Autograph Letter Signed [ALS] from Grover Cleveland to Former U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary, Charles S. Hamlin, Regarding a Meeting with Hamlin and Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Carlisle - Tamworth (New Hampshire) Aug 16, 1905

Cleveland, Grover (Former President of the United States, 1885-1889 and 1893-1897)

Publication Date: 1905

About this Item

Written at Tamworth, New Hampshire, where Cleveland had a summer home. Previously in the R.O. McNiel collection. Fine condition except for fold marks and penciling on the blank side. Single sheet, 6.5 by 10.5 inches, folded once to create four pages, of which only the first two comprise Grover Cleveland's letter. The letter is folded two more times to fit in an accompanying envelope with written notation: "Letter to C.S.H. from Mr. Cleveland" and "1905 Aug 16" on one side and a note of provenance on the reverse side (acquired from Mrs. Hamlin by R.O. McNiel). Both the letter and envelope are presented in a customized printed folder with tissue guard and an image of Cleveland pasted inside the front cover along with a Cinderella stamp depicting Cleveland (American Historical Stamps, Presidents of the U.S.). Hamlin is Charles Sumner Hamlin, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in Cleveland's second term from 1893 to 1897 and again from 1913 to 1914 (Woodrow Wilson administration), as well as the first Chairman of the Federal Reserve (1914-1916). John G. Carlisle was the Secretary of the Treasury during Hamlin's first Assistant Secretary appointment. Likely he is the same Carlisle referred to in the letter as Hamlin's guest, with whom Cleveland is unable to meet. Cleveland also refers to an article about "Hat Trimming Refunds" and alludes to a Hamlin administration. Hat-Trimming Refunds refers to legal cases brought against the government by American importers of hat-making materials, including trimmings, in response to tariff reforms in Cleveland's second term that did not favor the silk importers in the United States. The "Hamlin administration" Cleveland refers to is likely one of Hamlin's unsuccessful bids for Governor of Massachusetts. A transcript of Grover Cleveland's letter to Charles S. Hamlin follows: "My dear Mr. Hamlin, I have received your invitation to visit you at your summer house at the time you hope to have the Carlisles with you. I hope I need not assure you that it would give me great pleasure to avail myself of this opportunity to meet both you and your guest; but plans I have already made implicating expected guests will prevent my leaving here at the time indicated. I am very glad you did not forget to send me the article on the Hat Training Refunds. To a man of old fashioned ideas of official honesty and prosperity it is hard to see how the things you expose can occur in a Hamlin administration. With affectionate regards from Mrs. Cleveland and myself, to both you and Mrs. Hamlin, I am yours faithfully, Grover Cleveland." (Written underneath is Hon. Chas. S. Hamlin, Boston, Mass.). Seller Inventory # 10333

Bibliographic Details

Title: Autograph Letter Signed [ALS] from Grover ...

Publication Date: 1905

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Very Good