Thirty-Fifth U.S. President – 1960-63

Typed Letter Signed, as President on 7” x 10 ½” White House stationery, to “Honorable Edmund G. Brown, Governor of California, Sacramento, California.”

In expressing appreciation for Governor Brown’s cooperation in support of a house bill to preserve California’s salmon and steelhead trout resources, President Kennedy gives voice to the spirit of conservation, for both domestic and strategic purposes, that would define American policy for almost two decades.

“Washington, August 21, 1962. Dear Governor Brown: Your letter regarding the Administration’s program for the preservation and enhancement of our individual natural resources is highly appreciated. The legislative proposal, as contained in H.R. 11356 and identical bills, would authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with your Department of Fish and Game, to take appropriate action to preserve and develop the salmon and steelhead trout and other fishery resources of the streams entering the Pacific Ocean from the State of California. These resources, vital to California’s economy, are of national concern. It is imperative that they be given adequate protection and, where possible, increased in abundance. The program will strengthen our hand in international negotiations, and advance our long-range plans for fishery conservation. We are pleased, therefore, to know that you are solidly behind Mr. Miller’s bill. Sincerely, John Kennedy.”

There are two light horizontal folds, a few staple holes in the upper margin, and several filing stamps and handwritten notations.

Sixteenth U.S. President - 1861-65

A Request for a Lieutenant’s Promotion – Just Two Months Before He was Mortally Wounded at Cedar Creek

“The above, written by a very good man, is submitted to the Secretary of War. A. Lincoln.”

Noted as a resident of Allentown, Pennsylvania in the accompanying National Archives records, Mr. Baldwin was undoubtedly a caller at the Executive Mansion, and was directed to write his request, hoping that President Lincoln would approve and advance it through the proper channels. His letter, accomplished in pencil, in full:

“Aug. 12^th 1864. To His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln, President of the U.S. I desire the transfer or promotion of my brother, Lt. Henry M. Baldwin, Battery M, 5^th Reg[imen]t U.S. Artillery, to any vacancy in the Regt. which you may decide it possible to place him, consistent with the good of the service. Very Resp[ectfull]y, F.H. Baldwin.”

There is no record of Lieutenant Baldwin’s promotion or transfer before he was severely wounded through the chest and left arm on October 19, 1864 – just two months later - at the Battle of Cedar Creek. He died on November 8, 1864 at Sheridan Hospital, near Winchester, Virginia.

The letter is in excellent condition, with creases from two vertical folds.                                                                                      

Sixteenth U.S. President - 1861-65

Civil War-Date Document Signed, 15” x 19”, as President, Washington, July 29, 1861, “Abraham Lincoln,” a partly printed appointment for “…Stephen Brooks…Surveyor of the Customs for the District of Middletown in the State of Connecticut.” Countersigned by the Secretary of the Treasury, “S.P. Chase.”

The document is in excellent overall condition, with light age toning and several minor paper breaks at the intersections of the usual folds. Both signatures are distinct and free from flaw in every respect.

Sixteenth U.S. President - 1861-65

Civil War-Date Franked Envelope, 3” x 5 ¼”, as President, “A. Lincoln.” The envelope is also addressed by Lincoln, to “Rev[erend] Z.P. Wilds, 120 Prince Street, New York,” and has a June 21, 1862, Washington postmark.

The previous day, Lincoln met with a six-member delegation of Progressive Friends, composed of Thomas Garrett, Alice Eliza Hambleton, Oliver Johnson, Dinah Mendenhall, William Barnard, and Eliza Agnew. The group presented the President with a memorial, urging him to decree the emancipation of the slaves, the position adopted at the Friends’ annual meeting. It is quite worthy of note that Lincoln wrote Reverend Wilds, well known as a longtime missionary to the poor of New York City, the day following his meeting with this group of prominent leaders in the Abolition and Underground Railroad movements.

Set into an attractive, inlaid pedestal frame, the envelope bears general soiling and wear, along with minor paper loss along the right edge and above the somewhat smudged postmark.

U.S. First Lady - 1809-17

Autograph Quotation Signed, on the front leaf of a 5” x 8” letter-sheet.

“A Toast. ‘The Rights of man the Gift of God; The powers of government the Grant of the people.’ D.P. Madison. Washington, June 6^th 1842.”

The letter-sheet is lightly and evenly toned, with light soiling and wear. There are two horizontal folds and old glue staining in the upper margin.

Fourth U.S. President - 1809-17

Signature, “James Madison,” on a 1 ¼” x 3” slip of paper.

A sound example, with light soiling and wear.

Twenty-Fifth U.S. President - 1897-1901

Signed by President McKinley for the First Lady

Executive Mansion Card, 2 ¾” x 4 ¼”, signed by President William McKinley on behalf of the First Lady, “Ida S. McKinley.”

The card is undeniably rare, this being the first such example I have seen. Minor smudging of ink at the conclusion of the signature detracts very little from otherwise excellent condition.

Twenty-Fifth U.S. President - 1897-1901

Signed by President McKinley for the First Lady

Signatures, of the twenty-fifth President and the First Lady - both in the hand of President William McKinley - “William McKinley, Ida S. McKinley,” on a 5” x 7 ½” album page. Dating in an unidentified hand, “1/5/[18]99,” places the signing during McKinley’s first term in office.

Overall condition is excellent, with light, even toning and minor smearing of ink to several letters.

Fifth U.S. President - 1817-25

Signature, with a ten-word closing also in Monroe’s hand, “I am Sir with great respect Y[ou]r very ob[edien]t serv[an]t, Jas. Monroe,” on a 5” x 6 ½” portion of a letter as U.S. Secretary of State.

The sheet is lightly and evenly toned, with a few pinholes along the left of two vertical folds; there is a small hole in the margin at right, presumably from the opening of a wax seal.

Franked Envelope, 3 ¼” x 5 ¼”, “Free, J.K. Polk,” addressed in another hand to “Gen[eral] Thomas H. Bradley (Care of Gregg & Elliott), Philadelphia, Penn[sylvania],” also bearing a Washington City postmark and stamped “Free” postal designation.

There is nothing to indicate if the envelope is dated to Polk’s tenure in the U.S. Congress, 1825-39, or to his single term as U.S. President. The recipient, Thomas H. Bradley, a Williamson County, Tennessee native, served in the 1^st Tennessee Volunteers during the Second Seminole War. Afterward, he established a large plantation on the Mississippi River in Arkansas, becoming one of the wealthiest planters in the area. In 1861, Bradley, a Unionist Democrat, was elected to the Arkansas Secession Convention, at which he was named brigadier general of Arkansas state troops.

Moderate soiling and wear is somewhat heavier at the edges.

Eleventh U.S. President - 1845-49

Autograph Letter Signed, 8” x 10”. Just three weeks before his election to the presidency, Polk directs “Gen[era]l Bradley, Franklin, Tennessee” in the posting of a letter to William G. Childress, possibly a member of the family of Polk’s wife, Sarah.

“Columbia [Tennessee], Oct[ober] 16^th 1844. My Dear Sir: I have written a letter to Wm. G. Childress – by this day’s mail, addressed to him at Franklin. I have to request that you will take it out of the office and send it to him to night, as I desire that he shall receive it early. I make this request because he may not call at the Post office for a day or two. You will oblige me by sending it out. In haste, Your friend, James K. Polk.”

The integral leaf is addressed by Polk to “Gen[era]l Thomas H. Bradley, Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee,” and bears an October 16, Columbia, Tennessee postmark. A Williamson County native and veteran of the Second Seminole War, Bradley was at this time probably helping Polk, a fellow Tennessee Democrat, in his ultimately successful presidential campaign. In the years leading up to the Civil War, Bradley established a large plantation on the Mississippi River in Arkansas, becoming one of the wealthiest planters in the area. He was elected to the 1861 Arkansas Secession Convention, at which he was named brigadier general of Arkansas state troops.

Overall condition is excellent, with the usual folds and an old paper clip stain in the upper margin. There is a small area of paper loss in the lower margin of the address leaf, due to the opening of the wax seal.

U.S. First Lady - 1845-49

Signed Card, 2” x 3 ¾”, “Mrs. James K. Polk,” dated in another hand on reverse, “May 4, 1887.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with minor bleeding of ink at the “P” in the last name.

U.S. First Lady - 1933-1945

Typed Letter Signed, 6” x 7”, on Mrs. Roosevelt’s imprinted personal stationery.

“New York, January 6, 1950. My dear Mr. Hallman: I have received your letter and I appreciate your writing. I am glad to know of the celebration that was held in Mexico. With many thanks and best wishes, Very sincerely yours, Eleanor Roosevelt.”

Condition is excellent, with a horizontal fold at the center.

32^nd U.S. President - 1933-45

FDR Writes to a Young Polio Victim Who Hopes to go to Warm Springs

Typed Letter Signed, on embossed 8” x 10 ½” stationery as New York Governor, to “Miss Lenora Burge, 228 N. Orange Street, Rialto, California,” apparently a young polio victim, hoping to go to Warm Springs. Responding personally to her request for information, FDR refers the matter to the head physician at the well known rehabilitation center, founded by Roosevelt in 1927 for the treatment of others afflicted with polio.

“Albany, June 8, 1931. Dear Lenora:- I have your letter of May 27^th and am taking the liberty of sending it to Dr. Leroy W. Hubbard, the physician in charge at Warm Springs, Georgia, with the request that he send you full information about Warm Springs. Very sincerely yours, Franklin D. Roosevelt.”

Overall condition is excellent, with light, even toning and two horizontal folds.

Twenty-Sixth U.S. President – 1901-09; Colonel of the Rough Riders - Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the Battle of San Juan Hill, July 1, 1898

Signed Card, 2 ½” x 4”, “Theodore Roosevelt.”

Overall condition is excellent, with light, even toning and small mounting remnants on the reverse.

U.S. First Lady – 1909-13

Autograph Letter Signed, two pages, 4 ¼” x 5 ½”, dated “1919” in another hand at the conclusion. Writing on imprinted stationery from the family home in Quebec, Mrs. Taft arranges to send a copy of her autobiography, along with autographs from her husband, which are no longer present.

“To W.E. Ambler. My dear Mr. Sir: I will send you an [sic] copy of my book which costs three dollars and a half, but I am in Canada now, and I can not get it easily. I will get it when I go back to my own country. Mr. Taft sends autographs but that is all. Yours sincerely, Helen H. Taft. July 3^rd.”

Condition is excellent overall, with a horizontal fold at the center.

U.S. First Lady – 1909-13

Franking Signature, “Helen H. Taft, Free,” on a 3 ½” x 5 ½” black-bordered mourning envelope – due to the death of her husband, William Howard Taft, the previous spring – also addressed by Mrs. Taft, to “Mr. George A. Stare, 1152 Muirfield Road, Los Angeles, California.”

The envelope is lightly and evenly toned, with light soiling and wear. There is a small hole just above the address, which is intersected by the oddly positioned October 23, 1930, Washington, D.C. postmark.

27^th U.S. President - 1909-13; U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice - 1921-30; U.S. Secretary of War - 1904-08

Signed White House Card, 2 ¾” x 4 ¼”, as President, “Wm. H. Taft.”

The card is pristine, both front and reverse.

27^th U.S. President - 1909-13; U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice – 1921-30; U.S. Secretary of War - 1904-08

Typed Letter Signed, as President on 7" x 9” White House stationery. Late in his single term, President Taft informs Texas Governor Oscar Branch Colquitt that an unspecified matter, about which Colquitt has inquired, has been referred to U.S. Attorney General George W. Wickersham.

“Washington, February 19, 1912. My dear Governor: I have yours of February 16^th and have invited the comment of the Attorney General, as you suggest. Sincerely yours, Wm. H. Taft.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with a horizontal fold at center.

U.S. First Lady – 1915-21

Franking Signature, “Edith Bolling Wilson,” on a 3 ½” x 6” black-bordered mourning envelope, postmarked Washington, D.C., March 12, 1924 – shortly after the February 3 death of her husband, Woodrow Wilson. Addressed in another hand, to “The American Legion, Allein Post No. 3, Vicksburg, Mississippi.”

Accompanied by a black-bordered card, with the printed inscription, “Mrs. Woodrow Wilson desires to express her deep appreciation of your kind sympathy.”

Both pieces are lightly toned, and the envelope has slightly heavier soiling and wear. Much of the signature is intersected by the postmark.