Thomas M. Huntington, 1858- [RG1577.AM]

HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG1577.AM:  Thomas M. Huntington, 1858-1948

Letter:  1909
Gordon, Sheridan County, Nebraska:  Banker
Size:  One item

BACKGROUND NOTE

Thomas M. Huntington, the son of DeWitt Clinton Huntington and Mary E. Huntington, was born in New York in 1858. The family would eventually move to Nebraska, and DeWitt Huntington would serve as pastor at the Trinity Methodist Evangelical Church in Lincoln as well as chancellor of Nebraska Wesleyan University. Thomas Huntington eventually moved to Gordon, Nebraska, where he was a banker. Along with Bartlett Richards and Will Comstock, Thomas Huntington was indicted for conspiracy to defraud the government of land and to suborn perjury. In a 1907 trial held in Omaha, Thomas Huntington was convicted and sentenced to three months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of one manuscript item, a letter dating from 1909. This letter, written by Thomas M. Huntington to Walter I. Smith, head of the Secret Service, details the unethical behavior of Secret Service agents during the Bartlett Richards and Will Comstock investigations. Huntington was among those prosecuted by the government for conspiring to defraud in homestead land.

Note:  See the Bartlett Richards collection [RG2455] for related information. See RG2021 for materials relating to DeWitt Clinton Huntington. See the U.S. District Court records [RG0512] for materials relating to the Richards, Comstock, et.al. court case. See the Library Catalog and the Nebraska History index for published materials relating to Bartlett Richards and William Comstock.

INVENTORY

Letter, 1909


Subject headings:

Comstock, William Gardner, 1864-1916
Homestead Law — Nebraska
Huntington, Thomas M., 1858-1948
Public lands — Nebraska
Richards, Bartlett, 1862-1911
United States. Secret Service


AIP/ksa        04-1993

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