‘No Candidates For Assistant Surgeon Unless At Least 21’

DICKERSON, Mahlon (1770-1853) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Democratic-Republican politician from New Jersey. A graduate of the College of New Jersey (Princeton), he rose to prominence as a jurist before entering national politics. Dickerson served as Governor of New Jersey (1815–1817), U.S. Senator (1817–1833), and later as U.S. Secretary of the Navy under President Andrew Jackson (1834–1838). As Navy Secretary, he emphasized administrative reform and modernization during the early expansion of American naval power. Dickerson concluded his public career as President of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, contributing to New Jersey’s transportation and commercial development. Manuscript Letter Signed “M. Dickerson” 1pp quarto, Navy Department, May 4, 1838, addressed to Dr. William Barton, Surgeon, President of the Board of Naval Surgeons, and reads in part: “...In reply to your letter of the 1st instant I have to inform you that it is the intention of the Department that no candidate for admission into the Navy as an Assistant Surgeon shall be examined, unless he be at least twenty one years of age…” Fine condition.