This collection is the gift of Genevieve Hancock Harlow Goodwin. It contains letters from her great-great- grandfather, Navy Captain James Ripley Madison, to his friend Major Thomas A. Deblois. The correspondence, covering 1814 to 1820, is from on board the U.S. Frigates Congress, Guerriere, and Prometheus, and also from the U.S. Schooner Lynx before she was lost at sea in 1820 with all on board. This correspondence includes a letter mentioning the slave trade.

The collection also contains letters from Colonel David P. Hancock, the great-grandfather of Arthur Brooks Harlow Jr., to his brother, dating from 1857 to 1869, written from the Indian Territory; they include six letters from Hancock from the time of the Civil War concerning the possibility of war with England.

Series I: Background

1. List of letters in the collection
2. Exerpt from the Army and Navy Yearbook, 1893, concerning John R. Madison

Series II: Manuscript letters

1. From John Ripley Madison to Thomas A. Deblois
--November 24, 1814-August 13, 1816
--December 4, 1816-July 8, 1818
--September 2, 1818-December 21, 1820
2. Miscellaneous letters 1826-1894
3. From David P. Hancock to his brother
--August 13, 1857-December 13, 1860
--May 5, 1861-ca. 1869

Series III: Photostats of manuscript letters in the collection

Series IV: Typed copies of letters (bound)

1. From John Ripley Madison to Thomas A. Deblois
2. From David P. Hancock to his brother

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Prepared by Susan Spitler, July 1989
Prepared for electronic publication by Michael J. Breen '99, July 1999.