LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2006 October Grand Format Autographs #629  / 

25060

First Lady Jane Pierce Autograph Letter Signed.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:800.00 - 1,000.00 USD
First Lady Jane Pierce Autograph Letter Signed.
<B>First Lady Jane Pierce Autograph Letter Signed</B></I> "<I>Jane</B></I>". Four pages, 4.25" x 7", mourning stationery, Washington, D.C., July 2, 1854. Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee, said: "I have known many of the ladies of the White House, none more truly excellent than the afflicted wife of President Piece. Her health was a bar to any great effort on her part to meet any expectations of the public in her high position, but she was a refined, extremely religious, and well educated lady." Jane Pierce was indeed a frail first lady who had to endure more than her share of hardships before she even reached Washington D.C. On the way to the inauguration, the train the Pierces were on derailed near Andover and rolled down an embankment. The President and his wife were not seriously hurt, but their young son Benny, was killed in front of them. The inauguration took place, but Jane was not present. This loss affected her deeply all of her life, two other of her children would also die young. The stationery here reflects her deep mourning. The letter was written to a lady called Mary, it might likely be Mary Anna Custis Lee, whose quote appears above! The name appears to have been written over another name, perhaps as a mistake. The letter reads in part: "<I>I have been much disappointed day after day since my return from</B></I> [illegible] <I> by not finding any letter from you, and earnestly desirous of hearing from yourself. Altho</B></I> [sic] <I> you have been mentioned in another letter</B></I>". Letters from Jane Pierce are quite rare, and this one is a long and well-preserved example. Also included is a letter from "Ocean House" in Portsmouth, Va. Both letters are in very fine condition; usual folds are present; pencil marks present on the Pierce letter.
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