Apr 13, 2023 - Sale 2633

Sale 2633 - Lot 117

Price Realized: $ 2,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(MARYLAND.) Family papers of Frederick County militia leader Anthony Kimmel. Approximately 245 items (0.4 linear feet) in one box, including approximately 120 letters, 100 other manuscript items, and 25 pieces of printed ephemera (ball invitations, circular letters, clippings, etc.) Various places, 1754-1947, bulk 1824-1864
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Anthony Kimmel (1798-1871) was a longtime member of the Maryland militia, serving as a major general of the militia during the opening months of the Civil War. He was also a state senator and prosperous farmer in Linganore, Frederick County, MD.

Among the highlights of this collection are 2 Autograph Letters Signed from Maryland's war governor Thomas H. Hicks, whose pro-slavery but anti-secession views were a reflection of the conflicted border state. On 1 October 1861, Hicks wrote to his militia general: "I do not know how we are to reach those recusant sons of your section without a court-martial, unless you can recommend suitable loyal citizens to be commissioned in place of those removed. I shall not fail to call on you if a draft is to be made. I do not think it will be necessary, as volunteers are numerous, and even Md. is getting the fever." Also included is Kimmel's worn 1860 militia commission, signed by Governor Hicks.

Kimmel was a great enthusiast of the American Revolution. In a 28 September 1824 letter, a friend discusses the imminent celebrations for "the distinguished national guest Gen'l Lafayette." Two days later Kimmel's brother-in-law Sir Pratly James wrote from the recently founded Columbian College (now Georgetown University): "The boys is going to make up a company to receive Lafaett." Kimmel owned a surveyor's compass said to have belonged to George Washington. The compass was transferred to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 1883. Included here is an 1850 draft letter from Kimmel to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, discussing the compass; and two versions of his 1857 essay, "The Surveyor's Compass of George Washington." On a related note are a draft resolution and two letters regarding a copy of Houdon's bust of Washington placed at the Maryland state house in 1860. An undated draft letter is addressed to George Washington Parke Custis (step-grandson of George Washington and father-in-law of Robert E. Lee).

Also included are Kimmel's genealogical notes and correspondence; numerous letters from his only surviving son Anthony Z. Kimmel (1836-1897) while a student at Harvard; letters regarding Maryland politics and calls for a state constitutional convention; and Kimmel's 1851 passport, mounted in a thick pocket notebook containing visa stamps from many European nations, dating from Kimmel's service as a delegate to the Great Exhibition in London. From the Civil War, we find an inscribed carte-de-visite from a young cousin, Lieutenant Edwin F. Kimmel of the 25th Michigan Infantry, taken in Louisville, KY.

Among the printed ephemera are three interesting unrecorded political circulars. One is headed "To the Honorable, the General Assembly of Maryland" and requests a constitutional convention to provide for popular sovereignty in the state: "The voice of the majority of the people, the vital principle of all free governments . . . is unrecognised in either of the three great departments of Government, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. . . . The principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, as the only safe security for the inalienable rights of man, and which have been guaranteed to us by our Bill of Rights, are not carried into effect by the present Constitution of Maryland." Maryland passed three new constitutions in rapid succession, in 1851, 1864, and the present 1867 constitution, but this call seems to predate all of them. It measures 5 1/4 x 13 1/4 inches, and is unsigned, undated, and untraced in OCLC or elsewhere. It may have been issued in conjunction with a 21 November 1835 printed circular letter, also found in the collection. This was issued from Frederick, MD by the Central Reform Committee of Frederick County, and urges "the passage of a law to call a convention to revise and amend the presently radically defective constitution of the State," hoping that supporters will "procure the signature of every voter in your section of the country to the enclosed memorial." It is signed in type by Francis Thomas and 49 others, is 8 1/2 x 8 inches plus an integral blank with address panel, and is also unrecorded.

Finally, we find two copies of a more personal printed circular letter, in which Anthony Kimmel denounces a United States Representative, William Thomas Hamilton (1820-1888), for failing in his pledge to nominate Kimmel's son for a slot at West Point. Kimmel describes the congressman as practicing "the duplicity and villainy of the most timid and vacant Imbecile, and is no Gentleman. . . . Avoid this man, Hamilton, as he has proved himself a consummate hypocrite and poltroon--shun him as unworthy of your acquaintance and confidence!" It is dated from Kimmel's Linganore estate on 17 July 1854, and a space is left for his signature, although these two retained copies are left unsigned. Hamilton survived this mini-scandal, later moving on to the Senate and then representing the poltroon community from the governor's mansion. This circular letter is also untraced, although Kimmel did actually distribute it--we find it discussed in the Baltimore Sun of 25 July 1854.

A small number of papers are from Anthony Kimmel's sister Lydia Kimmel (1791-1816); his father-in-law Daniel James (1763-1831), including letters from Cincinnati as early as 1803; his wife Sydney Ann James Kimmel (1806-1848); and granddaughter Mary S. Kimmel (1869-1955).