Strangers – Today

Charles Creighton Stratton, March 6, 1796 – March 30, 1859

Charles C. Stratton was an American politician from New Jersey. He was elected a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 1837 and again in 1841. He held the office of 15th Governor of New Jersey from 1845 until 1848. His wife, Sarah Taggart, was from Philadelphia.

Portrait courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

William Carroll, March 3, 1788 – March 22, 1844

William Carroll was an American politician. Born in Pennsylvania, most of his education came from his experiences working in his father's various businesses. In 1810 he moved to Tennessee and established connections with local leaders, including Andrew Jackson. Carroll served under Jackson in the War of 1812, building a reputation that would later help his political career. In 1821 he ran for governor of Tennessee on an anti-establishment platform, handily winning the election. He would hold the position for all but two years between 1821 and 1835. Following his time as governor, Carroll was appointed Indian Commissioner by Andrew Jackson, and was sent to finalize the forced removal of the Cherokees from their homelands in the present-day southeast United States. The Record of Strangers indicates that Carroll visited the Athenaeum with politician and friend of Edgar Allan Poe, Colonel William Drayton, on this occasion.

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William Drayton, December 30, 1776 — May 24, 1846

William Drayton was an American military officer and politician. Born to a wealthy South Carolina family of plantation owners, Drayton practiced law in South Carolina before being elected to the state legislature in 1806. Drayton entered the U.S. Army at the outbreak of the War of 1812, where he received the title of Colonel that would follow him for the rest of his career. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1825, serving until 1833 when he moved to Philadelphia. Although Drayton's Unionist views during the Nullification Crisis were a motivating factor for his relocation to Philadelphia, he continued to support the institution of slavery and published anti-abolitionist works. Athenaeum records indicate that Drayton became a shareholder in 1834. The Record of Strangers also shows Drayton introducing Edgar Allan Poe as a Stranger in 1838, who dedicated his Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque to him.

Portrait courtesy of Smithsonian Open Access — Source — Source — Source — Source