Samuel Sullivan Cox papers (Ms.77.15)

While Cox was a writer of some importance, this specific collection is almost entirely political in scope, consisting of the office correspondence of a U.S. Congressman and diplomat. Few of the letters are significant in their own right, being simple requests for political favors, appointments, recommendations, and information. Taken together, however, this collection presents a vivid view of local politics--of Democratic party machinations and the views and needs of hundreds of people--in Ohio during the mid-1850's to the mid-1860's, and in New York from 1868 to 1889.

In other respects, however, the scope of this collection is severely limited. It contains few letters written by Cox himself, few letters concerning Cox's private or literary life, nor does it contain much in the way of family correspondence. Other manuscript repositories containing manuscripts concerning Cox can be consulted, however. Consult the National union catalog of manuscript collections for listings (see the collection file for the Cox collection for further information).