James A Garfield

Letter Signed As President

JAMES A. GARFIELD, James A. Letter Signed ("J.A. Garfield") in black fountain pen ink on Executive Mansion, Washington letterhead, April 29, 1881.

5 3/8" x 9 1/8"; 1 1/2 pages.

Very good (minor signs of handling and age).

To W.A.M. Grier:

Letter expressing regret at Grier's declining an appointment as postmaster.

Extraordinarily rare example of a Garfield letter signed during his brief tenure as President. This recipient was the Pennsylvania delegate who cast the lone vote for Garfield on the second ballot at the 1880 Republican Convention in Chicago, and the letter alludes to the "Star-Route Scandal" in the postal service.

Allegations of corruption in the postal service arose in the first few months after Garfield's election. After his inauguration on March 4, 1881, the President ordered an investigation of claims that profitable contracts for remote areas ("star routes") had been issued fraudulently. In the wake of this embarrassment, Garfield made new appointments but Grier evidently refused his own.

Garfield writes: "I regret that you have concluded to decline the position of Third Assistant Postmaster General. I as greatly desirous of having you in the public service...Thanking you for your kind letter and regretting the embarrassments which the event has caused us both, I am very truly yours..."

W.A.M. Grier was the active partner in a banking firm based in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, known as Pardee, Markle and Grier. He was enlisted to support Garfield's candidacy once Grier had been chosen as a delegate. Grier cast his vote continuously for Garfield starting on the second ballot and for over one hundred subsequent ballots until the candidate was chosen.

Garfield (1831-1881), born November 19, 1831, Cuyahoga County, Ohio; died September 19, 1891, Elberon, New Jersey; Ohio-born twentieth president of the United States; elected (1880) and inaugurated president (1881); shot by Charles J. Guiteau in Washington railway station (July 2, 1881) and died 2 months later.

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George Houle
Rare First Editions; Vintage Autographs; Zane Grey Specialties;
P.O. Box 481310
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Email: houleg@aol.com

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