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Jefferson Davis

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Jefferson Davis

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Auction Date:2011 Apr 13 @ 19:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
American military officer and politician (1808–1889) who, after serving as a senator and US Secretary of War, was the first and only president of the Confederacy, from 1861 until its collapse at the end of the Civil War. Rare war-dated ALS signed as Confederate president, “Jeffn Davis,” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, April 19, 1861. Letter to “Hon. G. A. Henry.” in full: “Thanks for your friendly and patriotic letter of the 16th inst which I have just received. Your recommendation of Col. D Bell of Ky has been referred to the Secretary of War for his respectful consideration. It gave me sincere pleasure to be greeted by you with the warmth and friendship of our earlier days. As ever truly yr friend.” In very good condition, with intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, scattered irregular toning and soiling, small tape reinforcement along reverse of top edge, and a couple pinholes of paper loss to intersection of folds.

Signed just a week after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, the newly named president of the Confederacy began the daunting task of forming his cabinet and leading his rebellion, thanking a soon-to-be elected Tennessee Confederate state legislator for recommending a Kentucky Colonel for an appointment. What Davis viewed as patriotism—and his succession over slavery—was in fact treasonous, with many hundreds of thousands of Americans dying because of such patriotic fervor.

The original recipient of this correspondence, Gustavus Adolphus Henry, Sr., was a prominent antebellum planter and law school classmate of Davis who served in the Confederate Congress during the war. His friendship with President Davis made Henry among the most influential lawmakers in the Confederate government. Among Jefferson’s earliest pieces of correspondence as leader of the Confederacy.