Scope and content A combined notebook and scrapbook, kept by Beckwith for his grandson and namesake, contains his handwritten histories of himself and his forefathers, including his account of soldiering at Sackett's Harbor in the War of 1812; political opinions, including a long essay entitled "Our Nation, Slavery: Its Worst Evil," describing slavery in the United States, the public attitude towards the Fugitive Slave Law, and national excitement over the Compromises of 1820 and 1850 and documenting...