Ainsworth Rand Spofford. 

 1825-1908. 



Ainsworth Rand Spofford at the time of his death, which 

 occurred at Holderness, New Hampshire, August 11, 1908, 

 was Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress. He was born at 

 Gilmanton, New Hampshire, September 12, 1825, and was the 

 son of the Reverend L. A. and Grata (Rand) Spofford. 



He was prepared for college by private tutors, but his health 

 failing, he went west at this time, 1844, and located in Cincin- 

 nati. His fondness for books soon decided his career; for he 

 soon entered upon the duties of a book seller and publisher and 

 spent his leisure moments in the study of literature and modern 

 languages. In 1850, he was one of the founders of the Liter- 

 ary Club, of Cincinnati, a vigorous and intellectual organiza- 

 tion. In 1852 he married Sarah P. Partridge, who died in 

 1892. 



His coming to Washington, D. C, was in 1861, when he 

 was appointed by President Lincoln Assistant Librarian to 

 Congress. For several years previous to this, he was Assistant 

 Editor, 1859-1861, of the Cincinnati Daily Co7nmercial. His 

 great fitness for the position of librarian was soon recognized 

 and in 1864 he was made Librarian-in-Chief, holding that 

 position until 1897, when he was relieved of the executive 

 burden and made Chief Assistant Librarian. He saw the 

 Library of Congress grow from a collection of 70,000 volumes 

 to that of 2,500,000 volumes. He was the first to suggest the 

 need of a separate building for the Library and when Congress 

 was slow to act, he kept the matter before it not only in his 

 formal reports, but by a systematic disorder in the overcrowded 

 old quarters — the library, that filled every space with books, 

 boxes, maps, bundles, etc., leaving thus but little room for the 

 visiting Congressmen. 



As a librarian he was widely known for his comprehensive 

 knowledge of books and their contents and was to public men 



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