Lot 163
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004, 40th President 1981-89). Bold signature as Governor on official card from the State of California, Very Fine.Estimate $200 - 300.
An actor, he was president of the Screen Actors Guild and Governor of California. Winning the 1980 Republican nomination on a platform of lower taxes and renewed pride in America, he handily defeated Carter and Anderson. Throughout his terms, he grappled with growing budget deficits. He was also noted for his invasion of Grenada and the Iran-Contra scandal.
Realized: $100
Lot 164
Presidential Balance Collection. Small lot of autographs on cards, covers, photos, etc., including Carter, Nixon, Johnson, G. W. Bush, Hayes, Ford, plus two Edith Roosevelt free franks & one Helen Taft free frank, as well as some misc. campaign covers & printed free franks, Very Fine.Estimate $300 - 400.
Realized: $170
Lot 165
Louisa Catherine Adams (1775-1852, Widow of John Quincy Adams). Manuscript free frank "L.C. Adams" on cover address in her hand to Henry C. Wiley in Saszton River, Vt. with manuscript "Quincy, Mass, July 26" postmark & matching manuscript "Free", Extremely Fine, one of the rarest Presidential widow franks, sold in the 1983 Siegel Rarity sale for $1,400.Estimate $750 - 1,000.
Realized: $375
Lot 166
Louisa Catherine Adams (1775-1852, Widow of John Quincy Adams). Manuscript free frank "L.C. Adams" on cover to Miss G.P. Harrod in New Orleans, manuscript "5" rate crossed out & changed to "10", Very Fine.Estimate $500 - 750.
Only First Lady born outside the United States, Louisa Catherine Adams did not come to this country until four years after she had married John Quincy Adams. Political enemies sometimes called her English. She was born in London to an English mother, Catherine Nuth Johnson, but her father was American--Joshua Johnson, of Maryland--and he served as United States consul after 1790. Louisa Catherine Adams died in Washington in 1852, and today lies buried at his side in the family church at Quincy.
Realized: $300
Lot 167
Francis F. Cleveland Preston (1864-1947, Widow of Grover Cleveland). Autograph free frank "Frances F. Cleveland Preston" on 1931 envelope to Ithaca, N.Y. with Nov. 25, 1931 machine cancel, with original letter from postal collector requesting free frank, signed "With pleasure, Francis F. Cleveland Preston", Extremely Fine.Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $100
Lot 168
Grace Coolidge (1879-1957, Widow of Calvin Coolidge). Autograph free frank "Grace Coolidge" on envelope to New York with Oct. 6, 1934 of Northampton, Mass. machine cancel, also included is a signed autograph card dated "November 17, 1941".Estimate $200 - 300.
Former President Calvin Coolidge was 60 when he died in Northampton on January 5, 1933. His widow, Grace, was granted the franking privilege, free use of the mails for life, by a special act of Congress on June 16, 1934. The Former Presidents Act of 1958 formalized the granting of the franking privilege to former Presidents and their widows.
Grace Anna Goodhue married Calvin Coolidge on October 4, 1905 in Burlington, Vermont. Mrs. Coolidge was called her husband's greatest asset because of her warm, giving ways, which were in dramatic contrast to her grave, quiet husband (the White House staff called her "Sunshine"). Forbidden by Coolidge to speak in public, she once answered reporters in sign language (she had been a teacher at a school for the deaf when she met her future husband). While President, her husband set her schedule and would not let her fly in a plane, bob her hair, wear short skirts or ride a horse.
Realized: $100
Lot 169
Frances F. Cleveland Preston (1864-1947, Widow of Grover Cleveland). Personal handwritten letter to friend dated 1912 at Princeton thanking for hospitality on her visit (no photo).Estimate $100 - 150.
Realized: $50
Lot 170
Anna Harrison (1775-1864, Widow of William Henry Harrison). Manuscript "Free Anna Harrison" free frank on folded cover to Mattituck, Long Island, N.Y., dated in pencil on the interior "North Bend, Jan. 2, 1846", Very Fine, a very rare Widow's Frank.Estimate $1,000 - 1,500.
A clandestine marriage on November 25, 1795, united Anna Symmes and Lt. William Henry Harrison, an experienced soldier at 22. Though the young man came from one of the best families of Virginia, Judge Symmes did not want his daughter to face the hard life of frontier forts; but eventually, seeing her happiness, he accepted her choice.
Anna was too ill to travel when her husband set out from Ohio in 1841 for his inauguration. It was a long trip and a difficult one even by steamboat and railroad, with February weather uncertain at best, and she at age 65 was well acquainted with the rigors of frontier journeys.
On April 4, exactly one month after his inauguration, he died, so Anna never made the journey. She had already begun her packing when she learned of her loss.
Accepting grief with admirable dignity, she stayed at her home in North Bend until the house burned in 1858; she lived nearby with her last surviving child, John Scott Harrison, until she died in February 1864 at the age of 88.
Realized: $650
Lot 171
Mary Lord Harrison (1858-1948, Widow of Benjamin Harrison). Free frank "Mary Lord Harrison" on envelope postmarked "New York Aug. 1, 1916" machine cancel, envelope also addressed in her hand, Very Fine.Estimate $150 - 200.
Benjamin Harrison's first wife, Caroline Scott Harrison, died in the White House in 1892. In 1896, her sister's widowed daughter, Mary Scott Lord Dimmick, became Harrison's second wife. Former President Harrison died in 1901. Mary Lord Harrison was granted the franking privilege on February 1, 1909. She was 89 when she died in New York City on January 5, 1948.
Realized: $75
Lot 172
Jacqueline B. Kennedy (Widow of John F. Kennedy). Short type written letter signed Jacqueline B. Kennedy and dated Nov. 4, 1960, Extremely Fine.Estimate $150 - 200.
The wife of President John Kennedy, her interest in the arts inspired national attention to culture and she made the White House an historical museum. She demonstrated great courage after President Kennedy's assassination. After the death of her second husband, the wealthy Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, she became a book editor for Doubleday.
Realized: $325