The Red Fox at Staatsburgh: Martin Van Buren & Morgan Lewis’s Letters

Have you ever read someone’s handwriting that’s just un-readable...looked over a note from a friend or loved one and said, “how do you expect me to read this?!”

We found ourselves in this exact situation while examining three handwritten letters in Staatsburgh’s archives. Unfortunately, we could not ask the sender what they had written, because the sender was the 8^th President of the United States, Martin van Buren (who has been dead for 162 years!). However, the researchers at the Papers of Martin Van Buren Project at Cumberland University were kind enough to stand-in for the President and transcribe his difficult handwriting for us. These three letters reveal a complicated political relationship, but a close personal friendship, between Van Buren and Staatsburgh’s founder, Morgan Lewis. 

Martin Van Buren and Morgan Lewis silhouette portraits by Auguste Edouart, c. 1841.
Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

My Historical Namesake: The Other Maria Reynolds

In the study of history, a personal connection is often what draws us in to begin to explore a subject or a place or an era.  We might be interested in World War II after hearing Grandpa's stories about the war.  Or perhaps we begin to read about the Underground Railroad after discovering several stations in our hometown.  The attempt to make a personal connection with the people we read about and study is a common impulse for anyone who loves history.  It makes history come alive.  In the 21st century, finding information has become much easier with the internet.  Wikipedia has made it very simple to learn a little about a lot of subjects.  I love to explore the web, which takes me to this story of one of my personal connections to history (and don't worry it relates to Staatsburgh as well!).  My story does not deal with one of my ancestors, but instead with a woman who shares my name.