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William Henry Harrison

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William Henry Harrison

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Auction Date:2010 May 12 @ 10:00 (UTC-05:00 : 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
Rare and lengthy ALS signed “W. H. Harrison,” two pages both sides, 7.75 x 12.5, November 25, 1835. Letter to William Ayres, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania lawyer. In part: “I received yesterday a letter from Mr. [Thaddeus] Stevens ... He declines publishing my letter because, as he says, it will create an insurmountable barrier between the Anti-Masons & myself. His object seems to be to procure from me a declaration that I will, if elected, appoint no adhering Mason to office in anti-Mason states. This appears to me to be new ground taken by the Anti-Masons and which cannot but result in injury to their cause - could any President make the declaration that he would be governed by that principle & decline to act upon the converse proposition in states where the anti-Masons were in a minority? Indeed it would be very questionable whether Pennsyl[vani]a could be called in strict propriety an anti-Masonic state. Our friend [Joseph] Ritner did not obtain a majority of the whole number of of [sic] votes taken at the last election. I am decidedly of opinion that an irreperable [sic] blow would be given to the Anti-Masonic cause by the adoption of the course recommended by Mr. Stevens. No person who would avow such principles can possibly be elected to the Presidency. He would not get an Electoral vote in one of the Western States. And I think it extremely probable that the avowal of such sentiments would be the means of concentrating an opposition in the Senate of the United States against the anti Masonic interest sufficiently strong to prevent the passage of an anti-Masonic nomination." While in 1835 no US Senator was serving as a member of the Anti-Masonic party, 14 Congressman were: eight from Pennsylvania, one from Ohio, and five from New England.

Harrison continues, "Mr. Stevens forgets that the President whom the anti-Masons might elect could do them little or no good if the Senate were opposed to them … I do not mean to express any opinion which should govern the appointments to office in Pennsyl[vani]a - I confine myself exclusively in my remarks to the Govt of the U States … If I understand Mr. Stevens right the only fault he now finds in my course is that of my being unwilling to pledge myself to appoint no adhering Mason to office in an anti-Masonic state. Now even if I were determined to do so I would not pledge myself to do it - for I set out with a determination to make no pledges - If the Anti Masons rely upon my openly avowed opinions against Masonry one would suppose that they ought to be satisfied with the certainty of their having a full proportion of my confidence.” Harrison had been elected to the U S Senate in 1824 as a Pro-Adams candidate, serving from 1825-1828 when Pres. J. Q. Adams appointed him US Minister to Colombia.

Harrison surmises, "It appears to me that Mr. Stevens does not consider all the consequences which would result from a candidate for the Presidency pledging himself in the manner he required … no other anti Mason believes more sincerely in the truth of their principles & the necessity of supporting them by all fair honourable & constitutional means than do the advocates of nullification in theirs - In South Carolina they outnumber their opponents two to one—Would he think it right to give a pledge to them similar to the one he requires for Pennsy[lvani]a - Then comes the adjoining State of Georgia—the majority of them is at this moment opposed to the advocates of nullification but it is so small as to leave no certainty that in another year it may not be found on the other side. To which of these parties then is a pledge to be given? If to the party which at present governs, when the period of fulfilment [sic] arrives it might be necessary to change it. Now is it not apparent from these facts that a President of the U States cannot act upon the same principles as the Gov[ernor] of a state? The one the Agent of 24 sovereign authorities [there were 24 states in 1835] - the other of one only - The difficulty of forming a single rule for a President is further increased from the circumstance of the immense differences in the size of the States & their perfect quality as to rights and from that too of the mode of his election (whether by the electors or by the representatives of the States) clearly pointing him out as the peculiar guardian of the interest of the weaker members of the great political family … But example is better than precept - & practice than theory - I refer to my conduct during the 13 years of my government of Indiana & the North Western Territory as furnishing some grounds by which to ascertain what it might be in the discharge of a somewhat analogous trust.

Can it be possible that the anti-Masons will nominate a candidate who will not get a single electoral vote in any of the Western states or South of the Potomac? … Mr. Stevens course… is attributed to his Federalism, & that he had determined to support Mr. Webster under any circumstances or any other person but an old Jeffersonian Democrat like myself. However think that he is really sincere in saying that he would have preferred me if I could have come up to his standards of anti-Masonry. But will Mr. Webster or any of the other persons who have been thought of for the Presidency go further than I go? Perhaps Mr. Adams might - but what earthly chance could he stand to succeed.”

In fine condition, with intersecting folds, a uniform shade of toning, a bit heavier along left edge of both pages, later portions of the text a shade or two light due to reduced ink flow, a few light brushes to text, and several lines underlined.

Confronted by demands made by the single-issue Anti-Masonic Party, a 19th century minor political faction, Harrison here displays exceptional political acumen as well as an extreme aversion to making political promises that may be used against him. Much of the focus of these two pages regards Thaddeus Stevens, a party leader who almost single-handedly tried to sustain the Anti-Masonic Movement on own. The party had nominated Harrison as its candidate in the 1836 presidential election—much to the chagrin of Stevens, who refused to accept the nomination following Harrison’s refusal to publicly admit he was not a Mason or to oppose the Freemasonry, a centuries-old fraternal organization. Support for a second convention failed, however, with the party leader reluctantly throwing what was to be lackluster support behind Harrison. The strife leading up to that nomination is palpable here, with Harrison highly critical of Stevens’ attempts to elicit a pledge from the candidate “that I will, if elected, appoint no adhering Mason to office in anti-Mason states. This appears to me to be new ground taken by the Anti-Masons and which cannot but result in injury to their cause.” Harrison continues by making further, equally compelling arguments against the party’s political philosoy. “No person who would avow such principles can possibly be elected to the Presidency. He would not get an Electoral vote in one of the Western States. And I think it extremely probable that the avowal of such sentiments would be the means of concentrating an opposition in the Senate of the United States against the anti Masonic interest sufficiently strong to prevent the passage of an anti-Masonic nomination." He emphatically reiterates his point several lines later: “It appears to me that Mr. Stevens does not consider all the consequences which would result from a candidate for the Presidency pledging himself in the manner he required...” An exhaustive yet insightful statement of fact penned by the man who lost the 1836 election, but a few years later would indeed become the nation’s president—a position he would hold for a mere 32 days before becoming the first commander-in-chief to die in office. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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