Lot 339

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Description:

George Washington's Great Nephew Makes a Good Soldier

1 p. ALS, March 26, 1833, Dept. of War [Washington D.C.,] by Lewis Cass (1782-1866) Governor of the Michigan Territory, War of 1812 General, the 1848 Democratic Presidential nominee, U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Secretary of War.

The letter is to George Corbin Washington, a great-nephew of George Washington, enclosing a warrant admitting George William Washington, son of Bushrod Washington II (and great-grandnephew of Genl. George Washington) to West Point. G. C. Washington dockets on the integral address leaf “Lewis Cass.”

The letter reads, in full, "Sir, I do myself the pleasure to enclose to you a warrant for the admission of young Mr. Washington to the Military Academy. With great respect, I am, Sir, your ob. serv. Lewis Cass".

George Corbin Washington “GCW” (1789-1854), the letter's recipient, was a grandnephew of General George Washington. His father, William Washington (1757-1810) was a nephew of George Washington, and his grandfather, Augustine Washington (1699-1742) was the half-brother of George Washington. Born in Virginia, GCW lived most of his life in Maryland. He was a U.S. Congressman from 1827-33, and again from 1835-37. He was later President of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and a Commissioner to adjust and settle claims from the 1835 treaty between the U.S. and the Cherokees. In 1852 he was the Native American Party candidate for U.S. Vice President. When the party nominee for President, Daniel Webster, died 9 days before the election, the party replaced Webster and GCW with Jacob Broom and Reynell Coates, respectively. Although not named in the letter, the “young Mr. Washington” who received this warrant to West Point was George William Washington (b. 1816), the son of Bushrod Washington II (d. 1831), a great-grandnephew of George Washington and nephew of GCW. Thus, George William Washington was the great-great grandnephew of George Washington. He was admitted to West Point in 1833, but did not graduate, resigning from the academy in June 1835. He later worked as an engineer for the U.S. Topographical Engineering Corps on the Pacific Coast Survey, and was Chief Engineer in the construction of the St. Louis Waterworks. He also edited a newspaper in San Francisco.

Lewis Cass served as a Brigadier General during the War of 1812, fighting in the Battle of the Thames. President Madison appointed him Governor of the Michigan Territory in 1813, and he served as governor until 1831. In 1820, he led an expedition to the northern part of the Michigan Territory, in the northern Great Lakes region (present-day northern Minnesota) to map the region and discover the source of the Mississippi River. He served as U.S. Secretary of War from 1831-36 (Andrew Jackson's cabinet). He was a central figure in formulating and implementing the Indian removal policy of the Jackson administration. He served as U.S. Ambassador to France from 1836-42. He was a U.S. Senator from 1845-48, resigning to run for President in 1848. He was the Democratic nominee, losing to Zachary Taylor. He again served in the U.S. Senate from 1849-57. He was U.S. Secretary of State from March 6, 1857 until December 14, 1860 (James Buchanan cabinet).

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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April 14, 2021 10:30 AM EDT
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