Lot 84
Buchanan, James (1791-1868) 15th President of the United States (1857-61) Autograph Letter Signed, one page, with integral blank leaf, 1" ' x 8", Wheatland, 23 Mar. 1850. Very fine. To Hon. Edmund Burke, marked "Confidential." In full: "My dear Sir, I desire to recall to your memory a fact which seemed to have escaped the recollection of every person. I mean the letter addressed by Col. Benton & carried by Col. Fremont to the people of California. To counteract the effect of this letter was one of the strongest reasons why my letter to Mr. Voorhies of the 7th October 1848 was written. I am very desirous to obtain a copy of Col. Benton's letter for my own archives. It was published in the New York Herald a short time before the date of my letter. I do not think I ever saw it in any other paper. Could you please procure a copy of it for me? I shall of course pay for the copying. I do not wish to be the instrument of making it public, nor do I desire its publication at the present moment. I am very far from entertaining any unkind feelings towards Col. Benton, and wish the copy merely for my own satisfaction. It is a remarkable fact, however, that whilst Southern members of Congress are barely engaged in discourse, the persons who incited the people of California to form a government independent of the agency of Congress, this important letter should have been entirely overlooked."
This letter is packed with references to people and issues in the forefront of the time. Buchanan refers to the admission of California as a free state, which was one of the provisions of the Compromise of 1850, hammered out by Henry Clay in an effort to resolve the slavery issue and forestall civil war. Thomas Hart Benton was a senator from Missosuri (1821-61) who was a champion of the westward expansion doctrine that would become "Manifest Destiny." A staunch party loyalist (Democratic), as well as a southerner and a slave owner, Benton nonetheless declared himself against the institution of slavery in 1849, setting himself against his party and public opinion in his state. John C. Frémont, the famous explorer, military officer, and first Republican presidential candidate (1856) was Benton's son-in-law. Frémont served as one of the first senators from California (1850-51). As commander of the Army's Department of the West from May to November 1861, Frémont imposed martial law in the state, confiscating private property of secessionists and emancipating the state's slaves. President Lincoln revoked Frémont's proclamation and relieved him of his command. Philip Falkerson Voorhees, mentioned in this letter, was involved in a controversial naval incident and court-martialed in 1845, after which he was restored to his full rank in the navy and given command of the East India squadron, the post of an admiral at the present day. Edmond Burke, to whom Buchanan writes, was appointed commissioner of patents in 1846 by President Polk, a post he would hold until 1850. In 1866 he would be a delegate to the Philadelphia union convention.
Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,500.
|
| |
| Unsold |
