Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Papers of Elihu Burritt, 1840-1965

Collection: DG 096

Contact Information
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399
U.S.A.
Telephone: 610-328-8557 (curator)
Fax: 610-690-5728
Email: wchmiel@swarthmore.edu (curator)
URL: http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/peace/

Descriptive Summary
Repository
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Creator
Burritt, Elihu (1810-1879)
Title
Elihu Burritt Papers
Inclusive Dates
Dates of 1814-1965 (Bulk 1841-1878)
Call Number
DG 096
Language of Materials
Materials in English
Extent
1 linear foot
Abstract
Elihu Burritt was born in 1810, in New Britain, Connecticut. He was largely self-educated and became a blacksmith to support himself. Burritt continued to study languages at night and became known as the "Learned Blacksmith", and was offered opportunities to speak in public. He became acquainted with other social reformers and began his career as a prophet for peace. Burritt joined the American Peace Society in 1843, and by the mid 1840s, he had gained recognition as one of the leading peace advocates in the United States. In 1846, Burritt went to England to found the League of Universal Brotherhood. Burritt also attempted to foster international goodwill by promoting "Ocean Penny Postage," a form of inexpensive transatlantic mail, and by organizing several international peace conferences in Europe, notably the first Peace Congress in Brussels in 1848. Burritt served as the American consular agent there from 1865 to 1869. He returned to New Britain, Connecticut in 1870. He died in New Britain on March 6, 1879.

 
*Parts of this introduction were adapted from the Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1985, entry for Elihu Burritt, and from Elihu Burritt: Crusader for Brotherhood by Peter Tolis, Hamden, Conn. : Archon Books, 1968.


Administrative Information
Restrictions to Access
None
Usage Restrictions
None
Alternate Form of Material
Yes, photocopies of the original documents are available for researcher use
Acquisitions Information
Various gifts and purchases
Processing Information
Processed originally by various Peace Collection staff, and by Barbara Addison, January 1993; finding aid revised by Wendy Chmielewski, July 2008.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Elihu Burritt Papers/Records (DG 096), Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law

Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online library/archival catalogs.
See tripod record

Related Collections
None

Historical Background
 Elihu Burritt was born on December 10, 1810, in New Britain, Connecticut, into a working class family of deep religious faith and compassion for those less fortunate. He attended school briefly, but was largely self-educated. Burritt became a blacksmith to support himself, but he continued to study languages at night. Word of his erudition spread; he became known as the "Learned Blacksmith", and was offered opportunities to speak in public. While writing a lecture on "The Anatomy of the Earth", he was so impressed by the interdependency of its parts that he ended with a plea for international peace. This became his lifelong passion. He became acquainted with other social reformers and began his career as a prophet for peace.

 
Burritt joined the American Peace Society in 1843, but quickly took issue with its direction and approach. He aligned himself with the "radical" element, which rejected all war, including defensive war. By the mid 1840s, he had gained recognition as one of the leading peace advocates in the United States. In 1846 he edited the Advocate of Peace, the journal of the American Peace Society, but he became increasingly disenchanted with the APS, and resigned from the executive committee when it tried to justify the Mexican War as a defensive action.
 
Burritt wished to reach the widest possible audience; in order to disseminate his peace principles he published several periodicals, which were aimed at families, children, and people of the middle and working classes. He made eloquent appeals especially to members of the working class, reminding them that it was they who bore the financial and physical burden of war. He hoped that laboring men would form a vast union system, and make a universal strike against the war system. From 1844 to 1851 he edited the Christian Citizen. In 1845 he proposed that brief statements written by peace reformers be sent to newspapers in Europe and America. Known as "Olive Leaves", hundreds of newspapers carried the articles, which were read by an estimated two million people. In 1846 he expanded his idea of international cooperation by organizing the "Friendly Address" program, which paired cities in England and America to exchange greetings and expressions of good will. (The Peace Collection holds a surviving example of a Friendly Address, written by the women of Exeter, England, to the women of Philadelphia in 1846).
 
In 1846, Burritt went to England to found the League of Universal Brotherhood. Eventually, 50,000 people (male and female, over the age of 12), pledged to renounce all war and to refrain from military service.
 
Burritt also attempted to foster international goodwill by promoting "Ocean Penny Postage," a form of inexpensive transatlantic mail, and by organizing several international peace conferences in Europe, notably the first Peace Congress in Brussels in 1848. (It originally was to have been held in Paris, but unrest in that city prompted the move to Brussels. The second Peace Congress was held in Paris in 1849, and the third in Frankfort in 1850).
 
The international peace movement was shattered by the American Civil War and by the Crimean War in Europe. Burritt was in an especially difficult position because, although he had been an early and passionate advocate of the abolition of slavery and of complete equality among the races, he was branded a traitor by those who thought that the Civil War must be fought to eliminate the absolute evil of slavery. He had formulated a plan of "compensated emancipation", which would have paid slave owners to free their slaves with proceeds from the sale of public lands in the western United States. Appalled by the war and convinced that the North had erred in not recognizing the independence of the Southern Confederacy, Burritt at first retired to his farm, then returned to England to lecture and write. He served as the American consular agent there from 1865 to 1869. He returned to New Britain, Connecticut in 1870.
 
The years after the Civil War found Burritt's reform labors decreasing substantially, yet he continued to reaffirm the moral principles upon which he had based his life.
 
Burritt died in New Britain on March 6, 1879.
 
*Parts of this introduction were adapted from the Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1985, entry for Elihu Burritt, and from Elihu Burritt: Crusader for Brotherhood by Peter Tolis, Hamden, Conn. : Archon Books, 1968.


Collection Overview
The Elihu Burritt Papers consist of correspondence (primarily Burritt's holographs), published writings by and about Burritt, including books, pamphlets and newspaper clippings, photographs, and two serial publications edited by him: Advocate of Peace and Universal Brotherhood (1846) which was edited for the American Peace Society, and Burritt's Citizen of the World (1855-1856).

Burritt's correspondence spans the years of 1841-1878, much of it pertaining to his speaking engagements and publications. Included in his unpublished writings is a typewritten copy of his Last Will and Testament, unsigned, dated November 25, 1878.
 
The Peace Collection holds a miscellany of Burritt's books and pamphlets published between the years of 1846 and 1875. Some are in DG 96; others are in the book collection and are listed on the Tripod computerized catalogue. The Friends Historical Library also has a small amount of correspondence to and from Burritt.
 
The papers also include two books on astronomy by Burritt's brother, Elijah Burritt (1794-1838). Correspondents include Mary Carpenter and E.W. Jackson.

Items removed:
Serials: removed to the Peace Collection retired periodicals area.
Photographs
Two Ocean Penny Postage envelopes for 1850 and 1851 are in Peace Covers album. Photocopies are in DG 96, box 2.
Advertisement and pencil sketch of Burritt, in Oversize Collection

Arrangement of Collection
Items are arranged by type of material, then chronologically.



Detailed Description of the Collection

Box 1
Material about Elihu Burritt, 1840-1965 and undated
Bibliographies of material by, about and related to Burritt, 1958-1962, [n.d.]
Biographical material, 1840-1965, [n.d.] (7 folders)
Letter, E.W. Jackson to Elias Lane, May 29, 1847 [1857?] ALS, 1 leaf folded. Re: Burritt and Ocean Penny Postage, and "the League" (League of Universal Brotherhood?).
Elihu Burritt and International (Universal) Postage, Marion L. Hoar, Master's thesis, 1936.
Lucretia Mott and Fifty-Four Forty or Fight, Ellen Starr Brinton, [1946]; references to Burritt's peace efforts.
"Elihu Burritt, the Learned Blacksmith", by E.S. Bartlett, New England Magazine, Vol XVI, no. 4, June 1897.
Letters and documents written by Elihu Burritt, 1841-1878 and undated; Letter to Burritt, 1873; Published writings of Burritt, 1846-1850
1841 Dec. 6, Worcester, to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf.
1842 Feb. 25, Worcester, to Isaac Smith,ALS, 1 leaf.
1842 Feb. 26, Worcester, to Charles Samman,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1842 Mar. 14, Syracuse, to C.M. Davidson,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1842 June 17, Worcester, to Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf.
1844 Oct. 1, Worcester, to Amasa Walker,ALS, 1 leaf.
1845 Feb. 20, Worcester, to Friend Mitchell,ALS, 1 leaf, with printed biographical information about Burritt pasted to letter.
1845 Nov. 8, Worcester, to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf.
1846 Sept. 5, Bristol, to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1846 Oct. 9, Antislavery Office [England], to My Good Friend, ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1846 Nov. 5, York, "As much a brother...",ADS, 1 leaf folded.
1846 Dec. 4, Manchester, to Friend Lane,ALS, 1 leaf, with typewritten copy.
1846 Dec. 26, Manchester, to Mrs. Howitt,ALS, 1 leaf folded, mounted on another sheet.
1847 Jan. 6, Birmingham, to Friend Lane,ALS, 1 leaf, with typewritten copy.
1847 Feb. 6, Birmingham, to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf, with typewritten copy.
1847 May [?] 24, London, to Miss Richardson,ALS, 1 leaf.
1847 Aug. 9, Wrexham, "As there is no one square inch...", ADS, 1 leaf.
[1847] Sept. 24, [London], to Friend Lane,ALS, 1 leaf folded, with typewritten copy.
1848 March 30, London, to Dear Sir,ADS, 1 leaf. (2 copies: copy 2 had been mounted on wood). At head of letter: "Peace Convention in Paris".
1848 July 21, London, to Dear Friend,ALS, 1 leaf, with typewritten copy.
1848 Aug. 1, London, to Thomas Harvey,ALS, 1 leaf.
[1848?] Aug. 31, Paris, to Dear Fry,ALS, 1 leaf. Re: Brussels Peace Congress, held in 1848.
1849 Jan. 8, London, to Dear Lacan, ALS, 1 leaf.
1849 Jan. 20, [London], to Dear Lacan,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
[1849] Mar. 29 [London], to My Dear Friend,ALS, 1 leaf. May be 1848.
1849 Juillet 31, to Sir,ALS, 1 leaf. (In another hand?, letter is signed by Burritt and Henry Richards).
1849 Sept. 18, to Sir (M. de Coquerel, Paris),ALS, 1 leaf folded. (In another hand, signed by Burritt and Henry Richards), with typewritten copy.
1849 Nov. 28, to My Dear Sir (John Stetson)ALS, 1 leaf.
[1850] Ocean Penny Postage envelope
1850 Ocean Penny Postage envelope addressed to Caleb H. Canby. (Original in Peace Covers album).
1850 Feb. 19, Worcester, to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1851 Ocean Penny Postage envelope. (Original in Peace Covers album).
1851 Apr. 2, London, to My Dear Friend,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1851 June 26, London, to Sir,printed letter, 1 leaf folded. At head of letter: "Congress of the Friends of Peace".
1851 July 15, [London?], to Wm. Darlington,ALS, 1 leaf folded. Mounted (removably) on document explaining the Ocean Penny Postage motif which was used on this letterhead.
1852 Jan. 30, York, to Rev. Mr. Young,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1854 Apr. 10, Washington, to My Dear Friend,Photocopy of ALS [1 leaf?].
[1856?] Ocean Penny Postage envelope.
1856 Jan. 19, Livonia, N.Y., to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
[1857?] Mar. 5, Manchester, to Friend Lane,ALS, 1 leaf.
1857 Mar. 10, Buffalo, to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf.
[1857] Mar. 22, Edinburgh, to Friend Lane,ALS, 1 leaf.
[1857] Apr. 24, London, to Friend Lane,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
[1857] May 2, London, to Friend Lane,ALS, 1 leaf, with typewritten copy.
[1857] July 1, London, to Friend Lane,AL, 1 leaf, with typewritten copy. Burritt's signature apparently has been cut off from the bottom of the letter.
1857 July 16, London, to Dear Friend,ALS, 1 leaf.
1858 Apr. 20, New Britain, Conn., to Misses Fowler & Wells, ALS, 1 leaf. Written on prospectus for Burritt's periodical The North and the South.
1859 Aug. 12, New Britain, Conn., to Prof. Benj. Silliman, ALS, 1 leaf.
1862 Jan. 5, Islington, to Elias Lane, ALS, 1 leaf folded, with typewritten copy.
1863 Jan. 13, Islington, to B.B. MacArthur,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
[1864?] Mar. 31, Birmingham, to My Dear Young Friend [Elihu Burritt Lane, son of Elias Lane]ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1867 Jan. 28, Birmingham, to Collector of Customs at New York, ADS, 1 leaf.
1867? May 4, Birmingham, to Bigelow, Kenn___ & Co., ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1867 June 15, [Birmingham], to Daniel A. Wells,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1868 Jan. 13, Birmingham, to Mrs. Gr_____,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1868 Jan. 30, Birmingham, to Mrs. Gr_____,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1868 Nov. 25, Birmingham, to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1869 Oct. 5, Birmingham, to Elihu Burritt Lane,ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1872 May 7 [May 4?], New Britain, Conn., to Edwin A. Mercun, ALS, 1 leaf folded.
1874 May 6, New Britain, Conn., to Alderman Mechi,ALS, 1 leaf, with envelope. Re: William H. Miller.
1876 Mar. 8, [s.l.], to Mr. Mecker,ALS 1 leaf.
1878 Oct. 11, New Britain, Conn., to the Editor of Scribner's Magazine, ALS, 1 leaf.
1878 Nov. 25, Last Will and Testament of Elihu Burritt, typed document, not signed, 5 leaves. Recorded Mar. 17, 1879.
[No year], Feb. 4, Birmingham, to Friend Gilpin,ALS, 1 leaf.
[No year], Nov. 24, London, to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf. Re: Burritt's speech "The Impolicy of War".
[No date] Letter to My Dear Sir,ALS, 1 leaf. "I thank you heartily for your kind letter..."
No date] Card, 3.5 in. x 2.5 in., signed. "God is love. Love is the source..."
[No date] ADS, 1 leaf. "The capacity of acquiring, preserving, and enjoying freedom..."
[No date] ADS, 1 leaf. "Look on Bunker Hill..."

Box 2 [letters and documents have been photocopied; originals are in restricted collection]
Correspondence addressed to Elihu Burritt
1873 May 26, ALS from Mary Carpenter (British social reformer), 1 leaf, introducing her enclosed pamphlet The Duty of Society to the Criminal Classes, Montreal : D. Rose, 1873 [letter and pamphlet have been photocopied; originals are restricted collection]
Published writings of Elihu Burritt, 1846-1850 (2 folders)
1846 "Wars and Their Consequences," The Young People's Magazine, Vol. 1, no. 3 (Mar. 1846), p. 67-68.
1847 Sparks from the Anvil. London: C. Gilpin, 1847.
1847 "A Dream," The Ladies' Wreath and Literary Gatherer, Vol. 9, no. 2 (Feb. 1847), p. 42-47.
[1847] "Literary Notice," reprints "The Natural Bridge" from Burritt's Sparks from the Anvil. Howitt's Journal [Oct. 25, 1847]
[1848?] Ocean Penny Postage: Its Necessity Shown and Its Feasibility Demonstrated. London : C. Gilpin, [1848?]
1848 "One Blood and One Brotherhood," in Gems of Reform. New Concord, O[hio?] : M.R. Hull, 1848.
[1849?] An Olive Leaf for the French People. [S.l. : s.n., 1849?] 2 copies, one encapsulated, one with trimmed margins.
[1850?] A Congress of Nations : Addresses at the International Peace Congresses at Brussels (1848), Paris (1849), and Frankfort (1850). Old South Leaflets, No. 146. Boston : Directors of the Old South Work, [1850?] 2 copies.
1850 Elihu Burritt's Miscellaneous Writings. Worcester, Mass. : T. Drew, Jr., 1850.
Published writings of Elihu Burritt, 1856-1875 and undated; Works published and edited by Burritt, 1846-1858; Writings of Elijah Burritt
Published writings, 1856-1875, [n.d.] (3 folders):
1856 A Plan of Brotherly Copartnership of the North and South, for the Peaceful Extinction of Slavery. New York : Dayton and Burdick, 1856.
1856 The Year-Book of the Nations, for 1856. New York : D. Appleton, 1856.
1861 "Address of Elihu Burritt," in Thirty-Third Anniversary of the American Peace Society. Boston : American Peace Society, 1861.
1868 Jonas Webb, His Life, Labours and Worth. London : Sampson Low, Son and Marston, 1868.
1870 "The Electric Post," Phrenological Journal and Packard's Monthly, Old Series Vol. 51, (July 1870).
1871 The Western and Eastern Questions of Europe. Hartford : Hamersly, 1871.
1873 "Remarks of Elihu Burritt...", An Historical Discourse Delivered at the Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Erection of the Congregational Church...October 16, 1872. Hartford : Case, Lockwood & Brainard, 1873.
1875 The Twin Daughters of the Horseleech. New Vienna, Ohio : Peace Association of Friends in America, 1875.
[n.d.] Twenty Reasons for Total Abstinence From Slave-Labour Produce. Bucklersbury [England] : J. Unwin, [n.d.] Probably written between 1852 and 1860. 2 copies.
[n.d.] The Rabbit and the Peasant. [S.l. : s.n., n.d.] 1 leaf mimeographed.
Works published or edited by Burritt
1846 Advocate of Peace and Universal Brotherhood (1846) (serial publication). Removed to Peace Coll. Periodicals, retired area under American Peace Society.
[1847?] Unity and Peace, a Sermon Preached...by John Weiss. Worcester : E. Burritt, [1847?]
[1850?] Prospectus for The Christian Citizen. [1850?]. Large, tabloid-type advertisement.
[1850?] Prospectus for Burritt's Christian Citizen [1850?] 7.25 x 4.5 in.
[1855?] Prospectus for Burritt's Citizen of the World [1855?]
1855-1856 Burritt's Citizen of the World (1855-1856) (serial publication) [removed to Periodical Collection]
[1858?] Prospectus for The North and the South [1858?]
Publications of Elijah Burritt (brother of Elihu Burritt)
1841 The Geography of the Heavens and Class Book of Astronomy...5th ed. New York : F.J. Huntington, 1841.
1859 The Geography of the Heavens and Class Book of Astronomy... Ed. "greatly enlarged, revised and illustrated". New York : Mason Brothers, 1859.
 
 
 
 


Removed to Photograph Collection:
 
1. Portrait of Elihu Burritt [ca. 1846?]. 2 copies.
 
2. Portrait of EB, undated. Signed "Your faithful friend, Elihu Burritt".
 
3. Photo of EB, full-length, with knapsack, undated.
 
4. Portrait of EB seated, with right hand at ear, undated. 2 copies.

Removed to Oversize Collection:
1. "The Late Mr. Elihu Burritt" (aged 68 years): Pencil sketch, artist and date unknown.

2. "Elihu Burritt's newspaper" (advertisement)

This file was last updated on July 30, 2008.