Manuscripts Collection
William Windom was born in Belmont County, Ohio, on May 10, 1827, the son of Hezekiah and Mercy Spencer Windom. In 1837 the family moved to Knox County, Ohio, where Windom was admitted to the bar in 1850. He commenced practice in Mount Vernon, Ohio and was elected Knox County prosecuting attorney in 1852. In 1855 he moved to Winona, Minnesota and established a practice with M. Wheeler Sargeant and Thomas Wilson. He was elected to Congress in 1859 and served until his 1869 appointment to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy caused by Daniel S. Norton's death. In 1871 he was elected to the Senate and served until his March 1881 appointment as Secretary of the Treasury under President James A. Garfield. Following Garfield's November 1881 death Windom resigned the position. He was then elected to fill his own Senate vacancy and served until 1883 when he failed in a re-election bid. In 1883 he moved to New York City where he again practiced law. Windom was reappointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Benjamin Harrison in March 1889, a position he held until his death in New York City on January 29, 1891.
Windom married Ellen Towne Hatch (1831-1914) of Mount Vernon, Ohio on August 20, 1856. They had three children: William Douglas (1859-1926), Ellen (Nellie) Hatch (1866-1941), and Florence Bronson (1870-).
Biographical data was taken from the collection and from the
The papers document the political, personal, business, and social life of Windom and his family. Consisting mainly of correspondence, legal and financial papers, real estate accounts and documents, genealogical data, speeches, and newspaper clippings, the papers particularly detail Windom's service as U.S. representative, senator, and secretary of the treasury, including the 1890 Alaskan seal fisheries' lease debate; the family's Washington, D.C. social life; Windom's personal real estate ventures; and the genealogical research of his grandson, Roger L. Windom.
A variety of published speeches and other writings by Windom are in the Minnesota Historical Society book collection.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should
The papers in Box 2 have been microfilmed and are not available for public use. Researchers should instead consult M370, the microfilm copy.
Accession numbers: 5552; 5629;5683; 5742; 5789; 5794; 5815; 5816; 5819; 5830; 5834; 5855; 6367; 7665; 8426; 9189; 12,635; 13,616
Processed by: Cheryl N. Thies, November 1982; Kathryn M. Johnson, December 1996
Catalog ID number: 09-00320362
Contains a clipping detailing Windom's life up to his second secretarial appointment (ca.1889) and numerous notes compiled by Roger L. Windom about the Windom and Hatch families (1933, 1942-1943).
Includes an introductory letter from William A. Croffutt (Sept. 1863); a note from Abraham Lincoln recommending that Windom contact Bishop Henry Whipple (March 1864, photocopy); a letter from H. I. Chapman to Windom retracting corruption charges made against Windom and the surveyor general of Washington Territory (Jan. 1877).
Materials from Windom's years as treasury secretary include congratulatory telegrams from other Cabinet members (1881); extracts from James A. Garfield's diary regarding Windom's appointment as secretary of the treasury (March 1-4, 1881, photocopy); a series of telegrams, bulletins to the Cabinet, and letters from Ellen T. to their son, William D., concerning Garfield's seeming recovery and death (July-September 1881); a letter from J. S. Pillsbury, Governor of Minnesota, enclosing Windom's certificate of election (October 1881); Ellen H. to her brother, William D., describing her visit to "Papa" in Washington (November 1881); correspondence between Windom and C. M. Loring concerning joint real estate ventures and their personal friendship (1887-1890), and with Joseph Walker and Sons, New York City, concerning the Winona and Southwestern Railway Company (1889-1890) and a letter (December 27, 1889) from Ulysses S. Grant, Jr.
Following Windom's death are sympathy letters (1891), particularly from Attorney General William H. H. Miller describing Windom's last trip to New York City; from President Benjamin Harrison (October 6, 1891) concerning the appointment of Henry A. Castle as postmaster in St. Paul; Mrs. Windom's correspondence with John H. Rice, New York City, concerning Windom's partial ownership of a Mexican silver mine (1891-1904), and with C. M. Hendley, Windom's private secretary, and Howard Sutherland, dealing with coal lands owned by Windom (1897); and a letter from the Treasury Department enclosing the first Windom silver certificate (Dec. 1891).
Includes a power of attorney from George E. and Catherine F. Hatch, Suffolk, Massachusetts, to Windom (1870); deeds for lands in Wisconsin (1861), Otter Tail (1874, 1878) and Cass (1874) counties, Minnesota, and Traill County, Dakota Territory (1888); and a title abstract for lots in Hillsboro, Dakota Territory (1878-1897).
Real property deeds (1865, 1871-1887; 11 items); Indian land scrip (1866-1867; 2 items); U.S. Senate election certificate (1871); and Honorary Doctor of Laws degree, St. John's College (now Fordham University, 1890).
Mainly account statements covering real estate owned in Hennepin County, especially with Corser and Company and C. N. Loring (1883-1898), and various pine lands (1883, 1886). Also includes personal accounts on notes with Loring (1882-1884), Silver Mesa Mining Company attorney's fees (1889-1890), and a donation receipt from the Windom Institute, Montevideo, Minnesota (1897).
Contains speeches on cheap transportation, the 1878 campaign, the nation's waterways, the migration of African Americans to the North, the Anti-Monopoly League, and liquor laws.
Contains tributes from Henry Martyn Field and the New York State Chamber of Commerce (1891) and the Windom Institute dedication booklet (1892).
As Secretary of the Treasury Windom was in charge of the federal revenue cutter which patrolled the Alaskan seal fisheries, and of the possible renewal of a twenty-year lease over the fisheries. The lease program was then being debated both in Congress and in the press due to the questionable actions and policies of the first (1870-1890) lessee, the Alaska Commercial Company, San Francisco. Included are the report of H. H. McIntyre, Superintendent of Seal Fisheries, Seal Islands, Alaska, detailing seal losses during the first lease (July 1889); pro and con correspondence, particularly from Henry W. Elliott, Smithsonian Institution, and N. Bowsky, New York City fur dresser and dyer; and Senate bill S.2426: To Amend an Act Entitled "An Act to Prevent the Extermination of Fur Bearing Animals in Alaska" (Feb. 1890).
Includes Sargeant, Wilson, and Windom, Winona, law firm card; an article entitled "The New Secretary of the Treasury" from The Financier (ca.1889); the official presidential order concerning Windom's death (1891); an article, "Windom Endowment Banquet," from the Montevideo Leader (1913); thank-you letters from several Minnesota colleges and libraries to Roger L. Windom following his donation of Windom's biography (1943); a clipping, "Windom Scion Visits Places Bearing Name," concerning Roger's 1943 visit to Minnesota; three articles concerning materials in the Windom papers (1943-1944); and the program for the 1944 dedication of a bust of Windom at the Minnesota state capitol.
Contains accounts for holdings in Traill County, Dakota Territory; Hennepin County, Minnesota; West Virginia; Laredo, Texas; Durango and Arapahoe counties, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; and Winona, Minnesota. They include the property's location, tax payment schedule, date of sale, purchaser, price, and sale expenses.
Note: The originals contained on this microfilm reel are filed as Box 2 of P1400, but are closed to public use.
The clippings (March-December) report and comment on Windom's appointment as treasury secretary; his actions and activities as secretary; his resignation following Garfield's death; and his reelection by the Minnesota Legislature to the U.S. Senate to fill his own unexpired term. Volumes 2 and 3 were both compiled by Windom's private secretary, C. M. Hendley.
The clippings (January-February) all relate to Windom's death. Many are obituaries that recount and comment on his career.
See the description of the microfilm reel (M370) above.