In order to locate records concerning Thomas Nelson Conrad and Daniel Mountjoy Cloud, I searched the online catalogue of the National Archives Record Administration (NARA), which is located in College Park, MD.\u00a0 My searches returned no results for Cloud, but it returned a\u00a0match from the United States Department of State\u00a0Records of the Office of the Chief Clerk:\u00a0Applications and Reccomendations for Public Office, 1797-1901\u00a0from the 1880s and 1890s regarding Conrad.\u00a0 I filled out the request form on the website to recieve photocopies of the documents, and they arrived in my HUB Box a week or so later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I recieved a set of documents\u00a0pertaining to Conrad’s application for the position of Consul General to Korea.\u00a0 The first was a letter written by Conrad to the Department of State on April 30 1889 on Maryland Agricultural College letterhead requesting the return of “the papers filed in my behalf regarding hte Corean mission,” likely referring to his application materials\u00a0including any letters of reference written on his behalf.\u00a0 A notation on the letter states “answered May 3, 89 , and papers returned.”\u00a0 The second was a note dated May 1889 in the State Department files stating that “Thos N. Conrad withdraws his papers.”\u00a0 On January 21, 1890, Conrad wrote a letter to the State Department on the letterhead of Maryland Agricultural College, asking if they could “please allow the bearer, Mr. S.P. Bayly Jr. to use my paperse on file in your department, I oblige.”\u00a0 A note by S.P. Bayley dated January 22, 1890 states that he “recieved of the Department of State all papers relative to the application of Thos N. Conrad as authorized by him.”\u00a0 On November 10, 1893, Conrad wrote in a letter to the State Department “In 1888, I filed an application with endorsements for appointment as Consul General to Korea.\u00a0 I wish to withdraw these papers, if still in file in the State Department.\u00a0 Would you do them the favor to send them to me.”\u00a0 A State Department note dated November 11, 1893 states “Papers returned to him.”<\/p>\n
These documents illustrate the fact that he was seeking foreign service posts during this time.\u00a0\u00a0His request\u00a0that his papers be returned in April of 1889 implies that he was no longer being considered for the position at that point in time.\u00a0 His authorization for the use of his papers less than a year later likely implies that he hoped to be considered for a future position.\u00a0 This timing is intriguing since his obituary stated that he was hired as a statistician by the United States Census Bureau in 1890.\u00a0 Since he asked for the return of the remaining papers in 1893, it appears that he no longer wanted a State Department position or believed he would not be considered for one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These documents raise some questions about his political affiliations and involvement decades after his service in the Confederate Secret Service.\u00a0 His\u00a0requests to be\u00a0considered for a position in 1888 and 1890 are somewhat puzzling, since Democrat Grover Cleveland was President in 1888, and Republican Benjamin Harrison was President in 1890, and supporters of the current President and his party were often given government jobs.\u00a0 I would be interested in\u00a0potentially locating\u00a0primary sources such as newspaper articles and local political pamphlets that may indicate his political affiliation.\u00a0 Also, I wonder if the publication of his autobiography in 1892 in which he claimed to have\u00a0attempted to\u00a0kidnap President Lincoln may have hindered his attempts at recieving\u00a0a diplomatic post.\u00a0 It would be a terrific find if I could locate the actual paperwork pertaining to his application, which was returned to him in 1893.\u00a0 If I could find the names of the individuals who wrote letters of reference on his behalf, I could get a better sense of his political involvement and leanings after the Civil War.\u00a0 Reading the letters themselves would give me a better sense of his postwar career and how he was regarded later in life.<\/p>\n
Bibliography:<\/p>\n
Conrad, Thomas, College Park, MD, to the United States Department of State, Washington, D.C., 30 April 1889. United States Department of State Office of the Chief Clerk: Applications and Recommendations for Public Office 1797-1901, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.<\/p>\n
United States Department of State, note, May 1889, United States Department of State Office of the Chief Clerk: Applications and Recommendations for Public Office 1797-1901, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.<\/p>\n
Conrad, Thomas, College Park, MD, to the United States Department of State, Washington, D.C., 21 January 1890. United States Department of State Office of the Chief Clerk: Applications and Recommendations for Public Office 1797-1901, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.<\/p>\n
Bayley, S.P., note, 22 January 1890. United States Department of State Office of the Chief Clerk: Applications and Recommendations for Public Office 1797-1901, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.<\/p>\n
Conrad, Thomas, College Park, MD, to the United States Department of State, Washington, D.C., 10 November 1893. United States Department of State Office of the Chief Clerk: Applications and Recommendations for Public Office 1797-1901, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.<\/p>\n
United States Department of State, note, 11 November 1893. United States Department of State Office of the Chief Clerk: Applications and Recommendations for Public Office 1797-1901, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In order to locate records concerning Thomas Nelson Conrad and Daniel Mountjoy Cloud, I searched the online catalogue of the National Archives Record Administration (NARA), which is located in College Park, MD.\u00a0 My searches returned no results for Cloud, but … Continue reading