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Alfred P. Swineford letters

Guide to the Alfred P. Swineford letters
1886, 1888

Collection number: HMC-0689.
Creator: Swineford, A. P. (Alfred P.), 1834-1909.
Title: Alfred P. Swineford letters.
Dates: 1886, 1888.
Volume of collection: 0.01 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Materials in the collection are in English.
Collection summary: Two letters from an Alaska territorial governor to his wife.

Biographical note:
Alfred P. Swineford was born in Ohio in 1836. He became a printer’s apprentice in 1851 and was thereafter involved in that field. He became a lawyer in 1857. Swineford was territorial governor of Alaska from 1885 to 1889 and inspector general of the U.S. Land Office from 1893 to 1898. He married his second wife, Mrs. Willemina “Minnie” Smith, in Marquette, Michigan, in 1886. He was later the publisher in Ketchikan of the Mining Journal (1901-1905) and the Miner (1907-1908). Swineford, a proponent of territorial status for Alaska, died in Juneau, Alaska, in 1909.

Collection description:
The collection consists of two letters Alfred P. Swineford wrote to his second wife during his tenure as territorial governor of Alaska. The first letter was written from Marquette, Michigan, on July 13, 1886, just after their marriage. Swineford was leaving for Alaska with his daughter, who did not yet know of their marriage. The second letter was written from Washington, D. C., on April 15, 1888, concerning his meeting with President Grover Cleveland. Cleveland consulted Swineford about serious charges that had been filed against Judge Dawson, the judge’s removal from office, as well as other matters pertaining to Alaska.

Arrangement: The letters are arranged chronologically.

Alternative formats: Transcripts of the letters are available online.

Digitized copies: The letters have been digitized, however they are not available online. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.

Rights note: The letters are in the public domain.

Preferred citation: Alfred P. Swineford letters, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Acquisition note: The collection was purchased by the Archives on eBay in 2004.

Processing information: This collection was described by Jeffrey Sinnott in 2004. The guide to the collection was converted to current standard by Gwen Sieja in 2015. The letters were transcribed by Arlene B. Schmuland in 2015.

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