Ninth U.S. President - 1841

Document Signed, 2 ¼” x 4 ½”, a manuscript note as aide-de-camp to General “Mad Anthony” Wayne, requesting a supply of paper from the quartermaster.

“Sir, be pleased to Issue one Quire Paper for the use of the publick. Wm. H. Harrison, Comm[an]d[i]n[g]. The Quartermaster, 7^th Oct. 1796.”

The note bears light soiling and wear, along with a few small stains.

Nineteenth U.S. President - 1877-81; Union Brigadier General - Ohio

Full Signature, “Rutherford B. Hayes,” on a 5 ¼” x 8 ½” sheet of stationery, imprinted “Leon Rheims, Importer. 5, 7, 9, Union Square. New-York…” at the upper left. Hayes has made the unexplained notation, “Gettysburg,” above his signature, perhaps responding to a Civil War related question from the unnamed recipient.

A horizontal tear at the center has been repaired on the reverse, and there are several light creases.

U.S. First Lady - 1929-33

Signed White House Card, 2 ¾” x 4 ¼”, as First Lady, “Lou Henry Hoover.”

Overall condition is very good, both front and reverse, with light, even toning and an area or two of very minor soiling.

The card is sold with the transmittal envelope and a typed letter from Mrs. Hoover’s secretary, dated January 27, 1933, sending the autograph. Both pieces bear White House embossing and the typewritten address, “Mrs. J.G. McCreery, East Lawn Sanitarium, Northville, Michigan.”

Seventh U.S. President - 1829-37

A Double-Signed Check, as President

Document Signed, 2 ¾” X 7”, as President, Washington, August 24, 1835, “Andrew Jackson,” a partly printed check, also accomplished by Jackson. Drawn on the Bank of the Metropolis for $200, the check is made payable to Jackson’s son, “Andrew Jackson, j[u]n[io]r,” and thus bears a second full signature.

The check is lightly and evenly toned, with several folds and light creases. A cross-cut cancellation at center intersects portions of the upper signature.

Third U.S. President - 1801-09

Autograph Note Signed, 3” x 6 ¼”, a personal, handwritten dinner invitation. Although the year is unstated, the note can probably be traced to 1814, one of only two years after Jefferson’s presidency when the seventh day of November fell on a Monday. The other was 1825, the final year of his life.

“Th: Jefferson asks the favor of Mr. Davis to dine at Monticello tomorrow (Tuesday). Monday, Nov. 7.”

Bearing light soiling and wear, along with several fold lines and creases, the note has been affixed to a 7 ¾” x 9 ¾” sheet, with the manuscript notation, “Thos. Jefferson, Signer Declaration of Independence & President U. States,” above. There is show-through of the recipient’s name, “Mr. Davis,” also in Jefferson’s hand, from the reverse.

Seventeenth U.S. President - 1865-69

Signed Album Page, 6 ¼” x 8”, “Andrew Johnson, Greeneville, Tenn[essee],” beneath the signatures of former U.S. Secretary of War John Bell, the candidate of the Constitutional Union Party in the 1860 presidential election, and former Tennessee Governor James C. Jones. The signatures can surely be dated to the 1847 to 1859 period, during which all three men served as U.S. Senators from Tennessee.

The outer margins bear somewhat heavier toning, and there are several binding holes along the left edge.

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, 11" x 18", as President during the final two months of his life, Washington, D.C., February 14, 1865, “Abraham Lincoln,” a partly printed appointment for “…Ayres Stockley…Deputy Postmaster at Rockland, in the State of Michigan.” Countersigned by the Secretary of State, “William H. Seward.”

Born in Philadelphia in 1824, Ayres Stockley settled in Michigan in the 1850’s. He died at Calumet on May 27, 1911 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Ontonagon, Michigan.

There is staining in the center, and slight bleeding of ink in Lincoln’s signature; clean separation and superficial paper loss along and at the intersections of the usual 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.

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 ¼” x 3 ¾”, “Mrs. James K. Polk, ‘Polk Place,’ March 7, 1889.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with a few superficial stains.