You write that you are sick and have been for a fortnight and did not inform me before. Is this right? I should have informed you if I were sick…I have been meditating what I should do…I ought to be with you to take care of you for I am sure we can take care of each other better than any body else can.

Letter, Amasa Parker to Harriet Parker, December 31, 1837.
Words and Deeds in American History

On December 31, 1837, Democrat Amasa J. Parker, Congressman from New York, sat down at his quarters in Mrs. Pittman's boarding house in Washington, D.C. to write a letter to his wife, miles away at their Catskills home in Delhi, New York.

Delhi, New York, drawn and published by L. R. Burleigh, 1887.
Panoramic Maps, 1847-1929
From Map Collections (1500-Present)

When Amasa Parker served in the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Congress, going home for the holidays was considerably more involved than jumping on an airplane. As John J. McDonough of the Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress writes in his feature on Parker's letter:

In the earlier years of the republic, wives and families of members of Congress often did not accompany their husbands and fathers to Washington. Demands at home were pressing, distances were great, and travel slow and hazardous…Many of the members, therefore, congregated in boardinghouses located near the United States Capitol. During these periods of enforced separation and loneliness, distance was frequently bridged by the writing of letters.

Letter, Amasa Parker to Harriet Parker [detail] December 31, 1837.
Words and Deeds in American History

Parker's letter of December 31 includes a seating chart indicating Mrs. Pittman's regular diners, a group that included future presidents Millard Fillmore of New York and James Buchanan of Pennsylvania.

The Amasa J. Parker Papers include more than sixty letters written by Parker to his wife during his term, of 1837-1839. Perhaps Parker's frustration at being far from his wife during her illness was a factor in his decision not to run for reelection. At the end of his term, he returned home to Delhi to private life.

Resuming the practice of law, Parker continued his political service, but confined his activities to the state of New York. Parker went on to become a circuit judge in Albany, and one of the founders of Albany Law School.

• Words and Deeds in American History is a rich source of material on Congress, Law and Politics. To locate more items, browse the item list for these categories.
• Search the collection A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation to peruse the records and acts of Congress. The collection presently makes available the journals of Congress, covering the period from 1774 to 1873, as well as the debates from 1789-1873. Future additions to the online collection will include the American State Papers, which contain the legislative and executive documents published by Congress from 1789 to 1838.
• To access the contemporary Congressional Record go to THOMAS, the Library of Congress's legislative information site.
• For further information about Members of Congress, search the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present created by the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
• The "birds-eye view" maps in the Panoramic Maps, 1847-1929 collection, just one category of the Map Collections (1500-Present), may be viewed at different magnifications with the "zoom" feature. This feature permits the viewer to take a closer look at the fine detailing of the images of the towns pictured here.
  
  To experiment with the "zoom" feature, take a closer look at the picture of Congressman Amasa J. Parker's town, Delhi, New York, as it appeared fifty years after he wrote this letter. Or, browse the Geographic Locations Index to locate a picture of your own home town.

Letter to a Jailer

New Year's Greeting from Presidential Assassin Charles Julius Guiteau to his Jailer, December 31, 1881.
Words and Deeds in American History

On December 31, 1881, Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President James Garfield, wrote a New Year's greeting to his jailer.

Charles Julius Guiteau shot President James A. Garfield in the back on July 2, 1881. Guiteau was captured at the Washington, D.C. railway depot, the scene of the assassination. President Garfield died seventy-nine days later.

Guiteau's trial was not only a national sensation but, as one of the first insanity pleas, an important legal case. Guiteau's attorney argued that his client was insane at the time he shot the President and thirty-six doctors testified as expert witnesses. Nevertheless, the jury rendered a guilty verdict in January 1882, and Guiteau was executed the following June.

• Read the Today in History feature for July 2nd on the assassination of President Garfield.
• Read the Special Presentation, Collecting, Preserving, and Researching History: A Peek into the Library of Congress Manuscript Division for a closer look at its mission and holdings of special collections such as the Charles Guiteau Collection.
• View the Learning Page special feature Presidents for information about our nation's presidents.