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Lot 62
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Lincoln Exec. Mansion ALS Associated with Emancipation to Salmon Chase
Lincoln Exec. Mansion ALS Associated with Emancipation to Salmon Chase
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Lincoln Exec. Mansion ALS Associated with Emancipation to Salmon Chase

In this brief letter to his Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, President Abraham Lincoln again requests an appointment for the position of Surveyor of the Port of New York. Perhaps because it had already been prepared, Lincoln's nomination of Rufus F. Andrews to the U.S. Senate is dated July 13. The nomination was forwarded on July 15 to the Senate, which approved it the following day, and Andrews's appointment is dated July 17.

Filling federal positions related to the port of New York had given Lincoln considerable difficulty, given the factions in New York Republican politics. On February 6, 1861, Horace Greeley recommended Benjamin F. Camp as surveyor of the port of New York and Rufus F. Andrews as federal district attorney. On March 18, Greeley recommended that if Lincoln could not appoint Camp, Henry B. Stanton (husband of Elizabeth Cady Stanton) should be surveyor of the port of New York. On March 25, Lincoln nominated Hiram Barney, an ally of Chase, for the position of collector of the port and appointed him five days later after the Senate approved. On April 8, Horace Greeley, George Opdyke, David Dudley Field, and James J. Wadsworth informed Lincoln that "imperative considerations seem to them to require the selection of a surveyor of the Port who shall be in full accord and sympathy with the collector already appointed." Lincoln wrote on the envelope enclosing the letters, "Greely, Opdycke, Field & Wadsworth, in favor of having the two big puddings on the same side of the board."

In June 1864, Secretary Chase threatened resignation in support of Barney, and Lincoln unexpectedly accepted his resignation. Thurlow Weed, who had been a critic of the Emancipation Proclamation and Radical Republicans, advocated a purge of the New York customs house both because of alleged corruption and support of Chase for president. Lincoln permitted the purge of Radical Republicans in September to gain Weed's support for the presidential election. Weed's ally Simeon Draper replaced Hiram Barney as collector, and Abram Wakeman replaced Andrews as surveyor.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Autograph Letter Signed, to Salmon P. Chase, July 15, 1861, Washington, D.C. 1 p., 5" x 8". Light toning; vertical crease; very good. Not published in Basler.

Complete Transcript
Executive Mansion / July 15, 1861
Hon. Sec. of Treasury
My dear Sir
On Saturday I sent you a note asking that a nomination might be sent me for Rufus F. Andrews, as Surveyor of the Port of New-York. Thinking the note has been missent, or mislaid, I now send this asking that the nomination may be sent me.
Yours very truly
A. Lincoln

Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873) was born in New Hampshire and studied law before establishing a law practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. Chase frequently defended those arrested as fugitive slaves in court, earning the title of "Attorney General for Fugitive Slaves." He left the Whig Party for the Liberty Party in 1841 and helped create the Free Soil Party in 1848. Chase represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate from 1849 to 1855 and served as Governor of Ohio from 1856 to 1860. Abraham Lincoln appointed Chase as his first Secretary of the Treasury, a position he held from 1861 to mid-1864. Ultimately, Lincoln could no longer ignore their differences and Chase's political ambitions, so he accepted Chase's resignation. Still convinced of his abilities, Lincoln appointed Chase as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in December 1864, a position Chase held until his death.

Rufus F. Andrews (1825-1893) was born in Ohio and studied law in Vermont, where he was admitted to the bar and served as secretary to Governor Ryland Fletcher. Andrews moved to New York, where he practiced law. He was politically associated with Horace Greeley, Thurlow Weed, and William H. Seward but was a War Democrat. When divisions emerged between the Greeley and Seward-Weed factions, Andrews supported Greeley. He served as collector of the port of New York from July 1861 to September 1864, when Thurlow Weed engineered his removal as part of a larger purge of the New York customs house. He was a candidate for the office of district attorney in April 1865 and accompanied Attorney General Edward Bates to the bedside of the dying Lincoln. He supported Greeley's bid for president in 1872 and was a close friend of President Chester A. Arthur.

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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