Marshall, Humphrey (1812-1872) Papers, 1827-1921
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Humphrey Marshall, 1812-1872
Title: Papers, 1827-1921.
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Curator of Special Collections.
Size of Collection: 1.33 cubic feet
Location Number: Mss./A/M368
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of correspondence, a journal, a copybook, legal papers, speeches, and miscellaneous items related to Marshall’s political and military career. Correspondence from the antebellum period concerns Marshall’s political career with the Whig Party and the Know Nothings. Included are a variety of materials related to Marshall’s service in the Mexican War, particularly his involvement at the Battle of Buena Vista. A small amount of correspondence from the Civil War discusses Marshall’s service in the Confederate Army and his election to the Confederate Congress. Also included is Marshall’s journal covering his journey to Mexico after the fall of Richmond in April 1865. The collection also includes a copybook from the time Marshall served as United States minister to China. The copied correspondence deals with China’s Taiping Rebellion and American efforts at establishing trade with China and Japan. Other items include legal papers from the antebellum era as well as numerous incomplete speeches from both before and after the Civil War. A substantial amount of correspondence from Marshall’s sons regards negative depictions of Marshall in historical works and is devoted to defending Marshall’s reputation after his death. The collection also contains a 29-page handwritten autobiography by Supreme Court Justice John McLean.
Biographical Note
Humphrey Marshall, the grandson of politician and historian Humphrey Marshall (1760-1841), was a politician, attorney, and Confederate general. Born in 1812 in Frankfort, Marshall graduated from West Point in 1832 and briefly served in the military before resigning his commission to pursue a career in law and politics. Marshall’s military career resumed during the Mexican War, when he served as colonel of the 1 st Kentucky Cavalry, which fought at the Battle of Buena Vista. After the war, as a Whig and later a Know Nothing, Marshall acted as ambassador to China from 1852 to 1854 and then served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1855 to 1859. After supporting Kentucky neutrality in 1860 and 1861, Marshall joined the Confederate army and earned a brigadier general’s commission, commanding troops in eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. In the summer of 1863, Marshall resigned his commission and represented Kentucky in the Confederate Congress. When Richmond fell in April 1865, Marshall fled the city with the Confederate government and eventually reached Mexico. After the war, he returned to Louisville, where he practiced law and died on March 28, 1872.
Folder List
Folder 1: Correspondence, 1827-1845
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1846-1849
Folder 3: Correspondence, January-April 1850
Folder 4: Correspondence, May-July 1850
Folder 5: Correspondence, August-December 1850
Folder 6: Correspondence, 1851
Folder 7: Correspondence, 1852
Folder 8: Correspondence, 1853-1855
Folder 9: Correspondence, January-February 1856
Folder 10: Correspondence, March-April 1856
Folder 11: Correspondence, May-December 1856
Folder 12: Correspondence, 1857-1860
Folder 13: Correspondence, 1861-1872
Folder 14: Correspondence, undated
Folder 15: Copybook, 1849-1853
Folder 16: “Humphrey Marshall of Kentucky: Letters and Papers, The China Years, 1852-1854” [click to access PDF]
Folder 17: Journal, 1865
Folder 18: Miscellaneous China Papers
Folder 19: Military Papers
Folder 20: Legal Papers
Folder 21: Correspondence regarding Nathaniel S. Shaler’s Kentucky: A Pioneer Commonwealth (1884)
Folder 22: Correspondence regarding R. S. Cotterill’s “Humphrey Marshall, II, Eccentric Leader Who Led Picturesque Career During Civil War Period” (1921)
Folder 23: Miscellaneous Correspondence
Folder 24: Papers regarding Justice John McLean
Folder 25: Speech fragments
Folder 26: Revolutionary War Pensions Essay
Folder 27: Newspaper Clippings
Folder 28: Miscellaneous writings
Folder 29: Miscellaneous
Folder 30: Miscellaneous (Oversize)
Folder 31: Newspapers (Oversize)
Subject Headings
American Party
Bingham, Robert Worth, 1871-1937
Birney, James Gillespie, 1792-1857
Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875
Brownlow, William Gannaway, 1805-1877
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868
Buckner, Simon Bolivar, 1823-1914
Buena Vista, Battle of, Mexico, 1847
Canals – Kentucky – Louisville
China – Emigration and immigration
China – Foreign Relations – United States
China – History – Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864
Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903
Clay, Henry, 1777-1852
Compromise of 1850
Crittenden, John J. (John Jordan), 1787-1863
Early, Jubal Anderson, 1816-1894
Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874
Fugitives slaves
Haldeman, Walter Newman, 1821-1902
Hemp
Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845
Johnson, Richard M. (Richard Mentor), 1780-1850
Kentucky – Politics and government – 1792-1865
Liberia
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
McLean, John, 1785-1861
Mexican War, 1846-1848
Nativism
Opium trade – China
Patronage, Political
Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 1794-1858
Prentice, George D. (George Denison), 1802-1870
Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866
Shaler, Nathaniel Southgate, 1841-1906
Shanghai (China) – Maps
Slavery – Kentucky
Slavery – Political aspects
Steamboats
Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, 1812-1883
Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
United States – Politics and government – 1845-1861
United States. Army – Promotions
United States Military Academy
Utah Expedition, 1857-1858
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852
Whig Party (U.S.)