Scrapbook of newspaper articles compiled by Harriet Lane Johnston.The volume begins with the obituary of James Buchanan and articles about his death and funeral. Harriet continued to save articles about Buchanan, as well as other topics of personal interest.
James Buchanan Papers, Penn State University Libraries,
https://libraries.psu.edu/findingaids/1458.htm
Related Item Notes
James Buchanan Family Papers
MG-96 James Buchanan Collection
Historical Society of Pennsylvania microfilm
Photograph collections
Curatorial collections
Wheatland Mansion
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material.
Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Accession Number
JBB03.6.1
Description Level
Item
Custodial History
The James Buchanan Family Papers were collected by the James Buchanan Foundation for the Preservation of Wheatland. This collection was relocated from the Wheatland mansion to the LancasterHistory archives in the Spring of 2009. Digitization of the James Buchanan Family Papers was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC Appl ID # 201808013051, 2019-2020.
James Buchanan Papers, Penn State University Libraries,
https://libraries.psu.edu/findingaids/1458.htm
Related Item Notes
James Buchanan Collection (MG0096) https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo3760
James Buchanan Family Papers
Historical Society of Pennsylvania microfilm
Photograph Collection
Curatorial Collection
Wheatland Collection
Wheatland Mansion
Notes
Preferred Citation: James Buchanan Collection, MG0096_F084, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material.
Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
James Buchanan Family Papers, Part 1, Papers of James Buchanan, Series 1 Correspondence
Description
The James Buchanan Family Papers, Part 1, Papers of James Buchanan, Series 1 Correspondence, Subseries 1 contains letters to James Buchanan and Subseries 2 contains letters from James Buchanan. Within these subseries, the letters are arranged chronologically, dating from 1819-1868.
This collection contains letters, both to and from James Buchanan. The letters from Buchanan range from the different periods of his life-as a private citizen and lawyer, senator, and ambassador to Russia and Britain; his Presidential term from 1857 to 1861; and his later years until his death in 1868. The earlier letters include details of his travels, political matters and the military, social engagements and responsibilities, his responsibilities as a political figure, and accounts of family chatter and gossip. He also discusses at length, in his letters to and about Harriet Lane, his opinions of whom she should marry, his opinions about her social encounters and interactions, her living situations, and her livelihood. Buchanan also often wrote about his Christian beliefs, especially during the later years of his life. Letters from his later years detail the day-to-day life at home in Wheatland, including some of his guests, his servants, and his illnesses as the end of his life neared.
The letters that are addressed to James Buchanan range in different topics, concerning military affairs, political and legal information, and family chatter. Other letters include details of Buchanan's financial matters that are in reference to loans, Buchanan's investments and purchases, deeds and bonds. There are also a number of thank-you letters and notes of recommendation.
Many of the letters are to his niece, Harriet Lane and nephew, James Buchanan Henry. Other correspondents are H. B. Swarr, Henry A. Muhlenberg, family members, Francis Scott Key, Riggs & Co., James L. Reynolds, and many political colleagues.
Admin/Biographical History
James Buchanan was born on April 23, 1791 to James Buchanan and Elizabeth Speer. He was the second child born out of ten children, and he would go on to outlive all but one of his siblings. Most popularly remembered as Pennsylvania's only President and as a lifelong bachelor, Buchanan committed a lifetime to politics. In 1821, he left his law practice and embarked on his political career after having been voted into the U.S. House of Representatives. He would remain in the House for five consecutive terms before serving as the U.S. Minister to Russia, a Senator in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.S. Minister to Great Britain, and finally, the 15th President of the United States. He died in his bedchamber at Wheatland at 8:30 AM on June 1, 1868. He was 77 years old. [https://www.lancasterhistory.org/about-wheatland, accessed 10/24/2019]
System of Arrangement
James Buchanan Family Papers, Part 1 Papers of James Buchanan is arranged into six series.
James Buchanan Papers, Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections http://archives.dickinson.edu/collection-descriptions/james-buchanan-papers
James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston Papers, Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/collections/james-buchanan-and-harriet-lane-johnston-papers/
James Buchanan Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/b/Buchanan0091.html
James Buchanan Papers, Penn State University Libraries, https://libraries.psu.edu/findingaids/1458.htm
Related Item Notes
James Buchanan Family Papers
James Buchanan Collection (MG0096) https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo3760
Historical Society of Pennsylvania microfilm
Photograph Collection
Curatorial Collection
Wheatland Collection
Wheatland Mansion
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Part #, Series #, Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Description Level
Series
Custodial History
The James Buchanan Family Papers were collected by the James Buchanan Foundation for the Preservation of Wheatland. This collection was relocated from the Wheatland mansion to the LancasterHistory archives in the Spring of 2009.
Digitization of the James Buchanan Family Papers was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC Appl ID # 201808013051, 2019-2020.
Oval top empire-style table with side skirt. Skirt has beaded top and bottom. Table divides to accomodate four leaves. Four-sided reeded central pillar with two turned feet underneath and four c-scrolled supports. Solid base with four radial, long legs w
Undocumented stories claim that this table was ordered by William Jenkins in 1828, the year he had the Wheatland mansion built, and that it has conveyed to each subsequent owner with the deed. The table dates from the first quarter of the nineteenth century and might attributed to the Bachman cabinetmakers.
Rococo Revival writing desk. High relief carved arching crest with acanthus leaf motif flanked by matching finials. A cherub relief face with wings in a recessed arch is seen below the crest, surmounting a storage cabinet decorated with more highly carved foliate and scroll motifs along both rails. The cabinet door is decorated with inlaid woods that form a vase with flowers. The writing desk has a fold-down/pull-out writing surface and four drawers that surmount a central drawer and four highly carved foliate and scroll adorned cabriole legs that terminate on casters and are connected by supports to central finials.
Several broken finials and high relief carvings under central cabinet
Object ID
W.1936.008.001
Notes
From the account of Major Andre, who visited Wheatland in 1888, it can be surmised that the escritoire stood in the sitting room or study. This room was located to the left of the front door in the central section of the house.
oil painting on canvas is of Harriet Lane & Henry Elliot Johnston's two sons who they lost to rheumatic fever. The artist captured the boys' images at the age of their deaths based on family photographs. The imagery of the afterlife abounds in this painting including the boys seated on the edge of a cliff of rock, the clouds gathering in the skies and the bright light on the horizon above the water. The painting is mounted in a gilt cove and scoop picture frame. Both boys are holding their favorite items. These objects and the styles of their garments are meant to be reflective of their personalities. The oldest, James Buchanan Johnston was 14 years-old; he is seated on the left holding a book and is wearing a black velvet fauntleroy jacket, vest and shorts with a white collar and blue bowtie. Henry Elliot Johnston, Jr. was 12 years-old; he is seated on the right holding a toy pistol and is wearing the Johnston Scottish tartan kilt with his feathered Glengarry bonnet, his sporran and Ghillie brogues.
Large rectangualr rosewood veneer box with hinged lid and pressed metal oval-shaped handle centered on lid. The underside of the lid has a mirror that is hinged with a top swinging catch that comes down to convert it to a writing surface. Several separate velvet-lined compartments of varying size comprise the inside of the box. There is cock-bead molding around lower edge of lid and the keyhole is centered just below the front lip of the lid; on the short end of the oblong chest is a 2 inch high wide drawer with a keyhole and lined with velvet.
Harriet Lane Johnston beaded jacket to match gown (W.40.17.1)
Description
Jacket Black crape silk, beaded in black glass beads, designed by Worth of Paris. Fully-lined in black silk taffeta and interlined with muslin. Has small turned down collar with full length set-in sleeves. Collar, cuffs, and hem trimmed with 3'' fringe and 3'' strand of black beads every inch. Varying size of black beads used to create a contoured design of flowers and swirls on front and sleeves.
Ogee-molded, gilded frame with large overhanging crest at top. Scrolled leaf carving around edges. Central applied molding at center of shield surrounded by foliate/floral garlands. Top has shell style, with fleur-de-lis crown.
Provenance
Harriet Lane Johnston - Mary Speer Denny- Detwiler
