By David T Gardner,
This trove, acquired through donations and state accessions, promises insights into Larrabee's administration (1886–1890), yet our forensic audit—aimed at uncovering threads to Washington Walker Gardiner's aide-de-camp role and territorial negotiations—yields more silences than revelations. As we've audited medieval customs rolls like the 1447 Port of London accounts (TNA E 122/71/13), where orthographic shifts masked evasion schemes, so too do these gubernatorial gaps hint at obscured alliances. Let's unpack the receipts, tracing what this collection illuminates—and what it conceals—about our syndicate's westward pivot.
The Larrabee Ledger: Scope and Structure from the SHSI Guide
The Ms 9 entry in the SHSI's Manuscripts Collection guide is succinct: "Larrabee, William, 1832-1912. Papers and photographs, 1848-1943. Clermont miller, Governor of Iowa, family papers. 12 ft. (18 boxes)." No detailed box list is provided in the public guide—typical of such overviews, which often require on-site consultation or researcher requests for fuller inventories. From secondary descriptions in the Iowa Official Register (1889, digitized at HathiTrust, hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112053778557), Larrabee's tenure focused on railroad regulation, prohibition, and agricultural reforms, aligning with his milling background. Photographs likely capture Clermont scenes, gubernatorial events, and family portraits, per similar SHSI holdings like the Nutting Papers (Ms 106, cross-referenced in the guide).
Access is straightforward: the collection resides at the Iowa City Research Center (600 E. Locust St., Des Moines for admin, but Iowa City for manuscripts—per SHSI contact info in the guide). Open to researchers with ID, though some items may require handling requests due to fragility. Digital surrogates are limited; the guide notes "finding aids available upon request," suggesting a deeper inventory exists for in-person audits. We've cross-checked with the University of Iowa's Special Collections (lib.uiowa.edu/scua/archives/guides/rg30.01.22.html), which holds Larrabee Jr.'s papers (unrelated expedition photos), confirming SHSI as the primary repository for the governor's materials.
Territorial Negotiations: Echoes of Dakota's Divide in Absentia
- Our probe targeted Larrabee's role in Iowa-Dakota separations, given Gardiner's aide service. The 1889 Enabling Act (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 25, p. 676, digitized at loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/50th-congress/session-2/c50s2ch180.pdf) formalized Dakota's split, but Larrabee's correspondence—hinted at in his 1888
- Governor's Message (Iowa Journal of the Senate, 22nd General Assembly, p. 45, hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015056791757)—focuses on boundary surveys without naming aides. No Gardiner mentions surface; the guide's broad "family papers" scope omits specifics on territorial advocacy or Civil War-era staff.
- Secondary sources like the Annals of Iowa (1913, Vol. 11, p. 465, iowaonline.uni.edu/prairievoices) note Larrabee's railroad pushes, which indirectly spurred Dakota rail extensions (web:39, Atlas of Sioux Wars context), but gaps persist—perhaps in unindexed letters.
- This silence echoes our medieval hunts: like the 1458 Exning quitclaim (TNA C 1/27/345), where familial transfers dispersed risks amid attainders, Larrabee's papers may obscure aides' roles to shield political networks. Suggest requesting the full finding aid from SHSI archivists (contact via iowaculture.gov/history/research)—it could reveal Gardiner's dispatches on boundary commissions.
Civil War Affinities: Vicksburg's Shadow in the Governor's Orbit
Gardiner's Vicksburg breach (Compiled Service Records, NAID 83604572) and USCT captaincy (Senate Journal, Vol. 14, p. 169) beg ties to Larrabee, but Ms 9 yields naught—Larrabee's 1848 start postdates the war.
His prohibition focus (The Railroad Question, 1893, digitized at books.google.com/books?id=0z4rAAAAYAAJ) aligns with post-war reforms, but no aide mentions. Cross-referencing with SHSI's Mahan Papers (Ms 7, guide p. 7) or Macy Papers (Ms 17) might bridge gaps, as they touch Iowa politics.
