Lot 347

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Description:

U.S. Senators Sam Houston and Thomas J. Rusk of Texas Recommend Ship for Use in Mexican War to Quartermaster General

"Captn Page of the Steam Ship McKim who is anxious to make some arrangements for employing his ship in the service in the Gulf of Mexico"

SAM HOUSTON and Thomas J. Rusk, Autograph (by Rusk) Letter Signed, to Thomas S. Jesup, May 27, 1846, Washington, D.C. 1 p., 8" x 10" Expected folds. Together with an engraving of Houston from a daguerreotype. 1 p., 5.75" x 8.75". Moderate toning.

This letter by the two U.S. Senators from Texas, Sam Houston and Thomas J. Rusk, recommends the services of the steamship John S. McKim and its commander, Captain Page. The John S. McKim was the first twin-screw-driven steamship built for commercial use in the United States. Shipbuilder Thomas Clyde of Philadelphia designed the ship in collaboration with John Ericsson, the principal developer of the screw propeller, and built it in 1844. The ship was likely named after merchant and civic leader John S. McKim of Baltimore.

The steamship served an important role as a transport for troops from Texas to Mexico during the Mexican War. On June 19, 1846, The New York Herald reported that "The steamer John S. McKim, has been chartered by the government, and is now taking on board stores and supplies for the army." The McKim arrived in Natchez, Mississippi, from Philadelphia in mid-July 1846, "exclusively freighted with munitions of war for the army." In August 1846, the McKim transported Colonel Jefferson Davis, future Secretary of War and President of the Confederacy, and the 1st Mississippi regiment from New Orleans to the Rio Grande to join the army of General Zachary Taylor for his assault on Monterey. On October 5, 1846, the steamer arrived at New Orleans from the mouth of the Rio Grande, bringing several officers and two hundred sick and discharged soldiers.

Senator Rusk wrote this letter. In 1994, journalist and type designer Brian Willson used Rusk's handwriting as the basis for the typeface/font "Texas Hero," the first typeface to replicate specific old penmanship.

Complete Transcript
Washington / 27th May 1846
Genl Jessup
Dear sir,
We take pleasure in presenting to you Captn Page of the Steam Ship McKim who is anxious to make some arrangements for employing his ship in the service in the Gulf of Mexico
Captn Page is a gentleman of experience and if you should need a vessel such as his then he would give satisfaction we have no doubt
With great respect
Your Obt Servts
Tho J Rusk
Sam Houston

Samuel Houston (1793-1863) was born in Virginia and left home at age 16 and lived with the Cherokee. He enlisted to fight the British in the War of 1812 and came under the tutelage of Andrew Jackson. After the war, he settled in Tennessee and began to practice law. In 1822, he was elected to Congress and served from 1823 to 1827. He was a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson during his term in Congress. In 1827, he became governor of Tennessee but resigned in 1829 before his term ended after his wife left him amid rumors of alcoholism and infidelity. In the early 1830s, Houston was in Washington to expose the frauds committed by government agents against the Cherokee. When a Congressman accused him of impropriety, he beat the Congressman with a cane on Pennsylvania Avenue. He was arrested and found guilty but given a light fine, and he left for Mexico. By 1835, he was a major general in the Texas Army, and he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in March 1836. In the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836, Houston surprised Mexican general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and won a decisive victory that secured Texas independence. Houston served as President of the Republic of Texas from October 1836 to December 1838, and again from 1841 to 1844. After the annexation of Texas to the United States, Houston served as a U.S. senator from 1846 to 1859. In 1859, Houston became governor of Texas but resigned less than two years later because he refused to take the Confederate loyalty oath. He retired from public life and died at his home.

Thomas J. Rusk (1803-1857) was born in South Carolina, gained admission to the bar in 1825, and began a law practice in Clarkesville, Georgia. He invested in gold mining, but when the managers embezzled the funds and fled to Mexican Texas in 1834, Rusk followed them to Nacogdoches but never recovered the money. He stayed in Texas and became a citizen of Mexico in 1835. He joined the Texas Independence movement and commanded volunteers from Nacogdoches. He served as a delegate to the Convention of 1836 and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. He chaired a committee to revise the constitution of the Republic of Texas and briefly served as Secretary of War. Rusk served under General Sam Houston in the defeat of Mexican General Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836. He served in the Second Congress of the Republic, which elected him as major general of the militia. From 1838 to 1840, he served as chief justice of the Republic's Supreme Court. Although he had a contentious relationship with Sam Houston, he supported Houston in the growing movement to annex Texas to the United States and served as president of the Convention of 1845, which accepted the terms of annexation. The first Texas state legislature elected Rusk and Houston as the first U.S. Senators in February 1846. After his wife died in April 1856 and a tumor was discovered at the base of his neck, Rusk committed suicide in July 1857.

Thomas Sidney Jesup (1788-1860) was born in Virginia and enlisted in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant in 1808. He served as deputy quartermaster general for General William Henry Harrison's army during the War of 1812. He was wounded four times at the Battle of Lundy's Lane. After serving in the 1st Infantry in the Southern Division of the Army under General Andrew Jackson, Jesup received in 1818 a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and quartermaster general of the U.S. Army, a position he held until his death. As quartermaster general, he appointed his own subordinates, organized the transportation of troops via steamboat, and kept the army well supplied with a careful system of record keeping and business transactions. He served as a field commander in the Second Seminole War before returning to his quartermaster general duties in Washington. He initially supported the Army during the Mexican War by arranging for the transport of troops, equipment, and supplies to the southwest, but in October 1846, he went to Mexico to command operations on the front lines. He remained a loyal Unionist and died in June 1860 before sectional animosities erupted into Civil War.

Captain Page was, according to Quartermaster General Jesup, "a seaman as well as an old steamboat captain."

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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