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 'It is beyond all dispute." says the Rev. 8. Irenious Prime, Editor^of the t 
 New York Observer, "the most remarkable compilation of ancient or modern 
 times — having no equal before or since the invention of the art of printing, and 
 future ages will prize it as one of the chief memorials of the first century of 
 American Independence." 
 
 Ex. Gov. John A. Dix says : •' I have watched it in its progress with great 
 interest, and a high appreciation of its great value. Fifty years from this time 
 it will, undoubtedly, have a value which cannot be estimated — as indeed it has 
 now." 
 
 Ex. Gov. Horatio Seymour says : ''It is a miricle of labor, arrangement 
 and execution." 
 
 Gov. Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, says : — •' It is the greatest work of the 
 kin^ of which I have ever heard." 
 
 Rev. Henry W. Bellows says: "It seems to mo almost a providential 
 felicity that such a curious and unique record exists." 
 
 Col. Duncan K. McRae of the late Confederate Army, says: — ''Its fair- 
 ness. i)iipartiality and completeness catinot be too biglilv extolled " V 
 
 Tim Washington Chronicle .said: — -'There is not an hour, during a session 
 of ( 'ongress, when some fact, to confirm history or refute misrepresentation, is 
 not found necessary, and the difficulty of finding a plan, to which immediate and 
 reliable reference can be had. is constanrly felt. This work supplies; tli;it im- 
 portant desideratum." 
 
Class .jLJj^t 
 Book JLlt3^ 
 

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 '•It is beyond all dispute," says the Rev. S. Irena-us Prime, Editor of the 
 New York Observer, "the most remarkable compilation of ancient or modern 
 times — having no equal before or since the invention of the art of printing, and 
 iuture ages will prize it as one of the chief memorials of the first century of 
 American Independence." , 
 
 KEW YORK : 
 Natuan Lane, Stationer and Printer, 09 Wall Street. 
 

SOCIETY LIBRARY BUILDING, 
 67 Universitj Place, 
 
 New York City. 
 
 Deak Sir: 
 
 By special request of well known citizens, the subscriber takes 
 pleasure in presenting for your consideration a brief statement con- 
 cerning the importance of one of the most notable historical pro- 
 ductions in the world — known as " Townsend's Libraey of 
 National, State and Individual Eecords," for the decade 
 ending 1870 — comprising a collection of historical records concern- 
 ing the origin, progress and consequences of our late civil war, 
 such as has never been made by the industry of any other man — 
 equal in magnitude to one thousand volumes of ordinary octavo 
 vsize, and quite as remarkable in its way as the extraordinary 
 contest which it depicts. "It is a work of peculiar interest," 
 said the New York Eceniny Post, "in that it is the first attempt 
 ever made to collect and arrange for the convenient use of future 
 historians the record of great events as given from day to day 
 during their occurrence, in the newspaper press." 
 
 "The newspapers," said Carlyle, "constitute the essence of all 
 history." They are the mirrors in which events show themselves 
 in their very form and pressure. In his history of the French 
 
Revolution and of Frederick the Great, Carlyle has shown with 
 what magnificent effect details may be used by the great histori- 
 cal artist. It is not always that wliich appears to us momentous 
 at tlie time that stands the test Really significant events are 
 seldom estimated at their true value by those who witness them, 
 while that which seems for the time being all-im])ortant turns 
 out to be eventually hollow and mere blatant vacuity after all. 
 Turn over the files of the American journals cotcmporary with 
 tlie Revolution of 1776, and you wid see the value of the living 
 records of the tim'es. The lion. John C. Hamilton, in a letter 
 to a friend commendatory of Mr. Townsend's work, said: "In 
 preparing my 'History of the Republic of the United States,' I 
 'was, excepting the few papers of my father's during the period 
 which elapsed Ijetween 1782 and '88, chiefly indebted to the 
 newspapers for the materials of the work. Unless you have 
 been engaged in a similar labor, you could not imagine the diffi- 
 culty of preparing a valuable narrative from merely document- 
 ary material." 
 
 So, in after generations, the records of the transactions of our 
 times will be equally marvelous, and it is not too much to say 
 that the newspapers of the present age have necessitated a new 
 
 style of history. 
 
 " Where can we find greater accuracy than in the leading 
 newspapers?" said Edward Everett. "The error which one 
 paper makes is_ very speedily corrected by the others; and in 
 this age of inquiry and debate, if Truth ever emerges from 
 the well in whi-h she is said to abide, it is to clothe hei'seli 
 in print." The Press is the mouth-piece of the people. Their 
 aspirations, their purposes, their antipathies aie the staple of its 
 argument day by day. There is not a wave, not a ripple in the 
 minds of the community^ that it does not reflect. It occupies 
 the position of a perpetual Congress, and the measures upon 
 which it agrees are invariably adopted before any considerable 
 lapse of time. Were it not for the Press, how few, compara- 
 tively, of our most noted men would ever obtain celebrity ; how 
 many of the grandest scenes in our history would have been left 
 unrecorded — scenes toward which the minds of millions in future 
 ages will turn with patriotic reverence. When we consider the 
 
multitudinous incidents of the decade between 1860 and 1870; 
 when we reflect on the vast variety of important and exciting 
 subjects included in the origin, progress and consequences of our 
 great civil war, it will scarcely be considered exaggeration to say, 
 that the transactions of that decade alone include more material 
 for history interesting to the world than all that is recorded of 
 the previous 240 years. Well may we remember the prophetic 
 words of James Gallatin, uttered in the New York Chamber of 
 Commerce in 1860, when he enthusiastically invoked his coun- 
 trymen to arouse to the full importance of the crisis, saying that 
 "History will make record ol our proceedings, and that record 
 will be co)isulted by future generations for encouragement, for 
 instruction, and for warning through all time.'" And well may 
 we also remember the last words of the gallant Winthrop, one 
 of the ear iest martyrs of the battle-field, when liis patriotic 
 spirit breathed a hope that " Some competent person would keep 
 a careful record of events, for we were making history with light- 
 ning speed " But neither Gallatin nor Winthrop could then have 
 foi-med any adequate idea of the long duration, the vast propor- 
 tions and immense consequences of the war forced upon us for 
 national self-preservation. And little could they imagine how 
 stupendous was to be the amount of labor involved in keeping 
 such a careful record of events. This, however, has happily been 
 done by Mr. Thomas S. Townsend, of this city (New York), in a 
 manner so complete and methodical, that all who in future years 
 desire information concerning individuals or events in any way 
 connected with or incidental to the Rebellion, will be enabled to 
 find it as readily as a banker consults his accounts, On the 7th 
 of November, 1874, the venerable William Cullen Bryant said: 
 ''The age has given birth to few literary undertakings which 
 will bear comparison witli Mr, Townsend's w^ork for extent and 
 importance. The com2)iling of a lexicon in any language is 
 nothing to it. Tlie forty Academicians who compih d the Dic- 
 tionary of the French Language were engaged in a far less labor- 
 ious work than this of Mr. Townsend's, which is a library in 
 itself." 
 
 Mr. Townsend is fairly entitled to the credit of being i\\e first 
 to demonstrate the unequalled importance of the Press, as a 
 source of historical truth, by rescuing its boundless treasures 
 
6 
 
 from their ephemeral exposure, and preserving and adopting 
 them to the needs of the investigator. 
 
 Such a work will lengthen the lives of the great men of the 
 future, by rendering unnecessarj^ the immense waste of time 
 which the want of ready and reliable information has hitherto 
 imposed on historical writers. " The Rebellion has caused the 
 production of more books than any other event in the history of 
 the world, said the Erening Post. " The amount of paper and 
 print that has been consumed in the issue of the different vol- 
 umes and pamphlets upon the military, social and political as- 
 pects of our civil strife, is immense, and copies have been sown 
 broadcast throughout the land ; but when the time shall have 
 arrived for the production of an impartial and dispassionate his- 
 tory of the war, it is not to th^se works that the historian will be 
 likely to look for his facts, but rather to the narrative of occur- 
 rences as they appeared in the columns of the daily press. To 
 arrange and classify ready for use the material he will there find, 
 would be so great a labor, that it would alone be enough to deter 
 many from entering upon the task."' 
 
 It is difficult to conceive that an}' private citizen could have 
 been found bold enough to undertake the task, and enthusiastic 
 and brave enough to persevere amid extraordinary difficulties in 
 forming such a Record as Mr. Townsend has done ; far surpassing 
 anything of the kind that the British Museum, the Bibliotheq-ue 
 Imperial of Paris, or any other lilirary in the world can ever 
 possess. 
 
 "I do not believe," said the Rev. Henry W. Bellows, "that 
 another man competent to this task could have been found in 
 the country, who would have given so many years of his life to 
 this undertaking, and I make bold to say that it will never be 
 done again, and that Mr. Townsend's peculiar personality is the 
 main reason why it is done now, and can alone account for the 
 existence of the Record. It seems to me almost a providential 
 felicity that such a curious and unique record exists." 
 
 Ex. Governor Dix testifies to its importance as follows : " j 
 have watched it in its progress with great interest, and a high 
 
appreciation of its great value. Fifty years from tiiis time it will, 
 undoubtedly, have a value which cannot be estimated — as indeed 
 it has now." 
 
 Ex. Governor Horatio Seymour says : " I look upon the work 
 as a miracle of labor, arrangement and execution. It is not only 
 necessary to the historian, but will be of great value to our Gov- 
 ernment in the event of war or hostile complications with other 
 nations." 
 
 Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, in a letter to Mr. 
 Townsend. says: " Your wonderful compilation is the greatest 
 work of the kind of which I have ever heard." 
 
 The manner in which prominent men of all parties have com- 
 mended the work, is the very highest testimonial to the success 
 with which the compiler has preserved and arranged everything 
 requisite to satisfy impartial inquirers, now and in future ages, in 
 every State in the Union, as there is hardly a family or locality 
 in the land for which there may not be found some records con- 
 cerning the share which their respective relatives and regions 
 took in the great contest which so long convulsed the nation, 
 and it deserves to be preserved as a great treasure-house of his- 
 tory, accessible for future ages, for " it is a subject in which 
 posterity, as well as the public of to-day" said the New York 
 Worlds "is vitally interested." 
 
 Never before were the annals of any country recorded with 
 such fullness and impartiality. No better evidence of which can 
 be desired than is afforded by the testimony of Col. Duncan K. 
 McRae of the late Confederate Army, and for some time agent 
 for the Confederate Government in Europe. Col. McRae says in 
 a letter of March 15, 1876, "I regard Mr. Townsend's work as 
 one of wonderful value. It really contains a better source of 
 supply for a history of the war than simply the ofiicial records, 
 for he has many (the minutest often of those) and in addition his 
 cotemporaneous journalistic narrative, data and statistics, worked 
 up with such elaborate and sj^stematic method and detail, iifibrds 
 every facility for accurate history. Its fairness, impartiality and 
 completeness cannot be too highly extolled." The system upon 
 which it is prepared, is so philosophic and comprehensive, that 
 
the best critics in tlie land have expressed their admiration. The 
 novelty of the plan, its admirable arrangement for ready reference 
 evinces a degree of genius, as well as of patient, sagacious and 
 persevering labor that should secure for the compiler a degree of 
 appreciation and of pecuniary recompense commensurate with 
 the unique and important service he has rendered to the truth 
 of history and to the annals of his country. 
 
 THE RECORD 
 
 was commenced on the 1st of December, 1860, and is completed 
 to December 1st, 1870, and numljers nearly one hundred volumes, 
 of 600 pages each, embracing as much printed matter as could 
 be j^laced in about one thousand volumes of ordinary octavo 
 size; and if the columns, which number four to a page, were 
 arranged in a continuous line, they would measure 75 miles. 
 Each volume of the Record contains everything relating directly 
 or indirectly to the great conflict that has appeared in the New 
 York Herald^ Tiviea^ Trihime, World, Daily Neivs, Express, Com- 
 mercial, Post, Boston Journal, and other newspaper^ for one 
 month, arranged in chronological order. The volumes are hand- 
 somely bound in calfskin, and labeled with the year, month 
 and number of each. The Eecord comprises everything — not 
 merely down to the end of battle-fields, but to the close of the 
 equally important strife connected with the re-organization of the 
 Union by the re-admission of the Seceded States in 1870 ; and it 
 also includes whatever relates to matters connected with the decade 
 ending 1870, that has appeared up to this time (1876). 
 
 It is essential to remember that an immense mass of informa- 
 tion concerning the origin, progress and consequences of the war, 
 and of individuals prominent in public affairs during that period, 
 has been attainable only since the close of the war, as it has 
 been elicited by discussions in Congress, in historical societies, in 
 controversies between persons engaged on both sides, in contri- 
 butions to magazines b}^ persons who. were prominent in various 
 positions, and in the copious extracts by the Press from Sherman's 
 Memoirs and other publications. Proper regard for the truth 
 of history — for justice to all sides — renders it indispensable 
 that all such matters should be fully included in the Record. 
 
9 
 
 There has not been a topic, discussed, nor has an occurrence 
 transpired of the slightest national moment, whereof the Eecord 
 does not contain almost every account which may have been 
 published at the time, or has appeared concerning it up to 1876. 
 The preparation of this RECORD, in a mechanical point of view, 
 is a wander of manipulation and skill, and aftbrds a collection 
 of material far surpassing, in point of convenience for handling, 
 to bound files of papers, yet of comparaiivelij little utility alone 
 for actual service. 
 
 Gigantic as the undertaking was to collect and arrange the 
 vast mass of material in the volumns of the Eecord, it was the 
 least laborious portion of the work — only one-tenth of the time 
 of the compiler having been occupied upon it, while nine-tenths 
 have been devoted to the Encyclopedia, which is an analysis 
 of, and ojuide to the contents of this immense collection. To 
 study the history of any particular subject by means of the 
 Eecord alone would be impossible. Therefore, in order to make 
 this great mass of information available, the compiler decided 
 that the mercantile princijAe of keeping accounts was the true one — 
 to regard his Eecord in the light of a merchant's day-book, then 
 to journalize the contents of the Eecord, and from the journals 
 to redistribute the entries to their appropriate departments in 
 what a merchant would call his ledger, but which the compiler 
 calls the Encyclopedia. To journalize the contents of the 
 Eecord requires a volume of 600 pages, to comprise an epitome 
 of each of the one hundred volumes of the Eecord. 
 
 Every event of the struggle, however minute, every fact, state- 
 ment, assertion or opinion in a speech, lette]', report or editorial 
 is separately entered from the Eecord into these Journals, with 
 references to volume, page and column of the Eecord where 
 they may be found. The Eecord therefore, is the grand reser- 
 voir of information — the Journals serve as the medium for con- 
 densing and grouping the contents of the Eecord and collecting 
 the material for the preparation of the Fncyclopcedia. After the 
 entries are systematically transferred to the various departments 
 in the Encyclopaedia, the Journals have served their purpose, and 
 are of no ftirther use. 
 
10 
 
 THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 We now come to the most im}>ortaiit part of this vast work. 
 The Encyclopaedia is not an Index : but a compilation — a com- 
 pendium and perfect digest of the Recoi'd — a statement of each 
 subject, so that the manifold and intricate episodes of the war — 
 its origin, progress and consequences, can be developed instanta- 
 neously, whether the subject relates to military matters or finance, 
 foreign relations, State fidelity or individual patriotism, by word 
 or deed. " Here are materials for writing a history of the Civil 
 War," said the Ne^v York Evening Post^ "more accurate and 
 circumstancial than was ever written of any war that was ever 
 waged." No index or file of newspapers in existence could ac- 
 complish anything of the kind or render the historian any such 
 practical benefit. 
 
 In the Encyclopaedia a history of every Regiment in the Union 
 Army, and a large number of those in the confederate, will be 
 found fully and impartially given — when and where raised ; how 
 officered ; in what battles engaged ; what losses they sufl'ered, 
 and what amount of glory or the reverse achieved. Every list 
 of killed, wounded, and prisoners ; of invalids in hospitals, and 
 of those who have perished from disease, has been collated, ana- 
 lyzed, and as far as possible, systematized, so that the fate of each 
 individual can be readily ascertained. As an indication of the 
 value of these Regimental Records, the following recent letter 
 from Mr. R. R. Knapp to Mr. Townsend, will suffice to prove 
 their importance. 
 
 " I have to thank you for the valuable information received 
 through your Encyclopaedia regarding B. B. Kennedy, formerly 
 of Company E, 6th U. S. Cavalry. He is suffering from a wound 
 received in 1862, and is refused a pension because he is unable 
 to prove that he was wounded at Slatersville. I myself, a mem- 
 ber of his company was away on detached duty at the time, and 
 can only testify to my knowledge and belief — others of the com- 
 mand are scattered, no one knows where ; the officer in command 
 of the company at the time is out of the service, and all letters 
 fail to reach him, and but for your valuable information — even 
 to day and date, this man who well deserves the pension of his 
 
11 
 
 Governnu'iit, might die for the need of it. Again 1 tluudv you, 
 and trust jou may receive tlie just reward for your untiring ef- 
 forts to preserve for the country such a minute and clear history 
 of the war of the Rebellion." 
 
 The N'avy, and every known ship and mariner belonging to it? 
 meets with the same amount of minute and honorable mention. 
 Officers and men of botli branches of the public service, dead aud 
 living, privates as well as officers, whose names have received 
 honorable mention in official reports, reports of newspaper cor- 
 respondents, obituary notices, or in any other way in which the 
 press has afforded information, have their names and deeds in- 
 scribed in that section of the Encyclopaedia devoted to the 
 " Roll of Honor." The aim of the compiler has thus been to res- 
 cue from oblivion the noble deeds of the more humble, but 
 equally meritorious, among the lower officers, and in the rank 
 and file. 
 
 Those who have been guilty of brutal or dishonorable acts will 
 find themselves handed down to an equal though less enviable 
 immortality.. 
 
 The subject of Privateering, including the Alabama Claims, 
 has its special department, as well as the Blockade. Speeches, 
 Letters, Reports, Messages, Coi-respondence, Proclamations, Ec- 
 clesiastical Documents, &c., from all sections of the Union, can 
 be found as readily as a name can be found in the Directory. 
 The Editorials of the Press are all arranged by subjects, and 
 appear chronologically in connection with the departments of the 
 Encyclopaedia to which they relate. Every State in the Union, 
 the Territories and the Indians, and the Invasion of Mexico, 
 have their separate divisions. 
 
 The Secret History of the Rebellion, Captured Correspondence, 
 and new and valuable information concerning the early history 
 of our countr}', will be found under the head of " Historical 
 References," and number several thousand. The various branches 
 of the General Government have each their special departments — 
 Executive — Congressional— State — Treasiuy — War and Navy — ^ 
 and the same is applicable to the "Confederate Government." 
 
12 
 
 As an indication of the completeness of the Governmental 
 Eecords, the following letter from the late Chief Justice Chase 
 to Mr. Townsend will doubtless be conclusive evidence : "The 
 voluminous abstract of matters connected with the Treasury dur- 
 ing my administration, contained in your valuable compilation 
 is admirably prepared, and I hope the work itself will find 
 an appreciation which it so justly merits." An examination of 
 the Record of the State Department and our Foreign Relations, 
 prompted the Hon. Horatio Seymour to say : " Your Record is 
 not only necessary to the historian, but it will be of great value 
 to our Grovernment in the event of Avar or hostile complications 
 with other nations." Every general officer in the Union army as 
 well as in the Confederate, has his individual record, where will 
 be found all statements made publicly by him or made about 
 him. 
 
 In short, nothing has been omitted that can afford one particle 
 of information to whoever now or hereafter may seek to learn 
 the history of any individual or event connected directly or in- 
 directly with the story of our sad and sanguinary civil war, and 
 it might be called the "Doomsday Book" of our Nation's His- 
 tory for the last decade. 
 
 The Encyclopaedia, when completed, will number 25 volumes, 
 of 1200 Images each, equal in size to the largest bank ledger ; 
 elegantly bound in Russia leather, and containing three hundred 
 thousand references. 
 
 THE INDEX 
 
 to the departments of the ENCYCLOPiEDiA is comprised in one 
 volume, and "this Index said the late Dr. Cogswell, the organi- 
 zer and first Superintendent of the Astor Library, " renders the 
 entire work as easy to be consulted as if it were comprised in a 
 single volume." As the opinions of no gentleman in any country 
 are wortliier of more earnest consideration than those uttered by 
 Dr. Cagswell, the following additional extracts from his letter in 
 regard to the practical utility and importance of the work are 
 respectfully submitted. 
 
13 
 
 — " Its plan is excellent, and its execution, so far as I could 
 judge from the time I was able to give to ii, faithful and tJtorough. 
 As a chronological and synchronous record it is more minute and 
 more authentic than could be formed in any other way. The 
 manifest labor, time and cost which must have been bestowed 
 upon this great work warrant the inference that it will not be 
 duplicated. With many thanks for the opportunity ajBforded me 
 of inspecting this rich and truly wonderful record of the monster 
 Eebellion, I am truly and respectfully yours, 
 
 (Signed) Joseph G. Cogswell. 
 
 After an examination of the Index, the Rev. Henry W. Bel- 
 lews wrote the following letter to Mr. Townscnd : 
 
 " I have looked through the volume you were kind enough to 
 send for my inspection with extreme admiration and amazement 
 at the labor and pains expended upon it. Considered only as an 
 index of the vast work you have so nearly concluded, it fur- 
 nishes a worthy and beautiful portal for the magnificent temple 
 you have built in memory of the countless events, great and 
 small, of our late momentous civil war. Indicating the compre- 
 hensiveness, thoroughness and minuteness of your Record, it 
 gives only a pregnant hint of what your ponderous monogram 
 contains. That you should have had the courage to conceive it 
 is less remarkable than that you have had the patience to carry it 
 so nearly through without bating" a jot of the precision of your 
 costly plan. The beauty of the chirography is itself a tribute to 
 the honor you pay your own work, and it deserves the shining 
 garments in which you have clothed it. I have never seen any 
 writing carried through so enormous a space without somewhere 
 degenerating into carelessness ; but your last page is as fresh and 
 comely as the first, showing an artist's love of perfection. As to 
 the order, skill and convenience with which the Index is pre- 
 pared, my lack of critical knowledge is the only limit to my ad- 
 miration and praise. It is alarming to think that so precious a 
 work exists only in a single copy. You have done all that is 
 possible to make that perfect. ' It is one, but a lion !' 
 
 " That the public may some day more fully appreciate your, 
 persistent toil and exemplary courage is my heartfelt wish and 
 
14 
 
 hope ; but you have your best rewai-d in the service you have 
 done your country, be it recognized or not." 
 
 "It has been a labor of love with tlie author," said the 
 New York Herald^ "for otherwise he could never have toiled 
 on for years as he has done, without any encouragement except 
 the knowledge of the benefit he was conferring on mankind." 
 
 Mr. Townsend has thus far devoted sixteen years of his life to 
 this undertaking, and expended upon it as many thousand dollars 
 of his own resources, and he very justly considers that having 
 devoted the best part of his life to an enterprise pronounced by 
 leading men of all parties and professions of such great national 
 importance, that pecuniary assistance should be afforded to 
 enable him to devote the remaining few j'ears necessary for its 
 completion. With this object in view, it was resolved at a meet- 
 ing of prominent citizens, held at the Society Libi'ary Building, 
 some time since, that it is in the interest of history — that great 
 guide of humanity — that the labors so long and perseveringly 
 carried on should be brought to a successful termination, and in 
 aid of the accomplishment of this object, the following named 
 gentlemen have contributed sums of iPi|ft$©0 and $100 each, to 
 promote the public interests by helping Mr. Townsend to com- 
 plete the work. These gentlemen expressing in the subscription 
 paper their appreciation of the great service he has rendered to 
 the cause of history, and as an evidence that his fellow-citizens 
 are not ungrateful towards those who originate and carry out 
 enterprises resulting in a great public good." 
 
 Ex. Gov. JOHN A. DIX, 
 
 " HORATIO SRYMOUR. 
 
 Chief Justice S. P. CHASE, 
 
 Gen. ALEX. S. WEBB, 
 " CHARLES C. DODGE, 
 " GEO. B. McCLELLAN, • 
 
 Hon. FREDERIC De PEYSTKU. 
 " OSWALD OTTENDORFER, 
 
 Mr. PETER COOPER, 
 
 Professor S. F. B. MORSE, 
 
 Hon. CYRUS W. FIELD, 
 '■ A. A. LOW, 
 " S. B. (IHITTENDEN, 
 " MARSHAL 0. ROBEBTS. 
 •■ MOSES TAYLOR, 
 " GEORGE OPDYKP:, 
 " WM. F. ITAVEMEYER, 
 
 Mr. HENRY HAVEMEYER, 
 
 Hon. C. GODFKEY GUNTHER, 
 Col. FRANK E. HOWE, 
 Hon. WILSON G. HUNT, 
 Mr JOHN DAVID WOLFE, 
 
 " JOHN P. TOWNSEND, 
 
 " S. L. M. BARLOW, 
 
 •■ B. H. HUTTON, 
 
 " WM. F. CARY, 
 Hon. WM. E. DODGE, 
 Mr. THEODORE ROESEVELT, 
 
 " SAMUEL L. MITCHELL, 
 Col. JOHN JACOB ASTOR, 
 Mr. ADRiAN ISELIN, 
 
 '• PETER TOWNSEND, 
 
 " EDWARD COOPER, 
 
 " .JOHN TAYLOR JOHNSON. 
 
15 
 
 The names of all contributors are inscribed, on Memorial 
 Tablets to be connected with the Liljrary, so that the American 
 people may know what citizens aided in the completion of this 
 great work, " which future ages will prize as one of the chief 
 memorials of the first century of American Independence," and 
 the veneration with which society remembers the prominent men 
 who in any wise aided the patriotic cause during our Revolution- 
 ary Era, clearly indicates that these Tablets will acquire increas- 
 ing respect as time rolls by, in the estimation of the public, as 
 well as of the families and descendants of the contributors. 
 
 I trust you will concur in the patriotic and generous feeling 
 of the gentlemen above mentioned, and that you will feel dis- 
 posed to unite with them in promoting the object, by sending 
 your check to my care, made payable to the order of Mr. Thomas 
 S. Townsend, for whatever sum it may be agreeable for you to 
 contribute, and the same will be promptly acknowledged by the 
 comj3iler. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 JOHN IRVING, 
 
 Society Library Building, 
 67 University Place, New York. 
 
^r-C^yu 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 012 195 783 8 
 
 ■<~^- 
 
 
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