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Early Civil War-Date Pass
Autograph Document Signed, 3” x 5”, a rare handwritten pass from Burnside’s early-war encampment near Washington, D.C., named for Rhode Island Governor William Sprague.
“Camp Sprague. Washington, June 6th 1861. Pass Serg[ean]t Crandall till eleven o’clock. A.E. Burnside, Col[onel] Com[man]d[in]g.”
Pencil notations in an unknown hand on the reverse list several identified enlisted men of the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry. The 1st Rhode Island Infantry under the command of Colonel Burnside was actively engaged at the Battle of First Bull Run, July 21, 1861 and returned to Providence, Rhode Island, where the unit was mustered out on August 2, 1861. Colonel Burnside re-entered Union service soon afterward and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, effective August 6, 1861.
Lightly toned, with somewhat heavier soiling and wear at vertical and horizontal fold lines; a few small tears and minor chips at the edges.
Document Signed, 9 ½” x 11”, Boston, Massachusetts, April 17, 1869, “A.E. Burnside,” as company president, a partly printed $500 “First Mortgage Bonds” certificate for the Narrangansett Steamship Company. Countersigned by four company officials. A five-cent revenue stamp is affixed at upper right, with an embossed seal at lower right.
Lightly toned, with the usual folds; a few tears and cuts at the lower edge; show-through along the lower edge from glue staining on the reverse.
A Handwritten Civil War Pass for Butler’s Brother-in-Law
Civil War-Date Autograph Document Signed, on official 5” x 8” stationery, imprinted “HEAD QUARTERS, Department of Virginia and North Carolina.”
“In the field, June 10, 1864. Pass Fisher A[mes] Hildreth, Esq[uire] and his wife to visit my Head Q[uarte]rs at Fortress Monroe. Benj[amin] F. Butler, Maj[or] Gen[era]l Com[mandin]g.”
Lightly and evenly toned, with minor staining at the left edge and the expected folds.
Franking Signature, “Free, S. Cameron,” on a 3 ¼” x 5 ¾” portion of a postal cover; also addressed by Cameron, to “Dr. H. Byerly, Linglestown, Dauphin Co[unty], Penn[sylvania].”
On brown paper, with an obscure early postmark at left; old mounting remnants on the reverse.
Signed Card, 2 ¼” x 3 ½”, “Very respectfully & truly, James Campbell, March 26, 1875.”
Lightly and evenly toned, with old mounting traces and pencil biographical notations on the reverse.
Document Signed, an endorsement on the reverse of an imprinted 9 ¾” x 16 ¼” U.S. Army form, “Examined & approved, Ed. R.S. Canby, M[ajor] G[eneral] Com[mandin]g,” approving expenditures for the month of November 1867.
Illustrated in its folded state. Very good overall condition, with the expected folds.
Document Signed, New York, July 5, 1898, “Joshua L. Chamberlain,” a partly printed 2 ¾” x 6 ½” check, also accomplished by Chamberlain, payable to one H.C. Orr in the amount of ten dollars. A two-cent revenue stamp is affixed at upper left.
Lightly toned, with a few stains, soiling, wear, numerous folds, and a few tiny edge chips; three hole-punch cancellations, well away from the signature.
Signature, “John Coburn, Indianapolis, Indiana,” as U.S. Congressman on a 2 ½” x 5” portion of an album page.
Lightly and evenly toned, with a few minor stains; original binding traces at the left edge.
Document Signed, 3” x 8 ½”, Northampton, Massachusetts, March 29, 1929, “Calvin Coolidge,” a partly printed check, also accomplished by Coolidge less than a month after leaving office as U.S. President, drawn on The Hampshire County Trust Co. and made payable to one Mary Ahearn for thirty dollars.
The check is in very good condition, with minor smudging of ink to several letters, a small tear in the upper margin, and a few light vertical folds. The hole-punch cancellation at center affects an insignificant part of the beginning of Coolidge’s signature.
Vice President Coolidge Thanks a Journalist from The Nation
Typed Letter Signed, 7” x 9”. Writing on imprinted official stationery, U.S. Vice President Coolidge thanks Marian Tyler, a journalist with The Nation, a liberal weekly magazine first published in 1865, for her letter.
The letter is lightly toned and soiled, with a horizontal fold at the center.
The Vice President-Elect Thanks a Supporter – Just Two Days after the 1920 Election
Typed Letter Signed, 7 ¼” x 9 ½”, on imprinted stationery as Massachusetts Governor. During the second year of his short tenure as governor - just two days after election to U.S. vice president on the Warren G. Harding ticket - Coolidge thanks “Mr. Ernest M. Hortmann, Boston, Mass.,” for a letter.
Signature, as U.S. Representative, “Saml. R. Curtis, Keokuk, Iowa,” on a 1 ½” x 4” portion of an album page.
Lightly and evenly toned, with minor staining.
Signature, dated from the former Confederate president’s post-war home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, “Jefferson Davis, Beauvoir, Miss[issipp]i, 4th March 1882,” on a 1 ¾” x 4 ¾” slip of paper. Affixed to heavier backing.
Lightly toned; the signature is noticeably light and lacking in contrast.
Autograph Note Signed, 4 ¾”x 7 ¼”, undoubtedly a page from her book, “McLoughlin and Old Oregon.” Published in 1900, the book portrayed and romanticized the life of Dr. John McLoughlin, early Oregon settler later known as “The Father of Oregon,” whose general store in Oregon City was the last stop on the Oregon Trail.
“May we all emulate the virtues of this benevolent despot. Your friend, the author, Eva Emery Dye. Oregon City, Oregon, July 31, 1924.”
The page is lightly and evenly toned, with minor staining in the margins and at the edges.
Signature, an early frank as U.S. Representative from New York, circa 1840, “Free, M. Fillmore, M[ember] C[ongress],” on a 1 ½” x 4 ½” portion of a larger postal cover.
On brown paper, with several creases.
Document Signed, 8 ¼” x 10 ¼”, as U.S. President, a partly printed “affix the seal” document.
“I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to the remission of the remaining portion of the term of imprisonment, imposed upon Jacob Rowles, convicted of petit larceny; dated this day, and signed by me; and for so doing this shall be his warrant. Millard Fillmore, Washington, October 3, 1850.”
Light soiling and wear, with a few edge chips and tears; weakness and minor paper separation at the edges of two horizontal folds.
Signed Album Page, 5 ¾” x 7 ¼”, “Millard Fillmore, Buffalo, N[ew] York,” as U.S. Representative from New York, circa 1840. Undoubtedly taken from a period autograph album, the single sheet is also signed, front and reverse, by eight of Fillmore’s colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives: Christopher Morgan, New York; Richard Wigginton Thompson, Indiana (U.S. Navy Secretary - 1877-80); John Maynard, New York; Francis Granger, New York (U.S. Postmaster General - 1841); Samuel Lewis Hays, Virginia; John Campbell, South Carolina; John Patterson Bryan Maxwell, New Jersey; Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, Pennsylvania (U.S. Secretary of the Interior – 1850).
Lightly and evenly toned, with minor staining; old binding chips at the left edge.
Signature, from a reunion event, “Clinton B. Fisk, Seabright, N[ew] J[ersey], Army of the Tennessee Reunion, Sept[ember] 26, 1889,” on a 2 ¼” x 3 ½” slip of paper; affixed to a larger sheet
Lightly and evenly toned, with a few minor stains; old binding holes at the left edge of the attached album page.
Just days after the capture of Fort Donelson, Foote makes an appointment in the Western Gun Boat Flotilla, while General Ulysses S. Grant emerges as a champion of the Union.
Civil War-Date Document Signed, 8” x 12 ½”, a manuscript order appointing one G.B. Simmonds to the rank of second master. Fort Donelson, at the time a Confederate installation on the Cumberland River in Tennessee, was surrendered on February 16, 1862, just three days prior to this order. Union forces, including Flag Officer Foote, were under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant, whose action during the siege, battle, and capitulation – specifically his demand for “unconditional and immediate surrender” of the Confederate command at the fort - propelled him into national prominence.
“Be it known that reposing trust in the honor and ability of G.B. Simmonds, I do hereby appoint him a Second Master in the United States Gun Boat Flotilla on the Western Water to hold authority as a Second Master and to be obeyed by all persons under him in the service. The appointment to hold good during the pleasure of the Commander in Chief of the Gun Boat Flotilla for the time being. Given under my hand this 19th day of February A.D. Eighteen hundred and Sixty two. A.H. Foote, Com[man]d[in]g U.S. Naval Forces in the Western Waters.”
Overall condition is very good, with light, even toning, a few minor stains, and the expected folds.
Document Signed, Burlington, Vermont, July, 18, 1878, “Geo. P. Foster,” a partly printed 2 ¾” x 7 ½” check, also accomplished by Foster, payable to “Myself” for seventy-five dollars.
The signature is unaffected by several bank cancellations.