Gideon and Thaddeus Welles Collection
Newspaper article announcing gift to Connecticut State Library

"Hartford Times, October 23, 1915

RARE COLLECTION OF EARLY PAPERS
Contemporary Resume of Public Opinion in U.S. from 1825-1840
GIDEON WELLES, A TIMES EDITOR

Valuable Historical Summary of the Press is Now Owned by the State."

" An acquisition of great value to the recorded history of the first third of the nineteenth century, already in the Connecticut state library, is the collection of newspapers made by the late Gideon Welles of this state, secretary of the navy in the cabinets of Presidents Lincoln and Johnson, whose ability and sagacity during the trying times of the Civil war did much to bring success to the Union arms. The collection is of particular value as an expression of public opinion as presented, editorially, during the time the papers represent, and no other collection has been made, or could now be made, which would include such a representation of that time.

Life of Collector
Gideon Welles was born in Glastonbury, July 1, 1802. He studied law but early turned his attention to newspaper work, and in 1827 he became editor of THE HARTFORD TIMES, then published by John Russell. The paper was then only a weekly publication. The vigor of the young editor was soon felt in the fierce political conflicts of that day.

Andrew Jackson was then rallying the patriotism and liberal sentiment of the country for the victory which came to him and his followers in November, 1828. Mr. Welles was a tried and trusted friend of Jackson, and very soon became one of the leading editors of the country. After Jackson was inaugurated, Mr. Welles became his leading adviser and confident [sic] in this state, the Connecticut congressional delegation being opposed to him politically.

Mr. Welles severed his active connection with THE TIMES after the year 1836, but continued to write editorially for the paper until 1846. His active work was therefore practically contemporaneous with Jackson's presidency, March 4, 1829 to March 4, 1837.

While Mr. Welles was editor of THE TIMES the exchange list was very large. Papers were received from many states of the union, may of which have long ago ceased publication. It is interesting to note, in even a cursory look at the volumes, that many of the papers he preserved were the first published, and there follow other early numbers. In faded ink appears on the upper left-hand corner of many papers the word "TIMES". Sometimes appears "G Welles".

The way in which Mr. Welles grouped and bound the papers indicates that he had in mind to have a resume of public opinion at different periods, for in many of the volumes are papers from all parts of the country, which to the reader today appear to have no coherence. Doubtless Mr. `Welles had clearly in mind his idea and so put the papers together as he wanted them.

Paper of 1807

Mr. Welles took the volumes as he collected them and had them bound in the half-sheep of those days. The papers were clamped together. Slits were sawed into the backs, then twine was dipped in glue and placed in the slits. More glue was used to fill up the slits, and then a strip of sheep leather was placed on the back uniting the cardboard fronts and backs.

Gift of Mrs. Peabody
The gift is the collection of Mrs. Mary Jane Welles Peabody of Glastonbury, who lives in the old Welles homestead. She was a daughter of the Hon. Thaddeus Welles, long a prominent resident of Glastonbury, and a brother of Gideon Welles. Mrs. Peabody had long realized the value of the newspapers and her gift to the State Library of the "The Gideon and Thaddeus Welles collection", as it will be known, is highly appreciated by Mr. Godard.

In her letter accompanying the gifts, Mrs. Peabody showed appreciation of the unique character of the collection. The letter:

LETTER INSIDE VOLUME 1 of the Welles Collection

When Mr. Godard examined the volumes he found the bindings badly deteriorated by the passing years. Rebinding was essential to preserve the papers intact and to make them accessible for reference and examination.

He at once noticed the way the papers had been collated and, before beginning to rebind, conferred with Dr. Herbert Putnam, librarian of the Congressional library, and many other prominent librarians, asking if they thought the papers should be put together chronologically and each publication by itself, although the latter would not be necessary in al [sic] cases, as Mr. Welles had some volumes composed entirely of the same publication. Dr. Putnam and the others consulted strongly advised that the volumes be not disturbed; that they were a splendid mirror of contemporaneous public opinion and that a rearrangement would be destructive of the value of the collection.

Some of the Exchanges
So Mr. Godard has had each volume rebound exactly as before. Each volume bears the title "The Gideon and Thaddeus Welles Collection". In the instance where individual volumes are composed of one publication, like the Hartford Religious Enquirer, the Boston New England Farmer, the New York Evening Post, the Boston Morning Post, the Troy Times, the Washington Globe, Mr. Godard has also included the name on the back of the volume. Each volume contains dates like 1832-1836, as the case may be.

There are two volumes of THE TIMES.

In the collection are papers from all the New England states, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina, Indiana, New Jersey, and from Washington, D.C. Between each separate paper in each volume, in the new binding, Mr. Godard has had inserted a heavy manilla sheet.
The sheets help to strengthen the volumes and are also used for indexing, each sheet being numbered.

A card index has been prepared giving names of all the papers, the date of each one and the volume and its name in the volume, as indicated on the manilla sheet.

"The Jeffersonian."
To the present day reader the titles seem odd. "The Jeffersonian" was a popular name and papers from several states bore that name and upheld Jefferson's doctrines.

The Faithful and Fearless Chronicle, published in 1834, bore under the above title.
"This paper shall the people's rights maintain
Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain."

One volume of local interest in it is composed entirely of supplements to the Connecticut Courant of 1825. It is more like a book, as the supplement pages were only eight and a fourth inches long and five inches wide."

Transcribed from the original by the Connecticut State Library, 10/2004.