The Raab Collection announced a remarkable acquisition, one that contains material never before offered for sale and which contributes greatly to our knowledge of the relevant time periods. This acquisition consists of journals, correspondence, historical documents, and original photographs, some signed, handed down through the family of Commodore John Shaw, namesake of the USS Shaw, hero of several conflicts. The manuscripts track this family from Shaw’s journey down the Mississippi River in 1810, to the acquisition of West Florida by the US, to the South Atlantic on a slave ship, to Russia during the era of the Great Revolutions of the 19th century, to the prairies and reservations of the Sioux Indians, and into their schoolhouses, and beyond. They included materials signed by famous people, along with letters and archival groups of great historical importance, all unpublished.
Raab often introduces to the market material never before seen by the general public, material that is also unknown to scholars and researchers.
Below is an introduction:
The Unpublished Frontier Account of Anna Baker, Educator to the Sioux Boys and Women, A Rich, Historically Significant Account, Powerfully Told
Her account of life at the Yankton agency, her and others’ pioneering efforts at education and detailed, often poetic accounts of events and incidents with the Sioux and Ponca populations
The Unpublished 1810 Journal of Naval Hero and Future Commodore John Shaw, With His Detailed Narrative of His and His Company’s Journey Down the Mississippi River in the Wake of the Louisiana Purchase, and Accounts of the Capture of Western Florida
Shaw’s first hand accounts, all unpublished, of the West Florida revolt are important, as he was the naval commander in summoned by the Madison administration to support the land troops in the capture of the forts of the Floridians
Our research discloses no earlier narrative of a trip down the entire Southern Mississippi River having reached the market, and he makes mention of the geography of the river, numbered islands, small settlements, Indians, hunting, etc.
An Unpublished Archive of Correspondence From Africa Squadron Commander and Future Admiral Francis Hoyt Gregory, on Anti-slavery Duty, Written on the USS Raritan Off the Brazilian Coast
Among the subjects referred in the voluminous correspondence: the capture of the slave ship Porpoise, friendly competitions with other patrol vessels, the birth of the heir to the Brazilian throne, his son’s enfatuation with a local Brazilian native girl
An Unpublished Archive of Letters from Ralph Ingersoll, US Ambassador to Russia, Giving First Hand Accounts of the Emperor’s Actions During the Revolutions of 1848 and Arrival of Cholera
“I write for the purpose of letting my pen go more freely on some of the subjects of my letter than I should, were it going through the mail for I have no doubt that some of my letters are examined by the government officials in the Post office…”
An Unpublished Archive: John C. Hamilton, Ralph Ingersoll, and the Estate of Baron Jan Cornelis van den Heuvel, Plantation Owner and Early New York Businessman
A group of approximately 15 letters on the disposition of the New York businessman’s estate With 10 letters from the son of Alexander Hamilton, John C.
President Ulysses S. Grant Appoints a Trusted Agent to Pursue His Peace Policy with the Sioux
President Abraham Lincoln Appoints a Territorial Pioneer as Officer in the Union Army
The Prayerbook of Francis Hoyt Gregory, Kept on Board His Vessel in the Southern Atlantic Hunting Slave Ships
This book was also owned by his son, Henry E. Gregory, agent to the Ponca and Sioux Native Americans
