MINNESOTA TERRITORIAL ARCHIVES: TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR: GORMAN, WILLIS A.:
An Inventory of the Records of Territorial Governor Willis A. Gorman
Government Records
| | |
| Creator: |
Minnesota. Governor (1853-1857
: Gorman).
|
| Title: | Records of Territorial Governor Willis A.
Gorman, |
| Dates: | 1852-1857. |
| Abstract: | Subject files, correspondence, appointments, pardon records,
reports from territorial officers, requests for return of fugitives, and
miscellany. |
| Quantity: | 0.75 cubic feet (23 folders in 2 partial boxes). |
| Location: | See Detailed Description section for
shelf locations. |
Willis Arnold Gorman was born in Kentucky on January 12, 1816. His early career was
as a lawyer and state legislator (Democrat) in Indiana. During the Mexican War he
raised and commanded an Indiana rifle battalion and an infantry regiment, and
subsequently was elected to two terms in the U.S. Congress. President Franklin
Pierce appointed him Governor of Minnesota in May 13, 1853, and he served in that
office until 1857. He was subsequently a delegate to the state constitutional
convention (1857) and was elected to the first state legislature (1858).
At the outset of the Civil War he commanded the First Minnesota Infantry Volunteers
(April-October 1861) until his promotion to brigadier general. Following his
discharge from military service in 1864, he practiced law in St. Paul in partnership
with Cushman K. Davis. In 1869 he was appointed St. Paul city attorney, and held
that office until his death on May 20, 1876.
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Subject files and correspondence of territorial governor Gorman. A large proportion
relate to territorial officers' appointments and commissions. Letters received and
sent address the following topics: concerns of federal civilian agencies, military
and Indian affairs in general, the 1855 treaty with the Winnebago Indians, land
sales, the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company, and other territorial
affairs. Also present are a legislative diary (January 27-March 6, 1857), pardon
records, petitions regarding local government organization, reports from territorial
officers, and requests from other states for return of fugitives.
Gorman's governorship spanned a period of both tangible and speculative growth in the
state's infrastructure and economy, with numerous railroads, educational
institutions, and corporations being chartered, new counties established, new towns
incorporated, and several Indian treaties ratified. The surviving records contain
only sketchy information on these developments, and do not appear to contain any
significant documentation on an abortive 1857 scheme to remove the state capital
from St. Paul to St. Peter.
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Arranged alphabetically by topic; thereunder chronologically within each folder.
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Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited volume and page or item and folder
title here]. Minnesota. Governor (1853-1957 : Gorman). Records of Territorial
Governor Willis A. Gorman. Minnesota Historical Society. State Archives.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional
examples.
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: None; 2001-46
Processing Information:
Catalog ID No.: 1713248
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | |
| 115.I.19.8F | | Appointments: Commission of Deeds, 1853-1857. |
| | | For each individual, may include any of the following: application, petition,
recommendations, letter of resignation. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Appointments: Counties, 1853-1857. |
| | | For each individual, may include any of the following: application, petition,
recommendations, letter of resignation. Arranged alphabetically by
county. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Appointments: Notary Public, undated and 1853-1857. 4 folders. |
| | | For each individual, may include any of the following: application, petition,
recommendations, letter of resignation. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Appointments: Territorial Offices, 1853-1857. |
| | | May include any of the following: application, petition, recommendations,
letter of resignation, for commissioner of emigration, librarian,
superintendent of common schools, auditor, treasurer, building commissioner,
supreme court reporter, militia, and land office. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Commissions, 1855-1857. 5 items. |
| | | For notary public, justice of the peace, and building commissioner. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Document Transmittals, Receipts, and Requests, 1853-1857. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Legislative Diary, 1857. 1 volume. |
| | | Fragmentary entries, January 27-March 6, showing numbers and titles of
bills. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Letters Received: Federal Civilian Agencies, 1853-1857. |
| | | Letters and circulars from federal civilian agencies, including the General
Land Office, the Post Office Department, and the Treasury Department. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Letters Received: Indian and Military Affairs, 1853-1857. |
| | | Letters, reports, and orders relating to Indian and military affairs, from
the commanding officers at Fort Snelling and Fort Ridgely; from legislative
district representatives about the Winnebago treaty, with a copy of Governor
Gorman's reply (January 1854); and petitions and requests for defense
against the Indians. |
| | | Includes a letter written by Henry B. Smythe on behalf of the Winnebago
Indians (January 8, 1856) requesting the transfer of $806 from tribal funds to
the superintendent of the Winnebago School. It may refer to funds available
to the tribe under the 1855 U.S. Treaty with the Winnebago; it is signed by
many of the Winnebago signatories to that treaty. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Letters Received: Land Sales, 1853-1857. 9 items. |
| | | Letters about land sales and occupancy. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Letters Received: Other Territorial Affairs, 1853-1857. 16 items. |
| | | Letters from Senator Henry M. Rice and others about a variety of territorial
affairs. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | |
| 115.I.19.9B | | Pardon Records, 1852-1857. 21 items. |
| | | Requests and petitions for pardons and commutations; governor's pardon;
orders for release and related court records; letters for persons convicted
and sentenced for various offenses, including murder, assault with intent to
kill, assault and battery, simple assault, and resisting an officer; and
letters asking for the release of an Indian hostage. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Petitions, 1853-1855. 10 items. |
| | | Various requests and petitions for the establishment of election precincts in
Portsmouth and the Sioux Agency, for the organization of local governments
in Rice County and Steele County, for a town organization in Bangor, for a
vigilance committee to suppress liquor traffic at Traverse des Sioux, and
for a certification of election districts in Carver County. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Proclamations, 1854-1855. 2 items. |
| | | Designating November 21, 1854, and November 20, 1855 as days of
Thanksgiving. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Records Relating to the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company, 1854-1856. 31 items. |
| | | Bills, correspondence, and reports dealing with its incorporation and with
the political maneuverings surrounding its proposed land grant. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Reports: Board of Inspectors of the Territorial Prison, 1853-1856. |
| | | Reports that include activities of the board and minutes of board
meetings. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Reports: Commissioner of Emigration, 1854-1857. |
| | | Reports of activities, and financial reports including lists of expenditures
and various receipts. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Reports: Other Territorial Officers, 1853-1855. 7 items. |
| | | Includes Agent to Select University Lands (December 12,
1855); Commissioner for the Crystal Palace Exhibition (1853,
1854); Superintendent of Common Schools (December 25,
1854); and Territorial Auditor (December 30, 1854; December 26,
1855). |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Requests for Return of Fugitives, 1854-1857. 2 folders. |
| | | Both to and from various states. |
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:
- Civil-military relations -- Minnesota.
- Extraditions -- Minnesota.
- Federal government -- Minnesota.
- Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1789-1869.
- Land titles -- Minnesota -- Registration and transfer.
- Pardons -- Minnesota.
- Winnebago Indians -- Treaties.
- Places:
- Minnesota -- Officials and employees -- Selection and appointment.
- Minnesota -- Politics and government -- 1849-1858.
- Minnesota Territory.
- Persons:
- Gorman, Willis Arnold, 1816-1876.
- Types of Documents:
- Diaries -- Minnesota.
- Petitions -- Minnesota.
- Proclamations -- Minnesota.
- Territorial records -- Minnesota.
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