Martin Van Buren Document Signed

Partly-printed vellum DS as president, signed “M. Van Buren,” one page, 14 x 17.25, February 20, 1838. President Van Buren appoints Francis H. Gregory as "a Captain in the Navy from the 31st of January 1838, in the Service of the United States." Signed at the conclusion by Martin Van Buren, and countersigned by Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson. The off-white Navy Department seal remains affixed to lower vignette. In very good to fine condition, with scattered toning and staining. Francis Hoyt Gregory (1789–1866) was a career officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 through to the Civil War, serving then as a Rear Admiral. His retirement in 1856 ended a Navy career that had spanned nearly 50 years.