Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1032

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.4 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Robert Milton Speer papers, 1861-1872, Ms. Coll. 1032, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1861-1872 (inclusive)

Creator:

Speer, Robert Milton

Form:

Correspondence

Abstract:

Robert Milton Speer (1838-1890) was a member of the United States Congress from 1871 to 1875 and a prominent lawyer. This collection contains letters written to and by Speer regarding politics, the legal profession and law, and family.

Robert Milton Speer (1838-1890) was a member of the United States Congress from 1871 to 1875 and a prominent lawyer. Born in Cassville, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania to Robert Speer (1803-1852) and Agnes Cowan Speer (1802-1851), Robert Milton Speer was the youngest of ten children. He attended Cassville Academy and continued on to study law, opening his own practice in Huntingdon in the spring of 1860. Mr. Speer was "clear in statement, logical in reasoning, unanswerable in argument and eloquent in delivery, it was rare indeed for him to be defeated in his cases and his services were consequently greatly in demand" (Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Biography of Pennsylvania, Volume II). Until his death in 1890, he remained active in the practice of law.

In 1863, Speer was elected as assistant clerk for the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. On April 26, 1864, he married Martha Ellen McMurtie, the sister of his law partner E.S. McMurtie, and together they had three sons, William, Robert, and Victor; and three daughters, Mary, Margaret, and Martha. A few years later, in 1870, Mr. Speer, a Democrat, ran for United States Congress against an adverse majority of Republican voters and was elected to the Forty-Second Congress of the United States as a U.S. Senator. In 1872, he was re-elected for the Forty-Third Congress. After being defeated in the election for the Forty-Fourth Congress, Mr. Speer continued to be a prominent figure in state politics and served as chairman of the State Committee of Pennsylvania in 1878.

On January 17, 1890, Robert Milton Speer died from lead poisoning in New York City after drinking water that had sat overnight in a pipe. His sickness was not caught in time to treat properly and he died in the hospital. He was survived by five of his six children, Martha having died in infancy.

Works Cited: Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Biography of Pennsylvania, Volume II, "Robert. M. Speer." Atlantic Publishing and Engraving Company, New York, 1890.

The Robert Milton Speer papers contains letters written to and by Speer regarding politics, the legal profession and law, and family. The first series deals with political and legal correspondences, the bulk of which were written around the time of his election to Congress in 1870. Also in this series are letters concerning Democratic party meetings, the election of Ulysses S. Grant, political sentiments, and requests for legal aid. There are also two letters written during the Civil War from a Major Frank Zentmyer, a member of the 34th Pennsylvania Regiment, 5th Reserves, which detail war conditions, anti-republican sentiments, and his feelings on uniting the political parties. Letters within this series are arranged chronologically.

The second series consists of family correspondence and contains letters written by Robert Milton Speer's relatives. The letters of E.S. McMurtie, D.E. McMurtie, J. North, and C.C. North, the in-laws of Robert Milton Speer, address legal and personal matters. Most of the letters by Speer's other relatives are personal in nature and many offer congratulations on his election to Congress.