Benjamin Perley Poore was one of the first nationally known Washington correspondents after 1850, and his articles on political, military, and social affairs at the capital were published in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. In addition to his Washington reporting, Poore wrote numerous articles on subjects as diverse as agriculture and autograph collecting. He published several novels as well as biographies of famous men of his time, but unlike these works, which generally were forgotten after being widely read in his time, his work as a federal government researcher, compiler, and editor of government publications, indexes, and directories has withstood time and remains valuable and useful today.

His nearly sixty-seven years of life were filled with activity, including several brief stints in the military and the diplomatic corps. He also served as clerk of several important congressional committees between the 1850s and the end of his life...