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Martin and Louise Maginnis papers, 1864-1912

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Maginnis, Martin, 1841-1919
Title
Martin and Louise Maginnis papers
Dates
1864-1912 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 50 (collection)
Summary
Martin Maginnis (1841-1919) was a Democratic Montana Territorial Delegate to Congress from 1872 to 1882; a member of the 1889 Montana Constitutional Convention; and newspaper publisher. He married Louise E. Mann (b. 1847) in 1868. This collection consists primarily of incoming correspondence to both Martin and Louise Maginnis, outgoing correspondence, misc. correspondence, court papers, legal documents, and a scrapbook. Incoming correspondence includes some typescript copies.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Martin Maginnis was born in western New York on October 27, 1841, the son of Irish immigrant parents. He later moved with his parents to a farm in Minnesota. After finishing school, Maginnis started work as a newspaperman on the Redwing Sentinel.

In response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, Maginnis joined the First Minnesota Infantry Regiment as a sergeant. He served with his regiment in the battles of First and Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and others. By the time of his discharge at the end of the war, he had risen to the rank of major.

After a brief return to his newspaper career in Minnesota, Maginnis joined the gold rush, arriving in Helena, Montana Territory, in September 1866. Finding little success as a gold prospector, he resumed his journalism career. In partnership with others, he published the Rocky Mountain Gazette, which later became the Helena Independent. In 1868 he married Louise E. Mann of Pontiac, Michigan. Louise was born in 1847 to Irish parents and was a benedictine.

In 1872, Maginnis, a Democrat, was elected Montana's territorial delegate to Congress. As a non-voting delegate, he promoted military expansion, reduction of the size of Montana's Indian reservations, railroad building, and land and timber laws to encourage settlement of Montana. After his retirement from Congress in 1885, Maginnis continued his political activity as a delegate to the 1889 Constitutional Convention and as an unsuccessful candidate for Montana's first U.S. Senator. He and William A. Clark were defeated by Republicans Wilbur F. Sanders and Thomas C. Power. Maginnis later served as U.S. Mineral Land Commissioner. In this position, he was successful in preventing the railroad land grants from including mineral rights. These rights were reserved by the federal government for individual developers.

Martin Maginnis died in 1919 in California.

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Content Description

The papers consist primarily of incoming correspondence concerning politics, Indian agency administration, the military, and railroad development. In addition there is a small amount of outgoing correspondence, a scrapbook, speeches, and writings. Most of the letters have been transcribed, and the transcriptions are filed with the originals.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by series. Some material housed in oversize folder in archives map case. Some material housed in manuscript volumes. See inventory below for more information.

Location of Collection

2:5-7

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

  • Biographical Materials

    • Description: "Partial sketch of the civil and military service of Major Martin Maginnis" from Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, vol. 8; "Memorial on the death of Comrade Martin Maginnis"
      Dates: 1917, 1919
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1
      Location: Biographical Materials

  • Incoming Correspondence

    • Description: A (correspondents include Lyman Abbott, J. B. Aleshire)
      Dates: 1875-1907
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 2
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: I.G. Baker and Company
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 3
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Chauncey Barbour
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 4
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: August Belmont
      Dates: 1904
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 5
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: James G. Blaine
      Dates: 1874, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Charles A. Broadwater
      Dates: 1873-1883
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 7
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: B (correspondents include W.G. Barkley, Laurence Barrett, Clarence C. Bennett, Henry N. Blake, Charles P. Blakely, J.V. Bogert, Theodor Borup, J.R. Boyce, E.G. Brooke, John P. Bruce, Agnes K. Buckingham)
      Dates: 1873-1888
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 8
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: James E. Callaway (includes report of Secretary of Montana Territory)
      Dates: 1874-1875, 1883
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: John Caplice
      Dates: 1874-1876
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: W.F. Chadwick
      Dates: 1873-1883
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: William A. Clark
      Dates: 1874-1904
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 12
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Walter Cooper
      Dates: 1874-1904
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 13
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Daniel C. Corbin
      Dates: 1882-1884
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 14
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: John Schuyler Crosby
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 15
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Crow Indian Agency
      Dates: 1874-1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 16
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Thomas Cruse
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 17
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: William E. Cullen
      Dates: 1875-1884
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 18
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: C (correspondents include George Q. Cannon, A. Carmichael, A.M. Carpenter, E. Casserly, George Clendenin Jr., Heister Clymer, George S. Coleman, Patrick S. Collins, T.E. Collins, Harry R. Comly, L.W. Cooke, George F. Cope, H. Countryman, T.A. Cummings)
      Dates: 1873-1903
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 19
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Marcus Daly
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 20
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Walter W. DeLacy
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 21
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: T.J. DeMers (letter from DeMers to Maginnis forwarding a statement made by Flathead Indian chief Michel to the Justice of the Peace for Missoula County; in his statement Michel declares that the Flathead Indians have been ill-used by Indian agent Major Daniel Shanahan and demands that Shanahan be removed)
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 22
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: William W. Dixon
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 23
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: D (correspondents include John Davis, J.C.P. de Krafft, Dennis Driscoll, Michael Duffy)
      Dates: 1874-1907
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 24
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: E (correspondents include Thomas R. Edwards, Alex J. Elder, S.B. Elkins, J. Ellis)
      Dates: 1874-1883
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 25
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: F (correspondents include Adrian W. Fellows, Stephen J. Field, D.H. Floyd, D.L. Floyd-Jones, George W. Frost, T.P. Fuller)
      Dates: 1877-1892
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 26
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: John G. Gibbon
      Dates: 1877-1889
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 27
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Jay Gould
      Dates: 1878-1879
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 28
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: G (correspondents include William J. Galbraith, ____ Galen, Owen Garrigan, Paris Gibson, Mahlin N. Gilbert, William Graham)
      Dates: 1874-1903
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 29
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Benjamin Harrison
      Dates: 1885
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 30
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Samuel T. Hauser
      Dates: 1874-1883
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 31
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: John J. Healy
      Dates: 1875-1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 32
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Christopher P. Higgins
      Dates: 1877-1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 33
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: James J. Hill
      Dates: 1905-1906
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 34
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: J.B. Hubbell
      Dates: 1880-1883
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 35
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: H (correspondents include Benjamin F. Hall, J. H. Hamilton, Winfield Scott Hancock, J. E. Harvey, Edward Hatch. H. A. Herbert, C. W. Higley, Robert W. Hill, C. W. Hoffman, H. R. Horr, A. J. Hunter, George L. Hurst)
      Dates: 1873-1885
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 36
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: J (correspondents include J. A. Johnston, James K. Jones)
      Dates: 1876-1897
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Hiram Knowles
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: K (correspondents include David Kenealy, H. A. Kennerly, Charles and William King)
      Dates: 1874-1880
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: L.F. LaCroix
      Dates: 1873-1885
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Nathaniel P. Langford
      Dates: 1874-1876
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: S.W. Langhorne
      Dates: 1874-1885
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: L (correspondents include A. Lamme, Daniel S. Lamont, J. B. LeBlond, M. M. Lockwood, Thomas J. Lowry, William Lyman, Philip Lynch)
      Dates: 1874-1906
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Perry W. McAdow
      Dates: 1874-1880
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: John McCormick
      Dates: 1874-1881
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 9
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Washington J. McCormick
      Dates: 1874-1881
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Grant Marsh
      Dates: 1880
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Nelson A. Miles
      Dates: 1878-1888
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 12
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: James H. Mills
      Dates: 1877-1879
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 13
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: M (correspondents include Paul McCormick, M. McQuirk, H. N. Maguire, R. F. May, William Mayger, A. E. Mayhew, M. A. Meyendorff, S. Miller, A. R. Mininger, George W. Monroe, William Morris)
      Dates: 1864, 1873-1904
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 14
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Thomas F. Oakes
      Dates: 1882-1883, 1894
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 15
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: O.B. O'Bannon
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 16
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Pat O'Brien
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 17
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: C.C. O'Keefe
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 18
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: John Owen
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 19
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Fitz John Porter
      Dates: 1881-1884, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 20
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Benjamin F. Potts
      Dates: 1874-1882
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 21
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Thomas C. Power
      Dates: 1874-1877
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 22
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: P (correspondents include J. W. Parker, R. Parkhurst, F. E. W. Patton, F. D. Pease, C. W. Penrose, W. H. Penrose, A. Plummer, Mrs. C. W. Power)
      Dates: 1874-1904
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 23
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Patrick Quinn
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 24
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Peter Ronan
      Dates: 1873-1880
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 25
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: William S. Rosecrans
      Dates: 1885
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 26
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: R (correspondents include John Rainsford, J. C. Robinson, C. P. Rodgers, John Roosa)
      Dates: 1874-1883
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 27
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Wilbur F. Sanders
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 28
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Philip H. Sheridan
      Dates: 1874-1882
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 29
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: William T. Sherman
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 30
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: S (correspondents include H. H. Sargent, Carl Schurz, M. V. Sheridan, James H. Shields, Addison Smith, Andrew J. Smith, Robert B. Smith, W. E. Smith, John A. Soper, Emory Speer, W. M. Springer, G. W. Stapleton, Charles Stone, J. H. D. Street, Alf Sully, W. H. Sutherlin)
      Dates: 1873-1900
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 31
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: John W. Tattan
      Dates: 1877-1882
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Alfred H. Terry
      Dates: 1880
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 2
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: T (correspondents include B. H. Tatem, Phil Thorpe, E. W. Toole, Joseph K. Toole, Gordon J. Tupper, Charles W. Turner)
      Dates: 1873-1884
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 3
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: U (U.S. General Land Office; U.S. War Deptartment, unknown)
      Dates: 1873-1906
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 4
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Union Pacific Railroad Company
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 5
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: V (correspondents include L. VanGorp, Henry Villard)
      Dates: 1883-1884
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 6
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Decius S. Wade
      Dates: 1879-1883
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 7
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Charles S. Warren
      Dates: 1878-1885
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 8
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: William F. Wheeler
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 9
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: E.S. Wilkinson
      Dates: 1873-1877
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 10
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Frank H. Woody
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 11
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: A.M. Woolfolk
      Dates: 1876-1885
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 12
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: C.B. Wright
      Dates: 1876-1878
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 13
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: W (correspondents include William Wadsworth, E. B. Waterbury, Thomas Watson, Daniel J. Welch, Gen. Whipple, A. H. Wilder, H. F. Williams, Thomas Williams, John R. Wilson, R. H. Wilson, C. S. Woodruff)
      Dates: 1873-1912
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 14
      Location: Incoming Correspondence

  • Outgoing Correspondence

    • Description: Miscellaneous (includes letters to Secretary of the Treasury, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, William T. Sherman, Montana Press, U. S. Post Office Dept., Mrs. Howie)
      Dates: 1874-1881, 1904
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 15
      Location: Outgoing Correspondence

  • General Correspondence

    • Description: James Callaway; Samuel T. Hauser; William L. Irvine
      Dates: 1874, 1876, 1880
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 16
      Location: General Correspondence

  • Miscellaneous Correspondence

    • Description: Letters neither to nor from Martin Maginnis (includes C. Delano to Matthew McQuirk, Benjamin F. Potts to Charles A. Broadwater, Mary Emesrich to Margaret C. Bach, T. B. Miller to Margaret C. Bach, Nelson A. Miles to J. D. Cameron, John Alderson to P. W. McAdow, Robert E. Strahorn to Jay Gould, Ulysses S. Grant to H. A. Barnum, Robert L. McCulloh to Charles A. Broadwater, G. C. Swallow to John H. McInnery, William Lochren to A. H. Runge, unnamed mother to Walter Willett, undated postcard)
      Dates: 1873-1898
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 17
      Location: Miscellaneous Correspondence

  • Court Papers

    • Description: U.S. vs. Joseph Milligan and John Thomas; U.S. vs. I've Neill
      Dates: 1873
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 18
      Location: Court Papers

  • Legal Documents

    • Description: Affidavits to loss of horses and equipment in 1863; power of attorney; bill of sale; petition for Western Montana Agricultural, Mechanical and Mineral Association; Indian trader's license
      Dates: 1863-1875
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 19
      Location: Legal Documents

  • Speeches

    • Description: Miscellaneous (re personal observations on various military campaigns, re future of Indian tribes, Army appropriation bill, statue of Marcus Daly, World War I, Decoration Day)
      Dates: 1878-1907
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 20
      Location: Speeches
    • Description: Miscellaneous (re education, Ireland, Louisiana Purchase, Declaration of Independence)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 21
      Location: Speeches

  • Writings

    • Description: Trip to Montana from Minnesota, 1866 [incomplete]
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 22
      Location: Writings
    • Description: Poetry
      Dates: 1901-1902, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 23
      Location: Writings

  • Miscellany

    • Description: Certificates of appointment; election; etc.
      Dates: 1883-1909
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 24
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Invitations; programs; passes; calling cards
      Dates: 1872-1904, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 25
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Miscellaneous invitations; programs; passes [Map Case]
      Dates: undated
      Container: Oversize Folder 1
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Report of the U.S. Congress Subcommittee on Military Affairs in favor of Thomas P. Fuller
      Dates: 1880
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 26
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Request of Legislative Assembly of Montana Territory to U.S. Congress for land grants to railroads (includes typescript copy)
      Dates: 1877
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 27
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Sketch of the Missouri River from Two Calf Island to Judith River
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 28
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Tax receipts
      Dates: 1886
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 29
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: U.S. House Joint Memorial re Crow Indian Reservation; U.S. House Joint Resolution re cattle diseases and National Cattle Trail
      Dates: 1874-1879
      Container: Oversize Folder 1
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Scrapbook of clippings re Martin Maginnis (includes some correspondence)
      Dates: circa 1870- 1890
      Container: Volume 1
      Location: Miscellany

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Crow Indians--Government Relations
  • Indian Reservations
  • Indians of North America--Land Tenure
  • Military Bases
  • Mines and Mineral Resources--Montana
  • Railroads--Design and Construction
  • Trading Posts

Personal Names

  • Maginnis, Martin, 1841-1919 (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Helena (Mont.)
  • United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865

Finding aid prepared by Brian Cockhill, circa 1975
1975

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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