Catalog Record:
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
The papers of Nathan Appleton, army officer and merchant, were given to the Library of Congress in 1976 by his great-niece, Dorothy Weld Coxe.
The papers of Nathan Appleton were processed in 1981. The finding aid was revised in 2009.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Nathan Appleton is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Nathan Appleton are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Nathan Appleton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Nathan Appleton (1843-1906) span the period 1850-1904, with the bulk concentrated in the years 1876-1902. The collection consists largely of an autobiography, letters, newspaper articles, and other printed matter mostly relating to Appleton's connections with French attempts to construct a Panamanian canal and to his support of free trade.
Nathan Appleton was born the son of a more noted Nathan (1779-1861), a merchant and congressman from Boston. After education at Harvard College, the younger Nathan served as an officer of volunteer artillerists in the federal armies. His wartime experiences impressed him deeply, forming a favorite subject for the speeches he was frequently asked to deliver throughout the rest of his life.
After touring Europe, Appleton met Count Ferdinand de Lesseps at the opening of the Suez canal in 1869. From that time, Appleton became devoted to both the count and his projects. The two parts of the manuscript "Recollections of Brevet Captain Nathan Appleton, U.S.V." ("Action and Counteraction" and "Dramatis Personae") among the writings in this collection tell of Appleton’s acquaintance with Count de Lesseps over thirty years, centering on his eight years of service as American agent for the French company that attempted to construct a sea-level canal across Panama. Also in the collection is a notebook in which Appleton memorialized his friend: "Souvenirs of Ferdinand de Lesseps, 1898-99."
Appleton's interest in the promotion of peaceful commerce between nations showed itself also in his action to establish free trade, culminating in his election in 1879 to the presidency of the United States Board of Trade. Letters and notes in the correspondence in this collection, addresses by Appleton and others among the writings, and printed matter among the miscellany treat the reduction or abolition of tariffs between nations.
Appleton's activities on behalf of the Panamanian canal and free trade, his frequent and worldwide travels, and his position as a member of a prominent Bostonian family are reflected in the printed matter and correspondence. Among the many correspondents represented in the collection are Edwin M. Bacon, George E. Balknap, Edward Bellamy, Henry Bergh, George B. Cortelyou, Andrew Gregg Curtin, John William Draper, John W. Forney, Marcus Alonzo Hanna, George Frisbie Hoar, John Davis Long, Charles Eliot Norton, John C. Spooner, and Anne Whitney.
This collection is arranged by type of material.