Scope and Contents 1840-1848: (Box 1) 29 items. Letters deal with local politics in Waltham, Massachusetts, where Banks was four times an unsuccessful candidate for the state legislature, 1844-1849. Letters refer to speaking engagements, temperance, Democratic Party politics, and affairs of the Boston Custom House, where Banks gained an appointment in 1843. There is a dated letter from lawyer and reformer Robert Rantoul. 1854-1857: (Box 1), 98 items. Many of the letters refer to the controversy over the...