ON THE CORRESPONDENCE OF GOVERNOR D. D. TOMP- 

 KINS (1808-1824), LATELY ACQUIRED BY THE 

 STATE, WITH SOME NOTES ON HIS LIFE. 



By Henry A. Homes, LL. D. 

 [Read before the Albany Institute, November 15, 1885 J 



While the principal object of my paper this evening is to give von 

 some information regarding the original correspondence in manuscript 

 of Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, into the possession of which the 

 State has just entered by purchase, I shall be continually adverting 

 from necessity to events in his official career in explanat ion incidentally 

 of their importance and value. 



The facts relating to the protracted public life of Governor Tomp- 

 kins, which will be introduced, will prove, I hope, more interesting to 

 you than if I had been compelled to confine my remarks to a pile of 

 antiquarian manuscripts. And if your thoughts are frequently carried 

 back seventy years — to the war of 1812, it will be associated with so 

 many new and some of them touching facts that you will find yourself 

 listening to something more fresh than a " twice told tale." 



The official correspondence of Governor Tompkins was first offered 

 for sale to the State in 1878, by his eldest son Minthorne Tompkins. 

 He was a man of fascinating manners, and popular where he was best 



The Hon. Erastus Brooks was conspicuous in this first attempt to 

 Have them purchased for -so.Ooo. for apparently only 1,700 letters. 

 Mr. Tompkins told me however that he had never dreamed of yielding 

 them for a less sum than $10,000, as he wished to give 81,000 each to 

 several sisters then living. The measure was adopted in the Assembly, 

 but failed in the Senate. Other attempts were made in succeeding 

 years and finally, in 1883, the law was adopted in the legislature, and 

 waited for the Governor's signature. Governor Cleveland vetoed this 

 item iu the bill. But in 1884, the measure again passed both houses; 

 and Governor Cleveland had the magnanimity to disregard his previous 



