PREFACE The Henry Shelton Sanford Papers are the property of the City of Sanford, Florida. This town, located in central Florida, was founded in the 1870's by the man for whom it was named. He was a native of Derby, Connecticut, where his ancestral home still stands. Members of Henry S. Sanford's family, living in Connecticut, stored his papers in the Connecticut Historical Society, some time after the death of Mrs. Sanford in 1901. She had survived her husband ten years. In her will, Mrs. Sanford requested her children to erect a Memorial Library in Sanford, if possible, to house the books and papers of her husband. About 1941 a committee was appointed in this town under the auspices of the Daughters of the American Revolution for the purpose of complying with this request. In 1957 this Memorial Library was completed and the books and furnishings from the library in the Sanford Home in Derby, Connecticut, were sent to Florida. Later, through the auspices of Mr. Gifford Cochran, a member of the Florida Committee, and through the courtesy of Mr. Thompson R. Harlow, President of the Connecticut Historical Society, the papers were shipped to Florida and for a time, until they could be organized and arranged, were stored in the Mills Memorial Library of Rollins College. In May 1959 the papers were loaned to the Tennessee State Library and Archives for processing and microfilming. They will be permanently housed in the General Sanford Memorial Library. A. microfilm copy will be retained by the Manuscript Section of the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The processing of these papers has been done by history graduate students and several other well- qualified persons working under the direction of the Manuscript Section. They have been classified under subject headings, corresponding to the various phases of Henry Sanford's career, retaining his "live files" as nearly as possible. An over-all scope and content note has been made giving a brief summary of the contents of the papers. This Register is made for use as a finding aid or guide. It does not dispense with the necessity for research but is intended to aid researchers as well as members of the library staff and also to furnish information necessary for cataloging. A genealogical chart, of the Sanford and Shelton families has been made, based on information obtained from the papers, and is attached to the Register. Also an index has been made for all correspondents whose papers seemed to warrant separate treatment. June 1, 1960 Harriet Chappell Owsley Senior Archivist Manuscript Section Archives Division Tennessee State Library and Archives HENRY SHELTON SANFORD PAPERS GENERAL SANFORD MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM ASSOCIATION Processed by Manuscript Section Tennessee State Library and. Archives. Nashville, Tennessee Date Completed: June 1, 1960 I The papers of Henry Shelton Sanford (1823-1891), Doctor of Laws, University of Heidelberg, 1849; Secretary of American Legation, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1847-1848; Secretary of American Legation, Frankfort, Germany, 1848-1849; Secretary of American Legation, Paris, France, 1849-1853; Charge d’affaires, 1853- 1854; Minister to Belgium, 1861-1869; Representative of the American Geographical Society at the African International Conference, 1876; Representative of the United States at the Berlin Conference, 1884; Stockholder and organizer of the Sanford Exploring Expedition, 1886; and Representative of the United States at the Anti-Slavery Conference held in Brussels, 1890; are the property of the City of Sanford, Florida. They were loaned to the Tennessee State Library and Archives for processing, Linear feet: of shelf space occupied: 60 Approximate number of items: 50,000 1 II Scope and Content Note Henry Shelton Sanford Papers 1769-1901 This collection of papers containing approximately fifty thousand items covers a span of years beginning in 1569 and ending in 1901. They are composed of correspondence, diaries, biographical and genealogical data, legal documents, briefs, speeches, articles, accounts, and business memoranda, in the fields of Latin American, European, African, and United States history. There are about 1000 items which deal with the business interests of Henry Sanford's father, Nehemiah Curtis Sanford, who owned a tack factory in Derby, Connecticut, and also had large holdings in Michigan lands. Henry took over his father's business at his death in 1841 and continued to enlarge and add other interests to those of his father. The accounts and business correspondence for Henry's interests compose 3000 items. By 1869 a distant kinsman, William Shelton, warned Henry against so much expansion. He wrote, "No man can manage a plantation in Louisiana, shipbuilding in Maine and other remotely situated points of business without being ruined. It is a simple question of tune." This proved to be a prophetic statement for Henry did run into financial difficulties and after his death Mrs. Sanford was forced to sacrifice some of her husband's holdings in order to save others. Two thousand items deal with Sanford's schooling both in the United States and abroad and his correspondence and diaries while serving as Secretary for the American Legations at St. Petersburg, Frankfort, and Paris. He was Charge D’affaires at Paris for one year 1853-1854. These diaries cover one of the most critical eras of European, history —the period of German unification and the seizure of power by Napoleon III. Sanford records many interesting details of these revolutions in France and Germany. There are also diaries kept during trips to Smyrna, Central and South America, and Michigan, including a hunting trip into the country west of the Mississippi in the 1840's. They contain interesting accounts of this sparsely populated area and the dangers encountered by travelers during this early period. In 1854 Sanford gave up his position as Charge’ d’affaires at Paris and returned to the United States. In January 1855 he took over the Aves Island case for his Uncle Philo S. Shelton. Approximately 3000 items make up this portion of the papers which is centered upon the Venezuelan government's seizure in 1854 of the Aves Island. This small island possessing large quantities of the rich fertilizer, guano, was located about three hundred miles from the coast of Venezuela. Philo Shelton had sent employees to dig the fertilizer and load his ships. They built houses and occupied the island for about six months before they were expelled by Venezuelan troops. Efforts to settle the claim against Venezuela occupied much of Sanford's time for the rest of his life, and he was never completely satisfied with the settlement. There was, however, one important result of this case. The United States set forth the "Doctrine of Sovereignty of the United States over Derelict Islands." The adoption as a policy of this doctrine in the relations of the United States with her Hispanic American neighbors was one of the far reaching results of this litigation. The most important correspondents in the Aves, Island - 2 - portion of the papers include John Appleton, Guzman Blanco, Lewis Cass, E. D. Culver, Charles Eames, John Me Foster, Jacinto Gutierrez, James S. Mackie, W. L. Marcy, H. Nadal, Jose A. Paes, A. Parra, A. M. G. Pennington, R. Phelps, G. H. Preston, Luis Renshaw, Jose M. Rojas, Philo S. Shelton, E. G. Tilton, W. H. Trescot, E. A. Turpin, Charles Wilkes, and several business firms. About 2000 items deal with Sanford's missions to Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Honduras in the years 1857 – 1860 on behalf of the interests of United States citizens in those countries. One large United States company had sold arms and munitions to the Colombian government and had been unable to obtain settlement for them; another group had suffered from damages to the Panama Railroad by the revolutionaries and were demanding payment for their losses; and the third group of citizens, interested in building the Honduras Interoceanic Railroad, deputized Sanford to organize a survey and arrange for the construction of the road The correspondents for these Central and South American projects are represented by W. H. Aspinwall, Henry Birchall, G. C. Crane, John M. Dow, Amory Edwards, Horatio Freeman, G. R. Gliddon, David Hadley, G. Holland, W. N. Jeffers, J. H. Jenney, Dr. J. N. Livingston, Albert Mathieu, C. Michelsen, G. M. Totten, J. C. Trautwine, and P. W. Turney. The Civil War portion of the papers, covering the period when Sanford was Minister to Belgium in charge of Secret Service and United States fiscal agent, make up another 2000 items. In his position as fiscal agent, Sanford purchased arms, munitions, blankets, cloth, and saltpetre for the United States. The correspondence, vouchers, insurance, and accounts dealing with his purchases as well as reports of his Secret Service activities, and his private and official dispatches to W. H. Seward are among these papers. The correspondents dealing with Civil War subjects are H. B. Anthony, James H. Anderson, Joseph Antoni, W. S, Bailey, John Bigelow, N. M. Beckwith, R. S. Chilton, Cassius M. Clay, A. W. Crawford, Thomas H. Dudley, Louis A. Dochez, E. G. Eastman, J. B. Fitzpatrick (Bishop of Boston), L. F. S. Foster, Aaron Goodrich, W. Hunter, Frederick Krupp, James S. Mackie, F. H. Morse, Horatio J. Perry, Detective Pollaky and his associates, J. 0. Putnam, G. C. Ripley, George Sauer, B. W. Saunders, George Schuyler, William H, Seward, Gilead Smith, George P. Smith, Truman Smith, Marshall Talbot, W. T. M. Torrens, W. H. Trescot, W. S. Underwood, W. M. Walker, Thurlow Weed, W. G. Wainwright, and others. After the Civil War, Sanford continued to serve as Minister to Belgium until 1869. Some 5000 items deal with a variety of business enterprises during this period There is much correspondence concerning certain patents, the Suez Ship Railroad, electro-mechanical development schemes, railroads and Western lands, the Barnwell Island cotton plantation, the Oakley sugar plantation, and the Arkansas zinc venture.