| Creator: | Bicknell, George A. (George Augustus), 1815-1891 |
| Title: | Bicknell mss. |
| Collection No.: | LMC 1084 |
| Dates: | 1828-1881 |
| Quantity: |
Quantity: 2 Boxes Quantity: 2 standard |
| Abstract: | The Bicknell mss., 1828-1881, consist of the papers of George Augustus Bicknell, 1815-1891, of New Albany, Indiana, professor of law at Indiana University, 1861-1870, and a member of Congress from Indiana, 1877-1881. |
| Location: | Lilly - Stacks |
| Language: | English . |
| Repository: | Lilly Library 1200 E. Seventh St. Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500 Business Number: 812-855-2452 liblilly@indiana.edu URL: https://libraries.indiana.edu/lilly-library |
George Augustus Bicknell was born on February 6, 1815, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1831, he studied law at Yale University. He was admitted to the bar in 1836 and began practicing law in New York City. On May 28, 1840, he married Elizabeth Haskins Richards in Batsto, New Jersey. In 1846, he moved to Lexington, Scott County, Indiana. Two years later, he was elected prosecuting attorney of Scott County, and in 1850, he was elected circuit prosecutor. From 1852 to 1876, Bicknell served as judge of the second judicial circuit of Indiana, and in the 1860s, he also taught law at Indiana University. Bicknell won election to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses but failed in his bid for renomination in 1880. He subsequently returned to work in the judicial system of Indiana, first as commissioner of appeals for the Indiana Supreme Court (1881-1885) and then as judge of the Indiana Circuit Court (1889-1891). Bicknell passed away on April 11, 1891, in New Albany, Indiana, at the age of 76.
The Bicknell mss., 1828-1881, are the papers of George Augustus Bicknell, 1815-1891, of New Albany, Indiana, professor of law at Indiana University, 1861-1870, and a member of Congress from Indiana, 1877-1881.
Among the papers are a volume of his poems, 1828-1844; three of his diaries, 1833-1836, one of which is an account of a trip through the Middle West; a treatise on privity in all its branches, 1838; a volume containing a list of plants grown at his New Albany home and other garden records, 1859-1873; speech delivered before the Bible Society of the First Presbyterian Church, New Albany, Indiana, 1871; address to young men on religious, moral, and political duties; lecture on the teachings of the Bible in regard to slavery; eulogy on Judge John Steele Davis, who died on July 6, 1880; speeches made as a congressman relating to the Geneva award, 1878; amending the constitution for the election of president and vice-president by a direct vote of the people, 1881; treaty-making power; increasing commercial relations between the United States and the Argentine Republic; and interest on tonnage duties. Included are also a private log on naval life and a China cruise, 1866-1867, by his son George Augustus Bicknell, 1846-1925, rear admiral; questions and answers dealing with sailing vessels and a list of officers attached to the USS Potomac by Henry Logan Chipman, 1833-1839; a letter from Elisha Hallowell, 1858, to Bicknell; and a letter from Horace Heffren to the committee on pensions, 1879.
This collection is arranged following original order.
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[Item], Bicknell mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Purchase: 1952