Scope and Contents This collection is chiefly family correspondence which gives a glimpse of antebellum life. Gov. John Taylor agrees to the marriage of Harriet and Elmore in a letter, 17 Oct. 1826, and states "what I may [be] able to give as a Dowry . . . I claim the Right of giving as I have given to my Daughter Rebecca." Although the collection provides little information on Elmore's career as a lawyer, banker and U. S. Congressman — serving in both houses — correspondence with his family reveals him as a...