Lot 77
John Adams, Autograph letter signed "John Adams", to William Jones, Quincy, [Mass.], April 24, 1813, 2 pages, 9 7/8" x 7¾", with letter in full "Quincy April 24. 1813, Dear Sir, As it ever has been, and forever ought to be, a general Rule of The Presidents and Heads of Departments not to answer Letters soliciting or recommending Appointments to Office: the Exception to the general Rule by your kind Letter of the 13th of this month, lays me under a particular obligation. The Reason you assign is perfectly satisfactory to me: and I rejoice in it, as it proves the good sense and generous Feelings of our American young Men, which have animated such Numbers, to sollicit the Post of danger. Commodore Rodgers has accepted young Marston as a volunteer, and he is now on Board the President below the Castle, ready I presume for Sea as soon as Winds and Circumstances will permit. Far be from me, any Pride or Vanity, in the recollection of any share I have taken in the Institution of Our American Navy: I am ashamed when I look back and recollect how little I have done said or written in favour of this Essential Arm for the defence of our Country. I know it to be the astonishment of every Man of Sense in Europe that we have neglected it so long. In my opinion a compleat History of our military Marine ought to be written, from the Law of Congress in October 1775 and the Law of Massachusetts in November 1775 to the present hour. Congress could not appropriate Money, to a purpose more beneficial to the Interest, the Safety, the Independence the Honour Power and Glory of their Country, if they should devote to a Man of Letters, who would undertake the Work, four times as large a sum as the Dutchess of Marlborough bequeathes for the Biography of her Husband. I rejoice in the appointment to the Head of the naval Department, of a Gentleman who is represented to me, to be so well qualified and so well disposed to promote the Service. With much respect, I am Sir your Sincere and obliged Servant (signed) John Adams, the Honourable William Jones, Secretary of the Naval Department"; small docket hole in upper left corner, closed short tear on bottom margin with residual stain, still Very Fine.Estimate $25,000 - 35,000.
THE "FATHER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY", JOHN ADAMS CONGRATULATES THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY WILLIAMS JONES ON HIS RECENT APPOINTMENT DURING THE WAR OF 1812.
John Adams's statement that he could not take "any Pride or Vanity … in the Institution of Our American Navy," having done too little for "this Essential Arm for the defence of our Country" reflects an uncharacteristic bit of modesty. For good reason, Adams has often been called the "Father of the American Navy." At the outset of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress hoped that a small naval force could help offset the uncontested exercise of British sea power. The founding legislation, championed by Adams, was passed in October of 1775. It called for fitting out armed vessels for national service, as well as the creation of a Marine Committee to oversee naval affairs. Adams was one of the three original committee members. Before the year was out, again in large part due to Adams's lobbying, Congress authorized the construction of a small fleet. Adams then drafted the first regulations for the American Navy, adopted on November 28, 1775. (The other measure he mentions here, passed by Massachusetts in early November of 1775, authorized the issuance of letters of marque and created a board of admiralty to adjudicate the disposition of captured prizes.)
As president, Adams went on to strengthen the American fleet during the Quasi-War with France, establish a Department of the Navy, and push through an act authorizing a peacetime naval force. His actions stood in marked contrast to those of his successor. Thomas Jefferson, never a proponent of naval power, turned his back on the navy once he became president. The department's resources were allowed to dwindle away, even as war with Britain - or France - loomed. As late as January of 1812, House Republicans voted down a measure expanding the service. When the War of 1812 finally commenced in June of that year, the U.S. Navy consisted of a fleet of just seventeen ships.
The "compleat History of our military Marine" that Adams advocates came to fruition with the publication of Thomas Clark's Naval History in 1813. Adams worked closely with publisher Mathew Carey to help improve the second edition of the massive work, "a persuasive piece of political propaganda". Throughout July of 1813 [Adams] bombarded Carey weekly with suggestions and complaints. Though Carey was a former political foe, both men were strong naval proponents.
Adams made another contribution to the U.S. Navy in 1813: He recommended John Marston for the position of midshipman. In his previous position as messenger, Marston is said to have brought Adams news of the 1812 victory of the USS Constitution over the HMS Guerriere. Marston was duly appointed to "the Post of danger" and assigned to the USS President, commanded by John Rodgers, which was about to sail on her third cruise of the war. Marston went on to have a notable naval career, eventually reaching the rank of rear admiral.
William Jones was apprenticed in a shipyard during the Revolutionary War; he saw combat at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton and later served at sea. In January of 1813, with the War of 1812 raging, Jones became Secretary of the Navy. His direction contributed substantially to American success on the Great Lakes and to the strategic defense of the American coastline. Toward the end of his term, in late 1814, he made recommendations on the reorganization of the naval department.
John Marston V (1795-1885) was appointed midshipman in the U.S. Navy in April 1813, on the recommendation of John Adams. In 1826, he was at Adams's deathbed, and relayed details of the former president's final hours to John Quincy Adams. Marston had a long naval career, serving on the Constitution, in the Pacific Squadron, the African Squadron, and as a Union commodore during the Civil War. (He was the senior officer present at the Battle of Hampton Roads.) He retired with the rank of rear admiral.
Realized: $15,000
Lot 78
Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States. Autographed Letter Signed "Z. Taylor Lt. Col., 8th Regt. U.S. Infy Cmdg" to addressed in his hand to "Col. Geo. Gibson, Cmy. Genl. Subts., Washington D.C." on address panel, letter is datelined "Cantonment Bay of St. Louis, Jul 28th 1820" and reading in part "The Asst. Officer of Subsistence at this place. Lieut. B. Bradley has made a practice of charging the Officers a very high percentage above the contract price…whiskey at one dollar per gallon", etc. continues with some detail; some toning and separation along vertical file folds, Fine.Estimate $750 - 1,000.
After the War of 1812, Taylor resigned his commission but later in 1816 re-entered after gaining a better commission in the Army as a Major. He commanded Fort Howard for two years at the Green Bay, Wisconsin settlement. In 1818 he then returned to Louisville and his family. In April 1819 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and and would command the Cantonment in the Bay of St. Louis.
Realized: $1,150
Lot 79
Abraham Lincoln, (1809-1865) 16th President of the United States, 1861-1865. Bound Autograph Album Signed "A. Lincoln" as President, also signed by Lincoln's 20-year-old son Robert Todd Lincoln, his Secretaries of State William H. Seward and War Edwin M. Stanton and 14 others, 12 pages 5.5 x 8.5", [Washington, D.C,] circa 1863-1864, modern brown leather half-binding over marbled boards and title "SIGNATURES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS CABINET" stamped in gilt on the spine, two raised bands, Very Fine.Estimate $10,000 - 15,000.
AN EXTRAORDINARY AUTOGRAPH ALBUM INCLUDING SIGNATURES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, HIS SON ROBERT TODD LINCOLN, AND BY HIS CABINET INCLUDING SECRETARIES OF STATE AND WAR, WILLIAM H. SEWARD AND EDWIN M. STANTON.
Signed "A. Lincoln" as President, eldest son "R.T. Lincoln" and "Jno G. Nicolay, Priv. Sec." on first sheet, Secretary of State "William H. Seward, Auburn" and Secretary of War "Edwin M. Stanton, Washington" on verso of first sheet, Secretary of the Treasury "S.P. Chase, Ohio", assistant to Treasury Secretary Chase "M.B. Field, New York", Treasurer of the United States "F.E. Spinner", Deputy Comptroller of the Currency "S.T. Howard", Register of the Treasury "L.E. Chittenden" and Comptroller of the Currency and later Lincoln's last Secretary of the Treasury "Hugh McCulloch" on second sheet, Secretary of the Navy "Gideon Welles, 30 Jany 1864" on third sheet, Secretary of the Interior "J.P. Usher, Secy of Interior" and Postmaster General "M. Blair, PMG" on fourth sheet, Vice President "H. Hamlin, Dec. 22, 1863" and Secretary of the Senate "J.W. Forney" on verso of fifth sheet, and Speaker of the House and later Grant's V.P. "Schuyler Colfax, Speaker H.R.U.S." and Clerk of the House "E. McPherson, Gettysburg, Pa., Clerk H.R." on verso of sixth sheet. Three blank sheets before and after the signed pages.
Lot 80
Abraham Lincoln, (1809-1865) 16th President of the United States, 1861-1865. Partly-printed Document Signed "Abraham Lincoln" as President, 18 x 14.5" on parchment, Washington, September 17, 1861, countersigned by Simon Cameron as Secretary of War, appointing Samuel P. Ferris as a "Second Lieutenant in the Eighth Regiment of Infantry…", with a finely engraved eagle at top center and motif of flags, arms and armor at bottom center together with an intact blue seal of the United States; expected folds, moderate dampstains along margins do not affect either Lincoln's or Cameron's signature, expertly cleaned, F.-V.F.Estimate $6,000 - 8,000.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN SIGNS A COMMISSION FOR A CONNECTICUT OFFICER WHO SERVED AT ANTIETAM AND PORT HUDSON.
Samuel Peter Ferris entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1857 and on June 24, 1861 received the second lieutenant's commission recorded in the present document. From then until November 1862, Ferris served with the U.S. Army's 8th Infantry with whom he served in the Peninsular Campaign seeing action at the Siege of Yorktown and the Seven Days before Richmond. The 8th Infantry also served at Antietam in September 1862. In November, Ferris took command of the 28th Connecticut Volunteers as colonel. The 28th spent much of its time occupying Pensacola, Florida before seeing heavy action at the siege of Port Hudson in the spring and summer of 1863. Following the war, Ferris received a regular army captain's commission and served with the 30th U.S. Infantry starting in 1866.
Lot 81
Ulysses S. Grant, War-date Autograph Letter Signed "U.S. Grant", 1 page 7.75 x 4.75", datelined "City Point [Virginia], July 11, 1864" to Major General [Ambrose] Burnside, letter reads in full "Please send a Ambulance to the rail road at the Hospital to await the arrival of the Cars there and take Mr. Ashley, M.C. to your Hd Qrs. U.S. Grant Lt. Gen."; minor insignificant flaws, Very Fine.Estimate $4,000 - 6,000.
GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT ORDERS GENERAL BURNSIDE TO TAKE CONGRESSMAN ASHLEY FROM THE TRAIN STATION TO HIS HEADQUARTERS.
On July 15, 1864, Major Thomas T. Eckert, Chief of the War Department's military telegraph in Washington, telegraphed Brig. Gen. John A. Rawlins, Grant's Chief of Staff, about a conversation he had just had with Ohio Congressman James M. Ashley who had returned from City Point. In part, "Mr. Ashley, member of Congress from Ohio, tells me confidentially that in an interview the other day with Butler, that officer showed him the order directing him to report to Fortress Monroe, and said he would be damned if he paid any attention to it; he did not receive orders from staff officers. Mr. Ashley tells me also that he found a good deal of discontent and mutinous spirit among staff officers of the Army of the Potomac. A good deal of McClellanism, he says, was manifested, especially by officers of very high rank. He tells me also that Meade is universally disliked by officers of every sort.".
Seven months earlier, on December 13, 1863, Congressman Ashley had introduced the bill which became the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery: "A Bill To provide for submitting to the several States a proposition to amend the National Constitution prohibiting slavery or involuntary servitude in all the States, and in the Territories now owned, or which may hereafter be acquired, by the United States.".
Lot 82
James A. Garfield, Autograph Letter Signed "J. A. Garfield" as Representative from Ohio, letter is datelined "Hiram. O. July 7, 1873" to J.H. Baker, Commissioner of Pensions concerning the case of a Civil War soldier's resumption of pension payments, which he believes is meritorious, blue Pension Office July 14th oval receiving handstamp; it was written on reverse of the original letter from the Civil War veteran seeking resumption of his pension and datelined "East Trumbull July 11/73".Estimate $500 - 750.
Realized: $350
Lot 83
James A. Garfield, Autograph Poem Signed "J.A. Garfield", datelined "Hiram, Jan. 8, 1851", Very Fine.Estimate $200 - 300.
Garfield From 1851 to 1854, attended the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later named Hiram College) in Hiram, Ohio to prepare for university study. The school was run by the Disciples. He secured a position on entry as janitor and was later hired while still a student to teach. Lucretia Rudolph had also enrolled at the Institute, and Garfield both wooed her and served as her Greek teacher.
Realized: $450
Lot 84
James A. Garfield, group of 5 items including carte de visite and cabinet photos, one engraved portrait, black and white photogravure from 1902 Continental press book (edge faults), and Garfield & Arthur Campaign song by D.B. Moody; some faults.Estimate $200 - 300.
Lot 85
Grover Cleveland, 1837-1908, 22nd and 24th President of the United States 1885-89 & 1893-97. Signature "Grover Cleveland" on card dated "Dec. 26, 1900" in his hand; some mounting adherence on reverse, Very Fine.Estimate $150 - 200.
Cleveland is the only one to serve two non-consecutive terms. He was Mayor of Buffalo and then Governor of New York, where he earned a reputation for integrity. He defeated James Blaine for President in 1884, lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and then defeated Harrison in 1892. During his terms, he created the Interstate Commerce Commission, signed the Presidential Succession Act, and settled the violent Pullman strike.
Lot 86
Benjamin Harrison, 1833-1901, 23rd President of the United States 1889-1893. Signature "Benj Harrison" on engraved White House card 4¾" x 3½", Very Fine and scarce.Estimate $300 - 400.
Realized: $375