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Papers of the Trist, Burke, and Randolph Families, Accession #5096-a, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
This collection was deposited in the Library by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1955 June 27.
Nicholas P. Trist: American diplomat, b. Charlottesville, Va. Trist attended West Point, studied law under Thomas Jefferson, whose granddaughter he married, and was private secretary to Andrew Jackson. He served as U.S. consul (1833-1841) in Havana, Cuba, and was chief clerk of the Dept. of State when he was sent (1847) to Mexico as a special agent to conduct negotiations to end the Mexican War. A short armistice was reached after the battles of Contreras and Churubusco (August, 1847), but negotiations were unsuccessful and war was resumed. President Polk had Trist recalled. Trist had reopened negotiations before his recall arrived and decided to ignore the order. He succeeded in negotiating the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Polk supported the treaty but declared Trist in disgrace. Trist did not recover his unpaid salary and expenses until 1871.
Chiefly the correspondence (drafts) and notes of Nicholas P. Trist relating to his activities in the peace negotiations with Mexico, 1847-1848, and to his controversy with Generals Scott and Pillow. Persons mentioned and correspondents include James Buchanan, Caleb Cushing, James L. Freaner, Henry W. Hilliard, Commodore M.C. Perry, Major General Gideon Johnson Pillow, Major General Winfield Scott, and R.C. Winthrop. Map of northern Mexico with annotations and signed by R.E. Lee.
The remaining portion of the collection pertains to the Trist and related families and includes the correspondence of Martha Jefferson Trist Burke, J.W. Burke, Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge, Sydney Coolidge, E. H. Janne, Lewis Carter Randolph, Mary Jefferson Randolph, Mary Page Randolph, and Virginia Jefferson Trist.
The collection is arranged in four series. Series I: Correspondence of Nicholas P. Trist; Series II: Documents of Nicholas P. Trist Relating to the Mexican War; Series III: Correspondence of the Trist, Burke and Randolph Families; and, Series IV: Miscellaneous Documents. The series are arranged chronologically.
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Draft of Trist's letter to James Buchanan; not written in cipher. #5096-a.
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A copy of the "Leonidas letter " to the editors of the New Orleans Delta (printed September 10, 1847) which praised the performance of General Gideon Pillow as the victor of the battles of Contreras and Churubusco and denigrated the performance of General Winfield Scott. The letter was allegedly carried from Mexico by James L. Freaner, a reporter. The false attribution of victory to Pillow led to his "technical arrest" and court martial.
Trist's copy ("made for me by Lt. Hamilton") includes his notes concerning the receipt of the original. Trist states that this "is an exact copy (interlineations, cancellings + all) of the paper placed in my hands on the 23rd day of October 1847, by James L. Freaner, who stated that it had been placed in his hands by Genl. Pillow, at Miscoae, with the request to transmit it to the Delta or to embody it in the account of the battle which he (Freaner) should send."
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The verso contains notes by Nicholas P. Trist about his encounter with James L. Freaner. #5096-a.
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"Smooth draft." #5096-a.
"Preface to the letter of December 4th, 1847." #5096-a.
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"Copy of note given to Freaner in cypher, for him to send in that form by Telegraph from Charleston." #5096-a.
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"Extracts from a letter addressed by me to the Judge Advocate of the Pillow Court of Inquiry, dated Washington, June 21, 1848." #5096-a.
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"Respecting papers, copies of which are wanting for my acct. of Mexican affairs."
A list of dispatches, numbered 15-24 and dated 1847 Sep.4-Dec.26. #5096-a.
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Concerning claims upon a foreign government by a U.S. citizen. #5096-a.
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Mentions the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. #5096-a.
Discusses the health of Nicholas Trist and the birth of Edmund Jefferson Burke, son of Martha Jefferson Trist Burke. #5096-a.
Discusses the health of family members, chiefly Cornelia Jefferson Randolph. #5096-a.
Health, family news; encloses family photographs [not present]. #5096-a.
Fmaily news; death of Mary Wythe. #5096-a.
Concerning patents in Austria, Belgium, Italy and Prussia. #5096-a..
Concerning patents for a "car coupling" in Austria, Hungary and Belgium. #5096-a.
Written on the inside of an envelope addressed to Nicholas P. Trist, and containing Trist's notes on Janney's business proposal. #5096-a.
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Envelope contains a note by Trist stating, that this was "the last letter received from my most precious mother, and the last she ever wrote." #5096-a.
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With a note on envelope stating "about my mother from Miss H. L. Stearns." #5096-a.
With enclosed greenery. #5096-a.
Envelope addressed to Mrs. L. R. Mukleham with a note on the lower left hand side "for Mrs. Burke." #5096-a.
With partial wax seal; brittle along old folds. #5096-a.
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Letter written on the verson of an envelope addressed to Mary Page Randolph and postmarked Alexandria, VA May 21. #5096-a.
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Postmarked Alexandria, VA, January 4. #5096-a.
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1. Notes on authors 2. Fragment mentioning Carlos Lauda's Letter 3. Various notes 4. Notes on the length of a pendulum 5. Notes on the "Historia de Nueva Espana" 6. List of Classical authors 7. Excerpt from a letter or article on the start of the war with Mexico 8. Brief excerpt from a text by Francis Quarles 9. One leaf of printed matter from an unidentified source
OS Box V-13.