Collection Description

This collection contains correspondence, 1861-1911; genealogies; six letterbooks of Olin's private letters, 1893-1911; a book of minutes of the John E. Gilman Camp No. 6, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Roxbury, Mass., 1936-1943; and an undated book locating veterans' graves at Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston, Mass. Included are Olin's letters to his mother, 1861, regarding personal matters and a transcript of excerpts from letters written 1862-1865 while he was a private in the 36th Massachusetts Volunteers. These letters contain descriptions of the Battle of Fredericksburg, the capture of Vicksburg in 1863, the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864, and at Petersburg, 1865. Also included are printed requisitions, orders, and requests for reports from Gov. John Andrew, 1862-1863. Letters dated 1876-1877 include correspondence from Senator George S. Boutwell, George Frisbie Hoar, and John G. Blaine. As private secretary to Gov. Thomas Talbot, Olin was involved in the plan to establish a uniform design for the Great Seal of Massachusetts. Papers on this subject consist of a collection of state seals, 1879-1880, apparently for use as guides, and a copy of the legislative act setting the final design, 1885.

Papers concerning Olin's interest in veterans' organizations date from 1881 with a letter offering Olin the position of adjutant general in the Grand Army of the Republic and include correspondence about the activities and policies of that organization, documented applications for membership, requests for aid for disabled veterans, and the history of the Massachusetts Department. In 1901, Olin was involved in rejecting a controversial history of the Civil War written by J. H. Stine of Dayton, Ohio, as a school reference book. Additional correspondence in 1901 between Col. Nathaniel Wales and the War Department relates to opposition to the Congressional Medal of Honor proposed for Col. Albert A. Pope and includes details of service at Fort Jackson. Olin's interest in veterans' pension legislation spans the period 1893-1911, and papers refer to G.A.R. positions on provisions for widows and nurses and to Olin's work securing legislative support for the Sulloway Bill.

Papers pertaining to Olin's tenure as Massachusetts secretary of state include official letters confirming his elections between 1891 and 1911 and endorsement letters from H. L. Dawes and Edward Everett Hale. Correspondence with Dawes also relates to Olin's attempt to secure an appointment as representative in Washington to the Wool Association in 1893. Correspondence with John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy, over a long period concerns personal matters, Olin's recommendations for appointments to federal vacancies, suggestions for naming batteries at Fort Warren in 1901, and the administration of oaths of office in Massachusetts. Included are letters of various office holders and seekers; correspondence, 1903-1904, related to Massachusetts claims against the United States for the War of 1812 and the Provincetown claim; and letters about inscriptions for the Hooker memorial statue, 1904.

Letters regarding the Middlesex Club Programs Committee, 1893-1911, chaired by Olin, include correspondence with William T. Sampson, Richard Wainwright, John D. Long, Robley D. Evans, Capt. C. E. Clark, Maj. Gen. John R. Brooke, and Adna Romanza Chaffee.