Gabriel Harrison letters

Collection

Identifier: VAULT box-Ayer-MS-3038

Staff Only

Abstract

Letters regarding John Howard Payne to Gabriel Harrison from three current and former U.S. consuls to Tunis, William Penn Chandler of Philadelphia, George Whitfield Fish of Tunis and Flint, Mich., and Amos Perry of Providence, R.I. Also one letter, also about Payne, from Fish to Thomas J. McKee, a New York lawyer and friend of Harrison's. The letters, which were probably responses to a correspondence initiated by Harrison during the revision of his 1875 work, concern the circumstances of Payne's death, the erection of and wording on his Tunis gravestone, the disposition of Payne's personal effects and the interest of his niece, Eloise E. Luquer in recovering them, Chandler's possession of Payne mss., and W.W. Corcoran's proposal to transfer Payne's remains to Washington, D.C. Fish, who had served as consul until 1882 when Congress failed to appropriate funds for the post, also comments on the shaky political situation at Tunis and the sad state of U.S. representation in the southern Mediterranean.

Dates

Creation: 1873-1883

Creator

Harrison, Gabriel, 1818-1902 (Person)

Biography of Gabriel Harrison

Brooklyn, N.Y., theatrical manager, actor, painter, and author of an 1875 work about John Howard Payne, who was himself an actor, playwright, defender of the Cherokee Indians, and U.S. consul at Tunis. Harrison's popular volume, which sparked a renewed interest in Payne, who had died in Tunis in 1852, was enlarged and reissued in 1885 with the title: John Howard Payne, dramatist, poet, and actor.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet (10 items in 1 folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Catalog Record

https://i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CARLI_NBY/i5mcb2/alma991287258805867

Ownership and Custodial History

Forms part of the Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection (Newberry Library)

Related Materials

Chandler letter, Feb. 26, 1883, and Fish letters, Oct. 22, 1881, and Dec. 29, 1882, published in Harrison, Gabriel. John Howard Payne. Philadelphia : Lippincott, 1885.

Processing Information

Chandler correspondence was formerly cataloged as Ayer MS 153a. Fish correspondence was formerly cataloged as Ayer MS 281a. Perry correspondence was formerly cataloged as Ayer MS 708a.