Ralph J. Bunche Library to begin a collection of laws of the states, and $25 for the purchase of foreign gazettes and subscriptions to American newspapers that would be sent to American representatives overseas. In that same year, the Library also became, by law, the office of record to receive laws, public documents, and copyrights. During the War of 1812, the invading British burned the Capital, the White House, and other government buildings including that which housed the State Department and its library on August 24, 1814. While Dolley Madison famously saved the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington hanging in the White House,
USS Jefferson (1814) USS Jefferson (1814) USS "Jefferson" was a brig in the United States Navy during the War of 1812. She was named for Thomas Jefferson. "Jefferson" was built at Sackett's Harbor, New York, for service in Commodore Isaac Chauncey's fleet on Lake Ontario and launched 7 April 1814. She was manned by a crew from sloop of war which had been laid up at Baltimore because of the British blockade of Chesapeake Bay. Comdr. Charles G. Ridgeley was her captain. Most of the guns for the new American ships had not reached Sackett's Harbor by 19 May when the British fleet