U.S. First Lady – 1825-29

Autograph Letter Signed, 8” x 10”, with a seldom-seen second form of her signature, “Wife of John Quincy Adams,” added at the conclusion. Graciously writing to the wife of the politically connected Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, the former first lady sends an engraving for Mrs. Tayloe’s collection.

“Quincy [Massachusetts], 28th Oct[o]ber, 1842. Herewith I have the pleasure my Dear Madam to send you the promised engraving to be placed so flatteringly in your elegant Collection of Autographs, where I shall have the gratification of shining, at least through a reflected light, among the brilliant luminaries who so greatly adorn your Book. In the hope of soon meeting you and Mr. Tayloe in Washington; permit me to offer the sentiment of regard of Louisa Catherine Adams. Wife of John Quincy Adams.”

Although the engraving mentioned is no longer present, this letter is accompanied by a 3 ¼” x 6 ¼” address panel, also addressed by Mrs. Adams, to “Mrs. B.O. Tayloe, Washington.”

The letter has a few light water stains and small edge tears, detracting very little from excellent overall condition.

American Social Reformer & Feminist; Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize - 1931

Signature, inscribed, “To Harriet Hull, from Jane Addams, Hull House, Chicago,” on a light 3 ¼” x 5” card.

Slightly irregular toning along the left edge.

African-American Contralto

One of the most celebrated singers of her time, Anderson was refused permission to perform at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939, due to racial prejudice. In response, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership in the organization, and a concert was arranged for Easter Sunday, 1939, at the Lincoln Memorial. On January 7, 1955, Anderson became the first black person to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Document Signed, 6” x 9”, “Marian Anderson,” a four-page printed program for “her twelfth consecutive coast-to-coast tour of her native land,” presented by the Civic Music Association; signed diagonally across the text of the title page.

The program has general soiling and wear, along with several folds and light creases, and there is a break in the paper in the mid-left margin.

Union Brigadier General – Massachusetts

While leading the 10^th Massachusetts under McClellan on the Peninsula, Briggs was severely wounded in both thighs at Seven Pines. He briefly returned to active service, to command a brigade in the Middle Department and a division in the Army of the Potomac.

Briggs Writes to His Wife After “the late bloody battle of Gettysburg.”

War-Date Autograph Letter Signed, four pages, on a 5” x 8” letter-sheet, signed “your Husband,” incorporating his signature into his wife’s address, “Mrs. H.S. Briggs, Pittsfield, Mass[achusetts],” at the conclusion. Assigned to lead an Eighth Corps brigade in the Army of the Potomac, Briggs relates the rigors sustained by the troops in his command. Many of them were Massachusetts Volunteers approaching the end of their nine-month terms of service – diverted and quick-marched to guard Union-held territory near Harpers Ferry during the retreat of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia after “the late bloody battle of Gettysburg.”

Dear Molly,

I have been thinking ever since we got into camp about 11 o’clock this forenoon that I must write; but it has been so hot and I have been so sleepy that I have not got to it till now (past 9 o’c[lock] eve) and that is time to turn in for…as early as 4 o’c[lock] in the morning to march.

This has been the hottest day we have had, and the men could hardly have endured a long march. We left camp near Waterford this morning at about 7 o’c[lock] and halted here as I said a little before 11 o’c[lock]. We are bivouacked in a fine wood, the first shade of any account we have had in our encampment. I last wrote you at camp near Buckittsville on Thursday I believe (or Friday, it is very difficult for me to keep the days of the week). We were ordered to march from there at 4 o’c[lock] yesterday morning but didn’t get off till about 6, then marched to Waterford which we reached about 2 o’c[lock] and had plenty of time to get into camp and rest before night. We crossed the Potomac yesterday morning by a pontoon bridge about 8 o’c[lock] at Berlin, where we left the 46[th] Mass[achusetts] Col[onel] [William S.] Shurtleff to go home its time having nearly expired. That leaves me with only the 8^th [Massachusetts] whose time expires on the 30^th inst[ant] and the 39^th [Massachusetts] about a thousand men in all; But that is a large Brigade in this Corps so reduced has it become by the casualties of a long term, the most ever of all which was the late bloody battle of Gettysburg. A Vermont Brig[age] left the Div[ision] yesterday also nine month troops.

Which way we go from here I know nothing of nor what is going on about us. It was supposed this morning that we were going to Leesburg [Virginia] from which we were about 7 miles to the north. We are now about the same distance west, and about mid-way between or opposite Gregors and Snickers Gaps in the Blue Ridge. I keep remarkably well altho[ugh] we all feel our broken sleep. Our orders to march almost invariably come after midnight here since there is not much sleep for us after that.

Dear Molly I have thought a great deal of you all to day, both on the march and since arrival in camp. I can think of you with better heart than when I first joined this army a week ago tho[ugh] not less tenderly and graciously. I am not so homesick and have come to accept my position as a necessity and duty. I am not altogether agreeably situated here; but I am content for the present in the belief that there will be some change soon as my command will be broken up by the departure of the 8^th [Massachusetts] a week hence.

It is now a fortnight since the date of your and George’s last letter. I do not allow myself to be anxious about you, trusting the Father of Mercies and of us all to keep you. Our mails are not often sent, since I suppose it is hardly known at Washington what my address is. I shall hope now to hear from you after the receipt of my letter from Funkstown dated a week ago tomorrow.

Our mail boy was sent to H[ea]d Qu[arter]s tonight but returned with the message that probably there would be no mail sent for two or three days.

I must turn in. So good night with lots of love to all. Affectionately your Husband. Mrs. H.S. Briggs, Pittsfield, Mass[achusetts].”

Assistant U.S. Secretary of War – 1864-65; Publisher & Editor of the New York Sun

Autograph Letter Signed, in violet ink, on imprinted 5” x 8” stationery as editor of the New York Sun. Writing to Baltimore native Eugene L. Didier, a published authority on Edgar Allan Poe, Dana expresses interest in receiving letters to print in The Sun.

“New York, Oct[ober] 11, 1883. Dear Sir: In reply to your favor of Tuesday last, I can only say that we shall be very glad to receive your letters and to pay for those that we find sufficiently interesting to print. Yours very truly, C.A. Dana.”

The letter is lightly and evenly toned, with two horizontal folds.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of War – 1864-65; Publisher & Editor of the New York Sun

Signed Card, 2 ½” x 3 ¾”, “C.A. Dana, Feb[ruary] 10, 1896.”

American Journalist, Lecturer & Actress

Autograph Quotation Signed, on a 1 ¾” x 3 ¾” card.

“The price of success is industry. Kate Field.”

The card is lightly and evenly toned, with a light stain at the signature, and there is old glue staining on the reverse.

Established by act of Congress near the conclusion of the Civil War, the Freedmen’s Bureau aided former slaves in the South by arranging legal services, food and housing, education, health care, and employment. Union General Oliver O. Howard served as the first Chief Commissioner of the bureau, which operated from 1865 until disbanded by President Grant in 1872.

Letter Signed, on a 7 ¾” x 9 ¾” letter-sheet, imprinted War Department, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. This communication from Bureau Commissioner Oliver O. Howard, secretarially written and signed on the inside third page by the acting clerk, pertains to the return of property to one D.P. Sevick of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“Washington, July 10^th, 1867. D.P. Sevick, Esq., Chattanooga, Tennessee]. Sir, I am directed by Major Gen. Howard to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of July 4^th calling attention to previous papers, requesting return of your property in possession of the Bureau, and to inform you that the same has been referred to the Ass[istan]t Commissioner of Tennessee for consideration and action. The previous papers in the case were referred from this office April 20^th to the Ass[istan]t Commissioner of Tennessee with instructions to ‘settle the case if possible.’ Very Respectfully, Your Obedient servant, Isaac A. Dennis, Acting Chief Clerk.”

The letter has light soiling and wear, two horizontal folds, and several pinholes in the upper and left margins.

Confederate Brigadier General – Alabama

A Mexican War veteran who had attended both Virginia Military Institute and West Point, Fry led the 13^th Alabama at Seven Pines, Sharpsburg, and Chancellorsville. After recovering from wounds received in all three battles, Fry participated in Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg, where he was again wounded and captured. He was exchanged and returned to service before the siege of Petersburg and commanded a district in Georgia, headquartered at Augusta.

War-Date Document Signed, 8” x 13”, Augusta, Georgia, October 12, 1864, “B.D. Fry, Brig[adier] Gen[eral] Commanding Post,” a partly printed clothing requisition for soldiers confined in the hospital there. Of the eight Confederates listed, two of the four from Florida regiments were wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, a third at Atlanta. Most notably, Fourth Florida Infantry Private James Herndon, wounded at Chickamauga, was later captured and confined at Camp Chase, Ohio, where he died of disease on April 4, 1865.

There are three vertical folds and several small holes in the center and in the upper margin, none affecting the text of the document.

American Inventor of the Gatling Gun

Autograph Quotation Signed, an exceptional example on a 3” x 5” card.

“We should remember our friends and not forget our enemies. R.J. Gatling, Hartford, Ct., Nov. 13^th 1893.”

Condition is excellent, with slight “fingerprinting” of ink and light mounting remnants on the reverse.

Union Lieutenant Colonel – Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for Gallantry at the Battle of Salem Heights, Virginia, May 3, 1863; U.S. Brigadier General of Volunteers – Spanish-American War

Document Signed, 8 ½” x 11”, June 9, 1874, “Jno. C. Gilmore, Captain 24[th] Inf[an]try,” a partly printed document certifying Gilmore’s pay of $180 for the month of May 1874. The document is also accomplished by Gilmore, thus bearing a second signature in the heading, “Captain J.C. Gilmore, 24[th] U.S. Infantry.”

Overall condition is very good, with light, even toning and two vertical folds.

Confederate Brigadier General

A South Carolina native and businessman, Gladden was appointed postmaster of Columbia by President John Tyler. He served in the Mexican War and assumed the lieutenant colonelcy of the 1^st South Carolina when the state seceded from the Union in late 1860. Shortly after his adopted state of Louisiana likewise seceded, Gladden was appointed colonel of the 1^st Louisiana Infantry. As brigadier general, he was wounded by a shell fragment during the first day’s fighting at Shiloh. Less than a week after the amputation of his arm on the field, Gladden died in General P.G.T. Beauregard’s headquarters in Corinth, Mississippi on April 12, 1862.

War-Date Signature, “A.H. Gladden, Brig[adier] Gen[eral] Commanding 1^st Brig[ade],” on a 1 ½” x 6” portion of a partly printed Confederate medical document, dated December 4, 1861.

The signature is affixed to light card stock and has the often-seen soiling and wear.

British Prime Minister – 1868-74, 1880-85, 1886 & 1892-94

Signed Black-Bordered Envelope, 3 ¼” x 5”, “W.E. Gladstone,” also addressed by Gladstone, to “R[igh]t Hon[orable] H[enry] Labouchere, M[ember] P[arliament].” Also a prominent writer, publisher, and theater owner, Henry du Pre Labouchere served several terms as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament from 1865 through 1905, advocating Irish home rule.

Confederate Brigadier General – Kentucky; Brother-in-Law of Abraham Lincoln

A West Point graduate, attorney, and antebellum Kentucky state legislator, Helm married the half sister of Mary Todd Lincoln in 1856. When the Civil War broke out five years later, he declined a position in the Federal Army, offered by President Lincoln; instead joining the Confederate cause, Helm organized and led the 1^st Kentucky Cavalry. Promoted brigadier general just before the battle of Shiloh, Helm saw action at Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, and Chickamauga, where he was mortally wounded while leading a brigade under Confederate Major General John C. Breckinridge in the Army of Tennessee.

War-Date Signature, “B.H. Helm, Brig[adier] Gen[era]l Com[man]d[ing],” an extremely rare example on a 1 ½” x 3” slip of paper, removed from a letter.

American Social Writer & Philosopher

Autograph Letters Signed (2), to Neil Yetwin. Transcribed below; further description will be posted shortly.

February 4, 1979

Dear Mr. Yetwin:

Many thanks for your letter. Unfortunately my failing eyesight prevents me from reading the faded print of your article. I shall have someone read it to me later.

There is a danger of an Anti-Semitic explosion in this country. There is no telling when it will come. The Negro vote can easily become anti-Jewish. Arab money can work mischief. If America’s present decline lands us into a real mess, many politicians will be tempted to blame the Jews for all our ills. Add the fact that over half of the adversary intellectuals who villify [sic] this country at every opportunity are Jewish and you can see that the present situation in America is not totally different from what things were in WeimarGermany in the late 1920s. The chief difference is that the Jews now have a place of refuge – Israel.

Warm regards,
Eric Hoffer

February 22, 1979

Dear Mr. Yetwin:

Were I a Jew I would not waste my time wondering what people think of the Jews. In America the Jews constitute 2.7% of the population yet they have produced our two foremost living writers, and they receive about half of the Nobel Prizes given to Americans. The Jews have given America one of its most outstanding secretaries of state, and more than any other ethnic minority are represented in Presidential cabinets. Jews are conspicuous on the faculties of our foremost universities and are outstanding in almost every scientific field. No one doubts that had Hitler left the Jews alone he would have won the war. Without exception, countries which persecute Jews come to a bad end. Finally, in Israel the Jews have produced brilliant generals and are teaching the world how to turn deserts into gardens. It should be obvious that what the world needs is more Jews.

As I said, I would not pay attention to what people say about Jews. But in the back of mind I would keep alive the awareness that the impulse to kill Jews is dormant everywhere.

Warm regards,
Eric Hoffer

Seventh U.S. President - 1829-37

Autograph Note Signed, as President, on a 5” x 6” portion of the address panel of a Treasury Department communication, to “The President…” A directive from Jackson relating to a court case, the note is dated and signed twice with initials at the conclusion.

“Mr. Breckinridge Defence – To be carefully examined, and compared with the charges made and the Testimony advised. A.J. Rec[eive]d 13^th March 1830 – A.J.”

The sheet is lightly soiled, with several small stains and light creases.

Wife of Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson

Autograph Letter Signed, two pages, on individual 5” x 8” sheets, with social content to a recipient identified only as Mrs. Norcross. It is very likely that Mrs. Jackson was in California at this time to be near her daughter, Julia Jackson Christian, shortly before she gave birth to a daughter, also named Julia, on June 5, 1887.

“San Diego, California, March 21^st 1887. My dear Mrs. Norcross, Yours of the 13^th has just found me in California! as you will see from the heading of my letter. I am very sorry that we missed seeing you as you passed through Richmond, for it would have given both my daughter and myself sincere pleasure to meet you again. This is a changing and uncertain world. We had no idea one year ago that we would now be in this far off land, but Providence seemed to guide us here, and we find a most charming climate, and have been blest with good health. We hope our sojourn here may be only temporary, and that we may be permitted to return to Virginia in a few years at best. We will trust to be more fortunate in meeting you the next time you come south. With our kind regards and best wishes, I am Sincerely yours, M.A. Jackson. P.O. Box 312.”

Both sheets are lightly and evenly toned, with the usual horizontal folds.

Confederate General & Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia

Document Signed, 8” x 10 ½”, as President of Washington College, Lexington Virginia, June 20, 1867, “R.E. Lee,” the partly printed report card for a student, “Mr. Edwin T. Dumble,” in the subjects of Latin, Greek, and Mathematics.

Born in Madison, Indiana in 1852, Edwin Dumble moved to Galveston, Texas with his family as an infant. His education at Washington College was twice interrupted by reversals in his father’s cotton and lumber businesses. He later served as an executive in several oil companies – most notably the Southern Pacific, the Rio Bravo, and the East Coast Oil Companies - and as Texas State Geologist from 1887 to 1897. In 1924, Dumble received a doctorate of science from his early alma mater, now Washington and Lee University, before retiring to Virginia. He died in 1927.

The document is lightly and evenly toned, with a few small stains. There are several tiny holes along the usual folds, none affected the text of the document.

American Suffragette & Reformer; An Organizer of the United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War

Signature, with closing, “Y[ou]rs truly, M.A. Livermore,” on a 1 ¾” x 3 ¾” slip of paper, removed from a letter.

Lightly and evenly toned, with old mounting remnants on the reverse.

Union Brigadier General - New Hampshire; U.S. Congressman – New Hampshire – 1859-63 & 1865-67; U.S. Senator – New Hampshire - 1889

Marston recruited and led the 2^nd New Hampshire at First Bull Run, the Peninsula, and Fredericksburg. After Gettysburg, he was assigned to establish the prison camp at Point Lookout and returned to the Army of the Potomac for the disastrous Union assault at Cold Harbor.

Marston Writes of the Hard Fighting at Drewry’s Bluff

War-Date Autograph Letter Signed, three pages, on a 5” x 8” letter-sheet. Writing to an unnamed cousin from the scene of the Union’s just-concluded attempt to take Richmond, Marston shares details of the hard fighting, and concludes with information relating to political events in his native New Hampshire. In the campaign which came to be known as Drewry’s Bluff, begun on May 6, 1864, Benjamin Butler’s Army of the James advanced overland toward Richmond from the Bermuda Hundred, just north of City Point. As indicated in this letter, the Federal Army came within six miles of the Confederate capital before being repulsed in a counterattack by troops under P.G.T. Beauregard on May 16, successfully delaying the fall of Richmond by almost a year.

Friend Cousin,

Your brother in [?] wrote me to know what had become of you, but I suppose you have reported before this as Wilkinson tells me you started for home some days ago. Since I started on this campaign I have had little opportunity to hear from or write to anyone. For nearly a week I had no opportunity of sending letters if I had the time to write them. It has been the hardest kind of campaigning I have ever known. Marching, fighting, sleeping on the ground without tents, fire or even a blanket. I have several times undertaken to write a short note but before I could complete it everybody would be called to arms to repel a charge or make an attack. I have had to write orders and reports with a tree for a table while shot and shells were crashing through the branches. The rebels are pressing us about as hard as we are pressing them and last night they shelled our camps. But I imagine we shall soon reverse all this and drive them within their earthen walls about Richmond and force an entrance ourselves. The right wing of the army got within 6 or 7 miles of Richmond on the 16^th but that 6 or 7 miles we shall find a much harder road to travel than that we have passed over. I have re[ceive]d only three or four letters from N.H. since I left Yorktown and not one from Washington. Probably people don’t know where I am and I hardly know myself. That it is all woods, swamps & ravines with but very little land in cultivation I know very well.

What new thing has turned up about the Senatorship – anything? Wilkinson had a letter from his brother saying Tuck was about played out & that Rollins he thought was gaining a little. I am told also that the Boston Advertiser is down on me for not supporting Joel and us not being in the front rank of republicans &c &c. That is Tuck of course. His hand may not have written the article but his mean spirit dictated it. Well, we have had to deal with these fellows before and whatever else they may do they cannot defeat us.

I should like for you to write me and let me know the present aspect of affairs.

When I will get time to write again I don’t know. My command occupies me every moment.

Yours very truly, G. Marston.

Remember me kindly to friend Gale.”