Details
POLK, JAMES KNOX, President. Autograph letter signed ("J.K.Polk") as President to Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, n.p., 27 November 1847. One page, 4to, integral blank. Fine condition.
POLK, "COL. JEFFERSON DAVIS," AND A WOUNDED VETERAN
An interesting letter to a cabinet member, referring to the young Jefferson Davis, later President of the Confederate States of America. "My young friend Mr. Marshall M. Smith of Mississippi, who was introduced to you on yesterday by Col. Jefferson Davis, will call on you with this note, to obtain the letter, which you promised to give him, to the collector at New Orleans. I have no doubt he would faithfully perform the duties of Inspector of the Customs, if there be any necessary in the New Orleans customs-house, to which he could be appointed. I have known this young man from his infancy, & can say of him, that he is in all respects worthy. He was a soldier in Mexico & was wounded at Monterey...."
Robert J. Walker (1801-1869) of Natchez, Mississippi, a Democrat, had served as Senator and was distinguished by his strong suuport of the annexation of Texas. An influential Democrat, he is believed to have played a role in the party's rejection of Van Buren and its selection of Polk as the party's candidate for President in 1844. In 1845 Walker drafted the compromise resolutions which resulted in the vote for the annexation of Texas, and after Polk appointed him to the cabinet, he wrote the important Walker Tariff legislation of 1846 and raised substantial private funds for the war with Mexico. He is credited with the establishment of the Independent Treasury System. It is possible that Walker knew Jefferson Davis as a fellow Mississippian or as a member of Congress (Davis served from 1845 but resigned to serve in the Mexican War as a Colonel). Davis, in turn, may have known Smith, the man recommended for an appointment, from their joint service in the Mexican War.
POLK, "COL. JEFFERSON DAVIS," AND A WOUNDED VETERAN
An interesting letter to a cabinet member, referring to the young Jefferson Davis, later President of the Confederate States of America. "My young friend Mr. Marshall M. Smith of Mississippi, who was introduced to you on yesterday by Col. Jefferson Davis, will call on you with this note, to obtain the letter, which you promised to give him, to the collector at New Orleans. I have no doubt he would faithfully perform the duties of Inspector of the Customs, if there be any necessary in the New Orleans customs-house, to which he could be appointed. I have known this young man from his infancy, & can say of him, that he is in all respects worthy. He was a soldier in Mexico & was wounded at Monterey...."
Robert J. Walker (1801-1869) of Natchez, Mississippi, a Democrat, had served as Senator and was distinguished by his strong suuport of the annexation of Texas. An influential Democrat, he is believed to have played a role in the party's rejection of Van Buren and its selection of Polk as the party's candidate for President in 1844. In 1845 Walker drafted the compromise resolutions which resulted in the vote for the annexation of Texas, and after Polk appointed him to the cabinet, he wrote the important Walker Tariff legislation of 1846 and raised substantial private funds for the war with Mexico. He is credited with the establishment of the Independent Treasury System. It is possible that Walker knew Jefferson Davis as a fellow Mississippian or as a member of Congress (Davis served from 1845 but resigned to serve in the Mexican War as a Colonel). Davis, in turn, may have known Smith, the man recommended for an appointment, from their joint service in the Mexican War.