hours due to University intersessions and holidays. The St. Louis Mercantile Library is located on levels one and two of the Thomas Jefferson Library building.
In observance of security procedures, certain services may not be available shortly before the daily closing time.
Preferred Citation: When citing the material from this collection, the preferred citation is: From the Special Collections of the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri – St. Louis.
