Samuel Nelson Letter, 1861

This collection consists of one letter from United States Supreme Court justice Samuel Nelson to New York attorney and Union Army brigadier general E.W. (Edwin Henry) Stoughton.

Samuel Nelson (1792-1873) spent several years of his early career practicing law in New York and serving as both a presidential elector and delegate to the New York Constitutional Convention. Nelson’s judicial career began in 1823, when he was appointed as a justice of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, specializing in maritime law. In 1831, Nelson was appointed to the New York Supreme Court, serving as an associate justice until 1831, when he was promoted to chief justice. Nelson was nominated to the United States Supreme Court as an associate justice in February 1845 by President John Tyler. Nelson served in this position until his retirement in November of 1872.

In an 1861 letter to E.W. Stoughton, Nelson described the Peace Conference of 1861, which took place in Washington, D.C., in early February. The conference’s purpose was to preserve the Union by finding a compromise between free and slave states, thus preventing the further secession of slave states in the south and border states. Fourteen free states and seven slave states were represented among the delegates to the convention. The Deep South states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas — had all seceded by February 1861, and did not send delegates. Many attendees saw the conference as unsuccessful, as the proposed constitutional amendment created during the conference failed to receive the required number of votes in the Senate and never reached the House of Representatives. In his letter, Nelson acknowledged the failure of the conference and noted that it is up to Abraham Lincoln to “turn the scales either way” on the issue of peace between free and slave states.

This collection includes one letter written on February 24, 1861, from United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Nelson to E.W. Stanton. The letter discusses the aftermath of the Peace Conference of 1861 and the future of the nation in light of the conference’s failure to produce a satisfactory solution.

The Library purchased this letter in 2025 with support from the Dr. Harlan Horner Estate.