The collection contains approximately 1100 paper documents created between 1834 and 1890, only six of which were written by Tweedy himself; plus microfilmed family correspondence.
Much of the correspondence of the 1840s relates to the law and collection business of the firms with which Tweedy was associated. There is also information on his political career, Whig politics, early Milwaukee history, and the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal. For the years of his Congressional delegacy, much of the correspondence relates to services for constituents, although the subjects of Wisconsin's northwestern boundary, the second state constitutional convention, railroads, and the affairs of the Stockbridge Indians are touched upon. Letters from Thomas L. Ogden and Hans Crocker throw light on Tweedy's speculation in Mexican War veterans' land warrants and on his business relations with Samuel S. Breese and other Eastern land speculators. There is some information on construction and financing of early Wisconsin railroads, the Kansas Aid Society of which Tweedy was the Wisconsin member, and the Milwaukee Female College. The correspondence after 1860 is increasingly concerned with brokerage and banking activities in Milwaukee.
On microfilm is Tweedy family correspondence, consisting mainly of letters to John by his brother Edmund from the eastern United States and Europe on varied topics: business matters, travel descriptions, transcendentalism, Unitarianism, French politics around 1848, the Civil War, and U.S. politics.
Further content information is included in the Additional Descriptive Notes below.
The collection is currently arranged in three main categories--correspondence, miscellaneous legal papers, and law cases by title--followed by some miscellaneous items. The filing is inconsistent however; legal papers can be found in the correspondence category and correspondence related to legal cases is in all three categories.
Additional Descriptive Notes prepared by Library Science student John W. Foster, May 1961
A little over half the paper documents are business papers. These are equally divided between Tweedy's law practice and his investments. Dating between 1834 and 1889, the business papers are fairly evenly distributed between 1836 and 1860, with the exception of a great reduction in numbers during the periods of his active involvement in politics. Only a few date prior to 1836 and the number gradually declines after 1860. The legal papers deal almost exclusively with property suits, property taxes, mortgages, and debt collection. Other types of legal matters are represented by one divorce case and one breaking and entering case. The majority of the documents are letters connected with the cases, but there are also lists of cases handled by Tweedy, lists of law books, and a large number of powers-of-attorney.
The other half of the business papers deal with Tweedy's investments. About 100 of the documents are mortgages. The remainder are letters, prior to the 1870s dealing with land sales, mortgage payments, and other aspects of land speculation. After 1870 the majority of the letters are concerned with stocks and bonds, rather than land. Eleven letters, written in the early 1850s deal with railroads, two of them with Canadian railroads.
The legal and business papers originated not only in Wisconsin, but in Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, and, in later years, Colorado and California. Among Tweedy's business associates were James Duane Doty, Byron Kilbourn, Alexander Mitchell, Thomas L. Ogden, and S. S. Breese.
Tweedy's political papers are also numerous. His service as Receiver for the Rock River Canal is represented by 10 letters of official nature from Henry Dodge and one on territorial politics from Byron Kilbourn. While on the territorial Council he received 11 letters on various political issues from Jonathan B. Arnold, Kilbourn, William S. Hamilton, and Henry Dodge. Rufus King advised Tweedy on his actions in the 1846 convention in three letters and Marshall Strong discussed the Rock River Canal in one letter during the same period. Tweedy's campaign for Congress is represented by ten letters from Moses M. Strong, Marshall Strong, Francis Randall, and Rufus King among others.
Most of the political papers date from Tweedy's term in Congress. Eight letters from Samuel Ryan, John Rountree, and others advise him of events in the second convention. Thirty-seven letters from T. L. Ogden, Hans Crocker, Rountree, W. S. Hamilton, John Catlin, Samuel Ryan, and others discuss politics in general and specific issues, especially proposals to include the St. Croix valley in Wisconsin. Most of the Congressional papers, 246 in number, are requests for favors ranging from seed catalogues, copies of speeches, and patent applications to requests on behalf of the Stockbridge Indians, applications for military commissions, and demands for new postal routes. Among many others with requests were Louis P. Harvey, Increase A. Lapham, C. Latham Sholes, Samuel Ryan, William S. Hamilton, Rufus King, John Rountree, C. C. Washburn, Francis Randall, and Moses M. Strong. The term in Congress also produced three letters concerning the funeral of John Quincy Adams.
Three letters from Rufus King and Hans Crocker urge Tweedy to run for Governor even though he can't win, and one letter offers him the nomination for Congressman. While in the state legislature Tweedy received 12 letters, mainly on railroad law from Francis Randall, Josiah Noonan, and others, and there is one letter on the same subject from Moses Strong to John Catlin.
Following his retirement from politics, Tweedy received a few letters in the late 1850s soliciting his support for the Republican Party or various Republican candidates, four requesting his support for proposals in Milwaukee, and two seeking his support for a reform of the Republican Party in the 1870s.
Only a few of the letters relate to neither business nor politics. Nine letters from Yale alumni, discussing reunions for the most part and all dating before 1840 with one exception; twelve personal letters from Mrs. Tweedy, Edgar Tweedy, Oliver Tweedy, Marshall Strong, Hans Crocker, Alexander Mitchell, and Thomas L. Ogden; three relating to Tweedy's appointment as postmaster; four concerning the Milwaukee city debt; five letters relating to the Kansas Committee dating between 1854 and 1856; and two letters relating to the Milwaukee Female College (in legal papers) round out the paper portion of the collection.
There are also a few miscellaneous papers, such as an honorary degree from the University of Michigan, a list of stoves sold in Milwaukee in 1854 (in the legal papers), a program for boat races, and a rough draft manuscript biography of Tweedy.
