Autograph Document Signed by Welles Gideon (2 results)

GIDEON WELLES (1802-1878). Welles was Abraham Lincolns Secretary of the Navy from 1861 until well after Lincolns death in 1869. He is remembered for his foresight in the development and use of ironclads, as well as urging the enlistment of blacks and blockading the Confederate coast.ADS. 1pg. 8 x 5 . 7th April 1840. Hartford, CT. An autograph document signed Gideon Welles P.M while the future Naval Secretary was Post Master of Hartford. The document reads: S.M. Mitchell, P.M. [Post Master] at Plymouthhas deposited in this office, sixty seven 09/100 dolls. to the credit of the Post Master Genl, for which I have signed duplicate receipts. Gideon Welles P.M. The document is in excellent condition, and has an irregular top margin.…

This Connecticut legislator and civil servant served as Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Lincoln and Johnson (1861-69). ADS, 1p, 8" X 9½", n.p., 1848 August. Very good. Attractive pale blue lined sheet. Welles, at this time chief of the bureau of provisions and clothing for the U.S. Navy, requests a $150 advance for costs incurred in traveling from Washington to Auburn, New York, to attend the case of United States vs. L. Caldwell, as well as reimbursement for two past trips. Signed with his usual cramped "GWelles." This item is accompanied by an exceptional and scarce 8" X 10" glossy photograph, a full-length portrait (possibly from a Mathew Brady negative?) made circa 1950 by pioneering photography historian FREDERICK HILL MESERVE (1865-1962), "America's first great photograph collector" who assigned numbers to Lincoln photographs ("Meserve numbers") that are still used today. This striking image was quite likely made from the original glass plate negative, as was Meserve's habit. It is identified on the verso in pencil in Meserve's distinctive hand: "Gideon Welles / The Meserve Collection." A handsome document and a highly desireable accompanying image. …