Discovery
There are very few extant contemporary references to the Political Club. A U.S. army paymaster by the name of Major Beatty wrote in his journal that, while staying in Danville, he and his companions were "very much disturbed by a Political Club which met in the next house where we slept and kept us awake till 12 or 1 o'clock." Also, two letters mentioning the Club were written from Peter Tardeveau, a member of the Club, to two other members. Beyond this, no references to the Club have been found. Whether the Club was meant to be kept secret or the lack of references to it was purely accidental is not known.
The existence of the Club may never have been known if not for the discovery made by Thomas Speed II in 1878. Speed, the grandson of the Club secretary Thomas Speed, discovered a bundle of papers labeled "Political Club papers" while cleaning out his grandfather's desk. The elder Thomas Speed had kept meticulous notes of the Club's activities throughout its existence, though some were scribbled on bits of newspapers and old letters. Speed's grandson published the documents through The Filson Historical Society in 1894.
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