The Thomas Ewing Papers which form the basis of this microfilm publication are part of a larger collection of Ewing Family Papers which was acquired from the estate of John G. Ewing following his death in 1927. John, the son of Philemon B. Ewing and grandson of Thomas Ewing, had once taught history and political economy at the University of Notre Dame. Other series within the collection include the Philemon B. Ewing Papers and the John G. Ewing Papers. These have not been microfilmed. However, letters written by Thomas Ewing and found within these series have been removed and filmed as a separate subseries within this microfilm publication. They will be found on reel six.

Upon their acquisition by the University of Notre Dame Archives, the Ewing Family Papers were separated into the above mentioned categories and within each category, were placed, where possible, in chronological sequence. At one time a start was made at calendaring the Thomas Ewing series. However, these calendars, of which there are manuscript copies, were never completed and, consequently, have not been filmed. No very extensive use has been made as yet of this collection. Indeed, it is not even listed in the 1933 doctoral dissertation on Thomas Ewing by Paul I. Miller.

There are two other major collections of Thomas Ewing Papers. One -- an extensive collection which includes both the Thomas Ewing Family Papers and the Charles Ewing Family Papers -- is in the possession of the Library of Congress. The other -- a smaller collection -- is in the possession of the Ohio Historical Society, formerly the Ohio State Archaelogical and Historical Society. Descriptions of other collections which contain Thomas Ewing papers may be found in Paul I. Miller's Thomas Ewing: Last of the Whigs(Ohio State University, 1933), as well as in Philip M. Hamer's Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States(Yale University Press,1961), and the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections.

Editorial Procedure

Prior to the inception of this microfilm project the Thomas Ewing Papers at the University of Notre Dame Archives had been broken down into several series: correspondence, which consisted of two subseries -- personal letters and business letters; miscellaneous papers, which included speeches, financial papers, legal papers, and clippings; and bound items which included various letter books, dockets and account books. The correspondence had been arranged in a rough chronological order and, at one time, a start had been made on calendaring it. However, these calendars, of which there are handwritten copies for some of the letters, were never completed.

As a part of the present project, the chronological arrangement of the Ewing correspondence has been perfected, the personal letters and the business letters, separation of which was not perfect, have been grouped together in the same overall chronological arrangement, and an alphabetical listing of correspondents has been prepared. In a number of instances previously undated items have been supplied with dates. These have been placed in brackets in the upper right hand corner of the first page of the particular item. Question marks have been used to indicate questionable dates. Items dated only by year have been placed at the beginning of that year. Items dated by month and year have been placed at the bginning of that month. Enclosures, where they exist, have been placed immediately after their cover letters. Both incoming letters and drafts for outgoing letters have been placed in the same overall chronological ordering of items. Undated items have been arranged in an alphabetical order based upon the writer's name, and placed after the dated correspondence.

Papers related to Ewing's law practice have been identified, separated from other items, and arranged in a special series. Where possible these have been dated and arranged chronologically. Otherwise, they have been arranged alphabetically according to their subject matter. Dockets, Cash Books, and Letter Books relating to the practice of law have been included in this series and will be filmed exactly as they appear. In several instances this involves the inclusion of an item which does not appear to be directly related to Ewing's law practice. Several of the books used for keeping records of the cases handled by Ewing also contain records, of an earlier date, of the Lancaster Ohio Insurance Company in which Ewing held two hundred shares. These pages have been filmed as they appear in the particular books involved.

The remainder of the items in the Collection have been identified and separated into appropriate series. These include: material relating to Ewing's tenure as Secretary of the Interior, which consists of two letter books; financial papers which consist of various bills and receipts, bank books, and account books; and miscellaneous clippings. Finally, there have been added to the Thomas Ewing Collection, in separate series, relevant material found in other Collections, particularly the Philemon B. Ewing Papers and the William Tecumseh Sherman Family Papers, in the possession of the University of Notre Dame Archives. Although in most instances these items are letters, they have not been included in the alphabetical list of correspondents.

In addition to the alphabetical list of correspondents which appears both in this guide and on the first reel of microfilm, there has been prepared, as an aid to filming as well as an aid to users, a list of items microfilmed in the order microfilmed. This list will be found in its entirety on reel one. In addition, that portion of the list pertaining to each particular reel will be found as part of the reel.

As an aid to identification and citation, each frame on each reel has been given a specific number which will be found on the lower right hand corner of the frame. No matter how careful the editors and the filmers have been, there are bound to be cases where, after a whole reel has been filmed, it becomes necessary to either add or delete a frame or several frames. Obviously, this throws off the numerical sequence of the frame numbers. To meet this difficulty we have employed the following technique: when a frame has had to be deleted, the number assigned to that frame simply does not appear. While these procedures are a compromise with perfection, they are realistic in terms of the problems which unfortunately arise in microfilming, especially when the alternative might well involve several refilmings of an entire reel. Throughout the microfilm, targets have been used to identify various items, to call the scholar's attention to various defects in the documents which might otherwise be thought to have been due to faulty microfilming, and to point up special problems that have arisen in arranging and microfilming the collection. Targets have not been used in cases, such as for torn or mutilated pages, where the defects should be readily apparent.

Description of the Collection

A complete list of all items microfilmed, in the order microfilmed will be found on reel one. In addition, each reel contains a complete list of all the items which appear on that reel.