Fantastic A. Lincoln PSA MINT 9 Letter To Penn. Gov., CSA Ironclad Monitor Association: "For my life I can not make out his name"
Abraham Lincoln
Washington, DC, July 25, 1864
Fantastic A. Lincoln PSA MINT 9 Letter To Penn. Gov., CSA Ironclad Monitor Association: "For my life I can not make out his name"
ALS
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Autograph Letter Signed, to Andrew G. Curtin, July 25, 1864, Washington, DC. 1 p., actual size 4.625" x 7.5." Small decal at top left corner; light toning; scattered soiling; mounting tabs verso; else very good. Encapsulated and PSA/DNA certified and graded MINT 9. The slab overall measures 9.75" x 13.25" x .5."
In this brief letter, President Abraham Lincoln asks Governor Andrew G. Curtin of Pennsylvania to forward an enclosed thank-you letter to the person who presented Lincoln with a cane. A Philadelphia artisan made the cane from wood taken from the remaining hulk of the destroyed CSS Virginia, the Confederate ironclad that battled the USS Monitor in the first naval battle between ironclad ships in world history. Lincoln even went to the trouble of cutting out the signature and pasting it to the salutation of the enclosed letter.
Lincoln was presented with many canes throughout his lifetime, both before and after he became president. Even in 1936, historian Louis A. Warren declared, "It would be very difficult, indeed, to make a complete list of all the canes which Lincoln had presented to them. Most of them had some personal or historical significance. A 1914 auction catalog of the Lincolniana owned by Major William H. Lambert (1842-1912) provides a description of the cane presented by Snyder: "The wood appears to be oak or some other heavy variety: it has a heavy silver top, with deep engraving, and a ferrule of brass and iron. It shows the effect of considerable usage."
Complete Transcript
Executive Mansion,
Washington, July 25, 1864.
Gov. Curtin,
Herewith is the manuscript letter for the gentleman who sent me a cane through your hands. For my life I can not make out his name; and therefore I cut it from his letter and pasted it on, as you see. I suppose [you] will remember who he is, and I will thank you to forward him the letter. He dates his letter at Philadelphia.
Yours truly
A. Lincoln
Historical Background
On April 6, 1864, William O. Snyder of Philadelphia sent a cane for President Abraham Lincoln to Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G. Curtin to deliver. It was identical to one that Snyder had previously presented to Curtin. Both canes were made from a fragment of wood taken from the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) after that vessel had been destroyed by the Confederates on May 9, 1862, as they evacuated Norfolk, Virginia. As Snyder explained in his letter to Curtin, "Both of them are made from a fragment of wood taken from the hulk of the rebel ironclad Merrimac after she was blown up and deserted by her traitorous commander and crew. Captain Mark Hawlings of Philadelphia commander of the steam tug Star obtained it and presented it to me. These canes were manufactured by Wm Gute a Philadelphia artisan of whose skill our city may well be proud." William Gute (b. ca. 1830) was born in Pennsylvania and became a wood turner, cane manufacturer, and ship carpenter in Philadelphia.
Curtin forwarded Snyder's letter to Lincoln's secretaries with a note on the envelope: "Mr Nicolay the Sec of the President promised me to get an autograph letter to the gentleman who procured the wood and made the cane. He is a respectable man and will be gratified with such a letter."
The CSS Virginia, still referred to in the North as the Merrimac[k], took part in the famed naval Battle of Hampton Roads or the Battle of the Ironclads on March 8-9, 1862. This first battle between ironclad warships pitted the USS Monitor against the CSS Virginia. On March 8, the Virginia destroyed two Union ships and was about to attack a third when darkness and a falling tide forced her to retire. The next morning, the Virginia returned to attack the Union ships but was intercepted
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
Abraham Lincoln
Washington, DC, July 25, 1864
Fantastic A. Lincoln PSA MINT 9 Letter To Penn. Gov., CSA Ironclad Monitor Association: "For my life I can not make out his name"
ALS
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Autograph Letter Signed, to Andrew G. Curtin, July 25, 1864, Washington, DC. 1 p., actual size 4.625" x 7.5." Small decal at top left corner; light toning; scattered soiling; mounting tabs verso; else very good. Encapsulated and PSA/DNA certified and graded MINT 9. The slab overall measures 9.75" x 13.25" x .5."
In this brief letter, President Abraham Lincoln asks Governor Andrew G. Curtin of Pennsylvania to forward an enclosed thank-you letter to the person who presented Lincoln with a cane. A Philadelphia artisan made the cane from wood taken from the remaining hulk of the destroyed CSS Virginia, the Confederate ironclad that battled the USS Monitor in the first naval battle between ironclad ships in world history. Lincoln even went to the trouble of cutting out the signature and pasting it to the salutation of the enclosed letter.
Lincoln was presented with many canes throughout his lifetime, both before and after he became president. Even in 1936, historian Louis A. Warren declared, "It would be very difficult, indeed, to make a complete list of all the canes which Lincoln had presented to them. Most of them had some personal or historical significance. A 1914 auction catalog of the Lincolniana owned by Major William H. Lambert (1842-1912) provides a description of the cane presented by Snyder: "The wood appears to be oak or some other heavy variety: it has a heavy silver top, with deep engraving, and a ferrule of brass and iron. It shows the effect of considerable usage."
Complete Transcript
Executive Mansion,
Washington, July 25, 1864.
Gov. Curtin,
Herewith is the manuscript letter for the gentleman who sent me a cane through your hands. For my life I can not make out his name; and therefore I cut it from his letter and pasted it on, as you see. I suppose [you] will remember who he is, and I will thank you to forward him the letter. He dates his letter at Philadelphia.
Yours truly
A. Lincoln
Historical Background
On April 6, 1864, William O. Snyder of Philadelphia sent a cane for President Abraham Lincoln to Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G. Curtin to deliver. It was identical to one that Snyder had previously presented to Curtin. Both canes were made from a fragment of wood taken from the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) after that vessel had been destroyed by the Confederates on May 9, 1862, as they evacuated Norfolk, Virginia. As Snyder explained in his letter to Curtin, "Both of them are made from a fragment of wood taken from the hulk of the rebel ironclad Merrimac after she was blown up and deserted by her traitorous commander and crew. Captain Mark Hawlings of Philadelphia commander of the steam tug Star obtained it and presented it to me. These canes were manufactured by Wm Gute a Philadelphia artisan of whose skill our city may well be proud." William Gute (b. ca. 1830) was born in Pennsylvania and became a wood turner, cane manufacturer, and ship carpenter in Philadelphia.
Curtin forwarded Snyder's letter to Lincoln's secretaries with a note on the envelope: "Mr Nicolay the Sec of the President promised me to get an autograph letter to the gentleman who procured the wood and made the cane. He is a respectable man and will be gratified with such a letter."
The CSS Virginia, still referred to in the North as the Merrimac[k], took part in the famed naval Battle of Hampton Roads or the Battle of the Ironclads on March 8-9, 1862. This first battle between ironclad warships pitted the USS Monitor against the CSS Virginia. On March 8, the Virginia destroyed two Union ships and was about to attack a third when darkness and a falling tide forced her to retire. The next morning, the Virginia returned to attack the Union ships but was intercepted
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
