JOHN B. SANBORN:

John B. Sanborn was born in Epsom, New Hampshire, December 5, 1826, the youngest of five children. Interested in the law, he attended one quarter at Dartmouth College (1851-1852) but left to join the law office of Asa Fowler in Concord. He was admitted to the bar in 1854, and moved West, settling in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he and his partners began the firm of Sanborn, French and Lund on January 1, 1855. He maintained an active role with the firm until circa 1880.

Sanborn's political career began with service as a state representative (1859-1860), followed by election to the state senate in early 1861. In April 1861 he was appointed as State Adjutant General, organizing and equipping three infantry regiments. Sanborn would later serve additional legislative terms as a representative (1872) and as a state senator (1891-1893).

His most notable accomplishments, however, came during his service as an officer in the U.S. Army during and immediately after the Civil War: first as colonel of the Fourth Minnesota Regiment (December 1861), and then as a brigade commander in the Army of the Mississippi, fighting in the battles of Iuka and Corinth and serving in the Vicksburg Campaign. In October 1863 he became commander of the District of Southwestern Missouri during which time he helped defeat Price's invasion in October 1864. In February 1865 he was promoted to brevet major general.

In June 1865 Sanborn was ordered to report to General John Pope to pursue hostile Indians in the West. In September he, along with Kit Carson and William Bent, was appointed a commissioner to negotiate a treaty with several tribes. In February 1867 he was appointed a member of the Indian Peace Commission and was active in this capacity to 1869.

After leaving active military service Sanborn returned to his law practice in Minnesota, remained deeply involved in state politics and veterans' organizations, was elected president of the Minnesota Historical Society in May 1903, and died one year later.

Biographical data was taken from Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, vol. 10, part 2, p. 831-56 and 873-74; Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, vol. 14, p. 667; and T. M. Newson, Pen Pictures of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Biographical Sketches of Old Settlers, From the Earliest Settlement of the City, Up to and Including the Year 1857 (Saint Paul, Minn : Published by the author, 1886), p. 439-42.

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The collection includes a register of cases litigated by the law firm of Sanborn, French and Lund (1854-1859); Sanborn's official reports while serving as brigadier general and major general of Union infantry, and later as commander of the Southwest District of Missouri, during the Civil War; a request from the State of Minnesota for bloodhounds to help track down fugitive Indians after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862; correspondence relating to his activities investigating Indian attacks in the West and as a special Indian commissioner (1865-1869); and a 15-page report by Father P. J. de Smet recording the remarks made by several Indian chiefs, including Sitting Bull, at a council for peace in 1868.

The papers also contain a memorandum and cashbook, which includes Sanborn's accounts with the Indian Peace Commission (July 1867-October 1868), as well as three reminiscences (1879, 1895, and 1896) discussing Sanborn's participation in the Civil War and in the Grand Army of the Republic. The 1879 reminiscence includes two color maps relating to the Battle of Iuka, which was fought on September 19, 1862, in Iuka, Mississippi.

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Access Restrictions:

Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. John B. Sanborn Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 1795A1; 7085; 16,849

Processing Information:

Processed by: James Chattin, September 1993; additions by David B. Peterson, September 2013

Catalog ID number: 990017300040104294

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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 search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1862-1865.

Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1789-1869.

Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1869-1934.

Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1866-1895.

Indians, Treatment of.

Indians of North America -- Government relations.

Persons:

Carson, Kit 1809-1868.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.

Sanborn family.

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.

Smet, Pierre-Jean de, 1801-1873.

Organizations:

Sanborn, French and Lund (Saint Paul, Minn.) -- Trials, litigations, etc.

United States. Indian Peace Commission.

United States. Army -- Officers.

Places:

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns.

Occupations:

Generals.

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