ROCKEFELLER, WILLIAM A. (1841-1922) 

American Financiers; Co-founders of Standard Oil Company

Document Signed, 7 ¾” x 11”, New York, August 2, 1898, as company officers, “Jno. D. Archbold, Secretary, Wm. Rockefeller, Attorney in fact,” a partly printed certificate for one hundred shares in the Standard Oil Trust.

Lightly and evenly toned, with light vertical folds; no paper loss from cancellations at both signatures.

American Industrialist – New York Central Railroad Founder; Democratic U.S. Congressman – 1857-59 & 1861-63

Autograph Letter Signed, 5” x 8”, as U.S. Congressman from New York, responding to a request for the appointment of the former U.S. Minister to Ecuador, Van Brugh Livingston, from William W. Campbell, a prominent New York judge and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and promising to pursue the matter directly to President James Buchanan.

“Washington, Dec. 18, 1858. W.W. Campbell, Esq., My dear Sir, I duly rec[eive]d your favor of the 25th ult[imo] requesting my aid in obtaining the appointment of Doct[or] Livingston as consul at La Union San Salvador. I have seen the Dep[ut]y Sec[retar]y of State who will advance to the President to make the appointment. I hope to see the President on Monday when I trust I shall be able to bring the matter to a point. Yours Very Respectfully, Erastus Corning.”

Several light folds and a light diagonal crease at lower left, well away from text.

American River Engineer & Inventor

Eads made enormous contribution to the Union cause by developing and manufacturing the iron-clad gunboats which helped in the opening of the Mississippi and other western rivers. 

Autograph Note Signed, 5” x 5”, inscribed to, and crediting, prominent Republican U.S. Senator Angus Cameron of Wisconsin for political assistance rendered in Eads’ effort to open the mouth of the Mississippi River below New Orleans to permanent navigation by installing jetties to scour sedimentation from the riverbed. Begun in 1875, entirely at his own risk - Eads would receive no payment from the government until a twenty-foot channel depth was achieved – the $5 million project was completed five years later, during which time New Orleans shipping tonnage rose by sixty-five times, making it the second largest port in the United States.

“Presented to the Honorable Angus Cameron, one of the Statesmen to whom the Mississippi Valley is indebted for an open mouth to its great river. From his friend Jas. B. Eads.”

Slightly heavier toning along right edge.

American Inventor

Document Signed, 5 ¾” x 10 ¼”, New Jersey, October 23, 1888, “Thos. A. Edison,” as company president, also signed on reverse, a partly printed certificate for shares of Edison’s own stock in the Edison Phonograph Works.

A few light folds; light staining and toning at left and upper edges.

Founder of the American Express Company; Democratic Mayor of Buffalo, New York – 1862-66

Document Signed, New York, July 7, 1873, “Wm. G. Fargo,” as company president, a partly printed 7 ¾” x 11 ½” stock certificate issued to Augustus Keep for 100 shares in the American Express Company. 

Hole-punch cancellation at far left; perforation cancellation at lower left, through the signatures of the company secretary and treasurer.

American Industrialist & Philanthropist; Founder of Standard Oil Company

FLAGLER, HENRY M. (1830-1913)
American Industrialist

Full Signature by Rockefeller - Very Rare on Stock Certificates

Document Signed, 7 ¾” x 11 ¾”, New York, December 21, 1883, with full signature, very rarely seen on stock certificates, “John D. Rockefeller,” as president of the Standard Oil Trust, a partly printed certificate for fifty shares of company stock, issued to “George Thomas Dowling.” Countersigned by company secretary “H.M. Flagler.” 

Diagonal cut cancellations, with no loss of paper, affecting both signatures; several light folds.

Union Major General - Ohio

After graduating from West Point in 1840, Sherman was superintendent of what is now LSU when the war broke out in 1861. Upon Confederate seizure of the U.S. arsenal in Baton Rouge, he resigned and shortly thereafter reentered the army. Early lack of success in Kentucky was soon offset by distinguished service at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Atlanta, and the “March to the Sea.”

From a Memorial Birthday Dinner Celebration for Ulysses S. Grant 

Signature with Rank, “W.T. Sherman, General,” in pencil on the front of a 5 ¼” x 8” envelope, obtained at a memorial dinner celebration on the birthday of Sherman’s longtime friend and colleague, President Ulysses S. Grant, deceased just three years earlier – from the pencil notation “Present at the first Dinner April 27th [18]88 to celebrate the Birthday of the late President U.S. Grant” - in an unknown hand in the upper margin; with the pencil signatures of Sherman’s fellow notable attendees beneath: “Chauncey M. Depew,” businessman & financier; “Geo. W. Childs, Philadelphia,” publisher; “Edwards Pierrepont,” former U.S. attorney general; “Albert Bierstadt,” Hudson River School artist; “R.G. Ingersoll,” agnostic orator & author; “Elihu Root,” future secretary of war, secretary of state, and U.S. senator; “Allen Thorndike Rice,” editor of the North American Review; along with those of Union Civil War General “Danl. Butterfield,” a Medal of Honor recipient, and Union Civil War Brevet Major General and diplomat, “George H. Sharpe,” written vertically in right and left margins.

General soiling and wear, with even toning and several edge tears.