138 West 53rd Street
NEW YORK CITY, APRIL, 7th, 1906

My dear Sir:

A complimentary dinner is to be tendered

HON. JAMES W. JOHNSON

by the Colored Republican Club of New York City, the latter part
of this month, date of which and place the committee is to decide

We would very much like to have you serve on the
committee and also be present on that occasion. Will you accept?

An immediate reply will very much oblige,

For the
Committee

J. H. ATKINS

L. C. COLLINS

J. R. SPURGEON

LAW OFFICES OF
ATKINS, COLLINS & SPURGEON
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELLORS AT LAW
150 NASSAU STREET
SUITE 1327-28-34-35-36

TELEPHONE 4770 BEEKMAN

PRACTICING IN
STATE AND FEDERAL COURTS

NEW YORK

April 14, 1906.

Mr. M. J. Chisum,
138 W. 53rd St., City.

Dear Sir:-

Your card sent to me a few days since came duly to hand, but
at the time I was out of the City, which accounts for the delay in ans-
wering. I presume your committee is completed ere this, and not knowing
what duties will be or would have been, I am unable to state whether or
not I could with advantage have served upon it. But I am always glad and
ready to render whatever service I can, to show respect and appreciation
for the men of achievement of our Race. I shall endeavor at all rates
to attend the banquet, and will send my subscription upon receipt of in-
formation as to where it should be sent.

Yours truly,
John H. Atkins
President

'PHONE, 3935 COLUMBUS

C. FRANKLIN CARR

(LICENSED)

→→**FUNERAL DIRECTOR**←←

FORMERLY WITH THE LATE JAMES H. MATHEWS
350 WEST 53RD STREET

NEW YORK. April 7th, 06. 190

Mr. M.J.Chisum

Dear Sir,--

I am in receipt of your letter or post card rather
this morning and in reference to the same I will say that I will
gladly serve on the committee mentioned and also take a part in
the same if possible. Hoping to hear from you when necessary.,

I remain,

Yours Respectfully

THIS SIDE IS FOR THE ADDRESS ONLY.

Melvin J. Chi

138 West 53

NI

Melvin J. Chisum

138 West 53rd Street

NEW YORK, N.Y.

Melvin J. Chisum

138 West 53rd Street

NEW YORK, N.Y.

Melvin J. Chisum

138 West 53rd Street

NEW YORK, N.Y.

36 West 117th, Street,
New York, N.Y. June 7th, 1906.

My dear Mr. Consul;

I do hope you will enjoy the album, there
is one letter I never saw, the one from Gov. Pinchback. All
the other communications are herein. I wish you will keep the
album for the next 90 years and then pass it to your son.

The day you sailed we watched you until you seemed a
mere speck, and dear Mr. Wetmore cried like a baby and the rest
of us felt very funny-like. At some odd time I hope to hear
from you. You can always depend upon me.

Faithfully yours,

["XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

138 West 53" St.
New York City,
USA

April 6th, 1906.

Meeting called to order by Hon. Charles W. Anderson.

The Chairman called for a statement from the Secretary
as to just what he had done.

The Secretary read the minutes of the previous meeting
and the responses from the Post Cards which he had sent out,
as an answer to the request for a statement; same was ac-
cepted as a satisfactory report.

On the motion of Mr. Wilford Smith an other meeting was
set for Tuesday April 10th, Mr Smith giving as a reason for
this motion,-- we should give time for a more complete cir-
culation of the cards which had been sent out."

On motion of Mr R.L.Stokes, a sub-committee of seven
was appointed to do the work for the general committee.

The Chairman appointed, Messrs. Wilford H.Smith, Archie
B.Roberts, Harry S. Middleton, Wilbert T. Wright, Harmon Reid,
Walter A. Boyd, Gilchrist Steward and Melvin J. Chisum.

At the Club House:

On Tuesday March 27th 1906, after the adjournment of the regular meeting, Messrs, Wilford H. Smith, Harmon Reid, Wm.D.Jones, Solomon Johnson, Wilbert T. Wright, J.A. Anderson, Archei B. Roberts and Walter A. Boyd, were invited by Melvin Chisum to join him in the Committee Room for a few minutes,

Mr. Chisum requested Mr. Wilford H. Smith to call the gentlemen to order. Mr. Smith requested Mr. Chisum to explain why he had invited the gentlemen together: Mr. Chisum said: "Mr. Chairman and Gentleman, for more than a fortnight, I have been making inquiry among our President's many friends and well-wishers to learn what is thought of giving him a banquet before he leaves our shores, I find a most enthusiastic willingness on the part of the rank and file of the men, but no one as yet seems willing to take the initiative and it is for the purpose of casting the die that I have invited you up here"

"Mr. Chairman while I have the floor I will move that we proceed to form a working Committee, and I name Hon. Chas. W. Anderson as president of that Committee", motion was unanimously carried.

Mr.

On motion of Mr. Roberts, Mr. Chisum was made secretary for the Committee. On motion of Mr. Chisum, Mr. Wilbert T. Wright was made treasurer for the Committee. Mr. Harmon Reid reminded the Chairman that a vice-chairman was necessary. On motion of Mr. Reid Mr. Wilford H. Smith was made vice-chairman for the Committee.

Mr. Chisum asked to be allowed to add to the Committee the names of those whom he knew to be friendly to the movement; permission was granted. On motion of Mr. J. A. Anderson, the Secretary was authorized to proceed with all necessary preliminaries and avise with Collector Anderson as to the next meeting of the Committee.

Adjourned,

Melvin J. Chisum, Secretary.

On the motion of

Mr. Smith, the secretary was authorized to draft, have printed and send out still another card to all the members of the Club giving those who might wish to do so a chance to participate in the Dinner.

After a very lengthy talk by Mr Steward out of which grew no motion,

Meeting adjourned to meet again on
April the tenth,

Melvin J. Chisum, Secretary

138 West 53d St.
New York City, N.Y.

April 10th 1906.

Session called to order by Chairman Anderson at 9-30.

On motion of Mr. Steward a committee of two was appointed with
instruction to obtain estimates from the leading caterers of
the City, estimates to be for 75 covers.

Messrs Harry S. Middleton and Allen D. Wood were ap-
pointed on estimates.

On motion of the Secretary the date was made
May 5th. On motion of the Secretary, the price per cover
was made Three Dollars.

On motion of Mr. Boyd, it was decided that the
banquet should be held in the parlors of the Club House.

On motion of Mr. Sol. Johnson, Messrs Stewart and
Chisum were appointed a committee to get up an invitation
have them printed and send them out. On motion of Mr. Harmon
Reid, it was decided to leave all remaining detail to the Sub-
Committee of Seven. Adjourned sine die,

Melvin J. Chisum Secretary.

May 2" 1906.

138 West 53rd, St. New York City.

Dear Sir:-

We beg leave to advise you that the complimentary dinner to the HON. JAMES W. JOHNSON, which was to have taken place on Saturday, May 5th has been postponed until Thursday, May 10th, owing to the temporary illness of Mr. Johnson.

His condition is in no way serious, but his physician feels that he ought not to leave his room before Wednesday of next week. The dinner will take place, however, on Thursday May 10th, at 8 o'clock, P. M., in the parlors of THE COLORED REPUBLICAN CLUB of THE CITY of NEW YORK, #138 West 53" Street.

Yours respectfully,

Melvin J. Chisum, Secretary,

Wilbert T. Wright, Treasurer,

For the Committee.

New York, N. Y. April 2nd, 1906.

My dear Sir:-

We have formed a *temporary* committee with the intention of giving a complimentary dinner in honor of Hon. James W. Johnson, President of the Colored Republican Club of New York City, who has been appointed by President Roosevelt to the post of Consul to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela.

We feel the need of your counsel and advice in making this committee permanent, and write to ask that you join with a few friends on Friday night, April 6th, at 8:30 sharp, at 138 West 53rd Street, at which time and place we hope to make the committee complete and get down to business.

With your aid, we believe we can form such a committee as will insure a most successful banquet that will be a credit to us all and a great honor to our esteemed friend, Mr. Johnson. Please don't forget the meeting night, Friday of this week at 8:30.

TEMPORARY COMMITTEE.

Charles W. Anderson, President. Gilchrist Stewart.
Wilford H. Smith, Vice Pres. Harmon Reid.
Wilbert T. Wright, Treasurer. James A. Cambridge.
Sol. Johnson. Harry Middleton.
J. A. Anderson. Ed. Flow.
Wm. D. Jones. Allen Wood.

Archie Roberts.

ALEXANDER'S MAGAZINE

CHARLES ALEXANDER, Editor & Publisher

714 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts
Book and Job Printing

May 4, 1906.

Mr. Melvin J. Chisholm,
142 W. 28th Street,
New York City.

My dear Mr. Chisholm:

In response to the invitation of the Colored Republican Club to be present on the occasion of the complimentary dinner to the Hon. James W. Johnson, to be held in the parlor of the Colored Republican Club, Saturday afternoon, May 5th, permit me to say that I regret exceedingly that I cannot be present on this auspicious occasion. It would afford me very great pleasure indeed. I have known Mr. Johnson for a number of years and I regard him as one of the most efficient men that the United States Government could select to represent it at any foreign port and I shall hope for his success and prosperity in the work he has undertaken.

Please convey to the gentlemen having in charge this
Complimentary Dinner, my hearty congratulations upon their effort.

John Edward Bruce.
(Bruce Grit)
General Newspaper Correspondent.

105 Waverly Street.

Yonkers, N. Y., May 8 /06. 1920

Melvin J. Chisum Esq.
New York City.

MyDear Mr Chisum: I sincerely regret that an another
engagement which cannot be out of, will prevent my acceptance of your
very courteous and urgent invitation to be present on the occasion of
the farewell dinner to Mr Jas W. Johnson, which is to be given him at
the Republican Club, May 10th,

I am hearing constantly of your good work in this behalf, and knowing
how thoroughly you do these things, I should greatly like to be present
to see the effect of your handiwork

The Republican Club, honors itself and honors Mr Johnson in thus public-
ly acknowledging his worth and work. I trust that you and all those
associated with you will make this function worthy of the man whom
the President has so signally honored, and the Republican Club which has
honored the president by giving him a candidate who is representative
of the brains and culture of the Negro race, and who is fully equipped
for the responsibilities and duties of the office to which he has been
appointed. I repeat that I sincerely regret that I cannot join you in
paying my humble tribute to your distinguished guest, for the reasons
stated in my previous letter. I will content myself by drinking his
health in the privacy of my den, in a buner of Ice water, if I cannot
find any other liquid to quench my thirst.

Very sincerely yours

TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

To guard against mistakes on the lines of this Company, the sender of every message should order it repeated; that is, telegraphed back from the terminus of said lines to the Originating Office. For such repeating the sender will be charged, in addition, one-quarter the usual tolls of this Company on that portion of its lines over which such message passes.

This Company will not assume any responsibility concerning any message beyond the terminus of lines. It is agreed between the sender of the following message and this Company, that this Company shall not be liable for mistakes or delays in transmission or delivery, nor for non-delivery to the next connecting Telegraph Company, or to the addressee, of any unrepeated message, beyond the amount of that portion of the tolls which shall accrue to this Company; and that this Company shall not be liable for mistakes in the transmission or delivery, nor for delay or non-delivery to the next connecting Telegraph Company, of any repeated message, beyond fifty times the extra sum received by this Company from the sender for repeating such message over its own lines; and that this Company shall not be liable in any case for delays arising from interruption in the working of its lines, nor for errors in cipher or obscure messages. And this Company is hereby made the agent of the sender, without liability, to forward any message over the lines of any other Company necessary to reach its destination.

It is agreed that this Company shall not be liable for damages in any case where the claim is not presented to it in writing within sixty days after the sending of the message.

127 West 53rd Street,

New York City, May 10th, 1906.

To The Dinner Committee,

Gentlemen:

I am to thank you for an invitation which advises me that you are preparing to do honor to that brilliant American gentleman the Hon James W. Johnson, than whom I believe I have no better friend. In honoring him you surely pay a 'just debt to superior merit.

It is my honest opinion that President Roosevelt has intrusted him a diplomatic commission in the hands of a able man than our cultured and distinguished "Jim". If I am not presuming too much upon your time I wish to propose three cheers for "Jimmie" "Charlie" and the other friends who have made this function possible. Let each go, "Hip-hip" ----------.

It is impossible for me to be with you all in the solid, but my spirit is there.

TELEPHONE, 5819 JOHN

THE NEW YORK AGE
No. 4 CEDAR ST.
BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN

FORTUNE & PETERSON, PUBLISHERS

AFRO-AMERICAN JOURNAL OF NEWS AND OPINION

SUBSCRIPTION: $1.50 PER YEAR
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY

New York, May 10, 1906, 190

Mr. Melvin J. Chisum,
Secretary.

My dear Mr. Chisum :---

I greatly regret that a previous out-of-town engagement will prevent me from being present at the dinner given to-night in honor of Hon. James W. Johnson, American Consul to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela; but I assure you that I enter heartily into the spirit of the occasion. I congratulate the Afro-American people on the fact that it is producing a generation of young men, of whom the talents and character of Mr. Johnson make him a type.

Very truly yours,

DR. JOHN R. FRANCIS'
OFFICE AND SANATORIUM,

2112 PENNA. AVE., N. W.,
WASHINGTON, D. C.

TELEPHONE CALL, WEST 164-A.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF

REGISTER OF THE TREASURY,
WASHINGTON, D. C.

RETURN AFTER FIVE DAYS.

Washington, D.C. May 3, 1906.

Messrs Chas. W. Anderson,
Wilford N. Smith,
Wilbert T. Wright,
Melvin J. Chisum, Com'tee.,
Gentlemen:

I am in receipt of your invitation to attend the banquet in honor of Hon. James W. Johnson, Consul to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, at 138 West 53rd., St., New York City, on the evening of May 5th., 1906.

I thank you very much for the invitation, and wish that I could be present to join with you in doing honor to so worthy and elegant a gentleman as your guest. I wish however for Mr. Johnson in the discharge of the important duties of his office all possible success; and, from my knowledge of him as a man of character and ability, I have no misgivings whatever as to the record he will make in the high office to which he has been summoned.

House of Representatives
Washington.

May 2, 1906.

Hon. Charles W. Anderson,
President, Colored Republican Club,
138 West 53rd Street,
New York City.

My dear Collector:-

I beg to acknowledge with
many thanks the kind invitation of the
Colored Republican Club to meet the
Hon. James W. Johnson at dinner on
May 5th, and regret that a previous
engagement will prevent my being present.

Very truly yours,

RUFUS LEWIS PERRY

COUNSELLOR AT LAW, PROCTOR IN ADMIRALTY
375 FULTON STREET

TELEPHONE 2383 MAIN

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Apr. 11th, 1906.

Melvin J. Chisum, Esq.,
My dear Mr. Chisum:-

Your invitation to serve on a committee and to
be present upon an occasion of a complimentary dinner to be tended to
the Hon. J. W. Johnson received.

you
In reply I beg to assure you that my esteem for Mr.
Johnson is such that it will be a pleasure to comply with your courteous
request.

EMMETT J. SCOTT

TUSKEGEE NORMAL AND
INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE
TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA

Apr. 26, 1906

Mr. Melvin J. Chisum, Secretary,

138 W. 53rd St., New York, N.Y.

My dear Mr. Chisum:

I beg to thank you and the officers of the
General Committee for the very cordial invita-
tion which has reached me, suggesting my presence
at the complimentary dinner to be tendered Hon.
James W. Johnson, Consul to Puerto Cabello, Vene-
zuela, Saturday evening, May 5th.

While of course it is impossible for me to
be present on that occasion, I cannot forbear
sending this acknowledgment of the invitation, and
an expression of interest in the event.

It must be very gratifying to Mr. Johnson to
note the high esteem in which he is held by those
who have been most intimately associated with him,
and who know of his valued qualities of head and
heart.

IROQUOIS.

BUFFALO.

Buffalo, N. Y. May 1, 1906.

Hon. Charles W. Anderson, President,
New York City.

My dear Mr. Anderson and
Members of the Committee:-

I appreciate very much your kind in-
vitation to be present at your dinner, given
in honor of the Hon. James W. Johnson, our
Consul to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, and wish
I could be with you, but he whom I serve can-
not be in New York and whither he goeth so
must I go also.

A word to our departing friend.
May he succeed. May he remember those whom
he has left behind, and may we never be

constrained to say, we have had "Too much
Johnson."

Thanking you for the invitation,

I am,

Very truly yours,

Travelling Secretary to
Dr. Booker T. Washington.