James B. Pond

Series I.A. comprises incoming and outgoing correspondence between James B. Pond and his friends, admirers and clients. A significant portion of the correspondence discusses business, including requests for lecture tours, suggestions for lecture topics, and scheduling concerns. Another common theme of the letters is congratulations on and impressions of Pond's book Eccentricities of Genius: Memories of Famous Men and Women of the Platform and Stage (1900) in response to complimentary copies sent out by the author. Notable correspondents include author Poultney Bigelow (1855-1954); Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and his mother Jennie Randolph Churchill, known after her second marriage as Jennie Cornwallis-West (1854-1921); U.S. Senator Chauncey M. Depew (1834-1928); Native American lobbyist and writer Charles Alexander Eastman, also known as Ohiyesa Eastman (1858-1939); and author and journalist Julian Ralph (1853-1903). Correspondents range from adventurers, to business men, preachers, politicians, and writers. The collection includes letters from the adventurers Adrian Hofmeyr (1873-1919) and Joshua Slocum (1844-1909) and writers John Masefield (1878-1967), Justin Huntly McCarthy (1861-1936), and Daniel Webster Wilder (1832-1911). There are also three letters on White House stationary from three consecutive Secretaries to the President between 1896 and 1902, Henry T. Thurber, John Addison Porter, and George B. Cortelyou, referencing presidential reaction to Pond's lectures.