Lot 2473
Confederacy, John H. Reagan Letter Relating to Appointment as Postmaster General and Capture with Pres. Davis, postwar Autographed Signed Letter written from his home, datelined "Palestine, Texas, Nov. 21st 1867" to L.G. Cisk, Esq. of St. Louis, Mo., reading in part "In reply to your letter of the 4th instant I wold say that I was appointed Post Master General of the late Confederate States on the 6th of March 1861; and my duties as such were terminated by my capture along with Mr. Davis, by the federal troops, on the 10th of May 1865. Mr. Trenholm resigned his position, as secretary of the Treasury, the day after we left Charlotte North Carolina, but I don recollect the date, and I was, on that day appointed Acting Secretary of the Treasury and continued to perform the duties of this office, in addition to those of Post Master General, until I was made a prisoner, on the 10th of May 1865, Very respectfully, John H. Reagan"; some fold reinforced tape stains.Estimate $1,000 - 1,500.
John Henninger Reagan (1818-1905) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Texas. A Democrat, Reagan resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives when Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. He served in the cabinet of Jefferson Davis as Postmaster General. After the Confederate defeat, he called for cooperation with the federal government and thus became unpopular, but returned to public office when his predictions of harsh treatment for resistance were proved correct.